The emptiest roads in America
The quietest road in America is Alaska’s Dalton Highway Photo Shutterstock
Drive the multi-lane highways of Los Angeles or the mean streets of New York and it's hard to imagine an America that’s free from constant traffic. But the open road is out there to enjoy – you just need to know where to find it.
That’s where the vanishing-point-seeking number crunchers at telematics firm Geotab come in. By tapping into the US federal government’s Highway Performance Monitoring System the boffins were able to identify the road in every state with the lowest traffic volumes – and generate an interactive map to guide drivers seeking an escape from the hustle and bustle.
Every interstate, US route and state road over ten miles long is given an Annual Average Daily Traffic score indicating the number of cars and trucks you’ll come across on a typical day— the lower the better if you’re searching for solitude on the road. Here’s the top five:
State Route 11, Alaska
The Dalton Highway runs 414 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. With an AADT score of just 196 what little traffic you’ll find is likely to be in the form of Ice Road Truckers.State Route 24, North Dakota
It’s 211 miles from Fort Yates to Solen and with an AADT of 242 it’s definitely a pretty silent run on State Route 24.
State Route 19, Montana
Montana is massive, so it’s not surprising that the 21-mile trip from Grass Range to Roy is high on the list of empty roads with an AADT of 489.
State Route 360, Nevada
Deep in the Nevada desert the 23-mile stretch of State Route 360 has an AADT of 517. Despite this it’s Route 50 from Ely to Fernley that’s known as the Loneliest Road in America.
State Route 73, South Dakota
Drive 255 miles from Lemmon to the Nebraska state line at Martin and you’ll be one of just over 500 people on the road on any given day
The window of opportunity to drive into the wilds of Alaska’s Denali Highway is narrow.