# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/61 "2012-10-29T13:18:21Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > “O” Street in Lincoln NE runs from the Missouri river out to Seward, that’s almost 50 miles, dead straight. Not straight enough for the OP’s purposes. I used to live on it, out east of 84th street, and it does bend slightly in places (not to mention that it’s hilly, and of course there’s the viaduct etc etc) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/62 "2012-10-29T13:27:51Z")
I seem to remember this intergalatic highway being built by the Vogons intersecting earth. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/63 "2012-10-29T14:19:55Z")
North-south ends to suffer from the curvaure of the earth. The border between Manitoba and Saskatchewan looks ramrod straight but actually jogs frequently, as I recall, because the nice square township lines no longer fit as the earth “gets narrower towards the top”. So a lot of survey-defined “straight lines” in the NS direction would not be perfectly linear, as the local center for Universal Transverse Mercator mapping changes. Similarly, the township streets north of Toronto jog several dozen feet at Steeles Ave., I was told it was for the same reason. Technically any road following a 'straight line" along a latitude would have a bow in it unless it was along the equator… but this is nitpicking too. ---
**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 29, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/64 "2012-10-29T15:10:44Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Not straight enough for the OP’s purposes. I used to live on it, out east of 84th street, and it does bend slightly in places (not to mention that it’s hilly, and of course there’s the viaduct etc etc) My cursory scan of it looks pretty good from the river to near York, frankly. I don’t think a traffic circle invalidates it. Otherwise, in-city the right of way was straight, and local engineers just did a little wobble when two lanes went to 4 lanes, etc. Acceptable to the Mercotan’s Mercator! ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/65 "2012-10-29T15:34:28Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Due to the curvature of the Earth, would a tunnel like the Chunnel be a better pick? 🙂 > [@Colophon](#): > > I know this wasn’t a serious suggestion, but the Channel Tunnel is a rail tunnel, not a road tunnel. (But you can take your car on the train.) And it’s also not even in the neighbourhood of being strait. Definitely not in the vertical plane and I doubt about it being strait in the horizontal plane as well. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/66 "2012-10-29T15:37:55Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Isn’t this a deliberate feature of highway design? A distraction every once in a while, to keep drivers from zoning out completely? I was going to post this, too. I have some hazy memory of a rule like that that they tried to build in to the design of the original interstate highways. Or was that just an urban/suburban/rural myth? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/67 "2012-10-29T15:49:15Z")
> [@For You](#): > > I was going to lobby for some 40-odd miles of Hwy 17 north of Alamosa Colorado just past the road to Sand Dunes NP, but it looks like the road has a very subtle wander to it. Known as “The Gun-Barrel”. It is built over an old railroad, which was the longest straight section of track in the US. You can see on the google map that the old railroad bed continues straight north for several more miles. I think the straight track was over 50 miles. [Pretty danged straight](https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=CO-17+S&daddr=CO-17+N&hl=en&ll=38.029974,-105.880737&spn=0.235545,0.528374&sll=38.097551,-105.880737&sspn=0.235328,0.528374&geocode=FWfwPAIdDrqw-Q%3BFWFdRgIdsK6v-Q&t=h&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=12&z=12) when I have driven it. The very small wanders are due to some turn lanes they have added over the years, where the road passes through “towns” (which are only just wide spots in the road, literally) When it was strictly two-lane, it was well over 42 miles of dead straight. I have driven it at night a few times, and it is a witch to judge how far away oncoming cars are, because you see the headlights coming at you for like 10 minutes or more, slowly getting brighter. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/68 "2012-10-29T15:51:46Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > And it’s also not even in the neighbourhood of being strait. But it’s in the neighborhood of _a_ strait, that should count for something. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/69 "2012-10-29T16:00:56Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > 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. I just drove on Hwy 57 the other day and it immediately came to mind when I read the thread topic. I think Cedar Valley has the best string cheese I’ve ever tried. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/70 "2012-10-29T16:11:05Z")
> [@CC](#): > > I was going to post this, too. I have some hazy memory of a rule like that that they tried to build in to the design of the original interstate highways. Or was that just an urban/suburban/rural myth? Are you thinking of the myth that “one out of every five miles on an interstate needs to be perfectly straight so that planes can land on it in an emergency”? ---
**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 29, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/71 "2012-10-29T16:15:45Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > I just drove on Hwy 57 the other day and it immediately came to mind when I read the thread topic. I think Cedar Valley has the best string cheese I’ve ever tried. But was it the straightest, longest string cheese you’ve ever tried? Cedar Valley is a great cheese clearinghouse. I love their variety. 4 year old swiss is my fave find there, so hard to get decent aged swiss these days… ---
**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 29, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/72 "2012-10-29T16:35:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My cursory scan of it looks pretty good from the river to near York, frankly. I don’t think a traffic circle invalidates it. Otherwise, in-city the right of way was straight, and local engineers just did a little wobble when two lanes went to 4 lanes, etc. Acceptable to the Mercotan’s Mercator! In that case, you might enjoy Sask. Rd. 33 from Richardson (near Regina) south east to past Stoughton. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/73 "2012-10-29T16:53:44Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > the Channel Tunnel is a rail tunnel, not a road tunnel. (But you can take your car on the train.) Plus, the whole [not straight](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Course_Channeltunnel_en.svg&page=1) thing kinda lets it down :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/74 "2012-10-29T17:04:55Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Due to the curvature of the Earth, would a tunnel like the Chunnel be a better pick? 🙂 The Chunnel is only 31 miles long and curves to avoid the Fosse Dangeard trench. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/75 "2012-10-29T17:31:25Z")
Highway 64 from Delhart TX (upper panhandle) to just outside Liberal, KS. 106 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/76 "2012-10-29T17:43:43Z")
^No, there are some big meanders in Guymon and other towns. Even the railroad it parallels isn’t perfectly straight. (My definition, which I think would be shared by the OP, is that Paul Bunyan could snap a chalkline down the center, without it leaving the paved surface.) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/77 "2012-10-29T18:12:44Z")
The longest straight road in the UK is, unsurprisingly a former Roman road - the A15, which follows the course of Ermine Street. Supposedly it is straight for 15 miles, but it looks to me like there are [a fair few wiggles](https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=53.443899,-0.509491&spn=0.235158,0.370789&t=m&z=11). (Street View [evidence](https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=53.450634,-0.551119&spn=0.007296,0.011587&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.450949,-0.55106&panoid=sRJvsu2xj90kYvU1AlChGw&cbp=12,0.65,,1,10.27) of one such bend, which is actually quite a scary view as it gives the impression that the Street View driver is overtaking in the path of a large oncoming truck! Hopefully this is the view from the back of the car…) There’s a 5-mile dead-straight stretch of the A30 that I drive along frequently, which isn’t very impressive in terms of length but is a good illustration of the Roman attitude to road-building - it goes arrow straight completely ignoring the fairly hilly terrain, unlike the Lincolnshire example above which is in very flat country. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/78 "2012-10-29T18:15:18Z")
I’m amazed at the number of Dopers driving on Hwy 57. I’m going to put up a sign by Cedar Valley saying “August West’s house 6.7 miles \<----” ETA: Weyauwega Star Dairy has the best string cheese. ---
**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 29, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/79 "2012-10-29T18:16:46Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Highway 64 from Delhart TX (upper panhandle) to just outside Liberal, KS. 106 miles. significant curve in Guymon. Oops, I wasn’t the first to notice this. Also in Texahoma. ---
**Author:** ![Tomegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9d8465/32.png) [@Tomegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomegee)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059/80 "2013-01-05T18:39:24Z")
The longest straight roads I found in the United States are two separate sections of the same highway in the Oklahoma Panhandle. From Boise City to just west of Guymon, Highway 412 runs razor’s-edge straight for 47.7 miles. And as if that wasn’t enough, when Highway 412 resumes its straight and narrow ways 24 miles to the east, it proceeds to run perfectly straight through the farmlands of western Oklahoma from Hardesty to just east of Slapout for another 65.7 miles. And just to be crystal clear: these roads are absolutely straight - no slight curves or bends at all. I virtually eyeballed the entire route via Google Earth to confirm the road was as straight as it initially appeared. It was; not a single deviation from the center line on either section to be found. So, unless someone locates a longer perfectly straight road, I believe the 65.7 mile section of Oklahoma’s U.S. Highway 412 should be named the Longest Straight Road in the United States. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-continuously-straight-road-in-the-us-the-world/639059.md?page=5)