Bends In The Road

[Doc Tinker]

You ever wonder why a perfectly straight road has a bend in it, right in the middle of no-where?



Have you ever been surprised by something after flying through one of those bends?



Doc

 

[me4osu]

My Dad is a Civil Professional Engineer in Oklahoma and used to design roads until he retired. He told me once that the state mandated that curves be put in long straight expanses of highway periodically to keep drivers "interested" and mainly AWAKE.

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

I really hate waking up on those long, not so straight, oklahoma roads watching my vehicle swap ends while dirt tracking on dry pavement

They have the rest areas with the trash cans that follow to drop off the sioled shorts.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

What's the longest straight stretch you measured with your CTD.



About a month ago, measured a 26 mile straight stretch on I40 in New Mexico.





Crookedest road - hills NW above Ontario, CA

 

[Idaho CTD]

Straightest roads

I would bet there are some stretches of road in Oregon and Nevada that are pushing 30-40 miles. I have never actually measured them but they are straight for as far as you can see, not including the dips and rises of course. Might have to measure them next time around.



Nathan

 

[BarryG]

I think I read somewhere in some road trivia junk that the longest stretch of straight road is the road out by Bonneville Salt flats heading west towards Nevada. And that the longest stretch of road without fuel/services is from Green River Utah to Salina Utah over 100 miles.

 

[Happy Camper]

I love it! Lay back, put your feet on the dash and enjoy the ride.



Sometimes the curves can get you. I slid around a curve in Yellowstone Park with a wide track 58 Pontiac. Shorts came out loosing.

 

[LarryB]

Next time I hit a straight stretch like that, I'm gonna set the cruise control and go back an take a nap.

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

Larry,

just take the auto pilot out of one o' those puddle jumpers

 

[Champane Flight]

Was

I was on highway 50 between Ely, Nevada and Utah one time. A guy from NY pulled into the only gas station for miles and was scared half to death. " Theres nothing out here for miles!" He said. I said " Yea aint it neat!" . He looked at me perplexed and went on. For some the great nothing is scary.

 

[Dkevdog]

The straightest road would prettymuch have to be any road in the the Southwestern desert- especially I-40 or US 666 through Shiprock, NM. The road with the most curves I've ever been on- US 550 between Silverton & Ouray, CO. There's just no sleeping on that stretch of highway!



Kev

 

[LarryB]

Re: Was

Originally posted by Champane Flight

" Theres nothing out here for miles!" For some the great nothing is scary.

:-laf



City boys!

 

[KPhillips]

I read somewhere once that at one time (and maybe still now, I don't know), every major hwy or road had to have a straight away that was a certain length (long enough for a large plane to land) every so many miles.



This was back in the cold war days I think. The thought was that in the event of a war we wanted to have places to land fighters and bombers if other countries bombed our airstrips... . I don't know if its true, but I read it years ago and it made sense.....



kerryp

 

[ZEEEW]

The longest "arrowstraight" section of road from SLC to Wendover is about 45 miles, but the whole road is pretty boring.

Kind of a long drive.