These are what I can think of.
US-70 from Cove City to New Bern
I-74 from Maxton to I-95.
US-17 (Elizabeth City bypass)
US-13/NC-11 from Greenville to Bethel.
Pretty much any highway east of I-95 in NC is a lot more straight.
There are other examples that make these roads look like mountain pass routes.
I-80 west of SLC
I-41/94 from the Milwaukee/Racine County line to the Wisconsin/Illinois state line.
I think that it would be a great experience for the OP to take a road trip out to the Midwest, or to the Plains states, and see how the roads differ out there compared to what he is used to where he lives.
Really, these North Carolina examples are perfectly straight for only a few miles each. Even combined, probably less mileage than the I-80 in Utah example cited earlier.
Off the top of my head the Lake Pontchartrain causeway is twenty-plus miles (although it may be cheating to use a bridge or causeway). And if memory serves me, isn't there a road with 40-ish miles in (I think) North Dakota?
I-80 between Lincoln and Grand Island in Nebraska is more or less straight for almost 80 miles.
US 136 runs about 70 miles in a straight line west of Rantoul IL
Quote from: skluth on February 05, 2022, 02:14:05 PM
US 136 runs about 70 miles in a straight line west of Rantoul IL
I was also thinking this! Really started to wonder if anyone was going to point this out, it's straight as a board. Also, there's a segment of U.S. 36 in Illinois that's straight as well for 56 miles, from just east of Casner to 2.8 miles west of Chrisman. If we were to not include the 2-5 degree turn west of Chrisman, then by all means it's a straight-ish line for a bit under 62 miles.
Quote from: Sapphuby on February 05, 2022, 02:26:29 PM
Quote from: skluth on February 05, 2022, 02:14:05 PM
US 136 runs about 70 miles in a straight line west of Rantoul IL
I was also thinking this! Really started to wonder if anyone was going to point this out, it's straight as a board. Also, there's a segment of U.S. 36 in Illinois that's straight as well for 56 miles, from just east of Casner to 2.8 miles west of Chrisman. If we were to not include the 2-5 degree turn west of Chrisman, then by all means it's a straight-ish line for a bit under 62 miles.
I'm sure there are similar, if not longer, straight roads in the Great Plains region. But I went to my Navy weather school at Chanute AFB in Rantoul and I was surprised at how boringly straight the roads were in Illinois even though I grew up in Wisconsin.
Quote from: skluth on February 05, 2022, 02:33:53 PM
Quote from: Sapphuby on February 05, 2022, 02:26:29 PM
Quote from: skluth on February 05, 2022, 02:14:05 PM
US 136 runs about 70 miles in a straight line west of Rantoul IL
I was also thinking this! Really started to wonder if anyone was going to point this out, it's straight as a board. Also, there's a segment of U.S. 36 in Illinois that's straight as well for 56 miles, from just east of Casner to 2.8 miles west of Chrisman. If we were to not include the 2-5 degree turn west of Chrisman, then by all means it's a straight-ish line for a bit under 62 miles.
I'm sure there are similar, if not longer, straight roads in the Great Plains region. But I went to my Navy weather school at Chanute AFB in Rantoul and I was surprised at how boringly straight the roads were in Illinois even though I grew up in Wisconsin.
I've been on most of the U.S. 36 portion I described (from IL 130 to Casner), and there's pretty much nothing out there. Other than the Casner turn and the industrial park, there's just nothing to look at unless you're interested in corn.
A 256km stretch Saudi Arabia's highway 10 is often featured on media sites as the straightest highway in the world. Though, by looking at satellite imagery of the highway, it appears they are upgrading (or have already upgraded parts of) the two lane highway to a divided four lane, which has introduced some shallow curves.
There's a 25 mi / 40 km straight stretch on M-28 in the UP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-28_(Michigan_highway)#Seney_Stretch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-28_(Michigan_highway)#Seney_Stretch)
There's also a 91 mi / 147 km straight stretch on the Eyre Highway (#1) in Western Australia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyre_Highway#Western_Australia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyre_Highway#Western_Australia)
I-80 between Lincoln and Grand Island, NE
The longest stretch of straight road I've seen in Georgia is an about 18-mile length of I-20 west of Augusta.
ISTR I-39 North of I-80 in Illinois a pretty straight-as-an-arrow freeway whn I drove it in the 90s.
Although there's curves here and there I-75 through the Everglades seems to be largely composed of several long segments of straight road.
A stretch of US 27 in the area (from a little bit north of I-75 to a little bit south of Belle Glade) is also straight for around 27 miles (unless I am failing to detect any small curves on my phone).
US 41 through the eastern part of the Everglades is in the same situation as I-75 (a few curves, but several long stretches of straight road), but US 41's trek through the western part of the Everglades is much more curvy.
There is also the stretch of straight road on US 19/US 98 that clocks in at about 21 miles (unless you're going southeastbound in which case there's a slight curve) from just west of FL 121 to Chiefland.
I'm sure there's plenty more of examples like these in Florida, which seems to have a good bit for a southeastern state.
Found a list: https://www.dangerousroads.org/around-the-world/our-lists/3759-the-10-longest-straight-roads-in-the-world.html
1. Saudi highway 85: 693mi
2. Saudi highway 10: 158mi
3. Ruta Ciduad Mariscal Estigambia - Mayor Pablo Lagerenza in Paraguay: 128mi
4. ND 46: 121mi
5. Mitchell Highway (B71), NSW Australia: 118mi
6. US 54 Seward, TX - Dalhart, KS: 108mi
7. Carretera Federal 1, BCS, Mexico: 105mi
8. US 136, Illinois: 102mi
9. Saudi highway 50: 95mi
10. US 83, North Dakota: 92mi
11. Eyre Highway, Australia: 91mi
12. SK 33, Stoughton-Regina: 87 mi
13. Ruta Procincal 26, La Pampa, Argentina: 82mi
14. I-10, western Arizona: 82mi
15. SL10/SK52: 81mi
BTW, the Dangerousroads website is an interesting one, for those who haven't discovered it yet.
Edit: Looking at a few of the roads, it looks like Dangerousroads is tolerating a few minor changes in heading that might not be tolerated within the precision desired by the OP. For example, ND46 has a few minor jogs at a couple of river crossings
With the exception of a brief realignment for the Williamstown "bypass," old US 30/US 30N was arrow-straight for 41 miles starting just west of Upper Sandusky, OH: https://goo.gl/maps/18LH6jCR2iTko1Uc7
I-95 from Eastover to Dunn feels so straight. So does from Kenly to Smithfield. Those were like the first ever segments of the highway to be built though. I think from Lumberton to St Pauls can also qualify.
Newer highways tend to be more curvy.
Quote from: tolbs17 on February 06, 2022, 01:43:26 PM
I-95 from Eastover to Dunn feels so straight. So does from Kenly to Smithfield. Those were like the first ever segments of the highway to be built though. I think from Lumberton to St Pauls can also qualify.
Newer highways tend to be more curvy.
Yes... straight...
(https://i.imgur.com/OnWQnuR.png?1)
Have you checked out any of the examples posted upthread of roads in the plains states yet, for what a straight road really looks like?
Quote from: SkyPesos on February 06, 2022, 02:11:05 PM
Quote from: tolbs17 on February 06, 2022, 01:43:26 PM
I-95 from Eastover to Dunn feels so straight. So does from Kenly to Smithfield. Those were like the first ever segments of the highway to be built though. I think from Lumberton to St Pauls can also qualify.
Newer highways tend to be more curvy.
Yes... straight...
(https://i.imgur.com/OnWQnuR.png?1)
Have you checked out any of the examples posted upthread of roads in the plains states yet, for what a straight road really looks like?
Yes. Usually continously long, with no curves. The midwest has a handful of them.
Quote from: SkyPesos on February 06, 2022, 02:11:05 PM
Quote from: tolbs17 on February 06, 2022, 01:43:26 PM
I-95 from Eastover to Dunn feels so straight. So does from Kenly to Smithfield. Those were like the first ever segments of the highway to be built though. I think from Lumberton to St Pauls can also qualify.
Newer highways tend to be more curvy.
Yes... straight...
(https://i.imgur.com/OnWQnuR.png?1)
Have you checked out any of the examples posted upthread of roads in the plains states yet, for what a straight road really looks like?
Claiming that
"I-95 in North Carolina is straight" is like claiming that
"Illinois is not flat".
No way there could be a 1115 km straight! I've looked at that Saudi road, and I'm unable to get any straight section longer than about 20 km.
I-95 north of Peabody, MA to the NH state line is relatively straight. Probably one of the straightest highway in the Northeast.
Quote from: BlueOutback7 on February 06, 2022, 03:42:20 PM
I-95 north of Peabody, MA to the NH state line is relatively straight. Probably one of the straightest highway in the Northeast.
If you mean slight curves every 5 or so miles, then yeah, it's relatively straight. If you mean bullet straight, I-95 isn't going to cut it. :-D
Of course, West Virginia is at the other end of the spectrum with respect to straight sections of highway. I always wondered if the section of I-64 ending in my proverbial backyard (MM 38 to MM 40, give or take, including Exit 39 Teays Valley) was the longest in state. That stretches out only 2.95 miles. But I did find two other sections of I-64 that are longer:
I-64 from the third Mud River bridge to the curve west of Exit 28 (Milton) - 3.36 miles
I-64 from Culloden to east of Hurricane Creek bridge (including Exit 34 Hurricane) - 3.08 miles
Also, there's the notorious straight stretch on I-64 between Exit 50 (Institute) and Exit 53 (Dunbar) where you can speed past the West Virginia State Police Academy. It's only 2.33 miles long, and due to an inflection, the longest truly straight piece is between the Academy itself to the east side of the Roxalana Road bridge at 1.75 miles long. The section between the first two Mud River bridges (in front of the Huntington Mall) is longer than that (2.48 miles), and the stretch just east of the Johns Creek bridge (near Exit 28 Milton) is slightly less at 2.31 miles.
The "straightest section of highway" in West Virginia has always been Corridor D between Parkersburg and Clarksburg. The longest section of that road appears to be the first straight section east of Parkersburg, starting from Murphytown Road curve, which is only about 2.24 miles. Even that long section over the Bear Run bridge (just west of Clarksburg) pales in comparison at 1.76 miles, and that includes a slight change of inflection (meaning not quite straight).
Not all of the straight stretches are on the freeways. US-60 in Putnam County has a long straight stretch on the west side of the Coal Mountain crossing that is 1.96 miles long. There's another one of US-60 in Fayette County running [south] of Hico at 1.67 miles long.
I was way short on this one: Another memorable straight section of highway is I-70 starting on Wheeling Island and poking through the Wheeling Tunnel to Exit 2A (US-40 Oglebay Park). The westbound lanes are the only candidate here, and are no means perfectly straight (several points of inflection at the Ohio River main channel bridge, the tunnel itself and the new Fulton Bridge. The entire distance is a mere 1.51 miles.
I thought that I should check out the one newer highway in my old stomping grounds that I have not yet been on: WV-43 (the West Virginia section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway). That first straight stretch north of I-68 doesn't pan out either. It's only 1.48 miles from the west end of the Goodwin Hill Road bridge to the east end of the Morgans Run bridge, but it looks like the eastern third of that piece is actually in a very slight curve. The true straightline is only 4,443 feet long.
The new section of US-35 north of the Buffalo Bridge has some memorable straight sections. The longest appears to be from northeast of the Cornstalk bridge to southeast of the Middle Ninemile Creek bridge, which is only 1.45 miles long. That's just a hair longer than the longest straight section of the Charles Town bypass (US-340/WV-9), which is only 1.41 miles long.
West Virginia freeways are also interesting that some of the straight stretches are way longer for one side than the other. I-64 has a notable one of these, where the westbound lanes just east of Exit 125 (Airport Road WV-305/CR-9/9) is 1.41 miles long, whereas the eastbound straight section is a mere 3175 feet long.
Plus, there's been the myth that the "Racetrack section of US-33" east of Elkins had really some long straight stretches. In that part of the mountains, anything remotely straight seems unusual. We can say the same about I-68 east of Morgantown. No viable candidates on either route.
Needless to say, hardly any of these are flat.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on February 06, 2022, 04:11:17 PM
Needless to say, hardly any of these are flat.
And perhaps I should mention that the longest "flat sections" in the state are on an 8% grade.
US 522 south of Berkeley Springs has straight segments longer than any cited in WV so far and is mostly flat.
WV 29 north of US 50 also has a straight stretch about 5 miles but is hillier.
Quote from: Mapmikey on February 06, 2022, 04:23:26 PM
US 522 south of Berkeley Springs has straight segments longer than any cited in WV so far and is mostly flat.
You're right. I've driven this hundreds of times and never paid much attention. The longest stretch (ignoring turn lanes) runs from the entrance to Mountain View Solar all the way up to an inflection point just north of Tabor Road (5.22 miles). If you ignore that one inflection, you get 5.45 miles up to the intersection with Sunny Meadow Place.
Then there's the not quite perfect straight stretch from just north of Mawani Village to the Fox's Pizza Den just south of Berkeley Springs comes in at 3.46 miles (if you ignore a slight bubble just northeast of the old Southern Belle Truck Stop). Amazingly, both ends of this entire run are inline with each others, and the "bubble" never veers beyond the width of the highway.
Quote from: Mapmikey on February 06, 2022, 04:23:26 PM
WV 29 north of US 50 also has a straight stretch about 5 miles but is hillier.
Starting at the north end of the wye at US-50 and WV-29, it's 4.71 miles to just north of Voits Road at Hainesville. It's not perfectly straight because of the hills and vales, but the centerline of the road only veers off a few feet here and there. Close enough for a railroader who is a stickler for discounting the length of spirals entering the arc of curve.
Definitely not as long as some other examples, but a few that come to mind for me:
US-501 from SC 544 to just past SC 31 through Conway, SC and the Carolina Forest section of Myrtle Beach.
I-95 throughout St. Johns, Flagler, and Volusia counties in Florida
Look at any Ohio state map and SR-4 from Sandusky to Cincinnati almost looks like someone took a ruler and drew their own road.
Quote from: thenetwork on February 07, 2022, 08:21:56 PM
Look at any Ohio state map and SR-4 from Sandusky to Cincinnati almost looks like someone took a ruler and drew their own road.
That is how a lot of older roads were planned. Check out AR 34 (https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1599832,-90.8171304,11.98z). IL 48 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5790377,-89.3472089,10.57z). US 270 in Oklahoma (https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9446881,-98.714275,11.72z). They all look that way.
It's also true of colonial boundaries; look at the borders in North Africa and the Middle East.
Quote from: skluth on February 07, 2022, 09:08:58 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on February 07, 2022, 08:21:56 PM
Look at any Ohio state map and SR-4 from Sandusky to Cincinnati almost looks like someone took a ruler and drew their own road.
That is how a lot of older roads were planned. Check out AR 34 (https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1599832,-90.8171304,11.98z). IL 48 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5790377,-89.3472089,10.57z). US 270 in Oklahoma (https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9446881,-98.714275,11.72z). They all look that way.
It's also true of colonial boundaries; look at the borders in North Africa and the Middle East.
If you want to play that game look at the Canadian-U.S. border from Minnesota to Washington :-D
I-5 from Coburg to Albany comes in at 32.53 miles.
I-84/US 30 comes in at 28.31 (I-82's interchange at roughly midpoint).
Quote from: Sapphuby on February 07, 2022, 09:26:46 PM
Quote from: skluth on February 07, 2022, 09:08:58 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on February 07, 2022, 08:21:56 PM
Look at any Ohio state map and SR-4 from Sandusky to Cincinnati almost looks like someone took a ruler and drew their own road.
That is how a lot of older roads were planned. Check out AR 34 (https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1599832,-90.8171304,11.98z). IL 48 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5790377,-89.3472089,10.57z). US 270 in Oklahoma (https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9446881,-98.714275,11.72z). They all look that way.
It's also true of colonial boundaries; look at the borders in North Africa and the Middle East.
If you want to play that game look at the Canadian-U.S. border from Minnesota to Washington :-D
It certainly is a long straight line even if it's not at 54° 40' N (https://www.ushistory.org/us/29b.asp). Difference is that line is along a line of latitude. It's not unusual for straight roads and boundaries (like almost every township boundary west of the 13 colonies) to follow lines of latitude and longitude. Those diagonal lines, whether boundaries or roads, just look bizarre.
Looks like the longest stretch in Colorado (a state not known for straight roads) is a portion of CO94 at 44 miles. And I can certainly confirm, it's very boring to drive.
A section of I-55 in Arkansas and Missouri is straight. I also seem to recall a portion of I-70 in Indiana is quite straight.
US 60 going west, from Sikeston MO, for quite a few miles.
Many highways in Iowa fit this bill. I-80, US 20, US 30, IA 92, I-880, I could go on and on.
I counted an 11-mile straight stretch of I-55 north of Sikeston when I was a kid, and the terrain there wasn't flat. Lots of hill cuts and slopes.
I remember when Foghorn Leghorn said, "She's just like the highway between Dallas and Fort Worth. No curves."