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[sprjus4]

For an upcoming trip between Norfolk, VA and Dallas, TX split over two days with one stop in between, I had a few different routes in mind that all relatively take the same amount of time, however I'm unsure what would be the most preferred route...

The different routes are -

US-58 to I-95 to I-20 - 19h 49m, 1,376 miles
I-64 to I-81 to I-40 to I-30 - 19h 59m, 1,369 miles
US-58 to I-85 to I-40 to I-30 - 20h 12m, 1,361 miles

I'm leaning towards I-64 to I-81 to I-40 to I-30 mostly because I've not driven that route before and it would allow me to clinch those highways, whereas I'm leaning away from the US-58 to I-95 to I-20 routing as I've taken that route a few times in the past, along with the part east of Atlanta at least a dozen times.

Is there anything that I should know about the northern route, such as common chokepoints, heavy traffic areas, etc.? Would it be easier to take the I-20 routing because of less traffic, etc.?

[1]

I thought you preferred I-87.

[sprjus4]

I thought you preferred I-87.

What?

[1]

I thought you preferred I-87.

What?

Two of the three options are US 58 to I-95/85, Beltway's preferred routing.

[sprjus4]

I thought you preferred I-87.

What?

Two of the three options are US 58 to I-95/85, Beltway's preferred routing.

US-58 -is- the preferred routing today.

I-87 isn’t even built yet. A highway exists in its corridor, but it’s not an interstate and half of it is only 55 mph. The existing US-17 / US-64 corridor is 15-20 minutes slower without I-87, so it’s not preferred. Once I-87 is built in 20-30 years, it would all be 70 mph and in my case the more preferred routing then, but that’s not the case today.

Now, back to the actual OP.

[paulthemapguy]

If you're going for efficiency, 58-85-20 might be the best way to go.  58-95-20 wouldn't be a bad way to go, either--you could clinch the majority of 20 that way.  40 has that northern jog through the Appalachians which might add a small amount of extra time if you took US64 or something like that.

[hbelkins]

Truck traffic on I-81, how incredibly boring I-40 is between Nashville and Little Rock...

[froggie]

A few considerations in favor of I-20, depending on your preferences:

- Less overall truck traffic on I-20 versus I-40 and I-30 (especially Knoxville-Texarkana).
- Less overall topography along I-20...I-40 has some notable hill/ridge climbs west of Hickory and between Knoxville & Nashville.
- Fewer (and/or smaller with the exception of Atlanta) major population centers along I-20 versus I-40...so less urban traffic.

Of course, if you really want to clinch I-40, then take I-40...

[SP Cook]

64 to Lexington, KY - local roads to Blue Grass Parkway - BGP to its end- I-65 for one exit to Western Kentucky Parkway - WKP to its end - I-24 to Purchase Parkway - Purchase Parkway to Tennessee line, continue on US 51 to I-155 over the Mississippi to I-55 - I-55 to I-40 at West Memphis, AR - I-40 to Little Rock - I-30

[hbelkins]

64 to Lexington, KY - local roads to Blue Grass Parkway - BGP to its end- I-65 for one exit to Western Kentucky Parkway - WKP to its end - I-24 to Purchase Parkway - Purchase Parkway to Tennessee line, continue on US 51 to I-155 over the Mississippi to I-55 - I-55 to I-40 at West Memphis, AR - I-40 to Little Rock - I-30

I've sworn that if I ever have need to travel to Memphis or west again, I'll take the Kentucky parkways and US 51. I'll deal with the traffic lights in Union City over the massive stretch of truck-infested boredom that is I-40.

[epzik8]

Based on hbelkins' reply, I would go with I-20.

[clong]

Don't forget that I-20 thru Birmingham is closed downtown, so if you are needing that for a clinch, you won't be able to do so until early next year.

I-459 (the signed detour) is a little busier than normal, but seems to be handling everything well.

[ce929wax]

I'm not too familiar with this part of the country, but it seems to me that if you were going to take I-20, the logical way to go would be I-64 to I-81 to I-40 to I-75 to I-24 to I-59 to I-20, which in my head seems more of a straight line than going US 58/I-95/I-20.

When I went to Dallas from Knoxville, I-75, I-24, I-59 to I-20 in Birmingham.

[plain]

I just want to say that outside of the endpoints and the fancy overpasses in Texarkana, most of I-30 is LAME AS FUCK.

[sprjus4]

For clinching purposes, I ended up going I-64, I-81, I-40, and I-30. Luckily, did not run into any major delays anywhere on the route, and the truck traffic wasn’t a huge issue, the occasional micro-passing, but that’s all.

I-20 is a route I’ve taken a few times already, so I figured I’d try a new routing, and at least this particular trip, it wasn’t that bad.

[retiredtrpguy]

64 to Lexington, KY - local roads to Blue Grass Parkway - BGP to its end- I-65 for one exit to Western Kentucky Parkway - WKP to its end - I-24 to Purchase Parkway - Purchase Parkway to Tennessee line, continue on US 51 to I-155 over the Mississippi to I-55 - I-55 to I-40 at West Memphis, AR - I-40 to Little Rock - I-30

Totally agree with this route -- I've driven to Dallas from the mid-Atlantic many times, and enjoyed this route the most.  Definitely beats I-40 across most of Tennessee.  The one detour I did and greatly enjoyed was I-40 across AR to Ft Smith and then south thru the mountains of SE OK, then over to US 75 into Dallas metro.  Longer but more scenic than I-30 thru SW AR and NE TX.