Was reading this CNN article about a (fantasy) road proposal from Russia that would connect the US via Alaska to eastern Russia, then traverse Russia via an (fantasy proposed) road system that follows the trans-Siberian rail line (which is actually real in this case :p). Feel free to read the article, but the question is, would any 'dopers actually drive this, just for the hell of it?
My thoughts are that it would be a seriously cool trip in my car, but my main concerns would be what services would be available for things like gas, food, lodging and potential repairs for folks using the road? What currency would be used and what kinds of legal red tape and customs would be needed to actually do this drive? I think that if all of that were worked out, and there actually was infrastructure and some way to work out the legal and monetary and customs issues that I’d do it, assuming I would still be young enough and fit enough to make the trip of course. What do you all think?
HELL YES. Save on airfare, for one thing! I have gotten better about it but I still resent that I have to put aside hundreds of dollars in airfare just to have a vacation! For a few hour flight!
ETA: I would much rather have a Transatlantic road. I really don’t have a lot of interest in visiting Russia,.
Let’s think about that. London to New York is about 3400 miles, assuming our bridge is a straight shot across a great circle. A reasonable car gets about 30mpg on the highway. That’s 113 gallons of fuel to get across. Even at very cheap current American gas prices of around $2.50 a gallon, you’re looking at nearly $300 in gas alone just for the one-way trip. That doesn’t include three or four days worth of food and supplies you’ll need for the trip. Of course, Bob’s Middle of the Atlantic Gas Station & Snack Emporium can probably charge a hefty premium given that there’s little competition in the middle of the high seas. I can find cheapo one-way airfares for $500 and that gets me there in one day, and I don’t have to drive the airplane.
Considering how much the airlines have made me detest flying recently, and how much I truly enjoy driving, yes, I’d do it. Such a long journey in a tunnel would be a little depressing, but if they could somehow alternate above ground with below ground, it would probably be pretty cool.
Still and all, I’d rather see them do a bullet train type arrangement where you could load up your car and have it when you go there.
mika, you’re crazy. You can cover about 1,000 miles a day by car under the absolute best circumstances (say, driving only on superhighways after a zombie apocalypse.) You’re talking about a journey of three weeks, minimum. Maybe two if you sleep in shifts and drive almost constantly.
We’re talking about going the long way around: London to Paris via ferry/Chunnel, then driving across Eurasia to the proposed Alaska bridge, then through Canada down to NY.
I think that’d be about 18,000 miles as the crow flies (and obviously much more since you can’t drive as the crow flies.)
Yeah I think the long way around is kind of crazy, though you could still do it with a camper and take like a month off (or be retired). That would almost be fun.
Why wait? The Bering Strait freezes over in the winter. You can already* drive from New York to Fairbanks, through the tundra for hundreds of miles, over the frozen Bering Strait, through Siberia, Russia, Europe, and then through the Chunnel service tunnel to reach London (I consider the Eurotunnel cheating). In fact, if you’re really ambitious, you could start in Tierra Del Fuego and drive north, and you’d only have to navigate the Darién Gap.
*No one has ever done this before, and the Bering Strait has only been successfully crossed twice, and even then by foot. But it’s not definitively impossible.
You can cover about 1,000 miles a day by car under the absolute best circumstances (say, driving only on superhighways after a zombie apocalypse.) You’re talking about a journey of three weeks, minimum. Maybe two if you sleep in shifts and drive almost constantly.