Longest Distance Between Freeway Exits in Urban/Suburban Areas

[webny99]

Excluding toll roads:

What are some unusually long stretches of freeway without an exit in an area that could reasonably be described as urban or suburban? And is this the result of suburban growth in a previously rural area, an interim exit simply not being needed for whatever reason, or something else?

One that I find rather crazy is I-71 heading north from Columbus. Two miles north of I-270, there's a combined interchange at Polaris Pkwy/Gemini Place. Then north of that, there's a 9-mile stretch with no exits, all the way up to US 36 at Berkshire. The area surrounding this stretch, especially the southern half, is increasingly suburbanized, and access to I-71 from these areas is pretty poor as a result. I'd say an interim interchange is more than warranted at this point.

Closer to home, the 6-mile stretch of NY 481 between US 11 and NY 31 seems unusually long. But there is a lone off-ramp to Caughdenoy Rd, so that's kind of cheating, at least northbound.

What others can you think of?

[webny99]

What are some unusually long stretches of freeway without an exit in an area that could reasonably be described as urban or suburban? ...

One that I find rather crazy is I-71 heading north from Columbus. Two miles north of I-270, there's a combined interchange at Polaris Pkwy/Gemini Place. Then north of that, there's a 9-mile stretch with no exits, all the way up to US 36 at Berkshire. The area surrounding this stretch, especially the southern half, is increasingly suburbanized, and access to I-71 from these areas is pretty poor as a result. I'd say an interim interchange is more than warranted at this point.

Well, perhaps I spoke too soon. The present 9-mile gap will soon be reduced by about a mile as the standard diamond at US 36 gets expanded to encompass a new interchange at the to-be-built Sunbury Parkway. Not exactly what I was thinking for an interim interchange, but hey, I'll take it. 

I was through there yesterday and noticed that tree clearing had been done next to where the new interchange will be. Phase A is what they are doing first.

[mgk920]

Isn't it about five miles between I-465 and the first interchange to the northwest on I-74 in Indianapolis?  I know that INDOT did not put interchanges on that section to prevent premature development of that area.

Mike

[NE2]

7 miles at the north end of I-275 FL.

[webny99]

Isn't it about five miles between I-465 and the first interchange to the northwest on I-74 in Indianapolis?  I know that INDOT did not put interchanges on that section to prevent premature development of that area.

Yes, it looks to be just shy of 5 miles, but I'm sorry to say the strategy of preventing development looks to have been an abject failure. There's now suburban sprawl as far east as Pittsboro, a full 12 miles west of I-465.

[webny99]

Also the north end of I-279 in Pittsburgh. 5 miles from the last exit to I-79, and 6.5 miles from the last I-279 exit to the next I-79 exit (PA 910). Passing through decently dense suburbia, too.

[michravera]

7 miles at the north end of I-275 FL.

For a number of years there were no exits between CASR-160 (Freeport) and Hood-Franklin Rd along I-5 in Sacramento. It was roughly the same 7 miles, if I recall correctly. Exits in South San Jose, even today, are far enough apart so as to make the bottom exit on a three-line advance sign 10+ miles.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MSP doesn't have a lot of great examples of this. I-494 on the west side has a couple 3-mile intervals, between TH 7 and TH 62 (Exits 13-16) and Rockford Road and Bass Lake Rowd (Exits 23-26).

[Dirt Roads]

It depends upon what you define as a "freeway exit", but I was always amazed by the distance on the Ohio Turnpike between I-71 and I-77.  If you exclude the service plazas, it is about 11.5 miles between those two exits.  Always thought that an exit for OH-3 in between was a no-brainer for the future, so maybe this won't stand forever.

[mgk920]

Isn't it about five miles between I-465 and the first interchange to the northwest on I-74 in Indianapolis?  I know that INDOT did not put interchanges on that section to prevent premature development of that area.

Yes, it looks to be just shy of 5 miles, but I'm sorry to say the strategy of preventing development looks to have been an abject failure. There's now suburban sprawl as far east as Pittsboro, a full 12 miles west of I-465.

 That section of I-74 is much older than the current interchange at I-465, it originally fed directly into the major surface street (Crawfordsville Rd) with a conventional cloverleaf interchange at I-465.  The two were completely separated in the rebuild.(It was redone exactly as I would have done it.  Was I-74 originally planned to continue all the way through the city and downtown?). The 'sprawl' development has been going on since the 1960s/1970s.

Mike

[webny99]

It depends upon what you define as a "freeway exit", but I was always amazed by the distance on the Ohio Turnpike between I-71 and I-77.  If you exclude the service plazas, it is about 11.5 miles between those two exits.  Always thought that an exit for OH-3 in between was a no-brainer for the future, so maybe this won't stand forever.

I did exclude toll roads because longer distances between exits are so much more common on toll roads. And also when you get into longer distances, it becomes trickier to characterize the entire length as "urban/suburban".

I will hand it to you that your Turnpike example seems to be pretty clearly suburban the whole way. The Thruway is usually a lot more questionable on the longer stretches - like the 16-mile stretch heading east out of Buffalo, which starts suburban but is clearly rural by the time you get to Pembroke, or the 12-mile stretch between Henrietta and Victor, which is a mix of suburban and exurban but still feels rural from the Thruway.

[thenetwork]

It depends upon what you define as a "freeway exit", but I was always amazed by the distance on the Ohio Turnpike between I-71 and I-77.  If you exclude the service plazas, it is about 11.5 miles between those two exits.  Always thought that an exit for OH-3 in between was a no-brainer for the future, so maybe this won't stand forever.

An interchange on the Turnpike at either SR-3/Ridge Road or SR-94/State Road was once considered about 40 years ago when the OTC was starting to add new exits to their original 16.  I cant recall why it never came to fruition -- maybe because the parallel roads on either side of the Turnpike were too close (Akins Road and Valley Parkway) and would have been greatly affected.

[thenetwork]

Excluding toll roads:

What are some unusually long stretches of freeway without an exit in an area that could reasonably be described as urban or suburban? And is this the result of suburban growth in a previously rural area, an interim exit simply not being needed for whatever reason, or something else?

One that I find rather crazy is The

Excluding toll roads:

One that I find rather crazy is I-71 heading north from Columbus. Two miles north of I-270, there's a combined interchange at Polaris Pkwy/Gemini Place. Then north of that, there's a 9-mile stretch with no exits, all the way up to US 36 at Berkshire.

In the early 80s, prior to all of the Polaris development, there were NO exits between I-270 and US-36/SR-37.  Back then, Suburban Columbus was more or less "fenced in" by the Outerbelt with few exceptions.

[doorknob60]

Not as long as some of the examples here, but there are two notable areas in the Boise area, significant enough that you feel the distance when driving in the area. They're far enough away that the surface streets near the interchanges that you do get, feel extra congested.

1. I-84 between ID-55/Eagle Rd in Meridian, and Franklin Rd (via 184) or Overland/Cole Rd in Boise. I am not counting the freeway interchange at I-184 itself, looking at the distance between access to surface streets. Either way, it's about 4 miles. All three interchanges have a ton of development around them (including big box stores, hotels, etc.), with lots of traffic of course. The entirety of West Boise (anything along the Maple Grove, Five Mile, or Cloverdale corridors) feels pretty disconnected from the freeway. And even in some ways, feels pretty disconnected from the rest of the metro area. Like, from where I live in Boise, it's easier to get to most of Meridian than to get to parts of West Boise. Five Mile seems like a great place for an interchange in between, but ITD has said that it's too close to the I-84/I-184 interchange to build one there. There is some truth to that, you'd probably want some C/D ramps to filter the traffic in that case. But it would change traffic flows in the area a lot.

2. I-84 between Exit 29 in Caldwell and Exit 33 in Nampa. Despite the 4 difference in exit numbers, it's almost exactly 5 miles. To the south of the freeway is fairly developed suburbia. On the north side, it's quickly filling in with new housing. The traffic on the surface streets surrounding Exit 33 is awful, so it can be a real pain not having an alternate to the west. Ustick Rd would be an excellent place for an interchange between the two, but I'm not aware of any serious plans to add one (and nearby development, including the Caldwell Airport, could be an obstacle).

There's also a 4 mile gap between Ten Mile in Meridian, and Garrity in Nampa. But that area is not very developed yet (though that's quickly changing). And more importantly, a new interchange with ID-16 (including access to Franklin Rd) should be opening within a couple years to fill that gap.

[jp the roadgeek]

A former toll road, but the Merritt Parkway (CT 15) "no exit zone" is 5 1/2 miles between current Exit 42 and 44 (future 21 and 27)

[DTComposer]

7 miles at the north end of I-275 FL.

For a number of years there were no exits between CASR-160 (Freeport) and Hood-Franklin Rd along I-5 in Sacramento. It was roughly the same 7 miles, if I recall correctly. Exits in South San Jose, even today, are far enough apart so as to make the bottom exit on a three-line advance sign 10+ miles.

That sign is on US-101 northbound at Dunne Avenue in Morgan Hill. It lists:
Cochrane Road - 1½
Coyote Creek Golf Drive - 5
Junction (85) - 10½

This sign was placed in 2016 as a direct copy of the previous sign - but the Bailey Road interchange was built in 2004, so the sign should actually be:
Cochrane Road - 1½
Coyote Creek Golf Drive - 5
Bailey Avenue - 7

So there's no gap of bigger than 3½ miles in what's a rural/greenbelt stretch between Morgan Hill and San Jose.

[bassoon1986]

I would invite some  debate on this one. I-10 on the east side of New Orleans. 6.5 miles between Michaud Blvd and US 11 (because of National Wildlife Refuge immediately east of New Orleans. And 6.7 miles between US 11 and Oak Harbor Blvd in Slidell because of the small crossing of Lake Ponchartrain there.

Slidell is definitely considered suburbs to New Orleans. And 6 lanes of I-10 busy on any day through there.

I can't remember what thread but remember seeing on here recently about a 9 mile stretch in Louisville KY suburbs. On I-64 just east of I-265. Not sure how suburban that is at that point.

[Henry]

For Chicagoland, the longest non-Tollway interval is 5 miles on I-80 (from I-355 in New Lenox to US 45 between Mokena and Tinley Park).

[roadman65]

I-4 from CR 557 and US 27 in Polk County, FL. About 6 miles between the two points that are close to Disney.

Then 9 miles in Volusia from SR 44 to US 92.

Considering now I-4 is all suburban these stretches only remain due to environmental sensitive areas to disallow development.

[thenetwork]

Heading south out of Downtown Cleveland on I-71, once you pass the left & right exits for SR-176 and the US-42/Fulton Road Exit, you need to go about 5 miles until the next exit -- West 130th St.

[RZF]

Southern California (urbanized coastal basin portion that's not desert):

US 101 in Ventura between PCH (State Beaches exit) and Seacliff
I-5 near Camp Pendleton between Harbor and Las Pulgas