Interesting facts about the roads and motorways of the world.
Shortest Motorway in Britain
Several motorways are 1 mile (1.6 km) or less in length. Although there have been conflicting claims, but it now appears that the A635(M), which is joined to the A57(M), Mancunian Way, is the shortest at about 300 metres.
Widest Motorway in Britain
There are sections of motorway where local widening occurs to accommodate slip roads, and at these points, the motorways could well be five or even six lanes wide. However, the foreshore section of the M2 in Belfast, opened in 1973, has a long section which is dual 5 lanes wide. More recently, opening in December 2005, the M25, between junctions 12 and 14, was widened to dual 5-lanes and the section between junctions 14 and 15 to dual 6-lanes.
Narrowest Motorway in Britain
The A601(M), a 500m long connection between junction 35 on the M6, and the B6254 near Over Kellet (The “Carnforth Quarry Link Road”) consists only of a single 7.3m carriageway and two 1m wide strips. Its overall width is about 50 feet (15m). The M6 originally terminated on the A6 north of Carnforth. When it was extended northwards, the link through to the A6, which was of course built to motorway standard, was effectively “cut off”, and this was redesignated the A601(M). The roundabout which connected the two motorways was automatically a “special road” by virtue of the fact that only motorway traffic could get to it. When the “Quarry link” was added, this provided a direct connection to a motorway, and in order to prohibit non-motorway traffic from using it, it had to be designated as a motorway itself. It therefore also became the A601(M). The route numbering is illogical, because the A601 is, in fact, the Derby Ring Road.
Highest Motorway in Britain
The M62 is the highest motorway in the UK, reaching 1,220 feet (372m near to the boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire close to the Pennine Way footbridge. The M6, passing over Shap, in Cumbria, reaches 1,040 feet (317m) and is probably the second highest motorway, although the M74 at Beattock is thought to be at a very similar height.
Straightest Motorway in Britain
body: ‘The Alconbury to Peterborough section of A1(M) runs generally on the line of the old Ermine Street \nRoman Road, and is therefore “straight” for a considerable part of its length. Between Alconbury and Stilton, it is more or less straight for a distance of nearly 7 miles. Minor deviations have, however, been necessary near to Sawtry and Connington to accommodate junctions and side road diversions. Probably the longest individual section of straight motorway occurs on the A1(M) Durham Motorway, near Newton Aycliffe. The motorway immediately south of Bradbury (Junction 60) includes a 3½-mile straight section.’,
Steepest Motorway in Britain
Design standards for motorways (and their intersections) require that gradients should be no steeper than 4% (1 in 25) except that in exceptional circumstances, gradients of 5% may be used over short lengths. Between the Shore Road and Sandyknowes section of the M2 in Northern Ireland, the gradient reputedly reaches 1 in 19½ (5.13%) in places. Shortly before the contract was let it was decided that a crawler lane should be added on this outward carriageway. Steep gradients are often found on complex interchanges, but where the M90 terminates at the Craigend interchange with the southern by-pass to Perth, the topography dictates gradients said to be well above the recommended maxima. The actual gradients achieved are not yet known.
Longest Uninterrupted Length of Motorway in Britain
The longest section of motorway between junctions occurs on the M11. The distance between junction 8 and junction 9 is 15.2 miles (24.3 km). However, junction 9 only has northbound slip roads, and in a southbound direction there is an interrupted length of 17 miles (27.1 km) between junction 10 and junction 8.
First Motorway Service Area in Britain
The first to be opened was the Watford Gap Service area on the same day as the M1 – 2nd November 1959. It was operated by Blue Boar, but did not offer full catering facilities until September 1960. The second M1 Service area, at Newport Pagnell, opened in August 1960 and was operated by Motorway Services Ltd. In 1963, a further five Service areas were opened, Keele, Charnock Richard and Knutsford (all on the M6), Farthing Corner (M2) and Strensham (M5).
Narrowest Road (UK)
The narrowest road in the UK is Parliament Street in Exeter. Measuring just 48 inches (1.22 metres) at its widest point, the road is barely wide enough for two people to pass side-by-side. The road dates from the 14th century and is also claimed to be one of the world’s narrowest roads.
Longest A-Road in Britain
The mighty A1 links London with Edinburgh. It stretches for a total of 403 miles and that makes it the longest A-road in Britain.It passes through and near North London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Leeds, Harrogate, York, Ripon, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed. It was designated by the Ministry of Transport in 1921, and for much of its route it followed various branches of the Great North Road. The course of the A1 has changed where towns or villages have been bypassed, or where new alignments take a slightly different route. Several sections of the route have been upgraded to motorway standard and designated A1(M). Between the M25 (near London) and A696 (near Newcastle upon Tyne) the road is part of the unsigned Euroroute E15 from Inverness to Algeciras.
Longest Straight Road in Britain
Britain is better known for its winding roads than its dead straight ones so news that the longest straight road in the country is 15.1 miles long might come as a surprise. It’s a section of the A15 north of Lincoln that goes between Scawby and Scampton airfield.
Shortest Street in Britain
Britain’s shortest street is also the world’s shortest. Ebenezer Place in Wick, Caithness is only 2.06m long and comprises the front door of Mackays Hotel. The tiny street originated in 1883 when the owner of the hotel was instructed to paint a name on its shortest side. It was officially declared a street in 1887.Ebenezer Place was only recognised as the world’s shortest street in 2006 when the Guinness Book of Records officially placed it ahead of 5.2m-long Elgin Street in Bacup, Lancashire.
Largest Car Park in Britain
With space for 20,000 vehicles, the car park at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham is the biggest in Britain.
Length of Britain’s classified roads
The total length of Britain’s classified roads is made up as follows.\n•\tMotorways: 2,705 miles
Trunk roads: 4,818 miles
A roads: 29,929 miles
B roads: 18,776 miles
Minor public roads: 195,363 miles.
Highest Main Road in Britain
The highest main road in Britain is the A93, which cuts through the Grampian mountains in the Scottish Highlands. It reaches 665m above sea level at the Cairnwell Pass.
Longest Suspension Bridge
When it opened in 1981 the Humber Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It carries the A15 across the Humber estuary with a single span of 1,410m. Its world title may have gone (that honour is currently held by the 1,991m Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan) but the Humber Bridge remains the longest single span suspension bridge in Europe and the longest such bridge that you can walk across.
Steepest Drivable Road in Britain
Not one to attempt in the snow, the steepest drivable road in Britain is Chimney Bank on the Hutton-Le-Hole road on the North York Moors. It has a 1:3 gradient, which will put any car to the test.
Lowest A-Road in Britain
One to avoid after a few weeks of heavy rain, the lowest A-road in Britain is the A1101 between Bury St Edmunds and Long Sutton in Lincolnshire. For the majority of its length it barely rises above sea level.
Busiest Motorway in Britain
The M25 London orbital is known as a road where motorists spend a lot of time going precisely nowhere. This isn’t just down to its circular nature either, the section of the M25 between junctions 14 and 15 (the A3133 at Heathrow to the M4) is officially the busiest motorway in Britain. It carries 165,000 vehicles per day.
Busiest A-Road in Britain
The A3 Kingston bypass between Malden and Tolworth carries 125,000 vehicles a day, making it the busiest stretch of non-motorway tarmac in Britain.
Shortest Gap between Motorway Exits in Britain
The distance between junctions 19 and 18 on the M8 in Glasgow is less than 160 metres (643 feet). In fact, that whole section of the M8 is riddled with junctions, many of them with restrictions.
Busiest Road (World)
The busiest road in the world is Interstate 405 (the San Diego Freeway) in Orange County, California, USA. It has a peak-hour volume of 25500 vehicles on a 1.5km (0.9 miles) stretch between Garden Grove Freeway and Seal Beach Boulevard.
Longest Ring Road in Britain
No prizes for guessing the longest ring road in Britain. It’s London’s orbital, the M25. A lap lasts for 121.5 miles and can take days in rush-hour traffic!
Longest Road Bridge in Britain
The country’s longest bridge carries the A92 for 1.4 miles across the Firth of Tay. The Tay Road Bridge is a box girder construction designed by William Fairhurst that opened in 1966.
Longest Two-Digit A-Road in Britain
At over 309 miles from Bodmin to Mansfield, the A38 is the longest 2-digit A-road in Britain.
Wales’ Only Motorway
The longest, and only, motorway wholly in Wales is the A48(M) at 2 miles.
Longest Two-Digit Motorway
The M25 is the longest 2-digit Motorway in GB at approximately 120 miles from Dartford to Thurrock.
Longest Three-Digit Motorway in Britain
The M180 is the longest 3-digit Motorway in Britain at 25 miles from Hatfield, Yorkshire to Barnetby-le-Wold.
Scotland’s Longest Motorway
The longest Motorway wholly in Scotland is the M8 at 61 miles, with the M9 coming second at 51 miles.
Longest Four-Digit A-Road in Britain
The A1101 is the longest 4 digit A-road in Britain at 53.4 miles from Long Sutton to Bury St Edmund. Although its length suggests its importance, most of the road is not a primary route due to its numerous twists and turns.
Longest Three-Digit A-Road in Britain
At 195 miles, running from Ilfracombe to Kilsby, the A361 is the longest 3-digit A-road in Britain
Longest B-Road in Britain
The B6318 is the longest B-road in Britain at 61.4 miles from Heddon-on-the-Wall to Langholm.
Longest A-Road Wholly in England
The longest A-road wholly in England is the A38. Originally, the A38 ran from Plymouth to Derby, but it was extended at both ends. It was known to some as “the longest country lane in England”, and the south-western section was notorious at holiday times for the congestion. Fortunately, the M5 took care of that, and nowadays for most of its length the A38 is a fairly quiet road shadowing the M5 extremely closely.
Longest A-Road Wholly in Wales
The longest A-road wholly in Wales is the A470 at 185 miles, closely followed by the A487 at 174 miles.
Longest A-Road Wholly in Scotland
The longest A-road wholly in Scotland is the A9 at 279 miles, with the A82 coming a distant second at 175 miles, and the A836 is the longest 3-digit route at 125 miles.
Motorway Reversing
When the first motorways opened in Britain, the penalty for reversing up the carriageway was a £20 fine.
Motorway Accidents
One in five motorway accidents in Britain are caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel.
Middle Lane Hogging
According to the RAC more than 700 miles of motorway are jammed daily in Britain by drivers hogging the middle lane.
Road Jams
The average British motorist spends the equivalent of more than two weeks every year stuck in jams.
Congestion Cost (Britain)
The cost of congestion on Britain’s motorways is estimated to be around £20 billion a year.
Missing Motorway Junction
There is no junction 3 on the M1. The road jumps from J2 near Finchley in North London to J4 near Elstree, Hertfordshire.
Motorway Pigeons
Pigeons follow motorways and even turn off at junctions to navigate their way home, according to Oxford University research.
Motorway illuminations
There are 10,606 lights, 2,959 illuminated signs and 2,000 variable message signs along Britain’s motorway system.
M25
In 1998, William Allen, 84, spent two days on the M25, trying to find the right turn-off for his daughter’s house.
M1 Traffic
The M1 was built to handle up to 14,000 vehicles a day. It now serves 10 times that number.
Most Haunted Motorway
The M6 is said to be the most haunted route, with sightings including Roman legionnaires.
First Motorway Jam in Britain
The first-ever Motorway traffic jam was on a Bank Holiday weekend in 1959, when thousands flocked to Lancashire to drive the 8.5-mile trip on the new M6.
Mock Motorway
The M96 in Gloucestershire is a mock motorway, to train students of the Fire Service College.
Motorway Language
The development of Britain’s motorway system added words such as pile-ups, contraflows, middle-lane hogs and hard shoulder to the English language.
Princess Diana’s Funeral
When Princess Diana’s funeral procession travelled down the M1, the “Tiredness can kill” signs were removed.
70 mph
The 70mph limit was imposed on Britain’s motorways in 1965, after British Rail’s new express service began running beside the M1 and some drivers tried to keep up.
Annual Motorway Journey (Britain)
More than 94 billion vehicle miles of journeys take place on Britain’s motorways every year.
Motorway Safety
An early motorway safety advert from the 1950s warned of the dangers of enjoying a family picnic in the slow lane of the M1.
Motorway Delays
About a quarter of delays on Britain’s motorway network are caused by accidents and 10 per cent by roadworks. The remainder is due to the volume of traffic.
Shortest A-Road (Britain)
At only 120 metres, one of the shortest A-roads is the A962 in Kirkwall, Northern Ireland. The A3125 in London and the A5016 in Ridley are also contenders for the shortest A-road, both measuring just 160 metres.
Most Haunted Roads (UK)
The UK is home to a number of supposedly haunted roads. The M6 was named the spookiest road in the UK in a survey conducted in 2006 by Lafarge Tarmac, with the most ghostly sightings. The A9 in the Scottish Highlands was second, with several sightings of a Victorian coach drawn by white horses and footmen in period clothes. Platt Lane, a small country lane in Westhoughton near Bolton which passes close to the Pretoria Pit mine where 344 miners died in 1910, was ranked third.
Worst Traffic Jam (Britain)
The worst recorded traffic jam in Britain was on the M6 from the Preston Bypass to Carnforth, Lancashire on April 17, 1987; it involved 50,000 vehicles and about 200,000 people, all at a complete standstill.
Most Complicated Motorway Interchange (British)
The most complicated British Motorway interchange is situated at Gravelly Hill north of Birmingham, on the Midland Link Motorway section of the M6. Popularly known as Spaghetti Junction, it has 18 routes on six levels, together with a diverted canal and river. It consists of 26,000 tons of steel, 250,000 tons of concrete and 300,000 tons of earth, and cost £8.2m to construct.
Freight Traffic
UK motorway and truck roads carry 4 times as many vehicles per mile a day than local roads.
Motoring Incidents (UK)
430,000 incidents occur on UK motorways and A-roads every year.
Road Freight
UK motorways and A-roads carry two-thirds of all freight traffic – that’s 1 billion tonnes of freight per year.
Motorway Planning (UK)
There had been plans since before the Second World War for a motorway network in the United Kingdom. Lord Montagu formed a company to build a ‘motorway like road’ from London to Birmingham in 1923; however it was a further 26 years before the Special Roads Act 1949 was passed which allowed for the construction of roads limited to specific vehicle classifications, and the 1950s when the country’s first motorways were given the government go-ahead.
Autobahns
The first sections of the Autobahn constructed in the 20’s were named “Reichsautobahn” (Freeways of the Reich).
Interstate Highways
President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 on June 29, 1956 in a hospital room (he was recovering from illness). The signed act created today’s US interstate highway system.
Interstate Highways
Besides being designed to support automobile and heavy truck traffic, interstate highways are also designed for use in military and civil defence operations within the United States, particularly troop movements.
US Interstate Highway System
The total length of the US interstate highway system is 46,837 miles.
Longest US Interstate Highway
The longest US interstate highway is I-90, which runs from Seattle, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts, a distance of 3,020.54 miles.
Shortest US Interstate Highway
The shortest US interstate highway route segment is I-95 in the District of Columbia, which is just 0.11 mile long.
1,000 Mile Interstate Highways
US interstate highways 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, 40, 70, 75, 80, 90, 94 and 95 are all more than 1,000 miles long.
Highest US Interstate Highway Route Number
The highest US interstate highway route number is I-990,located entirely within the town of Amherst in Erie County, New York.
Lowest US Interstate Highway Route Number
The lowest US interstate highway route number is the 123 mile long I-4 across Florida, from I-275 in Tampa to I-95 at Daytona Beach.
State with the Most US Interstate Highway Routes
The state with the most interstate highway routes – 29 – is New York
Most Expensive US Interstate Highway
I-95 is the most expensive US interstate highway route, costing $8 billion. The 1,919 mile highway serves metropolitan areas such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, and Richmond, Fayetteville, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Miami in the Southeast. I-95 also goes through the largest number of states, 16.
Alaska
The only US state without any Interstate highway routes is Alaska.
Hawaii Interstate Highways
There are three interstate highways in Hawaii (H-1, H-2, and H-3).
Non-Motorway English Counties
Cornwall, Devon, East Sussex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Rutland, Suffolk are the only English counties that don’t have a motorway.
British Roads
Roads occupy less than 2% of the surface of Great Britain and most roads are local streets and lanes. The motorways and trunk roads in England carry 32% of all traffic whilst taking up a very small surface area.
Last Long Distance British Motorway
The M40 was the last long-distance route on an new line to be constructed. Originally the M40 had run from London to Oxford along the line of the A40, but in the late 1980s traffic on the M1/M6 route from London to Birmingham had become unbearable and a single motorway link between Britain’s two largest cities was at last agreed to. The M40 was extended north from Oxford to connect with the M42 south-east bypass near Birmingham. The route was completed in 1991. Nothing on a similar scale has been contemplated since.
Widest Street in the World
July 9th Street in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is the widest street in the world. It has six lanes in both directions and takes up an entire block in width. This street hosts many well-known buildings such as the building of the Ministry of Communications, Embassy of France, the statue of Don Quixote, and other monuments, including the Republic Square.
Oldest Street in the World
The oldest street in the world is in Egypt, it is a road to Giza. This is the oldest paved road over 4,600 years old, and its width is approximately two meters. The length of this ancient highway is 12 kilometers and it connects a quarry with the south-west of Cairo, resting on the embankment of the Nile. This road is believed to be used to transport stone blocks for construction and decoration of the pyramids and the road itself.
UK Roundabouts
There are an estimated 25,000 roundabouts in the UK.
Two-digit US Interstate Highways
Two-digit US interstate highways are numbered according to direction and location. Highways running north-south are odd numbered, while highways running east-west are even numbered. The lowest numbers are in the west and in the south.
Three-digit US Interstate Highways
Three-digit US interstate highway numbers represent beltways or loops, attached to a primary interstate highway (represented by the last two numbers of the beltway’s number). Washington D.C.’s beltway for example, is numbered 495, because its parent highway is I-95.
US Interstate Daily Traffic
US interstates carry about 60,000 people per route-mile a day, 26 times the amount of all other roads, and 22 times the amount of rail passenger services.
Three-digit US interstate routes
If the first digit of a three-digit US interstate route number is odd, it is a spur into a city. If it is even, it goes through or around a city.
US Interstate Sign
The US interstate sign itself measures 36 inches high, and is 36 inches wide for two-digit interstates, or 45 inches for three digit interstates.
Highest US Interstate Highway
The Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel (Interstate 70), Clear Creek/Summit counties in Colorado, is 11,012 feet (east) and 11,158 (west) above sea level. The highest US interstate elevation.
Interstate Highway System
A widespread, but false, urban legend states that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System was built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. However, it was the Germans in World War II that used the Autobahns for just such a purpose.
Longest Road in the World
The Pan-American Highway is the longest road in the world. It runs from Fairbanks, Alaska to Buenos Aires, Argentina, stretching 29,800 miles (47,958 km). But it was never completed. A portion called the Darien Gap, mostly jungle about 100 miles (160 km) long located in Panama and Colombia, remains uncompleted. Cars and passengers are transported around the gap by ship. The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads, each with its twists and turns. Measuring the highway’s distance as the crow flies makes it about 16,000 miles (25,750 km) long.
Longest Straight Road
The world’s longest straight road – thus without any bends – is in Saudi Arabia, connecting the Haradh area with Badha on the UAE border. The road, Highway 85, is about 160 miles (260 km) long.
Longest Road in Australia
Australia’s longest straight road is the famous “90 Mile Straight.” It runs between Balladonia and Caiguna on the 1,036 mile (1,668 km) long Eyre Highway across the flat, arid Nullarbor Plain. (The Eyre Highway is the main road that connects South Australia with the south of Western Australia.) The “90 Mile Straight” actually is 91 miles (146.6 km) long; all asphalt without a single curve. The Nullarbor Plain hosts the “World’s Longest Golf Course”, the Nullarbor Links. Golfers play holes at various roadhouses and roadside stops along the road. The world’s longest straight section of railway also crosses the Nullarbor Plain, covering a 297 miles (478 km) stretch between the 797 km post west of Ooldea and the 1275 km post west of Loongana on the Trans-Australian Railway from Perth to Sydney via Adelaide.
Longest Street in the World
The 1,178 miles (1,896 km) long Yonge Street, which starts in Toronto and runs through Ontario towns and wilderness in Canada, interspersed with Highway 11, is the longest street in the world.
Broadway
New York’s Broadway runs all the way up New York State, covering more than 400 miles (650 km) but it is not called “Broadway” all the way.
Longest Street in the World
The longest street in the world is Young Street in the Canadian city of Toronto, its length is 1,896 kilometres. This quirky street starts in the city center, on the waterfront of Lake Ontario, and, as if cutting the city into two parts, goes to the north, skirting the Lake Simcoe to the town of Cochrane. From there, the street, slowly twisting, turns west and ends near the border with the State of Minnesota.
Longest Avenue in the World
The longest avenue in the world is Avenida Rivadavia, Buenos Aires, Argentina – it is 22 miles (35 km) long.
Highest Road in the World
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is the highest paved international road in the world. It connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an elevation of 4,693 meters (15,397 ft).
Secret US Interstate Routes
There are 21 “secret” US interstate routes. They are federally maintained and adhere to the standards of any other signed interstate highway, but are officially part of the Eisenhower Interstate System only on paper.
World’s Largest Traffic Roundabout.
Queen’s Park Savannah is a park in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Known colloquially simply as \”the Savannah,\” it is Port of Spain’s largest open space—and the world’s largest traffic roundabout. It occupies about 260 acres (110 ha) [1] of level land, and the distance around the perimeter is about 2.2 mi (3.5 km).
Largest Road Network by Country
The United States has the largest network of roadways of any country with 6,430,366 kilometres (3,995,644 mi) (2005). The People’s Republic of China is second with 3,583,715 kilometres (2,226,817 mi) of roadway (2007)
US Interstate
Interstates make up less than 1% of the total U.S. highway mileage, but the interstates carry over 24% of travel, including 41% of total truck miles travelled.
US Interstate Capitals
The US interstate connects 45 of the 50 state capitals, including the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. The five state capitals not directly served by the interstate systems are Juneau, AK; Dover, DE; Jefferson City, MO; Carson City, NV; and Pierre, SD.
Highway 1 Australia
Highway 1 is Australia’s greatest highway, following the coast for the most part along its circumferential route around the country. A spur in Tasmania also connects Hobart with Launceston, Devonport and Burnie. At a total length of approximately 14,500 kms (9,000 miles) it is one of the longest national highways in the world, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway (over 11,000 km/6,800 miles) and the Trans-Canada Highway(8,030 km/4,990 miles). When the National Route Numbering system was adopted in 1955, Highway 1 was the only truly national highway, although it was not necessarily the shortest distance between many town centres. Most of the other national routes are at some point a tributary of Highway 1. It could be argued that Highway 1 starts /end its track in the historical Rocks precinct in the heart of Sydney, Australia’s first city. Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge north, it becomes the Pacific Highway, going south via George St (Australia’s first street) it becomes the Princes Highway.
Widest Road in the World by Lane Number
Katy Freeway (part of Interstate 10) in Houston, Texas, has a total of 26 lanes in some sections – 12 main lanes, 8 lanes of access roads, and 4-6 mid-freeway HOT/HOV lanes, not counting access road turning lanes.
North America’s Busiest Highway
Highway 401 – the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway has volumes surpassing an average of 500,000 vehicles per day in some sections of Toronto, Canada.
Britain’s Oldest Road
The oldest road in the Britain is the Ridgeway. Believed to have been made over 5,000 years ago, the Ridgeway stretches from Wiltshire to Goring near Reading.
First British Tarmac Road
The first British road ever to be surfaced with tarmac was Radcliffe Road in Nottingham in 1902.
British Road with Right Hand Driving
The Savoy Court leading to the Savoy Hotel has a rule that cars must drive on the right. It was passed as an Act of Parliament in 1902 that cars entering the Savoy Court were required to drive on the right.
Worlds Longest Road Tunnel
Travelling from Laerdal to Aurland in Norway 15.2 miles of tunnel through mountains nearly 6000 feet high! The tunnel cost a whopping US$125 million and was built to combat the heavy winter snowfalls that caused havoc with Norwegian commuters.
Worlds Most Dangerous Road
The North Yungas Road in Bolivia has got to be the world’s most dangerous road. It’s a forty odd mile road from the Bolivian capital La Paz through mountains to Coroico and claims the lives of 200 to 300 travelers every year. Locals nickname it ‘death road’.
Worlds Iciest Road
The McMurdo South Pole Highway is a 900 mile stretch of unpaved highway linking the U.S. Antarctic McMurdo station to the Amundsen-Scott station. Basically it’s a series of flags patrolled by snow plows! The road is extremely dangerous, tedious and of course, very very isolated!
Worlds Steepest Road
Baldwin Street is just your average suburban street in New Zealand, only it rises 230 feet over its short 1150 feet distance! Locals challenge the fittest visitors to run it, and they’ve never met an athlete it couldn’t beat!
