Stretches of Highway That Are Difficult to Clinch for Your Travel Patterns

[JayhawkCO]

I got this idea from the "Natural Clinches You've Missed" thread.

What stretches of highway are very difficult for you to travel upon given where you live and where you normally drive to?

I'll give my examples to clarify.  During my driving life, I have lived mainly in Kansas City and Denver.  My parents live in St. Augustine, FL.  Especially during college and through most of my 20's, I would drive to their house at least a couple times a year from Lawrence, KS.  I would always try to alter my route, not necessarily because I was into clinching at the time, but just to see something different.  There were two stretches of highway that I could never seem to route myself on in such a way that made any sense:

I-65 between Mobile and Montgomery
I-59 for most of its length, but specifically between Meridian and Chattanooga (or thereabouts)

Obviously driving in a generally southeasterly direction, any route that runs almost perfectly SW-NE I found impossible to route onto without adding multiple hours to my route.  Given that I don't know anyone nor have anything in particular that I would like to visit along those highways, I am guessing that they will remain unclinched for quite some time for me.  Do you all have any that just don't make sense for your travel patterns?

Chris

[Max Rockatansky]

Pretty much everything I haven't finished around Los Angeles since when I head east I generally try to avoid the area.  San Diego and all the border routes sans I-8 are equally in unfavorable clinch regions for me.

[SkyPesos]

I haven't used I-65 between Indianapolis and Louisville at all yet, but I used the section north of Indianapolis and section south of Louisville many times. That's because of where I live at.

And I have never used the section of I-76 between I-80 and I-70, but used both sides of I-76 from that segment. From Cincy to NYC, the best routings are either I-71/70/78 or I-71/80, and I used both routings before. The former routing involves the PA Turnpike, and the latter involves the free section of I-76 in Ohio.

A section in the Cincinnati metro area I've been on before, but normally difficult for me to get a use out of is I-74 between I-275 and I-75. Since I'm in around the Mason area of Cincinnati, I would use either I-275 or Reagan Hwy to get to I-74 west towards Indy.

[I-55]

I-74 west of Champaign/Urbana. As I've said before, I see no reason why I'd ever be near Peoria

[thspfc]

I'll almost certainly never end up clinching I-41 or I-94 in WI without setting out to do specfically that, because of the stretch in Racine and Kenosha counties. I can't think of a reason why I would drive first to Milwaukee, then to Chicago instead of just going straight to Chicago.

[webny99]

I had a similar idea with a thread I started back in 2018. I titled it "Nearest Freeway Segment You've Never Driven", but as you can see from my OP in that thread, I was thinking along these same lines.

This thread obviously includes some that are further away as well, but I suspect most that fit are going to be fairly close to home.

[roadman65]

I-85 is something I would have trouble living in Florida as it goes from mid Alabama and east and NE. I-95 is the road to go for where I-85 N Bound. I-75 for Atlanta or I-77 for Charlotte. I-73 is for the NC Piedmont regions and I-40 for Durham.

[oscar]

For me, I-169 in south Texas. My normal cross-country trips are all well north of there, not venturing much south of I-10. And I venture much less often into Mexico than Canada, so I-169 is more out of my way than the New England states or North Dakota. I plan to ultimately clinch I-169 when it's finished, but otherwise it's too far out of the way for me.

The Pacific Northwest is another weak spot for my travels, losing out to California as my usual Pacific coast road trip destination. Last time I was there was on my mega-road trip of summer 2017, a year when I went to 45 states.

[ran4sh]

I have used I-26 between Spartanburg and Columbia before, but certainly not while I have lived in Georgia. Similarly I have no use for I-59 north of Birmingham, or I-77 south of Charlotte.

I-85 is something I would have trouble living in Florida as it goes from mid Alabama and east and NE. I-95 is the road to go for where I-85 N Bound. I-75 for Atlanta or I-77 for Charlotte. I-73 is for the NC Piedmont regions and I-40 for Durham.

But I-73 isn't even complete?

[JayhawkCO]

I had a similar idea with a thread I started back in 2018. I titled it "Nearest Freeway Segment You've Never Driven", but as you can see from my OP in that thread, I was thinking along these same lines.

This thread obviously includes some that are further away as well, but I suspect most that fit are going to be fairly close to home.

It's funny though.  Closer to home for me, there really aren't any.  I suppose from here, I would say maybe I-40 between Albuquerque and Amarillo since it's quicker for me to take US287, but I've already clinched that segment (when I was 6 years old).  Out west, there are less diagonal highways, and the only ones that are are useful from my direction (I-84, I-15).  I-86 I had to go out of the way to get the first time I drove it, but it makes some sense for me to travel Denver-Kemmerer, WY-Pocatello-I-86-Parts NW without being too far off the normal direction of travel.

Chris

[webny99]

This thread obviously includes some that are further away as well, but I suspect most that fit are going to be fairly close to home.

It's funny though.  Closer to home for me, there really aren't any. ...  Out west, there are less diagonal highways, and the only ones that are are useful from my direction (I-84, I-15).

Yeah, it's true that there are fewer diagonal highways out west. Several of my examples (I-86 between NY 36 and I-390, the Thruway between Henrietta and Victor) are caused by diagonal highways.

I'd still be surprised if you couldn't find any examples in your home region. From Aurora, I would think parts of E-470 and I-76 would fit in spirit even if you have managed to clinch them.

[NWI_Irish96]

I-74 west of Champaign/Urbana. As I've said before, I see no reason why I'd ever be near Peoria

That and I-39 south of Rockford were two routes I had to take trips specifically for clinching. I was never going to just end up on those roads.

[JayhawkCO]

This thread obviously includes some that are further away as well, but I suspect most that fit are going to be fairly close to home.

It's funny though.  Closer to home for me, there really aren't any. ...  Out west, there are less diagonal highways, and the only ones that are are useful from my direction (I-84, I-15).

Yeah, it's true that there are fewer diagonal highways out west. Several of my examples (I-86 between NY 36 and I-390, the Thruway between Henrietta and Victor) are caused by diagonal highways.

I'd still be surprised if you couldn't find any examples in your home region. From Aurora, I would think parts of E-470 and I-76 would fit in spirit even if you have managed to clinch them.

I suppose the two best examples from my current house would be the Northwest Parkway and I-76 between I-70 and I-270.  That said, when in the Denver metro, I haven't always lived in Aurora, so I would have had those be the quickest way to somewhere.

Chris

[Jim]

Just looking in my own state and only at interstates, I-390 south of Letchworth SP is my only missing chunk in upstate.  The angle at which is runs doesn't help me much and I expect I'd need to set out with specific intent to drive it rather than working it in as a reasonable alternative on the way somewhere.

[1995hoo]

For me, there are various roads in southeastern and southwestern Virginia that just don't fit in any practical way unless, as others have noted, I were to set out specifically to drive those roads (unlikely as a practical matter due to the distance involved). I-77 north of I-81 is an excellent example: I've driven it south of I-81 on football trips to Charlotte, and I've driven the West Virginia Turnpike portion (and a little bit east of there to where it meets I-79), but the portion in between I-81 and I-64 is just a segment that there is very little reason for me ever to use because if I'm passing near that road, I'm either heading south towards North Carolina or west out I-64 (and, in the latter case, now that I've clinched I-64, I'd be more likely to use Corridor H, as I did on our most recent trip to Ohio last October).

A few Interstates in far western North and South Carolina and far eastern Tennessee fall into this category as well–the I-26 corridor from Columbia all the way up to its end in Tennessee is one (yes, I know some parts are technically "Future I-26," which is why I said "the I-26 corridor"), as is I-40 between I-81 and the Asheville area. They're both simply too far out of the way to be realistic. I'd really like to use the I-26 corridor between Asheville and I-81 sometime because I hear it's scenic, but for a trip south to Florida it simply doesn't make sense. Maybe I could try that if we went to the Grove Park Inn for a long weekend sometime, but it's still a long way via that route, and since I've clinched I-81 I don't generally have a huge appetite for driving large portions of that road in Virginia if I can go via a different route I haven't yet clinched or one that has less traffic. (Edited to add: I just measured out a trip to the Grove Park Inn and I'm mildly surprised to see that using the I-81 to I-26 corridor route is three miles shorter than the I-95/I-85/I-40 route. Detouring via I-77 north to I-64 would add an hour.)

Closer to home, there are a huge number of Maryland state routes that don't fit in because there's no reason to be going in that direction due to the roads ultimately not going anywhere. I'm thinking of Southern Maryland east of US-301. The only time in the past 30 years that I've driven into that part of the state was a drive to Leonardtown for a funeral a few years ago. The roads just don't connect to anything. I use US-301 from time to time as an alternative to I-95, but east of there the roads ultimately dead-end down at Point Lookout. I'd like to go down there sometime when the weather is nicer, though.

[JayhawkCO]

For me, I-169 in south Texas. My normal cross-country trips are all well north of there, not venturing much south of I-10. And I venture much less often into Mexico than Canada, so I-169 is more out of my way than the New England states or North Dakota. I plan to ultimately clinch I-169 when it's finished, but otherwise it's too far out of the way for me.

The Pacific Northwest is another weak spot for my travels, losing out to California as my usual Pacific coast road trip destination. Last time I was there was on my mega-road trip of summer 2017, a year when I went to 45 states.

I think probably any E-W highway in the RGV would probably qualify.  It's awfully long way from almost everywhere.  When planning how I wanted to come back from my parents' house last time, I debated heading down there to knock out I-2 and "The 69's", but it added darn near 8 hours to my already pretty long trip.  I'll get there eventually.

Chris

[SEWIGuy]

I would have had all US Highways in Wisconsin clinched about five years before I did, but was missing parts of US-12 in Eau Claire.  (Between I-94 and US-53).  You would think that an obscure section of rural highway would have been the hold up, but no...

[CoreySamson]

I think for me I-49 between Lafayette and Shreveport is a perfect example for this thread. If I need to go to NE Louisiana for any reason, I'll take US 59 or even US 96 to get there.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Pretty much anything to the west of the Mississippi in Minnesota. The north is my playground but to change it up I'll go into bluff country (southeast) sometimes.

https://travelmapping.net/user/region.php?units=miles&u=thehighwayman3561&rg=MN

[kphoger]

The turnpike, between the Kellogg and I-135 exits.

[TheGrassGuy]

* I-78: had Exit 17 (NJ 31, Clinton) to Exit 14C (Liberty Science Center) down for a long time (since my childhood ), and later completed everything west of that en route to Gettysburg, PA. But I never use the Holland Tunnel for traveling by road into NYC (only road crossings into Manhattan I've ever used are the GW Bridge and the Hamilton Bridge)... too slow
* GSP: remaining sections include Exits 127 (NJ 440, Woodbridge) to 142 (I-78, Union), 148 (CR 506 SPUR/CR 509, Bloomfield/Glen Ridge) to 159 (I-80, Saddle Brook), and 163 (NJ 17 North, Paramus) to the end
* US-202 in New Jersey: sections I have yet to take are NJ 10 to CR 511, I-287 Exit 47 to NJ 23, the other end of the NJ 23 multiplex to the Burger King in Oakland, and finally W Ramapo Ave to the NY border
* I-95 in New Jersey: never drove the eastern end of the PA turnpike; yes this was part of I-95 before the reroute
* NJ 36: all but one mile in Sea Bright... probably would've been even more had my parents not accidentally passed the turn-off to Sandy Hook when I was a youngster
* MD 295: MD 295 does lead into Baltimore, does it?
* DC 295: idk about this one too, does it count as clinching if you've always got off at 1B-C? Is the stretch between the wyes considered I-295 or DC 295?
* I-87 (NY): was just trying to clinch the Thruway, so never made it past Exit 13 onto the Deegan
* I-190 (NY): been to Niagara Falls twice in my life: once when I was a kid and once when I was not a kid; bypassed Buffalo both times and no regrets
* ON 420: oh, forgot to mention I took the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge in and the I-190/ON 405 bridge out both times too

[deathtopumpkins]

I-81 north of Scranton.

Long Island (until I made a deliberate weekend out of clinching it).

New Jersey east of the Turnpike and south of the Outerbridge Crossing.

The VA Northern Neck and Calvert and St Mary's Counties, MD.

[citrus]

From the Bay Area: I-5 between I-580 and I-205, and on a more macro scale, most of the stretch between I-580 and I-505 (though I'm on the stretch between I-205 and CA-4 every once in a while). I've clinched most of the Bay Area freeways, even those that I wouldn't encounter without specifically looking for them, but I'm still missing CA-4 west of CA-242.

When I lived in San Diego: the E-W freeways of the Los Angeles area (CA-91, CA-60, I-10, I-210), especially between I-15 and I-215.

When I lived in Southern RI: I-91 south of I-90, I-90 east of Worcester, I-84 east of Hartford, and I-395 were all close-by interstates that were hard to pick up without going for them, specifically.

[hbelkins]

I have driven on all of these routes, but they are not normally part of my travel patterns.

I-75 between Richmond and London. If I'm going south on 75, I get on at London. If I'm going north, I will get on either at Richmond or Lexington. I don't have cause to drive the segment between Richmond and London very often these days.

I-65 between Shepherdsville and Elizabethtown. If I'm going south on 65, I hit it at E-town. When I visit my relatives in Shepherdsville, I come around I-265 to I-65.

A short segment of I-71 between Carrollton and US 127. If I'm at my brother's and we're headed to Louisville, we take KY 227 to Carrollton. If we're headed to the Cincinnati area, we use 127.

I-64 between Mt. Sterling and Grayson. I wore this road out when I was in college at Morehead, as the best route from home to there was to go to Mt. Sterling and then take I-64. Now, there's a better and more direct route to Morehead, and the best routes for me to hit I-64 are either KY 7 or US 23 north. I would have substituted Winchester from Mt. Sterling, but I'll often travel between those two towns.

[Rothman]

None.  I will drive out of my way to clinch anything now.