# The longest continuous motorway journeys on your continent



## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

What are the longest continuous motorway/freeway journeys on your continents? You can show a few longest journeys on your continent, not just the longest one. I think we can also allow good (4-lane) expressways and short interruptions (unless the continuing motorway is short too), especially when changing from one motorway to another by driving on a short 1-lane ramp etc.

In *Europe* (and possibly Eurasia, but I'm not sure about China) it's probably the journey from Bensafrim, Portugal (A22×N120) to Rabbalshede, Sweden, where the motorway part of the E6 ends. It sums up to ~3,875 km (~2,400 mi):










Or if we neglect ~30 km (20 mi) of E4 near Ljungby, southern Sweden (which is 2+1 or 1+2), you can drive from Portugal to Sandviken, Sweden, where the 4-lane part of the road #80 ends. Including those 3-lane 30 km it's ~4,285 km (~2,660 mi):










Let's see other continents now. :cheers:


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## FM 2258 (Jan 24, 2004)

Interstate 90 in the United States.


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## da_scotty (Nov 4, 2008)

you dont count the pan-american highway do you?
in facto it is north and south america..


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Bellingham, WA - Miami, FL. 3,451 miles or 5,553 km of continuous freeways. 

Or San Diego, CA - Houlton, ME 3,390 miles or 5,455 km.


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## -Pino- (Aug 12, 2007)

da_scotty said:


> you dont count the pan-american highway do you?
> in facto it is north and south america..


The Panamericana does not actually connect North and South, as it is interrupted in Southern Panama (Darian´s gap). Plus the query was to identify the longest all-motorway connection. The Panamericana is clealy not fully up to that standard ...


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^^ No, the Panamericana doesn't count, at least not all of it.



ChrisZwolle said:


> Bellingham, WA - Miami, FL. 3,451 miles or 5,553 km of continuous freeways.
> 
> Or San Diego, CA - Houlton, ME 3,390 miles or 5,455 km.


Is United States a continent? :| What about Canada and Mexico?


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## ABRob (Feb 10, 2008)

I think it'll be sth. like this:


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

I think someone is bored.


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## Timon91 (Feb 9, 2008)

New roadtrip for Chris? 

By the way, do 2-laned motorway tunnels (like the Tauern or the Gotthard) count as motorway? If so, ABRob's route doesn't count


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## wdw35 (Dec 12, 2008)

Verso said:


>


WTF? Where did you get this craaaazy map?
According to this, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia... are jam packed with toll free motorways / expressways!
Look at the lame Italy, Greece and even UK how scarce their motorway network is!

:lol:


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^ The map is very handy, if you don't need those countries. So, what about other continents? I'm not sure about Australia, there are abviously more motorways than maps show. Does anyone have an updated map of China? I'm really interested in other continents, but I'm not sure I can trust maps, they show anything at times.


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## MetroMEX (Dec 12, 2005)

*North America*

Here are a couple of motorway/expressway journeys for North America; that is, using 4-lane expressways. I'm attaching a map of such journeys; click on the image and you can see a detailed map of the journey.

Option 1 (blue): From just north of Rivière-du-Loup, Québec, Canada to Acapulco Diamante, Guerrero, Mexico. Approximately 5986 km / 3720 mi. Used expressways: Autoroute 20 (Canada), Interstates 87, 95, 10 and 35 (USA), Autopistas 85D, 40D, 57D, 95D (Mexico).

Option 2 (green): From Vancouver, BC, Canada to Acapulco Diamante, Guerrero, Mexico. Approximately 6134 km / 3812 mi. Main routes: Highway 99 (Canada), Interstates 5, 90, 82, 84, 80, 25, 10 and 35 (USA), Autopistas 85D, 40D, 57D, 95D (Mexico).

The red section of the route (from San Antonio, Texas to the end of the journey) is common for both options.

There are at least 3 more route posibilities that sum well above the 5500km mark.

*Note:* a portion of the route corresponding to the Nuevo Laredo Bypass, is actually a super-2; I decided to include it because of its controlled-access nature. There is a multilaned highway that goes west of Nuevo Laredo, but it has several at-grade intersections.




When the North Mexico City Bypass is completed, which links the Mexico-Queretaro and Mexico-Puebla expressways, the motorway journey will be much longer.

Cheers.


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

In America, it has to be the Pan-American highway from Chile to Alaska. In Canada, it's the Trans-Canada Highway which links the Atlantic to the Pacific. The southern route is 7,821 kilometres long.









http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/TransCanadaHWY.png/746px-TransCanadaHWY.png


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Verso said:


> ^ The map is very handy, if you don't need those countries. So, what about other continents? I'm not sure about Australia, there are abviously more motorways than maps show. Does anyone have an updated map of China? I'm really interested in other continents, but I'm not sure I can trust maps, they show anything at times.


Australia is generally very bad regarding motorway. There is not even a continuous motorway from Sydney to Brisbane or between Sydney and Melbourne. Intercity is mostly two way with passing lanes. But certainly not motorway standard. Longest motorway stretch should be a few 100 km.


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## Timon91 (Feb 9, 2008)

isaidso said:


> In America, it has to be the Pan-American highway from Chile to Alaska. In Canada, it's the Trans-Canada Highway which links the Atlantic to the Pacific. The southern route is 7,821 kilometres long.


Yeah, but it's only partly motorway/freeway


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## invincible (Sep 13, 2002)

goschio said:


> Australia is generally very bad regarding motorway. There is not even a continuous motorway from Sydney to Brisbane or between Sydney and Melbourne. Intercity is mostly two way with passing lanes. But certainly not motorway standard. Longest motorway stretch should be a few 100 km.


The majority of the route between Melbourne and Sydney is now duplicated (or being duplicated) although not strictly to freeway/motorway standard because it would be unreasonable to expect every minor road and property entrance to be served by interchanges or a separate access road.


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## BND (May 31, 2007)

Nyíregyháza in Hungary is the easternmost point in the EU which can be reached on continuous motorways, so probably a Bensafrim-Nyíregyháza route can also be a long one...


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## -Pino- (Aug 12, 2007)

isaidso said:


> In America, it has to be the Pan-American highway from Chile to Alaska.


There is not even a goat track that gets you all the way. Look at a map and try to find your way through the South of Panama.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

invincible said:


> The majority of the route between Melbourne and Sydney is now duplicated (or being duplicated) although not strictly to freeway/motorway standard because it would be unreasonable to expect every minor road and property entrance to be served by interchanges or a separate access road.


Yeah, that's the problem; I'm not sure I can count those typical low population-density "motorways/freeways".



MetroMEX said:


> ...


Thanks a lot, MetroMEX! :cheers: I didn't know the Nuevo Laredo-Monterrey road was a normal 4-lane motorway all the way. Looks like there's some 30 km (20 mi) of 2-lane Nuevo Laredo bypass, so if we can neglect that, then why not just 15 km (10 mi) of the Canadian Highway 95 (by the US border), which is 3-laned (like the missing Swedish link). I think there's a continuous motorway all the way to Halifax then. Including those 45 km (30 mi) of ordinary roads that would be almost 6,200 km (good 3,800 mi); I didn't go all the way to Florida, but through Tennessee. I also think you chose a bit too long route between Acapulco and Vancouver; I only get about 5,920 km (3,680 mi) through Oklahoma and Kansas instead of New Mexico.


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## MetroMEX (Dec 12, 2005)

^^ Your right Verso; and in fact, Provincial Highway 95 in New Brunswick is now a divided 4-lane highway since about a year and a half ago. Thus, from Halifax (actually Stillwater Lake, on Nova Scotia's Highway 103) to Laredo (World Trade Bridge) is 4.650 km; adding the Mexican section to Acapulco sums to 6.162 km / 3.829 mi. Naturally a detour would result in a longer route.

And you're correct stating that the shortest route from Vancouver to Laredo goes through colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma; I decided to the detour though New Mexico for maximizing the distance.

Cheers.


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

BND said:


> Nyíregyháza in Hungary is the easternmost point in the EU which can be reached on continuous motorways, so probably a Bensafrim-Nyíregyháza route can also be a long one...


Viamichelin says it would be 3443km,thats a 1000 km shorter than the longets one presented here.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^^ It's quite a lot though. :cheers:



MetroMEX said:


> ^^ Your right Verso; and in fact, Provincial Highway 95 in New Brunswick is now a divided 4-lane highway since about a year and a half ago. Thus, from Halifax (actually Stillwater Lake, on Nova Scotia's Highway 103) to Laredo (World Trade Bridge) is 4.650 km; adding the Mexican section to Acapulco sums to 6.162 km / 3.829 mi. Naturally a detour would result in a longer route.
> 
> And you're correct stating that the shortest route from Vancouver to Laredo goes through colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma; I decided to the detour though New Mexico for maximizing the distance.


You can also go via New York then. :lol: Hehe, the idea is the longest journey, but in the shortest way (on motorways). I'd probably go from Acapulco to Vancouver through western Mexico, but I guess there's a 4-lane road between Mexico City and Nogales, but with at-grade junctions? Is there any accurate map of Mexico with _real_ motorways/freeways? What exactly is the situation with the North Mexico City Bypass and what length would we get, if we neglected it? Great about the Canadian Provincial Highway 95, btw! :cheers: Oh, and I think Nova Scotia's Highway 101 goes a couple of kms further than 103.


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## MetroMEX (Dec 12, 2005)

@ Verso: You can download free road maps for each Mexican state from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation website. They are updated on a frequent basis (last one was in October 2008).

Regarding the Mexico City-Nogales Expressway, the problem is that there are many "gaps" on the road, despite that most of the road is 4-lane: there are no urban bypasses at Hermosillo and Guadalajara; the section between Mazatlán and Tepic is a Super-2; to connect to the Mexico City -Acapulco Expressway you must go through a urban boulevard to reach the Periférico in Mexico City. Naturally this would violate the motorway rules stated here.

Currently the North Mexico City Bypass (in Spanish: _Libramiento Norte del Valle de México_) is operational from Tizayuca to San Martin Texmelucan (about 50% of the project). The section between Tula and Tizayuca, as well as a section between the Mexico City-Queretaro Expressway and Atlacomulco are still on the works; should be opened by next year. The total lenght of the project: 223km (mostly 4-lane motorway). Neglecting this section, the journey continues to the city of Cárdenas in the state of Tabasco (no bypass in this city). This would give an approximate total of 6.495 km / 4.036 mi of motorway journey.

Regards.


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

RawLee said:


> Viamichelin says it would be 3443km,thats a 1000 km shorter than the longets one presented here.


and route to Leskovac, Serbia would be even few km longer than to Nyregyháza (of course, if Slovenia once allready build remaining 14 km gap)


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## Bofter (Apr 15, 2007)

goschio said:


> Australia is generally very bad regarding motorway. There is not even a continuous motorway from Sydney to Brisbane or between Sydney and Melbourne. Intercity is mostly two way with passing lanes. But certainly not motorway standard. Longest motorway stretch should be a few 100 km.


If we required fully grade separated, then you are almost spot on. Geelong to Pakenham is around 130km. This is currently not much longer than Gosford to Newcastle, however if google maps had been updated to include Stages 1 and 2 of the Geelong Ring Road the first would be around 10km longer.



If you remove the requirement for grade separation and instead require only full access control (which is all the freeway definition in Victoria requires), then you can stretch out over 400km. When the infill sections on the Hume (M31/A31 Melbourne-Sydney) are completed over the next few years this will become almost 1000km.


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## BND (May 31, 2007)

x-type said:


> and route to Leskovac, Serbia would be even few km longer than to Nyregyháza (of course, if Slovenia once allready build remaining 14 km gap)


Maybe the M3 will be finished to the UA border, and Ukraine will have built the Chop-Kiyiv motorway before that gap is completed :lol:


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^ That gap is gonna be completed next year.

Wow, I didn't think it would be that short in Australia, but if we loosen the motorway/freeway definition (like Victoria does), it's better. And much better in a few years.



MetroMEX said:


> @ Verso: You can download free road maps for each Mexican state from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation website. They are updated on a frequent basis (last one was in October 2008).
> 
> Regarding the Mexico City-Nogales Expressway, the problem is that there are many "gaps" on the road, despite that most of the road is 4-lane: there are no urban bypasses at Hermosillo and Guadalajara; the section between Mazatlán and Tepic is a Super-2; to connect to the Mexico City -Acapulco Expressway you must go through a urban boulevard to reach the Periférico in Mexico City. Naturally this would violate the motorway rules stated here.
> 
> ...


Those maps are great, thanks! That's a very long bypass, btw, I thought it would be much shorter. 223 km are too many to neglect, of course. But from next year it will be 6,495 km. :cheers:


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

-Pino- said:


> There is not even a goat track that gets you all the way. Look at a map and try to find your way through the South of Panama.


So, how far south can you go without interruption, central Mexico? That would make it almost as long as the Trans-Canada.


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## Bofter (Apr 15, 2007)

Verso said:


> ^ That gap is gonna be completed next year.
> 
> Wow, I didn't think it would be that short in Australia, but if we loosen the motorway/freeway definition (like Victoria does), it's better. And much better in a few years.


According to the RTA (NSW), by the end of 2009 there will be 20km remaining single carriageway through three towns, these will be complete by 2012. If we forgive this 20km, then by next year the picture will look more like this with over 1000km continuous:



Over the next decades, this will build towards 2000+km continuous with some big jumps as other connections are built.

The best explanation as to why the current situation is only around 450km is that Australia is a country of a few big cities with not much in between (apologies to all Australians living in regional areas). This means massive passenger transport demand in cities; quite an extensive length of Melbourne's freeway have more than 100,000 AADT, with a fair bit in the 150,000-200,000 range. Get outside the cities and this drops away very quickly. Then again you will have been driving for some time to get out of suburbia, or in the case of Brisbane and Sydney the extensive population areas to both the north (Sunshine Coast and Newcastle) and the south (Gold Coast and Wollongong).


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

BND said:


> Maybe the M3 will be finished to the UA border, and Ukraine will have built the Chop-Kiyiv motorway before that gap is completed :lol:


:lol:you're my man! i bet you're right!


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

Bofter said:


>


Why isn't the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway connected to the Sydney orbital?


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## -Pino- (Aug 12, 2007)

Verso said:


> Why isn't the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway connected to the Sydney orbital?


Plans do exist, a preferred route has been selected, but it will take some more time before construction will commence. The project is rather controversial, I understand. See http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/F3toM7Review/index.aspx


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^ I see, then it will be longer.

So what about other continents? Would this be it for Africa? South African N1 and N3 from Polokwane (northern terminus) over Pretoria and Johannesburg to Warden (southern terminus). It's ~515 km (320 mi):


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## Rodrigo_ (May 17, 2008)

PanAmerican HighWay


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^^ At least 4-lane motorways/expressways, please.


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## Ron2K (Dec 28, 2007)

Verso said:


> So what about other continents? Would this be it for Africa? South African N1 and N3 from Polokwane (northern terminus) over Pretoria and Johannesburg to Warden (southern terminus). It's ~515 km (320 mi):


It depends on your motorway definition. The entire route you mentioned above is at least 4 lane, with grade-seperated interchanges, but on the outlying sections (N3 between Warden and Villers, N1 between the Modimolle interchange and Polokwane), the two flows of traffic aren't separated by a median, as this image shows (N3, around 20-30km north of Warden and heading in Warden's direction):










If your definition still holds, then in future the route above will stretch as far as Durban, if the plans to build the De Beers Pass route goes ahead (definitely needed, Van Reenen's Pass is the bane of all travellers between Johannesburg and Durban).


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## GENIUS LOCI (Nov 18, 2004)

Ron2K said:


>


Actually this is not what I define highway


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^^ Yeah, it's a bit narrow for a motorway. So Map24 was right after all (I looked at GE, which obviously includes this as a motorway). Thanks, Ron2K; I guess the longest is then the N2 and N3 from Hibberdene (southern terminus) over Durban to northwest of Ladysmith (northern terminus), which is ~330 km (205 mi). I hope I'm right this time:










I think there's a continuous 4-lane road in Egypt from Suez all the way to the Libyan border (more than 800 km), but it's not a motorway. Morocco would have ~615 km of continuous motorway, if Rabat had a proper motorway bypass; that way it has only ~310 km between Rabat and Marrakech. There are some other 4-lane roads in Africa, but I doubt many of them are up to motorway standards.


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## Ron2K (Dec 28, 2007)

^^ Yeah, I think you're right this time.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^ Nice stack in Durban, btw.


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