So this morning, driving into Chicago from the North on the Kennedy Expressway in the express lanes, I was thinking to myself "man, how much fun would this road be if it were closed to just me, and I was able to run wide open through here. The express lanes have some wonderful sweeping curves and lots of elevation changes, plus the Addison/L "S" curve - at 65 it's slightly fun. At 110, it would be awesome!

So, here's the rules - nothing obvious like "The Dragon" unless you're a lucky enough S.O.B. to be able to drive to work or something on that road every day. Name the road, why you like it, and what would be different if it were closed and you could fully it open it up.

So, applying that to the inbound (or outbound) Kennedy (I-90/94) expressway express lanes in Chicago ...

... it's very unforgiving - 6 foot concrete walls, 2 twelve-foot wide lanes and two narrow shoulders. High price to pay if you screw up.

... It's curvy
... It has elevation changes
... It has curves that make you concentrate at 70 mph, therefore leaving it wide open would be a challenge.

What's yours?

Stew

 

skyline drive. my g35 club go there 2x a year, lots of twisties and when you get to the top of the moutains theres ice on the rocks. 60-120mph is the range of speed. lots of elevation changes. this is in VA in the applachian mountains, its famous for its leaves in the fall

-blue ridge mountain road is also great but too long- http://www.automobilemag.com/great_drives/ - check this for more great drives

 

Interstate 90. All of it.

 

Believe it or not, but there is an unbelievably twisty, very hilly road just north of Dubuque, Iowa (the Eastern part of Iowa along the Mississippi River is surprisingly hilly, they even have ski slopes there) with the unenviable name of the Balltown Road.

This is going to sound crazy from people in other parts of the country, but it almost looks like a miniature Switzerland up there, with meadows and craggy boulder strewn fields and lots and lots of switchbacks and incredible views.

Once I get my RX8 this spring, I'm definitely planning on a very early morning trip up there. That's the awesome thing about rural Iowa - even if they road isn't "officially" closed - it may as well be at certain times due to the lack of population density!

This link has some pictures from the countryside in that area. I swear to God, you'd never guess you were in Iowa.

http://www.anotherworldinn.com/countryside/

 

19/23 though the north carolina/TN line. lots of twists, switchback and hairpins huggin a mountian all along the cherokee national park..

nevada 140 to oregon 39 ~300 miles of nothing. last time i drove it i did have it all to myself. if i wasn't so worried about free range donkeys i'd have gone a bit fast than 120 the whole way... right as you cross from nevada into oregon you cross a hill and the road disappears 6500 ft straight down cliff ( hang glider launch the sign says... ) with a super windy road hugging the mountain. I almost had a heart attack.. as the road pulls a hard right that I had to do 30-40 mph the rest of the way down and I crested the hill at over 100 mph....

 

California Highway 1 between San Simeon and Monterey would be my choice. Lot's of curves and great scenery. And a long way down to the Pacific Ocean if you screw up.

1.3L

 

St. Rte. 127 from Celina, OH to Chattanooga, TN. Everything needed to be a great road.

 

I agree, I love Skyline Drive & Shenandoah! Boy, to have it all to myself would be great (and no deer, bears, ground hogs, backpackers, rangers, etc jumping out behind every tree & rock would be a BIG help)!

 

WI-55 along the Wolf River. Single lane paved road. Turns that are tough to take at 35mph, but has stretches that you can get up to 100 if you are quick and have the breaks to get you back below 40 for the next curve. Plenty of hills too.

 

I change my vote:


The Pacific Coast Highway.

 

I know Balltown Road! That's right near Sundown ski area, right? See, I think that's a little out of the "rules" here - but totally agree it's a great road. I did that whole area last year in my -8. My wife and I went out to that area, stayed in a B&B in Galena IL, and while she shopped til she dropped with a girlfriend, a buddy of mine who has a BMW Z4 went out rat racing around all those twisties out there.

Now is there an everyday road in the QC's you'd like to close?

Also, there's also a Skyline Drive in NW New Jersey about 45 miles from NYC - right near Greenwood Lake - it runs from Greenwood Lake Turnpike (another road to close by the way) to I-287 out there. An amazing road that would be a screaming blast if it were closed and I were in my RX-8. Although my friend and I abused the crap out of his M3 one early Sunday morning out there this summer.

 

damn you stole mine
i'll have to go furher south then. maybe santa barabara south to malibu/santa monica.
have driven it so many times, but only once in my rx-8, and empty roads would double my pleasure.

 

hwy9, page mill rd, hwy 84 going twards half moon bay, san antonio vally rd, 580 in oakland

the bay area has alot of good roads

 

Now is there an everyday road in the QC's you'd like to close?


Hmmm. Most of the roads around the Quad-Cities are pretty tame. There is a pretty sweet strecth on a county road north of Davenport, near McCausland where you dive down from a steep hill, over a long flat stretch, then around an S curve.

That's where I always take my new cars to "test" their speed. I got my turbo VW Passat up to 125 mph on that stretch. (It's very safe because there is literally NOTHING as far as the eye can see along that open stretch,).

I guess I'll have to take the RX8 out there when I get it this spring.

 

287n in nj, when the road turns white. not too many curves, but it is very smooth

 

Well I live in Florida....we have 2 turns in 150 miles so .....rare to find play areas here...we have some only one I can say is the on ramp to 275 north from Rt 60, so much fun in the 8 and my bikes

 

highway 60 between frostproof and yeahaw junction is where I got my 8 up to 167 mph... at 2 am on a Sunday. Nice long straight line for 25 miles.

 

If I were to be really honest, my true choice would be pretty prosaic: I-93. It's NOT a wonderful, twisty, or scenic road in any way shape or form. It's just a boring slab of interstate. BUT: It is the ONLY way to get in or out of Boston from the north or south, and it is close to being a 24-hour-a-day traffic jam. I know of no time, night or day, when I have been imune from the possibility of a traffic problem on it. I've been stuck in traffic jams on it at 11pm, at 2am, you name it. That's not to say that it is ALWAYS that way, but it always has the potential. At anything even REMOTELY resembling rush hour, forget it. So if I got to pick one road to have all to myself, that would be it. Just so I could get in and out of the city, to the airport, or up to places north of the city, such as my friends in Haverhill or the nice scenic, twisty roads of, say, New Hampshire.

 

I used to take that to CT all the time when I lived there. So if I were still in NJ, then I'd want to have that closed for me.

 

bay area, mt tam, muir woods, uphill downhill twisties, no guard rail, one slip and down ya go

 

mt tam is good, but its a little too slow for me. 84 west past skyline is "the ultimate road" imo

 

It's been years since I have driven it so I couldn't begin to tell you the route numbers but...

The drive from South Tacoma to Mount Rainier. Out past the Roy Y (hang to the left), and all the way to then end of the highway halfway up the mountain. The last time I drove it was in a '63 Ford Fairlane back in the late seventies. I can only imagine taking the trip in my 8. Someday maybe.

 

roywhitep5, u been thru muir woods? those curves are alrite, u cant really open the throttle tho, one turn right after another.

 

Well, Krankor, you're nothing if not pragmatic at least.

I drove whatever expressway runs through "the big dig" in Boston recently (is it i-95? I can't remember) and I thought that would be a hoot to drive closed and fast.

 

I believe there are two main roads assocated with the big dig. The first one I think of is the aforementioned I-93, for which they built a fancy new bridge, and put more of it underground. But you've also got I-90 (the Mass Pike), which, with the help of tunnelling, they extended further so you could take it all the way to the airport (the wisest part of the whole project). I'm guessing you were on I-93 (I-95, in defiance of original plans, never actually makes it into Boston; it's route 128, beltwaying around the suburbs of the city. The southern stretch of I-93 is often referred to by locals as the "southeast expressway", though it apprears on no signs or maps; this mystified me until I learned that there was *supposed* to have been a "southwest expressway", which would have run I-95 into the city as well, but which was scrapped for typically parochial Boston political reasons. You can still find the first tiny bit of it that they started to build, crumbling under weeds right around where I-95 from Providence hooks up with 128)

And you're right, I hadn't even thought of that, but some of the antique parts of the stretch of I-93 in the heart of the city (which the locals call the "central artery" despite it being on no signs or maps; learning to drive around here is... different. To this day I have NO idea where it stops being the "southeast expressway" and starts being the "central artery") are rather windy and would make for good driving if left to oneself. I never thought of it that way because usually I'm too busy being pissed off that, here, the -most critical piece of highway in the city- (particulary before the big dig when all the I-90 traffic that wanted to get to the airport had to dump into it as well) is this thing so curvy (and antiquely surfaced, at least until recently) that it's the ONLY major interstate highway I can think of that's signed for only 45 mph. A *great* way to keep traffic flowing through the city. But you're right, if I stop fussing over its negative affect on the dismal traffic situation here, and think about it as if it were purely mine, you make an excellent point. Now I'm even happier with my choice!