The broadest road and highway?

bleakstyle · April 25, 2006

Greetings all. I came across this question when I was using Google Earth, then I thought of a show saying a raod located in Buenos Aires is by far the broadest road in the world. I have no picture at hand but the satellite map from Google Map, here.

As I looked northward, I found in the same city there is also a highway of 12 lanes, which I thought may have the potential to be the broadest highway I ever know, here.

Of course my guess could be wrong. Where is the broadest highway and road you know anyway? Please share

BlackJackal · April 25, 2006

There is a stretch of Highway 401 in Mississauga, Ontatio, Canada that is 18 lanes across. It's a collector/express setup.

Tarkus · April 25, 2006

I think I remember reading that Brasiliera, Brazil had the widest road in the world. Parts of I-5 in Los Angeles (around Disneyland in Anaheim) apparently are really wide. I had heard that they had widened the road to 13 lanes in each direction. I don't remember it being that wide the last time I was down there 5 or 6 years ago.

beebs · April 25, 2006

That Toronto highway is sick. How are you supposed to navigate through that?!

BlackJackal · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: beebs That Toronto highway is sick. How are you supposed to navigate through that?!quote>

Simple. The outer collector lanes handle all interchanges with local arterial roads, while the express lanes are for through traffic only, and generally to not have ramps at interchanges, unless it's with another freeway.

Every so often there will be a "basketweave" where braided ramps will interchange between the collector and express sections.

This is done because the 401 is both a major through freeway for traffic crossing southern Ontario, and a commuter freeway for people working and living in and around Toronto. The express lanes are for traffic that is mostly just passing through the city, seperating it from local commuting traffic.

Tarkus · April 25, 2006

Looks kind of like a giant Multi-Highway. Reminds me of I-5 and I-90 in Seattle . . . argh. (Though the former is much worse than the latter.) All those special lanes and junk going all over the place . . . super annoying.

beebs · April 25, 2006

I dunno I still think it's excessively complex. I have trouble going on the Whitemud here in Edmonton (3-4 lanes each way). That would just be a nightmare.

BlackJackal · April 25, 2006

The design standards for the 400 series highways are pretty consistent. Most interchanges with arterial roads are the Parclo A4 type (shown earlier), all ramps (with a few exceptions) are from the right. Basically, if you're driivng around Toronto, you stick to the collector lanes (3-4 lanes wide each side) and if you are passing right through Toronto you stick to the express lanes (similar in size). It's like two regular freeways, one inside the other, and you can think of them as seperate.

That, combined with good sinage (exit signs at 2km, 1km, and 500m before the interchange) makes the freeways fairly easy to navigate. This is in opposition to some other areas (Los Angeles, for example) where ramps exit from the left, or the right, and there are all sorts of different interchange types, like the parclo, diamond, SPUI.

What would be REALLY confusing is if there was no seperation between collector and express, and it was like 8-9 lanes in each direction.

It's not excessive. It was built to handle the traffic needs of a city of five million people, which is a LOT bigger than Edmonton

bleakstyle · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: Tarkus I think I remember reading that Brasiliera, Brazil had the widest road in the world. Parts of I-5 in Los Angeles (around Disneyland in Anaheim) apparently are really wide. I had heard that they had widened the road to 13 lanes in each direction. I don't remember it being that wide the last time I was down there 5 or 6 years ago.quote>

.

Not sure if this is the one you were talking about.

I knew from somewhere this is called Monuemntal Axis in Brasilia, Brazil.

I don't know if this counts as the widest road, since they are more like two seperate one-way roads.

And thanks for all of your replies. That 16-lane highway is really one great concrete miracle! My eyes are open.

Micah · April 25, 2006

I believe the largest interstate in America is going to be the Katy Freeway whenever they finish that. I'll try to get a photo later. Anyways, the Katy Freeway is only second to one of LA's highway traffic problems. So they are finally expanding it which has been in the works for over 2 decades!

Tolomar · April 25, 2006

have to agree the worst stretch of highway for width and stupid exits...the Grandmother of Stupidity is the 401...

anywhere from 400 north to the 427 and anywhere in betwenn it can be from 8-36 lanes wide collectors coming going both side 6 lane turn offs...:S and if you go less than 100 you will be run over by one of several 18 wheelers coming up behind you...

area shot looks like a kids doodle with a crayon..... oh the shame....

BlackJackal · April 25, 2006

The Katy Freeway (Interstate 10) in Houston is going to be the widest freeway in the world from what I remember about it. The 401 is 18 lanes wide at its widest point, but this stretch of I-10 is apparently going to be 24 lanes across.

confused04 · April 25, 2006

I know this doesn't take the cake, but the nearest example to me is 35 W (in the Twin Cities).

Here's the link to it http://maps.google.com/?t=k&om=1&ll=44.965694,-93.261212&spn=0.001757,0.003616

Voar Tok · April 25, 2006

Also, there are plans for a SUPER highway in the southeast part of Texas that would be 1/4 of a mile wide at the widest points.

Easy Bakes · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: confused04 I know this doesn't take the cake, but the nearest example to me is 35 W (in the Twin Cities).

Here's the link to it http://maps.google.com/?t=k&om=1&ll=44.965694,-93.261212&spn=0.001757,0.003616quote>

If you keep going south on 35 you will end up in Dallas.

Mabey not the widest but certinly one of the more confusing

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Dallas&ll=32.772698,-96.795516&spn=0.016671,0.042915&t=k&om=1

I-30, 1-35, US Hiway 67, I-45/US75, all come together near Down town.

A traffic Nightmare from 3pm to 7pm

Compromise · April 25, 2006

Well in the UK we don't have anything very wide compared to the US. I think are widest road is the M25 which is about 5 to 6 lanes in each direction now although with traffic problems rising this could easily go up to 7 to 8.

toxicpiano · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: Voar Tok Also, there are plans for a SUPER highway in the southeast part of Texas that would be 1/4 of a mile wide at the widest points.quote>

!!!!!!!!!!

jvlm.123 · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: Compromise Well in the UK we don't have anything very wide compared to the US. I think are widest road is the M25 which is about 5 to 6 lanes in each direction now although with traffic problems rising this could easily go up to 7 to 8.quote>

There's also a road (M2 Motorway) in the northern suburbs of Belfast, Ireland that has 10 lanes - or 5 in each direction. I think it was either the widest road in the British Isles or Europe when it opened, but I'm not too sure. It's still the widest motorway in Ireland.

Above - One of the sectons of the road heading South/South-West. The road intersects other motorways - the M3, M5, M8 and M22.

Above - The road at it's widest point. However, one it leaves Belfast it only has 2-3 lanes in each direction.

BlackJackal · April 25, 2006

Quarter of a mile across? That's like 1320 feet!

hamsterTK · April 25, 2006

that Trans Texas Corridor thing is ridiculous.

Anyways, it would supposedly have like 5 railroads tracks as well a high tension cross country power lines and lots of green space too, so quarter of a mile isnt that much when you add that stuff.

And the new katy freeway is crazy too. They are having to tear down the super gigantic 5 level stack at the beltway, as well as lots and lots business even a 7 story holiday inn. There is a bit of room to grow on the north end because there is the right of way of an old abandoned railroad track they tore up in the mid 90's.

beesbees · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: Compromise Well in the UK we don't have anything very wide compared to the US. I think are widest road is the M25 which is about 5 to 6 lanes in each direction now although with traffic problems rising this could easily go up to 7 to 8.quote>

It's actually 4 lanes each way, with plans to increase it to 5 each way.....

Compromise · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: beesbees

Originally posted by: Compromise Well in the UK we don't have anything very wide compared to the US. I think are widest road is the M25 which is about 5 to 6 lanes in each direction now although with traffic problems rising this could easily go up to 7 to 8.quote>

It's actually 4 lanes each way, with plans to increase it to 5 each way.....quote>

Its finished, have a look here. Although on the less busy sections its still only 4 lanes.

thesonofgray · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: hamsterTK

And the new katy freeway is crazy too. They are having to tear down the super gigantic 5 level stack at the beltway, as well as lots and lots business even a 7 story holiday inn. There is a bit of room to grow on the north end because there is the right of way of an old abandoned railroad track they tore up in the mid 90's.

quote>

That construction is CrAzY . Have you seen the I-10 / 610 interchange lately? Both the new stuff and the old stuff are up and it looks like a ridiculously crazy maze of roads...especially when you're driving through it.

Voar Tok · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: hamsterTK that Trans Texas Corridor thing is ridiculous.

Anyways, it would supposedly have like 5 railroads tracks as well a high tension cross country power lines and lots of green space too, so quarter of a mile isnt that much when you add that stuff.

And the new katy freeway is crazy too. They are having to tear down the super gigantic 5 level stack at the beltway, as well as lots and lots business even a 7 story holiday inn. There is a bit of room to grow on the north end because there is the right of way of an old abandoned railroad track they tore up in the mid 90's.

quote>

Yeah, that's all very true. I didn't have time to write all of that at the time.

hym · April 25, 2006

Originally posted by: BlackJackal Quarter of a mile across? That's like 1320 feet!quote>

Yes it is. However, it's being built with the intention of handling the loads of truck traffic that travel across Texas due to NAFTA.

Duke87 · April 26, 2006

Well, I guaruntee you that the world's widest toll road is the New Jersey Turnpike between Exits 11 and 14 (about 10 miles or so, I think): 14 lanes Wide. The inner two roadways are 3 lanes each, and the outer two roadways are 4 lanes each (the innermost of each is an HOV lane) and only permit cars.

Then the issue is do you count by number of lanes or by distance from one edge of the road to the other? 'cause there's a bit of I-24 in Tennesse that is only six lanes, but has a median over two miles wide. The reason is that the two roadways scale their way up the side of a cliff differently.

GrandCentralParkway · April 26, 2006

bleakstyle: The road in Buenos Aires that you're referring to is Avenida 9 de Julio, and I believe it is the widest road in the world, 18 lanes across. The Monumental Axis in Brazil is also a pretty wide road.

I think the widest highway is Route 401 in Ontario, Canada (which becomes Autoroute 20 in Québec), but I'm not completely certain.

Tarkus · April 26, 2006

Originally posted by: Duke87 Well, I guaruntee you that the world's widest toll road is the New Jersey Turnpike between Exits 11 and 14 (about 10 miles or so, I think): 14 lanes Wide. The inner two roadways are 3 lanes each, and the outer two roadways are 4 lanes each (the innermost of each is an HOV lane) and only permit cars.

Then the issue is do you count by number of lanes or by distance from one edge of the road to the other? 'cause there's a bit of I-24 in Tennesse that is only six lanes, but has a median over two miles wide. The reason is that the two roadways scale their way up the side of a cliff differently.quote>

There's a lot of interstates like that in the Western US. See I-82 between Yakima and Ellensburg, WA. Goes through three mountain passes/ridges, and a military bombing range. You often can't even really see the other side of the freeway, it's so far away. I don't know if it's two miles, though. (Supposedly, there's also some conspiracy theory about there being some bottomless pit up there by the bombing range that the military doesn't want people to know about . . .)

chix4free · April 28, 2006

In France, the broadest freeway portion is the 12-lane A6 running through suburbs south of Paris (from Arcueil to Wissous) on approximately 7 kms. At some points, it even briefly turns into a 13-14 lane freeway. I don't know whether it's the widest in Europe or not.

A6-002-Apr%E8s_EchA6b-Arceuil-A-20050814