Highways with bad reputations

[golden eagle]

For many years, US 98 through south Mississippi used to be known as "Bloody 98" because of the high number of deadly accidents that used to occur. That reputation has died down (no pun intended) quite a bit since the stretch from McComb to the Alabama border was four-laned in the mid- to- late 90s. From what I've been told, a lot of the fatal accidents had to do with log trucks, whether it was accidents with the trucks or motorists passing around them and crashing into oncoming traffic.

Speaking of 98, it had a bad reputation for being a speed trap through Wilmer, AL. It even became a story on Inside Edition in the 90s.

[Takumi]

US 58 between Emporia and Franklin used to be known as the Suicide Strip for the same reason.

[Quillz]

CA-37 was also known as "Suicide Lane" due to poor design and being inadequate for modern traffic needs.

[US71]

About 20 or so years ago, there was a bumper sticker "I drive US 71 in Arkansas. Pray for me"

71 between Alma & Fayetteville has always had a bad rep: narrow, twisted, and steep. Lots of stories & legends of people getting killed on 71, including a UofA President back in the 1930's or 40's.

[Beltway]

The I-76 Surekill Expressway

aka Surekill Parking Lot

[corco]

US 287 between Laramie and Fort Collins has a horrible reputation as a road full of drunk college students going back and forth in the middle of the night- in reality there are so many cops on it in the middle of the night that if you drove drunk poorly (in such a way as to deserve a DUI) you'd probably get caught immediately.

[1995hoo]

Back in the early 1990s, AAA warned people to avoid I-295 in Florida after a series of shootings and other incidents involving concrete blocks and other objects being thrown of overpasses at motorists.

[KEVIN_224]

Suicide 6, a.k.a. US Route 6 in eastern Connecticut, especially between the end of I-384 in Bolton to near the Willimantic section of Windham.

[Interstate Trav]

CA 138 Pearblossom Highway has had a very bad reputation.

Before I-15 was built north of Baker CA, US 91, and US 466 were known as the Bloody Baker Grade climbing out of Baker.

[Roadmaestro95]

Don't forget these!
The Kamikaze Curve on I-81/I-86 in Binghamton, NY
The Highway of Death on the Conn Tpk.
I also think the BQE should be one of these "bad reputation" roads because if you make one bad turn on that arterial roadway you're as good as dead. And there are falling billboards on that death trap.

[hbelkins]

I-238. 

[NE2]

The George Wallace Tunnel. Oops, wrong type of reputation.

[mightyace]

Cleveland, OH: "Dead Man's Curve" on I-90 (Innerbelt) where is joins OH 2 (Shoreway) to head east.

Did I-270 around Columbus have a bad reputation after those shooting on the south part of the loop several years ago?

How about truck laden I-81 in Virginia?

I nominate I-40 in the Smokies due to the rock slides!

[NJRoadfan]

13 posts and nobody mentioned the worlds longest funeral procession aka the Cross Bronx Expressway. 

Reputation? Legendary. This road is known to be backed up Sunday mornings at the crack of dawn.

[vtk]

I've known certain NYC residents who believe NY 17 upstate is quite unsafe.  Would that be correct, outdated, or entirely fictional?

Did I-270 around Columbus have a bad reputation after those shooting on the south part of the loop several years ago?

Yes, and a widespread one at that. Many online friends asked me about that with concern.

[Alps]

I've known certain NYC residents who believe NY 17 upstate is quite unsafe.  Would that be correct, outdated, or entirely fictional?

Nothing I've ever heard of. The Saw Mill and especially the upstate Taconic Parkways get that reputation due to being very curvy - the Saw Mill can get flooded when it rains, and the Taconic has a lot of wildlife crossing at night with no lights. The Pulaski Skyway in NJ has a reputation due to left exits/entrances with no merge space and no shoulders.

[empirestate]

I-390 seems to be a haven for speed traps. Particularly between Exit 1 and the Steuben/Livingston county line, I will never drive a single mph above the limit. I have been ticketed once and, without hyperbole, am still waiting for the day I don't see a trooper running radar there. In days of yore, before the bump to 65mph limits, there would invariably be a Monroe County sheriff clocking you somewhere in the town of Henrietta (which doesn't have its own police force).

Matter of fact, the last trip I took between NYC and Rochester, on February 3rd, I saw more LEO's deployed along NY 17/I-86 than I have ever seen in all my previous journeys along the route combined. Was there some kind of coordinated sting out that day? I mean I literally saw fifty different bear traps between the Thruway and Broome County!

Then again, I have a habit of missing the notorious conditions on various roads...I've never really witnessed the famous congestion at Thruway Exit 24, and have found the Cross Bronx to be reliable on a Sunday morning (not to say it can't jam up then, but I've avoided it). So don't take my observations with more than a grain of salt!

[bugo]

Old OK 33 (now "Scenic" (Alternate) US 412 from Chouteau to West Siloam Springs.

[myosh_tino]

"Blood Alley"... there were two distinct blood alleys in Santa Clara County.  First was the Monterey Highway before the US 101 freeway was built between Cochrane Road and Blossom Hill Road.  It was 4 lanes with stop lights, a 50 or 55 MPH speed limit and at the time little or no center barrier.

The second blood alley was California 152 between US 101 and the Santa Clara/Merced County line.  This heavily travelled two lane highway had a notorious reputation for head-on collisions and fatal accidents.  Fortunately, the road was widened to 4 lanes from the 152/156 junction to the county line but it's still 2 lanes from the 152/156 junction to the Gilroy Foods complex just east of US 101.  While the number and frequency of fatal head-on accidents has fallen significantly, with the amount of truck traffic this road sees, accidents still regularly happen.

Another Bay Area highway that has a bad reputation is I-880, the "Nasty Nimitz".  I-880 is officially named the Nimitz Freeway but the local traffic reporters gave it the "Nasty Nimitz" moniker because it gets so congested during commute hours and a simple stalled car or fender-bender can back up traffic for miles.

[Roadmaestro95]

The Southern and the Northern State Parkways...the curves are the worst. And many cars speed on that road and they go flying.

[vtk]

The Southern and the Northern State Parkways...the curves are the worst. And many cars speed on that road and they go flying.

That reminds me of 315. Probably the curviest freeway in Columbus, and until several years ago, notorious for speeding.  Then enforcement was beefed up to break everyone's habit...

I have to wonder if there's some psychological effect that causes people to speed more on moderately curvy roads – adrenaline?

[Stephane Dumas]

Lots of bloody alleys here in Quebec.

-PQ-138 between A-40 end and Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, before a median barrier was installed.
-A-55 between Sherbrooke and Drummondville, when it was a super-2 (but there still a super-2 gap between Becancour and A-20
-PQ-175 in the Laurentides Park until, it was finally 4-laned.

However, there still A-50 with even the new gaps opened, as a super-2 mainly between Mirabel airport and Lachute

[cpzilliacus]

The (two-lane) segment of Md. 32 in Howard County and Carroll County between Sykesville and Md. 108 at Clarksville.   

[texaskdog]

US 666 in New Mexico that got changed in part because of all the accidents

[kurumi]

In the late 1970s on I-8 in El Centro, CA, I saw bumper stickers reading "I survived [state] highway 86."