# Longest straight routes



## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

To keep the off-topic in the German thread from getting bigger, I create this thread. The question is simple: What is the longest straight route (i.e. not taking any exits or turning at intersections) one can do? There are no limit of number changes, and crossing borders are allowed. So far, this route in the US wins at 2,540 kilometers, taking I-94 from the I-90 _autobahndreieck_ at Tomah, then I-35E, I-35, I-80, I-76 and I-70 before finally ending at I-15 at Cove Fort.

On regular roads this might be more interesting, and also challengening since intersections aren't as obvious as exits. Back in the end of 2012 they had a thread in AARoads about this topic, and they found this 1,380 kilometer run  across Alaska. Any longer? :tongue2:

Edit: Damnit, I knew I was to find one longer just after creating this thread: Seattle to around the Twin Cities (2,758 km).


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

"Direct" may be a better adjective than "straight," really. Although that's Road_UK's fault too.

Although on second thought, some of those routes are so, um, sinuous I'm not sure you'd describe them as "direct," either. No one would drive through Saint Paul to get from Tomah to Cove Fort.


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## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

We should add the history of the discussion:



Road_UK said:


> Last night I travelled from the Netherlands back to Austria. From the Dutch border I take the A3 to Oberhausen, and I exit there to stay on the A3 towards Cologne. From there it's a straight run without using exits all the way to Munich, as the A3 changes into A9 at Nürnberg. To stay on the A3 towards Regensburg you have to take an exit again.
> 
> I had this thought last night. If you get on the A2 at Berlin, and keep on sitting on it without taking exits, you'll wind up in Munich via Hanover, Oberhausen and Frankfurt. It keeps on changing numbers (A2, A3, A9) but it's still a straight run without exits.... So not looking at the numbers, it must be the longest straight motorway in Germany.





flierfy said:


> It actually starts at Potsdam Junction and goes all the way to München-Schwabing. It's not exactly straight either but it certainly is the longest central reservation in Germany and maybe even in Europe. One the lanes on this route may also be the longest one at least in Germany.





Wilhem275 said:


> 1278 km: we win!
> 
> https://maps.google.nl/maps?saddr=A...A;FdSQRAIdIuPuAA&t=m&mra=dme&mrsp=2&sz=17&z=6
> 
> ...





CNGL said:


> https://www.google.es/maps/dir/38.3...s0x34262d340eb20cdf:0xae45d7a5348e45c!1m0!3e0
> 
> Too bad the G4 North of there is under reconstruction/widening .





Wilhem275 said:


> I got a Genova - Paris of 1172 km...


The eastern part of the German A4 begins at the A7 interchange AD _Kirchheim_. The road continues in Poland. The total length is about 1,000km now. After completion of the last Polish A4 section (May 2016) the road will run up to the Ukrainian border (about 1,100km). If Ukraine would extend the road up to Kiev, it would have a length of about 1,700km. This should be the longest European road you can drive without taking an exits. But it's a dream of the future .

I have some candidates which are direct motorways with a lot of changes in road numbering:

- Starting on the A9 at interchange AK Nuremberg (A3), you get on the A10 at AD Potsdam, drive around Berlin, end up on the A24 which continues as A19 and B105. The road ends after 700km in Rostock: > click < = 5 road numberings.
- Starting on the B4 in Hamburg, following the A255, A1, A7, A5, A6, A81 you end up at the A8 interchange AD Leonberg near Stuttgart after 688km: > click < = 7 road numberings.


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## mapman:cz (Jan 14, 2007)

In many cases it's really interesting where those longest "straight" routes (or longest routes without TOTSO) start/end, when taking into account european capitals and respective network.

For example: 
1) longest continuous route from Vienna is probably the Westautobahn, connecting directly the cities of Vienna and Munich (only 419 km)
2) longest continuous route from Prague is also the western route, it ends near Heilbronn (421 km)
3) Berlin has some interesting ones - Berliner ring is part of a continuous route from Rostock to Nürnberg (701 km) altough being surpassed by the already mentioned route A2-A3-A9 Berlin-Cologne-Munich (1115 km)

What about other capitals?


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

Starting at Cristo Rey circle in Madrid and heading East, the city streets become A-2 and then AP-2, ultimately ending at AP-7. That's about 560 km.

The only trouble is at the start of the Z-40 overlap. The way it was signed made A-2 the through route in that _autobahnkreuz_, but the signs were knocked down last year and they are replacing them now. In the improbable case they change the through route to Z-40, then the above mentioned route would be cut to 313 km and a new, weird straght route would form: AP-7/AP-2 interchange West to and around Zaragoza and then North to Oloron-Ste-Marie in Grance.


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## aswnl (Jun 6, 2004)

This thread would be nice if it was for an individual lane. What's the longest distance between the point where a lane starts, and where it ends ?

Long ago the Wegenforum-members had done something similar for the Netherlands, but it is quite tricky because Google Maps can be out of date...


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

I assume you can't use the same stretch of road twice? Otherwise you could drive 100.000 km on the Amsterdam ring road (A10) without needing to change at an intersection. (Same goes for the Boulevard Peripherique in Paris)


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## redbaron_012 (Sep 19, 2004)

Highway 1 Australia is 14,500km...just say'n...


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## mapman:cz (Jan 14, 2007)

MichiH said:


> The eastern part of the German A4 begins at the A7 interchange AD _Kirchheim_. The road continues in Poland. The total length is about 1,000km now. After completion of the last Polish A4 section (May 2016) the road will run up to the Ukrainian border (about 1,100km). If Ukraine would extend the road up to Kiev, it would have a length of about 1,700km. This should be the longest European road you can drive without taking an exits. But it's a dream of the future .


There is one TOTSO on this route near Krakow-Balice, so unfortunately this could not be counted as continuous: https://www.google.cz/maps/@50.0879548,19.7960964,15z


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

redbaron_012 said:


> Highway 1 Australia is 14,500km...just say'n...


That is not relevant to this thread. It's about the longest stretch of road you can drive without having to turn off at any point.


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## Wilhem275 (Apr 7, 2006)

Here's the Genova - Paris of 1172 km:

https://maps.google.nl/maps?saddr=U...45wId400lAA&t=m&mra=mi&mrsp=7&sz=20&via=1&z=6


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

In France/Italy: D6-N6-A5a-A5-A31-A6-A7-A8-(I)-A10, From the D6/N6 junction to the A10/A26 interchange it is 1.165 km.
If the TOTSO at the A10/A26 interchange allows you to continue on the A 26, you can even continue via A26-A8/A26-A8 to Milan. Paris-Milan would be 1.385km, a new European record.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Oslo - Stuttgart: 1766 km (starting 2015 when the last missing link of E6 in Sweden opens)

http://goo.gl/maps/1yQcY


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

ChrisZwolle said:


> Oslo - Stuttgart: 1766 km (starting 2015 when the last missing link of E6 in Sweden opens)
> 
> http://goo.gl/maps/1yQcY


At the Horster Drieeck, The A7 has a TOTSO and continues to the A1, so this route won't continue beyond Hamburg.


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## Puležan (Apr 19, 2009)

In Croatia and BIH there's a route from Zagreb to Međugorje via croatian A1 and A10 and BIH A1 that's 500 km long (for now).

Croatian section: A1+A10 from Jadranska avenija in Zagreb which continues as A1 until Metković where it changes its name into A10 and goes to BIH border; totally 490 km. BIH part (A1) continues directly from our A10 and is cca 10 km long, but when completed, it will go towards Sarajevo, Doboj, across the border to Croatia, continue on croatian A5 towards Osijek and then into Hungary and towards Budapest on M6 motorway. Zagreb-Budapest totally cca 1100 km


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## Road_UK (Jun 20, 2011)

aswnl said:


> This thread would be nice if it was for an individual lane. What's the longest distance between the point where a lane starts, and where it ends ?
> 
> Long ago the Wegenforum-members had done something similar for the Netherlands, but it is quite tricky because Google Maps can be out of date...


I was thinking about the Netherlands, but none of the continous lanes or central reservations are really long. All motorways lead to cities or ring roads close by or just split. (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Oberhausen, The Hague, Liege, Bunde etc etc)

This is an interesting one: 

Nassereith (junction A12 Austria) to Skagen, Denmark. Non-motorway in Austria leading over the Fernpaß and linking with the A7 in Germany right after the border and none-motorway in Denmark after Aalborg, it is still continuous without roundabouts or exits. Google for directions from Nassereith to Skagen and you get three navigation insructions only: follow, follow and follow. 










Edit: But I understand there is a hitch in the A7?


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

Multiple, there are TOTSO's at the Horster Dreieck, the Hattenbacher Dreieck and Kreuz Memmingen.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

Places where the world record could be:
- Australia: coastal road or Adelaide-Alice Spring-Darwin desert road.
- Canada: Trans Canadian Highway or some N-S routes (like roads to Inuvik or Yellowknife)
- Russia: possibly in Siberia (road Moscow-Vladivostock or the gravel road to Magadan)


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

This is probably the longest in the world, since the area is almost entirely roadless

https://www.google.it/maps/dir/Skov...e9:0x39c94ce7e19c065b!2m2!1d150.8!2d59.566667


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

mapman:cz said:


> In many cases it's really interesting where those longest "straight" routes (or longest routes without TOTSO) start/end, when taking into account european capitals and respective network.
> ....
> What about other capitals?


Are non-European capitals acceptable? ;-)


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

italystf said:


> Places where the world record could be:
> - Australia: coastal road or Adelaide-Alice Spring-Darwin desert road.
> - Canada: Trans Canadian Highway or some N-S routes (like roads to Inuvik or Yellowknife)
> - Russia: possibly in Siberia (road Moscow-Vladivostock or the gravel road to Magadan)


The Trans-Canada, besides having several options between Montreal and northern Ontario, has its share of TOTSOs and even a couple of ferry crossings. And when this started, we were limited to motorways.


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## Innsertnamehere (Jun 8, 2010)

Highway 400 + 11 + 17 is pretty long.

Edit: wait, you need a turn in Sudbury. Never mind.


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

italystf said:


> This is probably the longest in the world, since the area is almost entirely roadless
> 
> https://www.google.it/maps/dir/Skov...e9:0x39c94ce7e19c065b!2m2!1d150.8!2d59.566667


There is a TOTSO at the bridge over the river Indigirka.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

MichiH said:


> We should add the history of the discussion:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually, there's more history than that - examples from China and the U.S. - in the German thread. Strange place for it, I know. That's why it was moved.


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## mapman:cz (Jan 14, 2007)

Penn's Woods said:


> Are non-European capitals acceptable? ;-)


I've been expecting this  I erased the word "european" from the last sentence just before clicking on the submit button 

I tried to point out, that motorways were in many cases built at first as an "in and out-of-the-city" road and the numbering does not and can't take TOTSOs into account.


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## MichiH (Jan 5, 2013)

verfmeer said:


> Multiple, there are TOTSO's at the Horster Dreieck, the Hattenbacher Dreieck and Kreuz Memmingen.


You're right with Horster Dreieck and Hattenbacher Dreieck but the AK Memmingen is not a TOTSO (> click <).


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

verfmeer said:


> There is a TOTSO at the bridge over the river Indigirka.


It doesn't seem so, the main road is the one that turns there. Anyway, the road is cut about halfway by the Aldan river, which needs a ferry in order to be crossed and thus invalidates this run.


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

- double


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

MichiH said:


> You're right with Horster Dreieck and Hattenbacher Dreieck but the AK Memmingen is not a TOTSO (> click <).


Sorry, it is only a TOTSO at the A96, but it is continuous at the A7.


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## Wilhem275 (Apr 7, 2006)

If I didn't mess up in the French part, I may have a new European record of 1809 km from Paris to Trieste, provided you begin to drive on the left lane:
https://maps.google.nl/maps?saddr=M...vArSAA&t=m&mra=dme&mrsp=0&sz=19&via=1,2,3&z=6

It follows the condition "staying on the same lane", but in the Italian part there are some points in which two lanes are forced to merge into one. And close to Genova (A10 > A26) the central lane splits symetrically in two directions, you are not actually leaving it (in this case you go left).


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

Penn's Woods said:


> The Trans-Canada, besides having several options between Montreal and northern Ontario, has its share of TOTSOs and even a couple of ferry crossings. And when this started, we were limited to motorways.


The first post doesn't say that it's limited to motorways only.


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

^^ Yup, but this started as an off-topic at the German thread. And then, when I made this thread I decided not to restrict to motorways only.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

CNGL said:


> It doesn't seem so, the main road is the one that turns there. Anyway, the road is cut about halfway by the Aldan river, which needs a ferry in order to be crossed and thus invalidates this run.


It looks like there is an U/C bridge.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

CNGL said:


> ^^ Yup, but this started as an off-topic at the German thread. And then, when I made this thread I decided not to restrict to motorways only.


That wasn't clear to me, but that may be because I already knew and had participated in the context (the OT).

So, carry on! (But we could have a sort of topic-within-a-topic of longest TOTSO-free motorway.)


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

2720km in Australia
https://www.google.it/maps/dir/-12....97312,137.7526628/@-25.4822577,131.8383491,5z
There's a roundabout in Alice Spring, though, but the main road goes straight across it.


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## earthJoker (Dec 15, 2004)

So what's actually the rule for a three way intersection. Some of them are a clear T shape others are more even. Which option is "straight" for intersections like Zürich-Ost, or is there simply no "straight" lane here.
https://www.google.ch/maps/@47.4129932,8.5784281,16z


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^ Depends on which lane you're looking at.


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## Wilhem275 (Apr 7, 2006)

Yep, I agree with Verso.

What is debatable is where a single lane is splitting:
https://maps.google.ch/maps?ll=44.428636,8.742902&spn=0.000704,0.00142&t=k&z=20


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

^ I'd say it's optional.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

Wilhem275 said:


> Yep, I agree with Verso.


That's always wise.... :jk:


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

earthJoker said:


> So what's actually the rule for a three way intersection. Some of them are a clear T shape others are more even. Which option is "straight" for intersections like Zürich-Ost, or is there simply no "straight" lane here.
> https://www.google.ch/maps/@47.4129932,8.5784281,16z


I'd use the through route as 'straight'. In this case A1 would go straight, while any route coming from A1L would end here.


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## bigic (Aug 29, 2014)

Zagreb - Belgrade - Thessaloniki - Athens? It may not be the longest route, but it's surely somewhat more than 1000 km.


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## verfmeer (Jul 30, 2014)

^^ There is a TOTSO near Thessaloníki.


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

bigic said:


> Zagreb - Belgrade - Thessaloniki - Athens? It may not be the longest route, but it's surely somewhat more than 1000 km.


at eastern entrance to Beograd there is totso, too.
on the other side, Zagreb is bad place to start that route; you can make Ljubljana - Beograd with no totsos.


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## Road_UK (Jun 20, 2011)

Rosenheim-Innsbruck-Verona --merger at Modena and onto Naples-Reggio Calabria and it seems to me that when you keep on going you'll end up going northbound along the Adriatic Coast - inland - Med-Coast SS18- parallel northbound along the A3- and another spin-off...

In other words - starting at Rosenheim you'll end up going round in circles in southern Italy...


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

^^ Nope, that route ends at Modena :tongue:.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

Actually, that lane takes you to the northern Bologna bypass and then probably to Bari.


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## darko06 (Nov 20, 2009)

x-type said:


> at eastern entrance to Beograd there is totso, too.
> on the other side, Zagreb is bad place to start that route; you can make Ljubljana - Beograd with no totsos.


Actually, when the Belgrade beltway will be finished, the straight route coming from the Razcep Malence near Ljubljana will continue as the beltway (Dobanovci interchange) and again will be continued into the Belgrade-Niš motorway at the future Beli Potok (?) interchange.
In conclusion, straight from Ljubljana to Thessaloniki.


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## MattiG (Feb 11, 2011)

CNGL said:


> What is the longest straight route (i.e. not taking any exits or turning at intersections) one can do?


Most roundabouts.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

MattiG said:


> Most roundabouts.


Or ring roads.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

^^Remember the Top Gear police challenge, where James's bright idea to catch the criminal is to wait for him to come around again? Richard remarks it might work on the M25.


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## essendon bombers (Apr 27, 2008)

In Australia you could start at the M80 Ring Road / M31 Hume Fwy interchange north of Melbourne and travel north along the Hume all the way into Sydney. In Sydney, M5, under the airport, Eastern Distributor, Harbour Tunnel (too bad miss the bridge), M2 Hills Mwy, M7 Westland and bends back on itself to meet the M31/M7 interchange south western Sydney.

It would be freeway all the way, no exits.... hope I hadn't missed anything.


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

MattiG said:


> Most roundabouts.


I consider roundabouts as if they were intersections. If there is a clear main route, then that is the 'straight' route. If not, any route ends there.


italystf said:


> Or ring roads.


Not the Z-40 around Zaragoza. There is a cloverleaf at the northeast corner that makes any route on the ringroad to end at the AP-7 interchange or in Oloron-Ste. Marie (France) (The later ends after a few roundabouts). In addition, the way the interchange at the southwest corner is signed makes A-2 the through route, thus causing the route from the AP-7 to continue to the Cristo Rey circle in Madrid instead of looping back and head to Oloron.


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

darko06 said:


> Actually, when the Belgrade beltway will be finished, the straight route coming from the Razcep Malence near Ljubljana will continue as the beltway (Dobanovci interchange) and again will be continued into the Belgrade-Niš motorway at the future Beli Potok (?) interchange.
> In conclusion, straight from Ljubljana to Thessaloniki.


this is not thread about the future, so when-will-be stuff doesn't count.


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## Road_UK (Jun 20, 2011)

We can count them if we know these projects are realistic...


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

^^And anarchy ensued....


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## MattiG (Feb 11, 2011)

CNGL said:


> I consider roundabouts as if they were intersections. If there is a clear main route, then that is the 'straight' route. If not, any route ends there.


A competing concept is an endless chain of T-junctions. The larger the roundabout is the more obvious this interpretation is.


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## pmaciej7 (Oct 2, 2007)

1280 km


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## KiwiGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

Not sure if this counts but this is the largest you can get on the South Island.

It's 841 km between Picton and Gore with the route purely on SH 1. I tried Invercargill but Google says to turn off the main road and head down a country road that is quicker. 

If one stays on SH 1 through Gore to get to Invercargill, it adds another 65 km to the trip making it a total of 906 km between Picton and Invercargill on SH 1.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

pmaciej7 said:


> 1280 km


Fixed.
https://www.google.pl/maps/dir/45.6...b2a7:0xc3b86ddf38565c5b!4e1!1m1!4e1!3e0?hl=pl
It's 1288km, your route involved two turns at Caserta and Salerno.


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