# What's the longest continuously straight road in the US? The world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059 "2012-10-27T18:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/21 "2012-10-27T23:40:16Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Just a thought but how are you defining straight? At what point does the curvature of the Earth become relevant? Consider a road 1 km from the South Pole that heads due East… 😃 Hmmm… I suppose realistically, keeping on the surface of Earth, a due-North/South road could be made the most undisputably “straight” over long distances, as I believe longitude lines are both constant-bearing and also Great Circles. I imagine many “straight” roads in the middle latitudes try to approximate a constant-bearing line. But that’s just off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/22 "2012-10-28T01:20:59Z")
The [Mitchell Highway between Bourke and Nyngan](http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=directions+bourke+nsw+to+nyngan+nsw&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&ei=6IeMUKOkGMueiAe79YEY&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAg) in New South Wales, Australia, looks pretty straight for all of its 200 km (120 miles). (But I haven’t driven on it to check.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/23 "2012-10-28T01:23:25Z")
What’s the longest straight section of the Ross Ice Shelf Road? (Is there still a Ross Ice Shelf Road?(Is there still a Ross Ice Shelf?)) ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/24 "2012-10-28T02:09:50Z")
I know of two town roads within 10 miles that are “snap a chalkline” straight for over 30 miles through NE Wisconsin. I’d venture a guess Ill or Ind has several east-west townline roads that can beat that. I’d offer up Hwy 57 north of Milwaukee for about 40 miles true north to Plymouth. I’m not aware of any compass corrections from when I last traveled it. Correction: I forgot about the new round-a-bout on one of the town roads. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/25 "2012-10-28T04:07:09Z")
Unless you’re employing a ridiculously literal standard of “straight”, [US Rt. 50](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50) should be a contender. Ocean City, MD to West Sacramento, CA. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/26 "2012-10-28T06:09:15Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Unless you’re employing a ridiculously literal standard of “straight”, [US Rt. 50](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50) should be a contender. Ocean City, MD to West Sacramento, CA. Not remotely straight in the sense the OP is using it. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/27 "2012-10-28T07:14:32Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Unless you’re employing a ridiculously literal standard of “straight”, [US Rt. 50](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50) should be a contender. Ocean City, MD to West Sacramento, CA. Yes, a ridiculously literal standard for straight is being employed. The premise is that if your wheels are properly aligned, you could drive the stretch of road without moving the steering wheel at all. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/28 "2012-10-28T08:30:41Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Yes, a ridiculously literal standard for straight is being employed. The premise is that if your wheels are properly aligned, you could drive the stretch of road without moving the steering wheel at all. Umm.. no. You’d quickly go off the road due to the camber. I think Qadgop originally wanted laser-pointer straight, though I’d suggest great-circle straight. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/29 "2012-10-28T10:31:43Z")
Thanks to section 15 subsection 1 and section 28 of Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, public roads in Canada do not have to be straight. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/30 "2012-10-28T12:05:50Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Umm.. no. You’d quickly go off the road due to the camber. I think Qadgop originally wanted laser-pointer straight, though I’d suggest great-circle straight. I’ve driven the stretch of I-80 out to Windover, and the road is worn by trucks. If you are driving a car, it’s actually harder than driving curves. One of my friends drove his Mustang and got up fast enough that he claims it went airborn after hitting a bump. I don’t know about that, but it’s a good place to test the speed of your car. Except when the unmarked trooper car is coming the other way, but that’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/31 "2012-10-28T15:03:19Z")
I’m not demanding ‘laser pointer straight’, nor am I seeking the ability to leave one’s hands off the (well-aligned) wheels the whole time. The occasional minimal variation inherent in some intersections ought to be overlooked, I think. As should the curvature of the earth. So Highway 136 at interstate 55, 74, and 155 qualifies as straight to me. I guess I’m looking for variations from true caused by ‘natural obstacles’, if that helps define it better. And **Poppa San** , it was the straightness of Highway 57 that led me to ask the question. It’s pretty damn straight fro 31 miles from north of Saukville to just before Manitowoc county. I drive on bits of it constantly. It’s got a very small, gentle, looooong wobble around Waldo of perhaps a degree or two, but I’d still call it straight. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/32 "2012-10-28T15:25:35Z")
[Here is Australia’s 90 mile straight road filmed.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkhZ4Pl9FZU&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/33 "2012-10-28T15:32:58Z")
“O” Street in Lincoln NE runs from the Missouri river out to Seward, that’s almost 50 miles, dead straight. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/34 "2012-10-28T15:33:34Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I’ve driven the stretch of I-80 out to Windover, and the road is worn by trucks. If you are driving a car, it’s actually harder than driving curves. > > One of my friends drove his Mustang and got up fast enough that he claims it went airborn after hitting a bump. I don’t know about that, but it’s a good place to test the speed of your car. > > Except when the unmarked trooper car is coming the other way, but that’s another story. Hwy 50 through Nevada has some long stretches suitable for testing your car. Make sure that your tires are rated for high speed. The road is empty, straight, smooth and visible in in long stretches out in the desert. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/35 "2012-10-28T15:35:25Z")
I’d bet I-5, through the Central Valley of California is longer than that 31 mile stretch. I’ve driven that road many times and I seem to remember one very slight turn about 100 miles into it. Just a guess on my part. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/36 "2012-10-28T15:57:06Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’d bet I-5, through the Central Valley of California is longer than that 31 mile stretch. I’ve driven that road many times and I seem to remember one very slight turn about 100 miles into it. Just a guess on my part. I think that I-5 might be deceiving you. I’ve driven the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys both and there are kinks peppered at ten and fifteen mile separations all along both routes. They aren’t much of a variation and can be easily forgotten but they are there nevertheless. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/37 "2012-10-28T16:03:30Z")
I think some sort of honourable mention needs to go to the [Gunbarrel Highway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunbarrel_Highway). Whilst by no means a single straight piece of road, it extends for 1,400 km - 870 miles, and is largely constructed of sections of dead straight road wherever possible, with many sections being lengths of perfectly straight road of five, ten, twenty, fifty or more miles, with a single kink connecting them. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/38 "2012-10-28T16:15:37Z")
[Western Avenue](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl) in Los Angeles goes for about 20 miles according to Google and is as straight as a string. Probably not a record, but it is inside the city limits of a very large city, so that makes it unusual to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/39 "2012-10-28T17:12:35Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > [Western Avenue](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl) in Los Angeles goes for about 20 miles according to Google and is as straight as a string. > Probably not a record, but it is inside the city limits of a very large city, so that makes it unusual to say the least. If I’m looking at the right thing (your link doesn’t work correctly), there’s a bit of a bend at I-10. Chicago’s Western Avenue goes 23.5 miles from one end of the city to the other, and is pretty much dead-straight, too, with a bend near I-55 where the Avenue and Boulevard cross over. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/40 "2012-10-28T17:24:31Z")
There’s a stretch through Wasilla, AK that’s only a mile or so. It just _seems_ like forever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059.md?page=3)