I'm in Texas and I drove TX-54 from the Guadlupe Mountains to Van Horn. Passed a total of 6 cars in a stretch of 55 miles on a very boring drive around noon in August 2002.
Doesn't sound like a major road.
Do you define "major road" to be any signed state route?
NJ 70/72/Southern end of Garden State Parkway in Nov/Dec around the holidays. Once the tourist season ends those roads become ghost roads. particularly the parkway south of atlantic city.
I had to head to cape may several times between thanksgiving and early Dec (aunt had to come up for thanksgiving, and then i had to help her move) and i saw barely any cars, even on a weekday on the parkway before christmas.
Another Runner Up would probably be NJ Route 35 during the off season as well.
I-15 in Arizona is very remote, serving maybe 99% interstate traffic. It does not connect to any other state-maintained route, as old US-91 is a county route.
From VDOT's traffic counts:
Least-traveled interstate segment: I-64 in Allegheny County (near West Virginia state line)
Florida's a big state, but I'll bet SR-9336 down in the Everglades is one of the least used state highways.
OK 325 up in the panhandle is pretty remote. OK 87 down in the SE corner of the state is pretty dead, too.
I would suggest focusing on Interstates,US routes and NHS routes because only 800,000 miles of 3-4 million miles of roadway carry more than 400vpd so most roads are very low volume and many states have very very low volmee state routes
This stat is from the book Road Ecology.
There are also about the same number of Interstate,US and State numbered highways
Traffic volmes on most of the US routes and NHS routes downstate range form under 1000 to 10,000 but are mostly in the 3-8000 range. In Chicago the arterial range is 10,000 to 60,000
Geez, there are so many little used roads here, but from a state highway standard, NM12 is a lightly used road, so much so that if you drive on it people in oncoming cars will wave at you! Maybe this is a new catergory "the friendliest road." US 60 in western NM and on into AZ has hardly any traffic on it, so little traffic that it can be a problem finding gas stations on it. The last time I was in Pie Town on US 60 both the cafes that gave the town its name were closed up.
I'd take a guess and say CA-266 is probably one of the more lightly traveled state routes. Only about 10 miles in length, begins and ends at the Nevada border, and its only connection to the rest of the state is via CA-168.
I've noted frequent waving on US-50 in Nevada (considered the Loneliest Road) and US-6 (even lonelier, actually). US-93 is similar in behavior, though not quite as lonely as 6.
in California, it may be 58 across the pass between McKittrick and Santa Margarita which has the lowest volume of any state route. but don't quote me on that - I had just been glancing through a 1995 list with all segments of all state routes, and the "25 vpd" number on a particular segment of 58 jumped out at me.
I-476 PA Turnpike NE Extension, north of the Dupont I-81 exit to the end at Clarks Summit...most people probably take the free option of I-81 around Scranton.
Quote from: realjd on July 28, 2011, 04:10:09 PM
Florida's a big state, but I'll bet SR-9336 down in the Everglades is one of the least used state highways.
In concert with FL 9336 is FL 905 which has the tolled ($1) Card Sound Bridge from the mainland to Upper Key Largo. Overwhelmingly, traffic prefers US 1, the Overseas Highway which is free.
I-75 north of Bay City, possibly excepting the Mackinac Bridge.
US-2, US-41 (especially north of Houghton-Hancock), and US-45 in the western Upper Peninsula.
U.S. 49 in Mississippi from Yazoo City to Silver City is quite remote in certain stretches.
Quote from: xcellntbuy on July 28, 2011, 07:09:21 PM
Quote from: realjd on July 28, 2011, 04:10:09 PM
Florida's a big state, but I'll bet SR-9336 down in the Everglades is one of the least used state highways.
In concert with FL 9336 is FL 905 which has the tolled ($1) Card Sound Bridge from the mainland to Upper Key Largo. Overwhelmingly, traffic prefers US 1, the Overseas Highway which is free.
905 is a county road.
Quote from: golden eagle on July 28, 2011, 09:54:31 PM
U.S. 49 in Mississippi from Yazoo City to Silver City is quite remote in certain stretches.
I was thinking of I-59, when it's not being used as an hurricane evacuation route.
Not in my state, but I once traveled US 350 in Colorado and passed about 4 or 5 other vehicles. One of the loneliest stretches of "major" road I've ever been on.
Here in Mississippi, I'd nominate US 61. I remember during the Katrina evacuation that people using that highway got to Vicksburg HOURS before anyone coming up I-55. It's still not a well-known route, yet it's four-laned from Vicksburg to Baton Rouge, except for a short segment at Port Gibson. Going north from Vicksburg it's four-laned to Redwood, then two-laned to Leland, four-laned to Memphis. The two-laned segment is particularly little-used, and it's delta flatland so you can see for miles, making it a viable option when travelling from here to Memphis - particularly if one likes to stay mostly away from large trucks.
Speaking of remote, there's a hamlet called Remote on SR 42 in Oregon. However the traffic through Remote, which has a small stretch of 4-lanes for passing just west of it, has a good amount of traffic so it's not so remote after all...LOL!
An Oregon joke: Why is Oregon so wet? Because it only has one Drain! That's the town where 38, 99 and a former segment of 99, which has since been demoted to a county road, meet up. At least Drain isn't Boring! (another small Oregon town up by PDX)
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on July 29, 2011, 01:41:08 AM
Speaking of remote, there's a hamlet called Remote on SR 42 in Oregon. However the traffic through Remote, which has a small stretch of 4-lanes for passing just west of it, has a good amount of traffic so it's not so remote after all...LOL!
There's also a hamlet called Hamlet, up near the junction of US 26 and OR 53. It was literally named because it was a hamlet, not as a reference to Shakespeare.
Quote
An Oregon joke: Why is Oregon so wet? Because it only has one Drain! That's the town where 38, 99 and a former segment of 99, which has since been demoted to a county road, meet up. At least Drain isn't Boring! (another small Oregon town up by PDX)
Why is Oregon so windy? Because California sucks and Washington blows! Please don't hurt yourselves laughing . . .
NY 12 north of Alexandria Bay is very little traveled outside of tourist season.
I doubt NY 812 south of Gouverneur (when not multiplexed with anything) sees much is the way of any traffic ever.
Originally from this area, another quiet road is the Columbia County, New York section of the Taconic State Parkway from Jackson Corners Road (Columbia Co. 2/Dutchess Co. 78) to the Thruway's Berkshire Spur Exit B2. "Deer Crossing" signs are to be respected with the wide grassy and often wooded median and the completely rural setting of the area.
Quote from: ftballfan on July 28, 2011, 09:41:38 PM
I-75 north of Bay City, possibly excepting the Mackinac Bridge.
US-2, US-41 (especially north of Houghton-Hancock), and US-45 in the western Upper Peninsula.
I will dispute your first three examples. A majority of the northbound Mackinac Bridge traffic turns off onto US 2. In fact, US 2 has so much traffic on it (relatively speaking) that I use M-123 to connect to M-28 to head home to Marquette County. US 41/M-28 is very heavily trafficked as well. I-75 north of Bay City may not be as busy as it is in the Detroit area, but it's hardly "little used" or "remote".
US 45 on the other hand, or US 141 north of Crystal Falls aren't going to have a ton of traffic. US 141 through there doesn't really run through any place of any population or join a larger traffic corridor together.
Would the James Bay Road count? Otherwise, QC has plenty of very remote primary highways in the northwestern part of the province.
I-25 north of Casper is pretty darn devoid of traffic. For US highways, I'd nominate US-50 and US-6 in Nevada, and US-12 in Montana between Forsyth and White Sulphur Springs.
Here in Texas, take your pick of just about any two-lane US highway south and west of Midland and San Angelo, and east of El Paso.
Quote from: bulldog1979 on July 29, 2011, 09:16:27 PM
Quote from: ftballfan on July 28, 2011, 09:41:38 PM
I-75 north of Bay City, possibly excepting the Mackinac Bridge.
US-2, US-41 (especially north of Houghton-Hancock), and US-45 in the western Upper Peninsula.
I will dispute your first three examples. A majority of the northbound Mackinac Bridge traffic turns off onto US 2. In fact, US 2 has so much traffic on it (relatively speaking) that I use M-123 to connect to M-28 to head home to Marquette County.
I-75 really doesn't drop below 10,000 vpd (average) until north of St. Ignace, where it drops down to about 4,000-5,000 vpd. That makes it a lonely stretch for Michigan, but certainly busy compared to I-25 in Wyoming.
US-41 between Houghton/Hancock and Calumet is quite busy as well. It's the only straight shot up the Keweenaw Peninsula, and it's a heavily-used commuter road.
Source: http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9622_11033_11149---,00.html
Quote from: JREwing78 on July 29, 2011, 11:49:23 PM
US-41 between Houghton/Hancock and Calumet is quite busy as well. It's the only straight shot up the Keweenaw Peninsula, and it's a heavily-used commuter road.
Source: http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9622_11033_11149---,00.html
Much of it has also been 4-laned since 1990.
CT 263, for sheer "This is a state highway!?" factor.
I mean, really, look at it. (http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.902706,-73.145512&spn=0.033474,0.084543&z=14&layer=c&cbll=41.902706,-73.145512&panoid=iyH1wIl2HwHKYCegOsVsLw&cbp=12,88.99,,0,8.86) Narrow, hilly, no shoulders... you'd swear it must be a local road if you didn't know better.
Quote from: Duke87 on July 31, 2011, 12:00:48 AM
CT 263, for sheer "This is a state highway!?" factor.
I mean, really, look at it. (http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.902706,-73.145512&spn=0.033474,0.084543&z=14&layer=c&cbll=41.902706,-73.145512&panoid=iyH1wIl2HwHKYCegOsVsLw&cbp=12,88.99,,0,8.86) Narrow, hilly, no shoulders... you'd swear it must be a local road if you didn't know better.
We have plenty of state roads like that in Kentucky!
I believe that SC 392 is a little used highway in South Carolina. It is in Ridge Spring.
I'd nominate US 30-287 from Laramie NW back around to I-80 near Sinclair...
When I drove this in June 2010 I passed more trains than I did cars. A section is 4 laned for reasons I cannot possible comprehend...it was nice, but totally empty.
Mapmikey
Quote from: Mapmikey on July 31, 2011, 09:55:50 AM
I'd nominate US 30-287 from Laramie NW back around to I-80 near Sinclair...
When I drove this in June 2010 I passed more trains than I did cars. A section is 4 laned for reasons I cannot possible comprehend...it was nice, but totally empty.
I think it was thought that I-80 might follow this route, so it was 4-laned in anticipation of that, but then the decision was made to build the new-terrain freeway to the south, leaving the overbuilt, underused highway you took.
There's actually a decent amount of traffic on that- not anywhere near enough for that four lane stretch, but still a decent amount. It's kind of a feeder route- Laramie to Casper traffic uses it, Rawlins/SLC to Wheatland and South Dakota traffic uses it, Laramie to Wheatland and South Dakota traffic uses it.
If you're heading north from Laramie or Rawlins you use 30/287 to either 34 or 487 rather than going all the way to Cheyenne and using I-25
Especially on weekends there are a lot of college students on that stretch of road heading from Laramie back to Casper.
When I say lots of traffic I mean relative to Wyoming- 30/287 has a lot of traffic compared to most other roads in non-tourist trap Wyoming, but that's still little traffic relative to the rest of America.
Quote from: Brandon on July 30, 2011, 07:23:04 AM
Quote from: JREwing78 on July 29, 2011, 11:49:23 PM
US-41 between Houghton/Hancock and Calumet is quite busy as well. It's the only straight shot up the Keweenaw Peninsula, and it's a heavily-used commuter road.
Source: http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9622_11033_11149---,00.html
Much of it has also been 4-laned since 1990.
"Much" is stretching it a bit. There's a 2-mile "Passing Lane" section by the Houghton County airport, and then the Quincy Hill climb out of Hancock (formerly 2 lanes uphill, 1 lane down).
It's still fundamentally a 2-lane route, and if MDOT can't be brought to 4-lane the entire stretch of US-127 between M-50 in Jackson and US-12 (clocked at 16,000 vpd in 2009), it sure as hell isn't 4-laning the entire Calumet-to-Hancock stretch of US-41 (5800 vpd).
From Michigan:
US-2 between Iron River and Wakefield
US-23 between Rogers City and Cheboygan
US-41 north of Calumet
US-45
US-141 north of Crystal Falls
M-25 along the Thumb
M-28 west of US-41
M-36 west of Pinckney (630 AADT for one stretch in southwestern Livingston County!?!)
Quote from: Duke87 on July 31, 2011, 12:00:48 AM
CT 263, for sheer "This is a state highway!?" factor.
I mean, really, look at it. (http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.902706,-73.145512&spn=0.033474,0.084543&z=14&layer=c&cbll=41.902706,-73.145512&panoid=iyH1wIl2HwHKYCegOsVsLw&cbp=12,88.99,,0,8.86) Narrow, hilly, no shoulders... you'd swear it must be a local road if you didn't know better.
Reminds me of US 11 south of the Onondaga Indian Reservation and NY 79/PA 92/PA 171 along the Susquehanna.
Quote from: corco on July 31, 2011, 11:05:40 AM
There's actually a decent amount of traffic on that- not anywhere near enough for that four lane stretch, but still a decent amount. It's kind of a feeder route- Laramie to Casper traffic uses it, Rawlins/SLC to Wheatland and South Dakota traffic uses it, Laramie to Wheatland and South Dakota traffic uses it.
If you're heading north from Laramie or Rawlins you use 30/287 to either 34 or 487 rather than going all the way to Cheyenne and using I-25
Especially on weekends there are a lot of college students on that stretch of road heading from Laramie back to Casper.
When I say lots of traffic I mean relative to Wyoming- 30/287 has a lot of traffic compared to most other roads in non-tourist trap Wyoming, but that's still little traffic relative to the rest of America.
and of course both US routes must stay on that route instead of just one
Quote from: bulldog1979 on July 29, 2011, 09:16:27 PM
Quote from: ftballfan on July 28, 2011, 09:41:38 PM
I-75 north of Bay City, possibly excepting the Mackinac Bridge.
US-2, US-41 (especially north of Houghton-Hancock), and US-45 in the western Upper Peninsula.
I will dispute your first three examples. A majority of the northbound Mackinac Bridge traffic turns off onto US 2. In fact, US 2 has so much traffic on it (relatively speaking) that I use M-123 to connect to M-28 to head home to Marquette County. US 41/M-28 is very heavily trafficked as well. I-75 north of Bay City may not be as busy as it is in the Detroit area, but it's hardly "little used" or "remote".
US 45 on the other hand, or US 141 north of Crystal Falls aren't going to have a ton of traffic. US 141 through there doesn't really run through any place of any population or join a larger traffic corridor together.
I'm thinking that the part of US 2 on either side of US 45 is the most remote (feeling) drive in the entire State of Michigan. Straight, highly-engineered, extremely light traffic and a seemingly never-ending world of nothing but trees, trees and more trees. And did I say trees?
(All of those 'Fictional Highway' posters should keep that in mind regarding a potential I-route across far-northern Wisconsin and the western YuPee of Michigan!)
As for Wisconsin, US 2 east of Ashland is a very lonely drive. And for a remote, lonely and highly scenic state highway drive, try the east-west part of WI 13 north of US 2.
Mike
Quote from: realjd on July 28, 2011, 04:10:09 PM
Florida's a big state, but I'll bet SR-9336 down in the Everglades is one of the least used state highways.
I was thinking SR 2 in Baker County. It is isolated from the rest of the Florida State Road System. It changes to GA 94 on both ends
There are lots of remote state highways in Nevada, so it's hard to figure out which would be the least used without looking at traffic counts. My guess would be one in either the northern or central parts of the state, especially one which spurs from another highway to end at a tiny town or site.
Looking at US routes as more "major" roads: Contrary to US 50 being "The Loneliest Road in America", I'd make the guess that US 6 is Nevada is the least used highway. Particularly the section between Tonopah and and SR 318 west of Ely, which has no active towns directly on it and only about three state highway junctions in a stretch well over 100 miles.
Quote from: roadfro on August 01, 2011, 07:00:49 PM
There are lots of remote state highways in Nevada, so it's hard to figure out which would be the least used without looking at traffic counts. My guess would be one in either the northern or central parts of the state, especially one which spurs from another highway to end at a tiny town or site.
Looking at US routes as more "major" roads: Contrary to US 50 being "The Loneliest Road in America", I'd make the guess that US 6 is Nevada is the least used highway. Particularly the section between Tonopah and and SR 318 west of Ely, which has no active towns directly on it and only about three state highway junctions in a stretch well over 100 miles.
at least they could sent it west through Yosemite so it served a purpose
Quote from: mgk920 on August 01, 2011, 01:11:01 PM
Quote from: bulldog1979 on July 29, 2011, 09:16:27 PM
Quote from: ftballfan on July 28, 2011, 09:41:38 PM
I-75 north of Bay City, possibly excepting the Mackinac Bridge.
US-2, US-41 (especially north of Houghton-Hancock), and US-45 in the western Upper Peninsula.
I will dispute your first three examples. A majority of the northbound Mackinac Bridge traffic turns off onto US 2. In fact, US 2 has so much traffic on it (relatively speaking) that I use M-123 to connect to M-28 to head home to Marquette County. US 41/M-28 is very heavily trafficked as well. I-75 north of Bay City may not be as busy as it is in the Detroit area, but it's hardly "little used" or "remote".
US 45 on the other hand, or US 141 north of Crystal Falls aren't going to have a ton of traffic. US 141 through there doesn't really run through any place of any population or join a larger traffic corridor together.
I'm thinking that the part of US 2 on either side of US 45 is the most remote (feeling) drive in the entire State of Michigan. Straight, highly-engineered, extremely light traffic and a seemingly never-ending world of nothing but trees, trees and more trees. And did I say trees?
(All of those 'Fictional Highway' posters should keep that in mind regarding a potential I-route across far-northern Wisconsin and the western YuPee of Michigan!)
Mike
That's why mine was along M-28.
M-28 west of Covington isn't exactly a high-traffic roadway either. It does see more traffic, but I wouldn't expect any kind of 4-lane setup through here in at least the next 50 years.
US-2 between Iron River and Wakefield ranges from 750 to 1600 vehicles per day (vpd), 90 to 140 of them being commercial vehicles.
M-28 between Covington and Wakefield ranges from 1300 to 2200 vpd, 120 to 190 of them being commercial.
Source:
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9622_11033_11149---,00.html
I think you're going to see WisDOT extend the US-51 or US-141 4-lane stretches to the UP before MDOT builds any new 4-lanes. That includes along the busy sections of US-2 from Iron Mountain to Manistique or on US-41/M-28 west of Ishpeming.
I can easily see MDOT someday (yea, someday...) building four lanes on US 2 between I-75 and US 41 (west), including an interstate-compatible bypass of the Escanaba-Gladstone area, and on US 41 south of US 2 with an interstate-compatible bypass of Menominee, but nowhere else in Da YuPee.
Mike
4 lanes doesn't seem to be an MDOT priority.
For Minnesota, my guesses for least heavily traveled state highway would be either MN 65 between MN 1 and Littlefork or one of the many 200-level spur routes connecting trunk highways to small towns. For Wisconsin, I would guess either WI 77 between Clam Lake and WI 13 (since what little traffic goes to/from Mellen often takes County GG instead) or WI 27 between Hayward and Iron River.
They didn't even pave MN-65 thru Nett Lake until a few years ago. Yeah I took GG went I came home from Ironwood, too.
Quote
An Oregon joke: Why is Oregon so wet? Because it only has one Drain! That's the town where 38, 99 and a former segment of 99, which has since been demoted to a county road, meet up. At least Drain isn't Boring! (another small Oregon town up by PDX)
Why is Oregon so windy? Because California sucks and Washington blows! Please don't hurt yourselves laughing . . .
[/quote]
:-D :-D :-D :clap: :clap:
Quote from: xcellntbuy on July 29, 2011, 04:58:32 PM
Originally from this area, another quiet road is the Columbia County, New York section of the Taconic State Parkway from Jackson Corners Road (Columbia Co. 2/Dutchess Co. 78) to the Thruway's Berkshire Spur Exit B2. "Deer Crossing" signs are to be respected with the wide grassy and often wooded median and the completely rural setting of the area.
Dutchess 78 once you get near Tivoli and former NY 402 is rather busy. I wouldn't call it remote along any stretch.
Quote from: jwolfer on August 01, 2011, 02:52:21 PM
I was thinking SR 2 in Baker County. It is isolated from the rest of the Florida State Road System. It changes to GA 94 on both ends.
I clinched that, via GA 94 to the north. I think maybe three cars passed me going the other way on FL 2. I didn't pull out to pass a single car along the way. Nothing much along that route, either.
SR 29 in Collier county is quite sparse from US 41 to I-75, also south to its terminus at Chokoloskee (technically, CR 29 out there). There's many near-empty signed county roads I won't count.
Quote from: jemacedo9 on July 28, 2011, 06:40:13 PM
I-476 PA Turnpike NE Extension, north of the Dupont I-81 exit to the end at Clarks Summit...most people probably take the free option of I-81 around Scranton.
Perhaps, but the auxiliary toll roads around Pittsburgh probably have even less traffic. The Mon-Fayette is still lightly traveled (although counts may go up once the highway is finished as one continuous segment) and the Southern Beltway only connects PA 60 and US 22. Of course, these roads won't get much traffic unless the Mon-Fayette is ever connected to Pittsburgh and the Southern Beltway is completed to I-79
SR-20 in Washington over Sherman Pass is pretty remote and desolate. I drove over it on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend a few years back and only passed a single car.
Quote from: MASTERNC on August 07, 2011, 02:45:28 PMPerhaps, but the auxiliary toll roads around Pittsburgh probably have even less traffic. The Mon-Fayette is still lightly traveled (although counts may go up once the highway is finished as one continuous segment) and the Southern Beltway only connects PA 60 and US 22. Of course, these roads won't get much traffic unless the Mon-Fayette is ever connected to Pittsburgh and the Southern Beltway is completed to I-79
Using the 2009 AADT data:
Toll I-376: 11,000 (US 422 - PA 108), 8,700 (PA 108 - I-76), 11,000 (I-76 - PA 51)
Turnpike 43: 2,600 (Exit 2 - US 119), 8,000 (Exit 15 - Exit 22), 2,600 (Exit 30 - Exit 36), 11,000 (Exit 36 - Exit 39), 1,100 (Exit 39 - Exit 44), 750 (Exit 44 - 54)
Turnpike 66: 14,000
Turnpike 576: 40,000
The last seems like an error, or else traffic has really skyrocketed since I was last on it in 2007.
Quote from: PAHighways on August 08, 2011, 08:51:16 PM
Quote from: MASTERNC on August 07, 2011, 02:45:28 PMPerhaps, but the auxiliary toll roads around Pittsburgh probably have even less traffic. The Mon-Fayette is still lightly traveled (although counts may go up once the highway is finished as one continuous segment) and the Southern Beltway only connects PA 60 and US 22. Of course, these roads won't get much traffic unless the Mon-Fayette is ever connected to Pittsburgh and the Southern Beltway is completed to I-79
Using the 2009 AADT data:
Toll I-376: 11,000 (US 422 - PA 108), 8,700 (PA 108 - I-76), 11,000 (I-76 - PA 51)
Turnpike 43: 2,600 (Exit 2 - US 119), 8,000 (Exit 15 - Exit 22), 2,600 (Exit 30 - Exit 36), 11,000 (Exit 36 - Exit 39), 1,100 (Exit 39 - Exit 44), 750 (Exit 44 - 54)
Turnpike 66: 14,000
Turnpike 576: 40,000
The last seems like an error, or else traffic has really skyrocketed since I was last on it in 2007.
It may be an error, but 576 is actually part of the quickest way to Pittsburgh International Airport from Weirton, Steubenville, and even Wheeling. In fact, 576's northern end is pretty much the entrance to Pittsburgh International Airport.
Quote from: ftballfan on August 08, 2011, 10:38:52 PMIt may be an error, but 576 is actually part of the quickest way to Pittsburgh International Airport from Weirton, Steubenville, and even Wheeling. In fact, 576's northern end is pretty much the entrance to Pittsburgh International Airport.
I know. (http://www.pahighways.com/toll/PATurnpike576.html)