Most Prominent Roads Without a McDonald's

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I noticed I-394 across its length from I-494 to downtown Minneapolis doesn't have a McDonald's within easy-on, easy-off access. I was wondering about other major freeways or roads that don't have McDonald's along them. I'll let you decide what constitutes "along" a route, but criteria to think about could be "would it be on a logo sign" or "how far off a road would I drive for this if I both wanted it and wanted it to be convenient".

[golden eagle]

I-55 in Jackson (minus the concurrency with I-20) doesn't have a McDonald's within eyesight. There is one on MS 25 (Lakeland Drive) about a mile east.

[jp the roadgeek]

The real question is: Most Prominent Roads in New England Without a Dunkin

[Max Rockatansky]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

[Revive 755]

For Illinois it appears to be I-155.  I-255 could be added if the McDonald's off IL 157 northwest of I-255 interchange closes.

Not sure I-180 in Illinois would count as prominent enough to qualify.

[dlsterner]

FritzOwl's I-98?

[elsmere241]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

[Max Rockatansky]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

The interesting thing is that Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, Wendy's and Kentucky Fried Chicken are all present at least one plaza ok Florida's Turnpike.

[SkyPesos]

Interestingly Florida’s Turnpike doesn’t have a McDoanld’s at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

Some of Illinois Tollways's Oasis also have a McDonalds.

Looking at Ohio Turnpike's service plaza businesses, Sunoco is the main gas station (seems to be the case on the PA Turnpike next door too), Burger King is the main burger chain, and some other fast food joints there like Pizza Hut, Panera, Popeyes and Starbucks at various plazas. Wish Burger King gets replaced with Wendys though, mainly because the latter is better (also not so fun fact: Wendy's HQ is in Ohio).

[elsmere241]

I've tended to avoid turnpikes in my travels now that tolls are getting high, so I could have missed that.  My main route through the Midwest/East is 90 to 39 to 74 (or 80 to 74) to 265 to 70 to 79 to 68 back to 70.

[roadman65]

I-78 in New Jersey had no MacDonalds before I left in 1990.  In fact I-78 sucked for fast food and decent motels except for Exit 15 which had a Cracker Barrel and some diner at it.  The rest from Exit 15 into Newark had only some gas stations with convenience stores at them and Exit 49 had a Burger King on NJ 124, but that exit was EB exit only as it is today then.

[wanderer2575]

Looking at Ohio Turnpike's service plaza businesses, Sunoco is the main gas station (seems to be the case on the PA Turnpike next door too), Burger King is the main burger chain, and some other fast food joints there like Pizza Hut, Panera, Popeyes and Starbucks at various plazas. Wish Burger King gets replaced with Wendys though, mainly because the latter is better (also not so fun fact: Wendy's HQ is in Ohio).

I'm with you there.  I was just on the Ohio Turnpike tonight and stopped at a Burger King west of Cleveland, where I was served a burger on a stale bun and a patty so dry and cold it must have been sitting out for two days. 

Wendy's was supposed to be in the service plazas at mile 197 by end of 2021, and the plazas at mile 77 have Hardees.

[Rothman]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

You need to get out more.  NY Thruway has multiple McDonald's.

[US 89]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

You need to get out more.  NY Thruway has multiple McDonald's.

There is a McDonald's directly over I-44 at a service plaza on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Oklahoma. The Turner and Indian Nation turnpikes both have a plaza McD's as well.

[abefroman329]

I've tended to avoid turnpikes in my travels now that tolls are getting high, so I could have missed that.  My main route through the Midwest/East is 90 to 39 to 74 (or 80 to 74) to 265 to 70 to 79 to 68 back to 70.

If you ever stay on I-90 east of I-39, you'll go under a McDonalds Oasis near Belvidere, IL.

[vdeane]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

You need to get out more.  NY Thruway has multiple McDonald's.

For now at least, but not for long.

It seems Burger King is becoming the service plaza restaurant of choice for whatever reason.

[doorknob60]

This does not apply to the entirety of these routes, as there are some along ID-55 in Eagle/Meridian/Nampa, and of course US-95 is a very long highway with plenty in some areas, but it's worth mentioning I think. If you drive on ID-55 and US-95 north from Eagle, ID, you will not be near a McDonalds until Lewiston (and even then, it's across the river from US-95, but I'll call it close enough). That's about 260 miles of highway with no McDonalds, and generally limited fast food in general.

There are a handful of Subways along the route (Horseshoe Bend, Cascade, McCall, New Meadows, and Grangeville I believe). There is an A&W in New Meadows, and there is a Taco Johns in Grangeville. But that's it for national chains. The middle of Idaho is a very different place haha, very sparsely populated. Despite US-95 being a fairly important highway connecting some more significant cities like Boise/Nampa and Spokane/CDA, along with Lewiston and Moscow/Pullman.

[hbelkins]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

Kentucky only has one plaza, and I don't ever remember a McDonald's being there. The fast food place at the WK Parkway plaza when it closed down was Arby's, and I don't think a franchised place replaced it when the travel center opened back up as a Huck's.

As for major roads in Kentucky, the only McDonald's along the Bluegrass Parkway is at Bardstown, and it's not exactly right at the US 150 exit.

I was really struck by the lack of fast food places in general along US 2 in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. I would have expected one at Shelby, Mont., where US 2 crosses I-15 at a major access point to Glacier National Park, but there isn't one. The only one in the area along US 2 is in Cut Bank.

[Scott5114]

Interestingly Florida's Turnpike doesn't have a McDoanld's at any plaza. 

The only states where I've seen McDonald's at plazas are Kentucky and Connecticut.

You need to get out more.  NY Thruway has multiple McDonald's.

There is a McDonald's directly over I-44 at a service plaza on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Oklahoma. The Turner and Indian Nation turnpikes both have a plaza McD's as well.

The Kansas Turnpike has McDonald's at the Belle Plaine and Towanda plazas, a change that occurred after the Hardee's at Belle Plaine caught fire and burned down the whole plaza. I think Matfield Greene and Emporia still have Hardee's, though, and Topeka has always been a McDonald's.

[MATraveler128]

The Maine Turnpike portion of I-95 doesn't have any McDonald's at its service plazas. There are also no Dunkin Donuts there as was mentioned in Reply #3

[webny99]

A little different because it's not a freeway, but NY 286 has ZERO fast food chains - McDonalds or otherwise - along its entire 13-mile length. That has to be extremely rare for a primarily suburban/exurban state highway.

[tdindy88]

Interstate 469 around Fort Wayne had no McDonalds at any of the exits and its a good mile or so to the nearest one even from a couple of those exits.

Also, would the Chicago Skyway count since it lost that McDonalds in the median?

[JayhawkCO]

I-86 only has one at its last exit before merging with I-15.  None along the rest of it.

[Revive 755]

The Kansas Turnpike has McDonald's at the Belle Plaine and Towanda plazas, a change that occurred after the Hardee's at Belle Plaine caught fire and burned down the whole plaza. I think Matfield Greene and Emporia still have Hardee's, though, and Topeka has always been a McDonald's.

Not seeing McDonald's signed in Streetview for the Topeka plaza

[Scott5114]

The Kansas Turnpike has McDonald's at the Belle Plaine and Towanda plazas, a change that occurred after the Hardee's at Belle Plaine caught fire and burned down the whole plaza. I think Matfield Greene and Emporia still have Hardee's, though, and Topeka has always been a McDonald's.

Not seeing McDonald's signed in Streetview for the Topeka plaza

I think I got Emporia and Topeka switched; the McDonald's at Emporia is old enough that it has the red mansard roof. I usually exit the turnpike at Emporia, so I'm much less familiar with the turnpike north and east of there.