In honor of Illinois 1 being an award winning flat highway I thought that I pose a question to the group. What is the flattest signed highway in your area or state? Near me there are couple notably flat highway but the winner in California is likely CA 43. CA 43 essentially compromised of largely rail frontage roads along the BNSF line running east of the Tulare Lake bed. There are few hills of note and very little terrain variation along CA 43. Honorable mentions go to CA 137 and CA 45.
Quote from: SSOWorld on March 31, 2022, 01:54:38 PM
(https://i.imgflip.com/6aw6es.jpg)
Minnesota is right up there with Illinois in the rankings. Some of the greatest hits:
MN 220
US 75
MN 210 from the border to I-94
MN 1 west of US 71
MN 11, even the pretty parts along the Rainy
There's quite a few flat (and straight) highways in southwestern Ontario. I think Highway 77 would be a strong candidate for flattest. It's entirely in Essex County which seems especially flat.
Alabama 14 in from Selma to Prattville is quite flat, though the road curves a bit.
US 72 Alternate is flatter than its non-Alternate cousin.
The southwestern sections of I-59/20 (SW of Tuscaloosa) get a little flat and dull.
All in all, it's not as flat as the southern halves of Florida or Louisiana, but there's only a few sections without much elevation changes.
I'm sure Florida is teeming with flat highways, especially near the coasts. For a cross-peninsular route, though, I nominate SR 24, particularly the section west of Bronson. It helps to be following the alignment of a former railroad for nearly its entire length.
In Arkansas, US-65 SE of Pine Bluff. Levees and bridges might well be the only thing you'd need to downshift a bicycle on between Pine Bluff and the Louisiana border.
I-29, North Dakota!
Where the overpasses are the highest point for a hundred miles in every direction.
Doesn't get much flatter than the plain from Glacial Lake Agassiz.
For Massachusetts, I'll say MA 88 from I-195 in Westport to Horseneck Beach as well as some of the routes on Cape Cod.
Coastal and southern Texas is gold for flat highways. TX 35 is 200 miles long and the highest it gets is on the Corpus Christi Harbor bridge. I would also happen to guess that I-2 is the flattest interstate route. It's actually difficult to think of a route around here that actually rises or falls more than a few feet.
WI's flattest highway of major distance has to be WI-73.
My guess for Western WA is either WA 546 or WA 544, given they travel across the Fraser Lowlands and don't head up into the hills.
WA 281 should win for the state, given it seems to only gain about 100 feet in elevation and only has to dip to cross one shallow canal.
My guesses for PA would be:
-I-95, running through the Delaware Valley (and the western fringe of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, near the fall line) for its entire length in PA
-I-90, US 20, and PA 5, running either where the bottom of Lake Erie once was or along the ancient shorelines.
CO116 in the southeastern part of the state I recall not even having a bump.
I-55 has got to be the flattest interstate. It parallels the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis and then traverses Illinois, which is ... you know ...
The portion in Mississippi that diverts a bit from the river might have a little bit of slope here and there. And I know there are segments in Missouri south of the Cape that have a few rock cuts that aren't completely flat.
Quote from: BlueOutback7 on March 31, 2022, 05:36:14 PM
For Massachusetts, I'll say MA 88 from I-195 in Westport to Horseneck Beach as well as some of the routes on Cape Cod.
I know they're shorter, but 129A and 286 would each give 88 a run for its money. 240 is also probably just a 30-40' uphill from US 6 to I-195 in its one mile.
For Wyoming, probably WY 73 near Bairoil.
For South Dakota, probably SD 224 near Alpena.
I'll go ahead and say that New Hampshire is probably NH 286 and NH 1B.
NC 12
The largest elevation change is most likely on the new Bonner bridge
Quote from: fillup420 on May 24, 2022, 09:03:46 PM
NC 12
The largest elevation change is most likely on the new Bonner bridge
And the two ferry boats. :banghead: (Actually, there are a few new bridges between the Basnight Bridge (Bonner replacement) and Hatteras that add some elevation).
If we're talking significant length, US 13 and US 258 might be VA's flattest.
Hell nationally US 13 is probably up there as well.
Quote from: plain on May 24, 2022, 10:05:25 PM
If we're talking significant length, US 13 and US 258 might be VA's flattest.
Hell nationally US 13 is probably up there as well.
Definitely not Virginia's flattest, but I would think that US-17 south of Tidewater all the way to Punta Gorda takes the [pan]cake. For that matter, US-17 isn't very hilly south of Fredericksburg.
For Ohio, all 2di that pass through the southeastern portion of the state (dividing line is roughly an arc between Cincinnati and Youngstown that passes just south and east of Columbus) have significant non-flat portions. So for 2di, that eliminates all 2di except I-90 for flatness.
Quote from: CoreySamson on March 31, 2022, 06:08:54 PM
Coastal and southern Texas is gold for flat highways. TX 35 is 200 miles long and the highest it gets is on the Corpus Christi Harbor bridge. I would also happen to guess that I-2 is the flattest interstate route. It's actually difficult to think of a route around here that actually rises or falls more than a few feet.
I would say US-77 from south of I-37 to Harlingen takes the cake because it is long/flat and straight. Maybe it's not the flattest in the state because it may have a rise and fall here and there, but on average it is extremely flat. SH-361 on Mustang Island and SH-87 on the Bolivar Peninsula are probably the flattest but are not as long.
Aside from the over/underpasses, Katy Freeway is pretty flat.
This being said, all you non-Texans out there, this is not an invitation for everyone not from here to talk about how flat Texas is. It mostly is not, but we do have some coastal plains that are very flat.
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on May 25, 2022, 10:39:31 AM
This being said, all you non-Texans out there, this is not an invitation for everyone not from here to talk about how flat Texas is. It mostly is not, but we do have some coastal plains that are very flat.
Texas doesn't have a Lord Carhorn uploading Youtube videos of flat roads and saying it's not flat, so no.
Quote from: SkyPesos on May 25, 2022, 05:43:32 PM
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on May 25, 2022, 10:39:31 AM
This being said, all you non-Texans out there, this is not an invitation for everyone not from here to talk about how flat Texas is. It mostly is not, but we do have some coastal plains that are very flat.
Texas doesn't have a Lord Carhorn uploading Youtube videos of flat roads and saying it's not flat, so no.
Western Texas definitely isn't flat, the Guadalupe Mountains come to mind as surprisingly high and varied. The Big Bend region has a lot going on terrain variance.
That said, it would be absolutely horrid to have a Carhorn variant out there with stereotypical Texas bravado mixed in.
Texas is flat. In fact, there is more flat land in Texas than any other state. Of course, since Texas is huge, there is plenty of not-flat land. But it is overwhelmingly flat.
Now Texans, we know you love your state, but please don't get into a slapfight of linking GSV images thinking you're going to prove that Texas isn't flat.
Quote from: thspfc on May 25, 2022, 06:06:52 PM
Texas is flat. In fact, there is more flat land in Texas than any other state. Of course, since Texas is huge, there is plenty of not-flat land. But it is overwhelmingly flat.
Now Texans, we know you love your state, but please don't get into a slapfight of linking GSV images thinking you're going to prove that Texas isn't flat.
No google street view, just my left knee that definitely needs surgery soon from all my marathon training runs around town that featured stretches that were nearly vertical plains. I still don't understand the flat claim. Even the flatter parts of the state have rolling hills.
Everyone cracks on the panhandle for being flat, yet it has Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the US.
South Texas comes the closest to being flat, but even that has rolling hills.
Southeast Texas has a reputation of being flat, but again, rolling hills.
There are other states in the country with miles of flatter land and for some reason the stigma sticks to Texas. I don't understand it. I have driven many miles in this state and I can't recall a single stretch of road outside the barrier islands that I would even entertain as flat.
I-80 through The Great Salt Lake Desert has to be the flattest.
Quote from: Terry Shea on May 27, 2022, 07:50:05 PM
I-80 through The Great Salt Lake Desert has to be the flattest.
The whole backdrop of mountains surrounding a sink the desert breaks the illusion. Really though, the whole Interstate System is pretty flat on the whole. There places hitting the 7% maximum gradient aren't exactly the rule.
The Ohio Turnpkie west of Toledo.
Alligator Alley in Florida maybe?
(disclaimer - have never traveled it - opted to use US 41 instead)
Quote from: Road Hog on May 24, 2022, 05:45:56 PM
I-55 has got to be the flattest interstate. It parallels the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis and then traverses Illinois, which is ... you know ...
The portion in Mississippi that diverts a bit from the river might have a little bit of slope here and there. And I know there are segments in Missouri south of the Cape that have a few rock cuts that aren't completely flat.
I-55 is pretty hilly between St Louis and Benton, MO. But south of Benton there's not another hill until Memphis. The only "hills" are the manmade highway overpasses.
Wisconsin can be a tricky one. Most of what I've seen in the southern part of the state isn't particularly flat, especially the further west you go. Here's my nominations though for entire highways:
WI-165
WI-129
Yeah, that's all I can muster up.
Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 31, 2022, 08:51:17 PM
Wisconsin can be a tricky one. Most of what I've seen in the southern part of the state isn't particularly flat, especially the further west you go. Here's my nominations though for entire highways:
WI-165
WI-129
Yeah, that's all I can muster up.
It's probably WI-165, and no coincidence that it's right near the IL border.
Utah 110 is probably the flattest signed state highway in Utah. It's a straight shot along the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake.
Really though, most urban routes in the west are up there. A lot of people will assume everywhere in the west is hilly simply because the west has bigger mountains, but it turns out the valleys between those ranges are also pretty big...and flat. You just don't think about it because half the time you can see the mountains in the background.
Quote from: thspfc on May 31, 2022, 11:08:39 PM
Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 31, 2022, 08:51:17 PM
Wisconsin can be a tricky one. Most of what I've seen in the southern part of the state isn't particularly flat, especially the further west you go. Here's my nominations though for entire highways:
WI-165
WI-129
Yeah, that's all I can muster up.
It's probably WI-165, and no coincidence that it's right near the IL border.
The central part of the state has some flat highways. WI 80 from Necedah to Babcock is flatter than a pancake. WI 173 and WI 54 in the same general vicinity are pretty flat as well.
Sometimes I feel like I can see the back of my own head driving on I-39 south of Stevens Point.
For Georgia, I-95 and US 17 probably take the cake, closely paralleling the coast throughout the state in an area that is overwhelmingly flat. The eastern part of I-16 is flat, but the western half or so has near-continuous rolling hills, closer to the Fall Line.
In Michigan, M-28 along the "Seney Stretch" between M-94 and M-77 is definitely in the running. You literally can lock your steering wheel straight ahead, and not have to move it for 23 miles. The only reason you can't see the other end is the earth's curvature. The MSP patrols this stretch hard; folks regularly hit triple-digit speeds here when it's not snowing.
M-35 between Menominee and Escanaba never gets more than a few feet above lake level and has no appreciable grade, though that one isn't arrow straight like the Seney Stretch.
I-75 in the eastern U.P. is also basically flat aside from the climb out of St. Ignace or Sault Ste. Marie, with just a couple areas in-between that might register as a slight grade. It's as remote an Interstate as you get this side of the Mississippi, which begs you to floor it.
Quote from: tchafe1978 on June 01, 2022, 12:22:01 AM
The central part of the state has some flat highways. WI 80 from Necedah to Babcock is flatter than a pancake. WI 173 and WI 54 in the same general vicinity are pretty flat as well.
Interesting. I did not know that about WI-80. I've only travelled it from the Illinois border to the Wisconsin River and most of that is anything but flat, so it doesn't qualify for the entire highway being flat.
Quote from: thspfc on May 31, 2022, 11:08:39 PM
Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 31, 2022, 08:51:17 PM
Wisconsin can be a tricky one. Most of what I've seen in the southern part of the state isn't particularly flat, especially the further west you go. Here's my nominations though for entire highways:
WI-165
WI-129
Yeah, that's all I can muster up.
It's probably WI-165, and no coincidence that it's right near the IL border.
That's not a valid reason because Kenosha CTH WG runs right on the IL/WI border and wasn't flat by any metric as proven by this video I took back in 2017 (probably should refilm this)
https://youtu.be/3E61SC_s60E
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 31, 2022, 02:42:05 PM
In honor of Illinois 1 being an award winning flat highway I thought that I pose a question to the group. What is the flattest signed highway in your area or state? Near me there are couple notably flat highway but the winner in California is likely CA 43. CA 43 essentially compromised of largely rail frontage roads along the BNSF line running east of the Tulare Lake bed. There are few hills of note and very little terrain variation along CA 43. Honorable mentions go to CA 137 and CA 45.
Quote from: SSOWorld on March 31, 2022, 01:54:38 PM
(https://i.imgflip.com/6aw6es.jpg)
I'd like to know the methodology behind this because looking at Google maps with the terrain layer enabled, you can see several stretches that aren't flat. A more accurate assessment could be made about IL21 through Cook County. It's flat all the way from Lincolnshire till it's end in Niles.
Quote from: Crash_It on June 01, 2022, 11:39:41 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 31, 2022, 02:42:05 PM
In honor of Illinois 1 being an award winning flat highway I thought that I pose a question to the group. What is the flattest signed highway in your area or state? Near me there are couple notably flat highway but the winner in California is likely CA 43. CA 43 essentially compromised of largely rail frontage roads along the BNSF line running east of the Tulare Lake bed. There are few hills of note and very little terrain variation along CA 43. Honorable mentions go to CA 137 and CA 45.
Quote from: SSOWorld on March 31, 2022, 01:54:38 PM
(https://i.imgflip.com/6aw6es.jpg)
I'd like to know the methodology behind this because looking at Google maps with the terrain layer enabled, you can see several stretches that aren't flat. A more accurate assessment could be made about IL21 through Cook County. It's flat all the way from Lincolnshire till it's end in Niles.
I consulted Wallethub given it is the only source of absolute fact.
IL-1 is my old stomping grounds. For a period of about 1½ years, I drove part of it pretty much every day. Ironically, it does have some gently rolling hills. In fact, when the milo turns color before harvest time, it's a beautiful drive–one of my favorites in the state, probably. The hills aren't exactly dramatic, nothing to write home about, but, considering that Illinois has so many flat highways, it actually doesn't make much sense to pick IL-1.
Below are some GSV shots just from south of Carmi. I had seven more, from between Carmi and Lawrenceville, but a browser error made me have to refresh the page, and I lost those links. It's not worth it to me to try and re-created the links. (I've never driven IL-1 between Lawrenceville and Chicago.)
1 (https://goo.gl/maps/vHZGwWFbQNcGMhmq9) | 2 (https://goo.gl/maps/f7NgHXparUirL3XD8) | 3 (https://goo.gl/maps/HhPUM6KfqEJGYCgZA) | 4 (https://goo.gl/maps/MkRcK8YiGbVQaFiRA) | 5 (https://goo.gl/maps/WKCiU65U96vLwgtZ6) | 6 (https://goo.gl/maps/3oosmPL4BNeCbmpJA)
The trick is that a lot of good candidates are long enough that they end up going through at least one hilly area. And a lot of the shorter highways are in hillier parts of the state. Something like IL-165 might fit the bill.
Quote from: kphoger on June 02, 2022, 09:44:45 AM
IL-1 is my old stomping grounds. For a period of about 1½ years, I drove part of it pretty much every day. Ironically, it does have some gently rolling hills. In fact, when the milo turns color before harvest time, it's a beautiful drive–one of my favorites in the state, probably. The hills aren't exactly dramatic, nothing to write home about, but, considering that Illinois has so many flat highways, it actually doesn't make much sense to pick IL-1.
Below are some GSV shots just from south of Carmi. I had seven more, from between Carmi and Lawrenceville, but a browser error made me have to refresh the page, and I lost those links. It's not worth it to me to try and re-created the links. (I've never driven IL-1 between Lawrenceville and Chicago.)
1 (https://goo.gl/maps/vHZGwWFbQNcGMhmq9) | 2 (https://goo.gl/maps/f7NgHXparUirL3XD8) | 3 (https://goo.gl/maps/HhPUM6KfqEJGYCgZA) | 4 (https://goo.gl/maps/MkRcK8YiGbVQaFiRA) | 5 (https://goo.gl/maps/WKCiU65U96vLwgtZ6) | 6 (https://goo.gl/maps/3oosmPL4BNeCbmpJA)
The trick is that a lot of good candidates are long enough that they end up going through at least one hilly area. And a lot of the shorter highways are in hillier parts of the state. Something like IL-165 might fit the bill.
Even north of there is some hilly terrain.. here's one example of just outside of Danville
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ko4aVqtNiPR17FZo8
I would probably award the trophy to Florida Highway A1A as the flattest highway
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rnsMSTzEsRsb25qb6