World's Kookiest Roads

[bing101]

http://www.weather.com/news/commuter-conditions/worlds-kookiest-weirdest-roads-20140520?cm_ven=FB_JK_71114_29

What do you think of this one


Ebenezer Place
Guoliang Tunnel
Magic Roundabout in Swindon, U.K.
9 de Avenue Julio

Lombard Street
Yungas Road in Bolivia
Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand
Stelvio Pass in the Italian Alps
Hanshin Expressway in Osaka Japan

[cl94]

Utah SR 261, more commonly known as the Moki Dugway. May be the weirdest state route. It looks crazy. https://goo.gl/maps/bmrjo

If you want steep city streets, there are quite a few in Pittsburgh that are considered some of the steepest in the world, outdoing Lombard Street. Craziest place I have ever driven.

[Roadrunner75]

If you want steep city streets, there are quite a few in Pittsburgh that are considered some of the steepest in the world, outdoing Lombard Street. Craziest place I have ever driven.

I'm taking a road trip to Pittsburgh in the near future, and I look forward to some steep streets.  If you have any suggestions, let me know. ...and I've driven Lombard so I'm up for topping it.

[oscar]

Waipio Valley Road, an unnumbered road on Hawaii's Big Island.  Its 25% three-quarter mile grade requires 4x4 with low range (AWD doesn't cut it), both to avoid brake failure on the way down and to climb back out of the valley.

For a different kind of "kooky", there's the Anton Anderson tunnel to Whittier, Alaska, a 2.5-mile long one-lane tunnel, with alternating phases for eastbound and westbound auto traffic, and Alaska Railroad trains (one of the photos on that page shows a train emerging from the east end of the tunnel).

[cl94]

I'm taking a road trip to Pittsburgh in the near future, and I look forward to some steep streets.  If you have any suggestions, let me know. ...and I've driven Lombard so I'm up for topping it.

Here are some links: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~abm/pgh_hills.html , http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steep.htm . Tons of tunnels and high bridges as well. Quite a few neighborhoods have steep streets. Beechview is the craziest, but other neighborhoods aren't too far behind. Most are straight. Canton Avenue, the steepest in America, is pretty nerve-wracking if you're driving a stick.

[billtm]

I found a cool website:

http://www.dangerousroads.org

[hotdogPi]

What about the roundabout in Paris with 12 exits?

[Roadrunner75]

I'm taking a road trip to Pittsburgh in the near future, and I look forward to some steep streets.  If you have any suggestions, let me know. ...and I've driven Lombard so I'm up for topping it.

Here are some links: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~abm/pgh_hills.html , http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steep.htm . Tons of tunnels and high bridges as well. Quite a few neighborhoods have steep streets. Beechview is the craziest, but other neighborhoods aren't too far behind. Most are straight. Canton Avenue, the steepest in America, is pretty nerve-wracking if you're driving a stick.

Thanks...I scoped them out.  I will try to hit some of them, but definitely Rialto as it appears to be open again, and would tie-in well with checking out the Route 28 work.  Brakes are in good shape, I have an automatic, and it's summer, so we should be good.

[1995hoo]

I'm taking a road trip to Pittsburgh in the near future, and I look forward to some steep streets.  If you have any suggestions, let me know. ...and I've driven Lombard so I'm up for topping it.

Here are some links: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~abm/pgh_hills.html , http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steep.htm . Tons of tunnels and high bridges as well. Quite a few neighborhoods have steep streets. Beechview is the craziest, but other neighborhoods aren't too far behind. Most are straight. Canton Avenue, the steepest in America, is pretty nerve-wracking if you're driving a stick.

Picture taken this afternoon (not by me, as I'm not in Pittsburgh). That's my brother attempting Canton Avenue on a bike. He made it two-thirds of the way up.

Edited to add: In a follow-up e-mail he just said the grass growing through the cobbles was brutal because it made his rear wheel spin.

[CtrlAltDel]

What about the roundabout in Paris with 12 exits?

I believe you are referring to the Place de l'Étoile. The problem with it is that it doesn't look particularly kooky. Driving it, however, is a whole other experience.

[jakeroot]

These aren't really strange roads at all. They are intelligent engineering decisions that made sense at the time of construction. Maybe I'm missing the joke...I've never liked the Weather Channel.

[Ga293]

Along that same vein, there's NM 159 to Mogollon, which has a sign warning drivers:

SHARP TURNS
STEEP GRADES
TRAILERS OVER
12 FT UNSAFE
________________
NIGHT TRAVEL
DISCOURAGED

[Roadrunner75]

I'm taking a road trip to Pittsburgh in the near future, and I look forward to some steep streets.  If you have any suggestions, let me know. ...and I've driven Lombard so I'm up for topping it.

Here are some links: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~abm/pgh_hills.html , http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steep.htm . Tons of tunnels and high bridges as well. Quite a few neighborhoods have steep streets. Beechview is the craziest, but other neighborhoods aren't too far behind. Most are straight. Canton Avenue, the steepest in America, is pretty nerve-wracking if you're driving a stick.

Picture taken this afternoon (not by me, as I'm not in Pittsburgh). That's my brother attempting Canton Avenue on a bike. He made it two-thirds of the way up.

Edited to add: In a follow-up e-mail he just said the grass growing through the cobbles was brutal because it made his rear wheel spin.

I got to drive two of the roads on the list in Pittsburgh this weekend - Rialto and Dornbush - both going down.  Many other really steep roads too...  Pittsburgh I found is a really nice city with a lot to see.  I also found their hidden secret - the Wabash Tunnel under Mount Washington.  It alternates inbound and outbound for the rush hours and is currently open to single occupancy vehicles with the Liberty Tunnel closure.  However, in 3 trips through the tunnel, I was the only car in it each time.  Meanwhile, the nearby Fort Pitt Tunnel (376) seems perpetually backed up.  I've read that this is typical and that it has very little traffic, due at least probably to the somewhat circuitous approach on the downtown side, with no direct bridge into town.

[ZLoth]

I drove CA-4 last week end-to-end. There is a section of CA-4 which is extremely curvy, has no center striping, and has steep drop-offs along the side with no guard rails.

Last fall, I drove CA-1 which is also twistly, and CA-29 which is also twisty and busy. But those two were a piece of cake compared to CA-4.

[SSOWorld]

Drive a section of CA-2 through the east side of the San Gabriel Mountains.  If you're not paying attention, you'll hit a tree that's right on the road's edge.  Much less the fact that there are numerous rocks all over that aren't cleaned up. Kooky?  Just negligence.

[AsphaltPlanet]

I did that portion of CA-29 last year out of Napa.  That was one of my favourite roads in that area.

The ample northbound passing lanes mean that the climb is very fast and fun.

[realjd]

If "kooky" means "interesting", the ocean road south of Sydney has some cool hills is very scenic, including the Sea Cliff Bridge:

[ET21]

South Dakota Route 87 (Needles Highway). Hard 180 degree, one lane, 10 mph turns