Most-populated island without a controlled-access interchange

[hurricanehink]

I was on Google Maps, looking at highways in various islands around the world. Okinawa, Réunion, Luzon, Java, Sumatra - they all have them. That got me wondering, what is the most populated island in the world that does not have a controlled-access interchange? And so, I went to Wikipedia for the list of islands by population - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_population

Indonesia, Japan, and the UK are fairly wealthy countries, so it's no surprise they have interchanges and controlled-access highways. The world's sixth most-populated island is Madagascar, and I had some trouble finding any interchanges or controlled-access highways, but I believe this qualifies - https://www.google.com/maps/place/18%C2%B052'41.0%22S+47%C2%B028'55.4%22E/@-18.8780409,47.4820432,912m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x8b70e8ccc039bbe7!8m2!3d-18.8780409!4d47.4820432

That brings us to the world's seventh most-populated island - Mindanao in the southern Philippines, with 27 million people. In its biggest city - Davao - a bypass is being built, and I believe part of it has what would be considered a controlled-access interchange - https://www.google.com/maps/place/7%C2%B006'31.1%22N+125%C2%B036'48.0%22E/@7.1086389,125.6127579,478m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xcd11ce67cf69f9c6!8m2!3d7.1086308!4d125.6133391

Next is Australia, which has many highways, followed by Taiwan (ditto), and Borneo (several highways). 10th is Hispaniola in the Caribbean, which has a few highways around Dominican Republic's capital city, Santo Domingo. Sri Lanka is next, which has highways near its largest city, Colombo, followed by Salsette, which has the Indian city of Mumbai (which has several expressways, including one over the ocean). It took me a few minutes, but New Guinea has a few controlled-access interchange in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Kyushu in Japan, Cuba, and China's Hainan island all have several highways, same with Long Island, Ireland, Singapore, Hokkaido, and Sicily.

That brings my search to the 23rd most-populated island in the world - Negros in the Philippines, with a population of 4.6 million. I could only find one that might qualify, and even that might be a stretch - it's the Lacson Circumferential Road Flyover - https://www.google.com/maps/@10.7047076,122.9629054,230m/data=!3m1!1e3 - I think it should count, since traffic can flow freely over the interchange, or otherwise get off, and the government billed it as the first interchange of its kind on the island.

Next is the 24th most-populated island - Panay, also in the Philippines, with 4.5 million people. It appears that there are proposals for an elevated highway in its largest city, Iloilo City, but unless I'm mistaken, I can't find any interchanges in the city, or elsewhere in the island. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[SEWIGuy]

That brings us to the world's seventh most-populated island - Mindanao in the southern Philippines, with 27 million people. In its biggest city - Davao - a bypass is being built, and I believe part of it has what would be considered a controlled-access interchange - https://www.google.com/maps/place/7%C2%B006'31.1%22N+125%C2%B036'48.0%22E/@7.1086389,125.6127579,478m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xcd11ce67cf69f9c6!8m2!3d7.1086308!4d125.6133391

I don't think I would called that a controlled access interchange.  If you go down to street view, neither of those streets is a controlled highway.  It just looks like an elevated intersection.

https://www.google.com/maps/@7.1093287,125.6151759,3a,75y,264h,82.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sV9DfoRalbDMDqdGkOXTl3Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[WillWeaverRVA]

I was on Google Maps, looking at highways in various islands around the world. Okinawa, Réunion, Luzon, Java, Sumatra - they all have them. That got me wondering, what is the most populated island in the world that does not have a controlled-access interchange? And so, I went to Wikipedia for the list of islands by population - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_population

Indonesia, Japan, and the UK are fairly wealthy countries, so it's no surprise they have interchanges and controlled-access highways. The world's sixth most-populated island is Madagascar, and I had some trouble finding any interchanges or controlled-access highways, but I believe this qualifies - https://www.google.com/maps/place/18%C2%B052'41.0%22S+47%C2%B028'55.4%22E/@-18.8780409,47.4820432,912m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x8b70e8ccc039bbe7!8m2!3d-18.8780409!4d47.4820432

That brings us to the world's seventh most-populated island - Mindanao in the southern Philippines, with 27 million people. In its biggest city - Davao - a bypass is being built, and I believe part of it has what would be considered a controlled-access interchange - https://www.google.com/maps/place/7%C2%B006'31.1%22N+125%C2%B036'48.0%22E/@7.1086389,125.6127579,478m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xcd11ce67cf69f9c6!8m2!3d7.1086308!4d125.6133391

Next is Australia, which has many highways, followed by Taiwan (ditto), and Borneo (several highways). 10th is Hispaniola in the Caribbean, which has a few highways around Dominican Republic's capital city, Santo Domingo. Sri Lanka is next, which has highways near its largest city, Colombo, followed by Salsette, which has the Indian city of Mumbai (which has several expressways, including one over the ocean). It took me a few minutes, but New Guinea has a few controlled-access interchange in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Kyushu in Japan, Cuba, and China's Hainan island all have several highways, same with Long Island, Ireland, Singapore, Hokkaido, and Sicily.

That brings my search to the 23rd most-populated island in the world - Negros in the Philippines, with a population of 4.6 million. I could only find one that might qualify, and even that might be a stretch - it's the Lacson Circumferential Road Flyover - https://www.google.com/maps/@10.7047076,122.9629054,230m/data=!3m1!1e3 - I think it should count, since traffic can flow freely over the interchange, or otherwise get off, and the government billed it as the first interchange of its kind on the island.

Next is the 24th most-populated island - Panay, also in the Philippines, with 4.5 million people. It appears that there are proposals for an elevated highway in its largest city, Iloilo City, but unless I'm mistaken, I can't find any interchanges in the city, or elsewhere in the island. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

You seem to be right about Panay, which is crazy as Iloilo has about 447,000 people. Negros has no freeways either.

Does Iceland have freeways?

[hotdogPi]

Does Iceland have freeways?

Looking at Google Maps, Reykjavik has a few.

[1995hoo]

I question counting Australia as an "island" since it's usually considered a continent.

....

Does Iceland have freeways?

Yes, at least in the Reykjavik area if nowhere else.

https://goo.gl/maps/QPbHddZ1pt8sDUdCA (GSV)

https://www.google.com/maps/@64.1250655,-21.8478713,15.13z (map covering where the GSV above is–the GSV is south of the cloverleaf)

[Bruce]

Washington's most populated island (Whidbey Island, 70K as of 2010) has no interchanges at all.

[Buck87]

Ha, I gotta love the style of that Wiki article on most populated islands, in that it starts with:

Afro-Eurasia - 6,729,986,135
Americas - 1,027,067,740

...just to quell the curiosity of anyone wondering "where do we draw the line when defining islands, how ridiculous could we go?"

[ran4sh]

Well, it had always been accepted among geographers that Greenland is the largest island and Australia is the smallest continent, but on Wikipedia if people dispute it then one side needs a definitive source that actually states that and is accepted by the other side, so the inclusion of those entries is probably due to not being able to resolve a dispute.

[Dirt Roads]

Mindoro Island in the Philippines has a population of 1,408,454 (2020) and is probably in the top 50 worldwide.  The Western Nautical Highway (PH-452) is the only road on the island with a few short multi-lane sections.  Not much of a roadway network and no interchanges.

More amazingly, São Luís Island in Brazil has a quite sophisticated highway network with several freeways, but only four (4) controlled-access interchanges on the island.  Brasil Route BR-135 runs about 16 miles from the mainland to the Marechal Cunha Machado airport before branching into the arterial street network.  The BR-135 freeway has a number of RIRO facilities and Michigan Lefts, but no interchanges.  Further into Sao Luis, BR-135 (Two Franceses Avenue) does have an interchange with Gauxenduba Avenue.  There is also an large interchange at the south end of the Bandeira Tribuzzi bridge interconnecting with three major arterial streets. Also, the Via Expressa has several sections of freeway with a number of RIROs plus two sets of right lane exit at-grade U-Turn loops and no interchanges enroute, but it has a fully-controlled interchanges at both ends of the freeway.  I don't trust the stated population of the island.  It is comprised of 4 cities, but the largest (aptly named state capital of São Luís) includes 3 smaller islands, and the smaller city of Raposo also includes a smaller island.  No matter, the main island population is certainly over 1.5M placing it in the top 50 worldwide.

[hurricanehink]

That brings us to the world's seventh most-populated island - Mindanao in the southern Philippines, with 27 million people. In its biggest city - Davao - a bypass is being built, and I believe part of it has what would be considered a controlled-access interchange - https://www.google.com/maps/place/7%C2%B006'31.1%22N+125%C2%B036'48.0%22E/@7.1086389,125.6127579,478m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xcd11ce67cf69f9c6!8m2!3d7.1086308!4d125.6133391

I don't think I would called that a controlled access interchange.  If you go down to street view, neither of those streets is a controlled highway.  It just looks like an elevated intersection.

https://www.google.com/maps/@7.1093287,125.6151759,3a,75y,264h,82.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sV9DfoRalbDMDqdGkOXTl3Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Thanks, yea, that doesn't really count. But I didn't want to stop my rabbit hole at only the world's 7th most populated island. It looks like there will be a proper Davao City Expressway built this decade as a bypass around the city - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davao_City_Expressway

So maybe at that point once it is built, then Negros or Panay would claim the title.

[jaehak]

That brings my search to the 23rd most-populated island in the world - Negros in the Philippines, with a population of 4.6 million. I could only find one that might qualify, and even that might be a stretch - it's the Lacson Circumferential Road Flyover - https://www.google.com/maps/@10.7047076,122.9629054,230m/data=!3m1!1e3 - I think it should count, since traffic can flow freely over the interchange, or otherwise get off, and the government billed it as the first interchange of its kind on the island.

Off topic a bit, but I've spent a lot of time on that island, mainly in Dumaguete. Things may have changed now, but Duma has to be one of the biggest cities in the world with no stoplights. 130,000 people, with a big mall, Starbucks, and several universities

[RobbieL2415]

Nearest islands to me with a sizeable population and without controlled-access anything would be Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

[MATraveler128]

Nearest islands to me with a sizeable population and without controlled-access anything would be Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

It would be the same for me too. Only served by two lane roads.

[ftballfan]

That brings my search to the 23rd most-populated island in the world - Negros in the Philippines, with a population of 4.6 million. I could only find one that might qualify, and even that might be a stretch - it's the Lacson Circumferential Road Flyover - https://www.google.com/maps/@10.7047076,122.9629054,230m/data=!3m1!1e3 - I think it should count, since traffic can flow freely over the interchange, or otherwise get off, and the government billed it as the first interchange of its kind on the island.

Off topic a bit, but I've spent a lot of time on that island, mainly in Dumaguete. Things may have changed now, but Duma has to be one of the biggest cities in the world with no stoplights. 130,000 people, with a big mall, Starbucks, and several universities

I checked Street View and even the intersections that appear to be between the most major roads appear to be fully uncontrolled intersections!