Reaching the End (or Beginning) of a Highway

[PColumbus73]

Does reaching the beginning or end of a highway feel any different than getting on the highway mid-way through? Is there a sense of accomplishment for reaching the last mile, or the 'BEGIN'/'END' signage for an Interstate, or other highway?

I travel between the Carolinas and Ohio often, and reaching the 'WELCOME TO...' and 'THANK YOU FOR...' signage on the West Virginia Turnpike is a bit of a personal landmark.

Local to me, I've passed, and sometimes gotten on, I-20 & 26 at their endpoints in Florence and Charleston. When I was younger, I thought it was cool to pass the I-20 interchange on I-95. More recently, going to Charleston, SC, I pass the beginning of I-26 to get to the Ravenel Bridge regularly enough that I don't think too much of it, but it is pretty neat still.

[roadman65]

To reach the end of I-95 at Miami or Houlton is a feat.

I know reaching Saulte Ste. Marie on I-75 felt like the end of the line as I-75 transits many cities along its trek.

Then I-55 in Chicago at Lake Shore Drive is a milestone to reach after starting in New Orleans in the south and visiting Jackson, Memphis, and St. Louis along its way to the Great Lakes.

[Rothman]

In short, yes.

[SEWIGuy]

I drove the entire length of I-88 yesterday and it didn't seem all that special.

But usually yes.

[jeffandnicole]

It's certainly a different feeling when it's unusual.

Using the eastern I-76 from NJ - OH:  I'll pass thru the area of the begin/end of I-76 in NJ weekly. It's just another day.

If I pass thru the western end of I-76 in OH, I've done that maybe twice, and yeah, it feels different, like an accomplishment.

If I'm ever on the western I-76, that would feel different still.

[Max Rockatansky]

Depends on the highway.  Something like Mile 0 of US 1 in Key West is pretty memorable the first time you see it.

[mgk920]

It is definitely a different feel than with WI 125 here in Appleton, WI.

Mike

[formulanone]

It is entirely appropriate to put your window(s) down and wave to the crowd upon clinching that route. Don't let anyone spoil your fun.

[epzik8]

It definitely feels different at US 1 in Key West and Fort Kent.

[74/171FAN]

I mean, I was super happy to finally get to see the south end of VA 156 because it was the road I grew up on.

[ClassicHasClass]

Good feels going end to end on US 395 and US 6.

[pderocco]

Back in the nineties, I drove all of I-70 from I-15 in Utah to I-695 west of Baltimore. Well, almost all. Last fall, I drove the last two miles out to the park-n-ride.

If, like many folks around here, you're interesting in clinching roads, you'll note that it often happens at one end of the road or another. But not always. In that same cross-country trip, I drove I-15 from Butte MT to Canada, clinching it. I also drove US-95 from Canada down to Fallon NV, clinching it. The satisfaction comes more from the clinching than from being at the end of it.

Heck, I can't count the number of times I've driven to the end of US-6 in Provincetown MA, the second longest highway in the country, without the fact crossing my mind. Of course, I've nowhere near clinched it.

[LilianaUwU]

I end up on the west end of QC 360 almost daily, and it doesn't feel very special. I think the special feeling is when you've completed your clinch, such as when I finished my clinch of A-40 at its west end.

[roadman65]

The satisfaction comes really when the end is in an isolated area. US 1 has that in the Keys and northern Maine.

Like I said I clinched I-75 in the UP of Michigan, and made it to Easterday Avenue ( the last US Exit before Canada.) and found it to be interesting being it's last connection to another major route was US 2, several miles to the south of it with rural forests in between. There are no other major roads connecting to Saulte Ste. Marie other than ON Highway 17.  So it makes I-75 seem dead ended especially now you need documentation to enter Canada since 9-11.

Key West too has no crossroads but at the end of a 135 mile long dead end.  Fort Kent connects to short regional state routes of Maine, but between there and I-95 at Houlton, the route is a long corridor with no major connections except maybe to NB Provincial routes that are worthy. So both ends is a feat.

US 3 to drive to its north end in the middle of Northern NH wilderness is a clinch to feel good about as driving to US 6's eastern end in Provincetown being at a real dead end like clinching US 1 in the Keys.

However the latter is longer as from the Jewfish Bridge between Key Largo and Mainland Florida  and the intersection of Whiting and Fleming Streets in Key West than US 6 from Sagamore  Bridge to Provincetown. Nonetheless, but both still connect to other local roadways between that can't go beyond the large bodies of water making those roads unique.

[JCinSummerfield]

The northern end of US-41 has always been special to me.

[akotchi]

For me, living on the east coast, endpoints on the opposite coast are a bigger deal.  My 2009 trip to San Francisco included photos of the last WB entrance ramp signs to I-80 before the U.S. 101 interchange -- we did not rent a car to drive around town that trip.  My 2023 trip to Seattle and Alaska included a Mariners game, with some priority on photographing the first I-90 East signs leaving the stadium area.

I can reach the eastern ends of both highways much more easily and have actually done work at both eastern termini during my career.

[Henry]

You'd need all the strength you could get for driving the whole length of I-90. Based on the presence of the Space Needle, Seattle is slightly more exciting than Boston, but going either way is truly an accomplishment in and of itself.

Also, I-10 is a major undertaking, considering you have 881 miles to cover in TX alone. L.A. is clearly more exciting than Jacksonville, for reasons that should be obvious to everyone.

I-5 is similar, because you'll need 800 miles to cover the CA portion, but along the way it connects the three largest cities in their respective states (Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle), and you can make a nonstop trip from San Diego to Vancouver if you throw in BC 99 that starts north of Blaine.

[Rothman]

You'd need all the strength you could get for driving the whole length of I-90. Based on the presence of the Space Needle, Seattle is slightly more exciting than Boston, but going either way is truly an accomplishment in and of itself.

Also, I-10 is a major undertaking, considering you have 881 miles to cover in TX alone. L.A. is clearly more exciting than Jacksonville, for reasons that should be obvious to everyone.

I-5 is similar, because you'll need 800 miles to cover the CA portion, but along the way it connects the three largest cities in their respective states (Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle), and you can make a nonstop trip from San Diego to Vancouver if you throw in BC 99 that starts north of Blaine.

Have you clinched them in one trip yourself?

I've found the act of just staying on one route to be ridiculously easy.  Despite being a multi-day trip, it's the easiest driving one can do, no matter which route you've mentioned.

[pderocco]

I've found the act of just staying on one route to be ridiculously easy.  Despite being a multi-day trip, it's the easiest driving one can do, no matter which route you've mentioned.

I agree. Driving across the middle of the country on an interstate isn't an exertion, it's an exercise in trying not to fall asleep.

[Max Rockatansky]

For some reason my shoulder tends to get sore and my left foot falls asleep on long freeway drives.  Neither of those happens in traffic or on more engaging roads. 

[wanderer2575]

I get some thrill when I reach a terminus of a long-distance route so I can get photos of the END or BEGIN signs.  It was a big deal to me to get a photo of the END sign at the southern terminus of I-39 in Bloomington, and even bigger to get photos at the termini of US-70 in Atlantic NC and US-6 in Provincetown MA.  Driving the route to reach a terminus doesn't in itself usually mean that much to me, except the opportunity to get photos of another route's shields and signs for my collection.

[rhen_var]

It feels special when it's the end of a long route that crosses through several states like a US or Interstate highway.  State and county routes don't really feel as special.  It makes me think of how I'm at the end of a road that thousands of people experience daily, what stories happen on that road, and what's at the other end.

A good example as someone else mentioned earlier is the northern end of US-41, it's a cul-de-sac in the middle of nowhere, but it's weird standing there and realizing that you're on the opposite end of the same road that's a bustling city street in downtown Miami, which also forms a major corridor in the likes of Chicago, Nashville, and Atlanta between you and there.