Longest stretch of six-laned highways

[Truvelo]

You can clearly see the French influence in those Algerian pictures with the dotted shoulder markings. It must obviously be a colonial legacy.

One thing I hate with multi lane highways is to see the lane markings not parallel with each other. Only in the UK have I seen lane markings always parallel. When going around bends there should be smaller gaps between the markings on the inside lanes to compensate.

[rickmastfan67]

I-95 is basically at least 6 lanes from I-4 in Daytona Beach, FL to the GA-SC line with the exception of the I-10 interchange in Jacksonville mainly due to that construction.  One day it'll probably extend to the 6-lane section starting at I-85 due to increasing traffic but due to funding concerns that'll be years away 

Wrong.  There is still a 4-lane segment in GA.  From just North of Exit #29 to just North of Exit #58, they are currently working on upgrading that to 6-lanes each direction.

[74/171FAN]

I-95 is basically at least 6 lanes from I-4 in Daytona Beach, FL to the GA-SC line with the exception of the I-10 interchange in Jacksonville mainly due to that construction.  One day it'll probably extend to the 6-lane section starting at I-85 due to increasing traffic but due to funding concerns that'll be years away 

Wrong.  There is still a 4-lane segment in GA.  From just North of Exit #29 to just North of Exit #58, they are currently working on upgrading that to 6-lanes each direction.

I remember that now but driving through there going to Miami and back earlier this year was not fun seeing construction barrels for 30 miles.  In fact on the way back we got into congestion due to all that traffic heading north from Florida in the 4-lane segment 

[Alps]

I-287 is 6 lanes for all except about 10 miles from NJ-NY.  That's 59 continuous miles (62 or so if you include NJ 440 as a continuous freeway) and about 75 miles of the entire loop.  Any other non-2 digit Interstates (meaning - including US/state routes) that can beat that?

[Hellfighter]

I-96 between US-24 and M-8 is 12 lanes, if you the express and local lanes as one.

[froggie]

Any other non-2 digit Interstates (meaning - including US/state routes) that can beat that?

DC Beltway beats it on the "continuous" side.  Except for a very short bit of the Inner Loop right at the 270 merge, all 64 miles of I-495 has at least 3 through lanes in each direction.

Then you've got the 72 miles of I-405 around L.A....

[Scott5114]

I had thought Kansas City's I-435 would be a contender for this, but Missouri ruins it. North of MO-9 it is four lane, and through the Grandview Triangle it is four lane. Which means the longest stretch I know of is still a respectable 35 miles, which includes the entire portion of interstate in Kansas.

[haljackey]

The longest six-lane freeway may be in.... Algeria!

They are currently constructing a 1200 kilometer (750 mile) east-west freeway, and the completed parts in Google Earth (with recent imagery) all show 6 lanes. The Chinese are constructing that freeway.

[Pictures omitted. No need to make people scroll past them twice. -S.]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing it!  That's a nice high quality motorway!

A lot of people don't realize how developed North Africa really is, and these pictures really help show it!

You can clearly see the French influence in those Algerian pictures with the dotted shoulder markings. It must obviously be a colonial legacy.

One thing I hate with multi lane highways is to see the lane markings not parallel with each other. Only in the UK have I seen lane markings always parallel. When going around bends there should be smaller gaps between the markings on the inside lanes to compensate.

I agree.  I live in Canada and here the markings are parallel with each other, which makes sense to me.  However, whenever I travel to the USA, the markings are all over the place, and I need to ask why.

The only time you see them break away for the pattern around here is when you have an exit lane or when a lane ends:


...Or when the road breaks apart into several sections:


But, the main lanes remain constantly parallel.

[Duke87]

Another thought I had: CD roads.

Would a situation like this:

count as six continuous lanes?

[haljackey]

Another thought I had: CD roads.

Would a situation like this:

count as six continuous lanes?

I doubt it, because the outer lane is separated from the main road (carriageway).  Even tough the total number of lanes on the highway do not decrease, there are indeed a decreased number on the mainline.

[froggie]

Are the C/D roads fully controlled access?

If so, then yes that would technically count.

[roadfro]

I interpret the thread as referring to the number of through lanes provided on the mainline.  The C/D road is basically a glorified ramp used for exiting or entering separated from the through traffic, and isn't meant to be used by through traffic.

I would say C/D roads don't count.  Depends on your interpretation...

[froggie]

I interpret the thread as referring to the number of through lanes provided on the mainline.  The C/D road is basically a glorified ramp used for exiting or entering separated from the through traffic, and isn't meant to be used by through traffic.

There are two stretches of the DC Beltway, one of which involving the Wilson Bridge, where you have what could be considered C/D roads.  MD SHA considers the lanes through lanes.  The other being a recently upgraded stretch between MD 214 and MD 202 where they even posted signs saying "All Lanes Through" prior to the split.

[njroadhorse]

IIRC, the Garden State Parkway is mostly six lanes.

[Alps]

IIRC, the Garden State Parkway is mostly six lanes.

From MP 80 (US 9 jct) to MP 165 or so, yes.  Soon to be 63-165, and then 30-165 by 2014.

[english si]

Almost all of Britain's motorways are 6 laned.

Not true. After all, many bits are 8+-lane .

Being more serious, there are quite a few 4-lane bits - probably about 30 to 35% of the network. The idea that nearly all are 6-lane is a commonly-held mistake - the major motorways are 6-lane on the whole, but the not-so-major ones have quite a lot of 4-lane sections.

There's a few junctions with lane-drops, so three-lanes doesn't go through both ways. Northbound the M1 is entirely 3 or more lanes, however southbound it drops to 2 for a couple of hundred yards to help the 3 lanes from the M6 merge in. Therefore the longest stretches of 6-lanes on one road is something like 150 miles (if that).

From M1 j1 to M6 j32 is the longest (M1 to M6 ramp is 3-lanes wide and you have to go via the M6Toll due to possible problems with definitions on the M6 at j8 and j11a), and if they get that small gap filled, you can get to M74 j10, IIRC. That's a good 350 miles, if it weren't for the mile-long gap near the 200-mile point.

Not bad for a country where the longest sensible continuously-motorway journey (Dover-Greenock, IIRC) is only about 500 miles.

[wandering drive]

Another thought I had: CD roads.

Would a situation like this:
count as six continuous lanes?

I would.  If traffic was heavy enough along the freeway, enough traffic will pass straight through the C/D lanes that it might as well be an extra lane.