Incredible examples of "This is all one road."

[Tarkus]

Here's a really surprising one in Oregon.  SW Barnes Road is an arterial roadway that runs through the Cedar Mill and West Haven-Sylvan areas west of Portland, and north of Beaverton.  While Barnes Road actually does have a spot where you have to turn to stay on it, at the intersection where OR-217 starts, and the bus ramp to Sunset Transit Center splits off, once you've made that turn to head eastbound . . . you can go almost to California without turning.



Barnes Road, of course, curves onto West Burnside Road right before the Multnomah County line and the Portland City Limits.  Burnside bounces from being a "Road" to a "Street", back to a "Road", and changes cardinal directions four times ("East" once crossing the Willamette on the Burnside Bridge, then "Northwest", "Northeast", and "Southeast" while in Gresham), but remains a continuous road, and at the east end of Gresham, just so happens to line up directly with . . . US-26. 

One can take US-26 without a turn all the way to Madras, where it merges with US-97.  Here, it splits into a one-way couplet--still technically not technically a "turn".  While US-26 veers off toward Prineville south of Madras, continuing straight ahead puts one right onto US-97.  And one can take US-97 without turning all the way down to the interchange between US-97 and US-97 BUS/OR-39 (Crater Lake Parkway) in Klamath Falls.  The main US-97 is accessed via an exit, so staying straight ahead puts one onto the Crater Lake Parkway, which ends at the intersection with South 6th Street in Altamont, in unincorporated Klamath County. 

That's 302 miles, from an unassuming suburban arterial north of Beaverton, onto two major cross-state US highways to the entire other side of Oregon, without a turn.

It's worth noting that the reverse doesn't quite work, because of the screwiness of the Burnside/Couch couplet in Portland.

-Tarkus

[NWI_Irish96]

If you start at the intersection of IN 3 and US 6 in Kendallville, head south on IN 3, and never turn:

IN 3 from Kendallville to Fort Wayne
US 27 from Fort Wayne to Liberty
IN 101 to Brookville
US 52 to near West Harrison
Old US 52 to West Harrison
State Street through West Harrison
Jennison Rd to Bright

173 miles

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I have a competing view on the roundabout thing, in which I consider to continue on the route that would be straight through if the circle wasn't present. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to get even close to 100 km (let alone 100 miles) here in Spain without using a freeway.

Scrap this, I have managed to break the 100 km mark without hitting any roundabouts in Spain. The route ends at one, though. Also accomplishes the requirement of having more than one name (number, actually) by going through several TOTSOs.

[jay8g]

Here's another Seattle one. It starts as a residential minor arterial in Sumner, runs as West Valley Highway parallel to SR 167, then turns into SR 99 all the way through Seattle (including the tunnel) and the northern suburbs, and eventually ends as a residential non-arterial in north Everett. At 62 miles, it's not too long, but it's still a bit surprising to me.

[US 89]

Here's a fun one for Utah. At a random spot in the foothills of southwestern Utah County, two dirt roads come together at a fork and form a section-line gravel road known as 12800 West. After a few miles, it becomes paved, and shortly thereafter it crosses US 6 and becomes SR 68. That continues north along the west side of Utah Lake before entering the Wasatch Front urbanized area, where it becomes known as Redwood Road. It then follows that all the way through Salt Lake County and several miles into Davis County until it hits 500 South in West Bountiful. SR 68 turns east there, and the road dead-ends a few hundred feet past that.

At 72 miles, it's not incredibly long... but it is the only surface street to traverse the length of Salt Lake County without a single turn, and the cool part is that the majority of it is under a single name. Even for the parts that aren't officially named Redwood, you'd be understood if you used that name for them (except maybe way down past the US 6 junction in Elberta).

https://goo.gl/maps/etC9mg93svHnqr1E7

[bing101]

Click image to view on Google Maps

33.4 mi

Not shocking to see this one when I-680 is jammed at peak hours.

[jlam]

117 miles in Wyoming from Rawlins to Casper:
3rd Street - US 287 - WY 220 - CY Ave - 9th Street - Milton Avenue
tinyurl.com/2dchpfh5

[NWI_Irish96]

Should've thought of Meridian Street myself...

The other direction lasts 49 miles and takes over an hour.

There's a movement in that routing through Trafalgar that should disqualify that particular routing, having to turn off of SR 135 and then turn off of SR 252 to get to County Road 300 West. However, if one stays on SR 135 through Trafalgar and Morgantown the roadway continues as SR 252 all the way to Martinsville, clocking in at virtually the same distance and time.

https://goo.gl/maps/ApLRH2GQmWqHKVVJ9

Another one of the Indy area that I actually drove myself all in one setting: 96th Street outside of Fortville, to Fall Creek Parkway, to Emerson Avenue and to Smith Valley Road. One road from Fortville to Greenwood, 40 miles and one and a half hours.

https://goo.gl/maps/3t9GYNqQNiSTzku68

Here's another one that involves Indy: Start at the intersection of IN 114 and 17 in Fulton County. Go south on IN 17, and by going straight you end up on IN 25, IN 329, IN 29, US 421, Michigan Rd, MLK St, West St, and finally Bluff Rd ending at IN 37 in Perry Twp. Total of 96 miles.

From looking at older maps, it appears that the original alignment of ran on Bluff Rd south from Harding St and you could continue straight all the way to downtown Martinsville.

[Occidental Tourist]

113 miles from Barstow, CA to Yucca Valley primarily using old Route 66, SR-18, and SR-247.

[TheGrassGuy]

Found an incredible example in Xiamen, China, augmented by the construction of a new tunnel. The end I marked with an arrow has a stub, by the way, so it will probably extend even longer in the future.

(Also, for some reason, probably censorship-related, dragging the route to change it no longer works in China.)

[paulthemapguy]

Leaving Oklahoma to the east on US60 and going straight takes you onto MO-59, then I-49, then US71, then I-35, then I-80 east into Illinois, then I-74 southeast to I-465 in Indianapolis.

Leaving I-94 west from Port Huron or Detroit leads you to transfer onto I-80, then I-294, then I-94 again, then I-43 north out of Milwaukee to end at US41 in Green Bay.

Heading west on I-70 in south-central Illinois causes you to cross I-55 onto I-270, then I-255 back north forming a full loop around St. Louis, then IL-255 and US67 north to Macomb.

[TheGrassGuy]

Zhejiang S1 - G92 - Zhejiang S2 - G60 - Humin Elevated Road - Caoxi N Road - Hengshan Road - Baoping Road - Changshu Road - Huashan Road - Wuning S Road - Wuning Road - G2/G42 - G42 - Huning Connecting Line - Zhongshan E Road - Hanzhong Road - Hangzhongmen Street

Ningbo - Hangzhou - Shanghai - Suzhou - Wuxi - Changzhou - Nanjing. 652.7 km, 8 hr 11 min.

[TheGrassGuy]

[HighwayStar]

What are some extraordinary long routes you can take without turning, that involve lots of different roads? (Dalton Highway for example doesn't count. Most limited access highways don't either.)

Sorry if this is a weird topic.

Actually, it's not a weird topic and highlights a pet peeve of mine.  There are a lot of newer highways and roads (particularly here in the South) that have developed into major arterials, but involve a "sine salad" of [obsolete] route numbers and hop-along routes.  Some of these do jump onto bypasses around small cities, so they won't necessarily qualify as "extraordinary long routes you can take without turning". 

Some not-so-great examples in this part of the country:

North Carolina
     Charlotte to Albemarle to Richfield (NC-24/NC-27//US-52) - 50 miles
Virginia
     Norfolk/Portsmouth to Smithfield to Rushmere (VA-164/US-17//VA-10), portions connecting to Norfolk may not qualify - 31 miles
South Carolina
     Cheraw to Bennettsville to Conway to Marion (SC-9//SC-38//US-501) - 57 miles

Be careful saying that, people might think you want to renumber roads to reflect 100 years of construction and changes 

[CapeCodder]

Route 28 from the intersection of Main Street and Iyannough Road to downtown Chatham is labeled as Main Street.

[Dirt Roads]

Be careful saying that, people might think you want to renumber roads to reflect 100 years of construction and changes 

Guilty as charged.  Most folks on this forum want to renumber the roads where they want them to go.  I would prefer that they be numbered where they are already going (and not so much where they used to go).  That being said, I'm still a history buff.

[HighwayStar]

Be careful saying that, people might think you want to renumber roads to reflect 100 years of construction and changes 

Guilty as charged.  Most folks on this forum want to renumber the roads where they want them to go.  I would prefer that they be numbered where they are already going (and not so much where they used to go).  That being said, I'm still a history buff.

My renumbering aspirations are to update the system to reflect changes and also correct inconsistencies, but that is a very unpopular position for some reason.

[TheGrassGuy]

check this out

[hobsini2]

Starting at Wis 114 & 55 in Harrison, following Wis 55, US 151, and Washington St, 104 miles later puts you at the steps of the State Capitol in Madison.
https://goo.gl/maps/hPLXUCfCJnGSfhbd6

[hobsini2]

Question. What if the road has a roundabout but you would be continuing straight prior to a roundabout being built? Does that count as a turn or is that an exception?

[hobsini2]

Over 415 miles.
Starting in La Crescent MN at I-90 & US 14/61...
US 14 EAST/61 SOUTH
MN 16 WEST to Hokah
MN 44 SOUTHWEST to Prosper
US 52 NORTHWEST to Inver Grove Hts
MN 55 NORTHWEST to Minneapolis
MN 62 WEST to US 212
US 212 WEST to Montevideo
US 59 NORTH
MN 7 EAST to a roundabout with Victoria Dr in Minnetrista.
If you continued without the roundabout,
MN 7 to MN 100 & 7 before ending at Excelsior Blvd & 31st St in Minneapolis for another 20 miles.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Over 415 miles.
Starting in La Crescent MN at I-90 & US 14/61...
US 14 EAST/61 SOUTH
MN 16 WEST to Hokah
MN 44 SOUTHWEST to Prosper
US 52 NORTHWEST to Inver Grove Hts
MN 55 NORTHWEST to Minneapolis
MN 62 WEST to US 212
US 212 WEST to Montevideo
US 59 NORTH
MN 7 EAST to a roundabout with Victoria Dr in Minnetrista.
If you continued without the roundabout,
MN 7 to MN 100 & 7 before ending at Excelsior Blvd & 31st St in Minneapolis for another 20 miles.

The bolded technically involve deviating from the main alignment.

[Evan_Th]

1947 km, mostly on the Trans-Canada Highway, from British Columbia to Saskatchewan:  https://goo.gl/maps/PMPuAAfcpJCqfUaz7

[ElishaGOtis]

Panhandle of Florida has an interesting one from Fort Walton Beach to Tallahassee. Most of the route is on SR-20, but on either end of the roadway, things get interesting.

In Fort Walton Beach, the roadway starts out as Eglin Pkwy (SR-85), then turns into SR-397 before passing through the gate for Eglin Air Force Base. The corridor then winds its way around the base on a strange divided pattern before leaving the installation in Valparaiso. Upon approaching Niceville as John Sims Parkway, SR-397 terminates and joins SR-85 again. SR-85 then splits off as SR-20 begins, which continues to Tallahassee before it becomes SR-366 and terminates at FSU.

https://goo.gl/maps/sQW8tX6DAjjEkpkN8

[CoreySamson]

I found a new 189-mile example that loops around Houston completely outside of Beltway 8:



It almost intersects itself in the town of Dayton, TX, but it might not count because of the way the I-45/TX 6 interchange is set up.

EDIT: Hold up, it looks like if you follow the frontage road from TX 6 to I-45, it eventually loops back around onto TX 146, which adds a few more miles onto the routing.