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Old 05-21-2015, 06:21 AM   #1
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Rt 40 across Indiana & Ohio??

Heading out in couple of weeks from Central IL to Philly Pa, wanting to avoid Interstates as much as possible, and wondered if anyone would have any advice about alternative routes? Rt 40 looks good, any opinions on using 40?
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Rod & Jane
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Old 05-21-2015, 06:32 AM   #2
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I have used 40 several years ago. Not bad, as I recall, if you're in no hurry.
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Old 05-21-2015, 08:01 AM   #3
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Did I-40 last year from CA to NC. I would definitely recommend it. Since you're from Indiana, I don't need to tell you the deplorable state of the Indiana Toll Road (which should be avoided if you're towing). I love Indiana, but have never had a worse road experience than a thump, bump and crunch on the toll road. So much for contracting out the operation and maintenance of a major highway.....
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Old 05-21-2015, 08:03 AM   #4
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Route 40, not I 40 is an historic road, it was the first National Road. If you take it into PA you will run across some historic buildings, one I know was a "motel" during the period just after the revolution, very interesting. Its a good road, but slow travel. Very scenic as well.

Enjoy
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Old 05-21-2015, 08:38 AM   #5
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40 is scenic in Eastern OH and further east, not so much in Indiana and western Ohio, where it is pretty flat. An alternative is US 30, which folliows and overlays the old Lincoln Highway. It is 4 lane across most of Ohio. In PA it gets very scenic, but challenging with a trailer crossing the Appalachians'. From Chambersburg to Philly is a succession of traffic lights.
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Old 05-21-2015, 08:40 AM   #6
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Among the things we enjoy in our travels are history, local architecture, and interesting people. We seldom see them on the interstate ("drive coast-to-coast and never see anything" - Chas Kuralt) but roadways like US 40 make it possible.

We traveled on the indiana/Ohio section a few years ago, saved some tolls and experienced some life, glad we took that route.

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Old 05-21-2015, 08:41 AM   #7
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Also take a look at US Route 36. I drove that from Jackson Center back to Denver last year. Great trip. Great small town museums that I would never have visited like Pony Express Home Station #1 in Marysville, KS. If you are a history buff there is a lot to see and gentler flow of the travel day staying off of any roads that have an "I" with a number
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Old 05-21-2015, 09:44 AM   #8
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I seek out backroads when I travel. Few big trucks, less over all traffic, slower pace and sights few see as they are in such a big hurry to go nowhere.
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Old 05-21-2015, 11:16 AM   #9
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I agree with the others, U.S. 40 is a much better yet slower option. Whatever you do, stay off I-70 across Indiana, eastern Ohio, and western PA. This is a miserable stretch, and your AS will loosen rivets. I run over there a couple of times a year (to PIT and Morgantown)...but will not use I-70 again. Its truly a hazard along many stretches. Safe travels. jon
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Old 05-21-2015, 05:47 PM   #10
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RB
I agree with the others, U.S. 40 is a much better yet slower option. Whatever you do, stay off I-70 across Indiana, eastern Ohio, and western PA. This is a miserable stretch, and your AS will loosen rivets. I run over there a couple of times a year (to PIT and Morgantown)...but will not use I-70 again. Its truly a hazard along many stretches. Safe travels. jon

U.S. 40 is a good road, with far less traffic than I 70. Around Terre Haute and Indianapolis, it is routed on the freeways. An older map will guide you through Terre Haute (Clabber Girl baking powder museum is an excellent little gem, and shows how the Hulman family got rich).

You are better off going around Indy on I 465, as the west side and east side neighborhoods are not the best, and the road is terrible.




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Old 05-22-2015, 06:32 AM   #11
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Also take a look at US Route 36. I drove that from Jackson Center back to Denver last year. Great trip. Great small town museums that I would never have visited like Pony Express Home Station #1 in Marysville, KS. If you are a history buff there is a lot to see and gentler flow of the travel day staying off of any roads that have an "I" with a number
Rt 36 actually passes thru Decatur, my home town, but haven't traveled on it for years. Is the road condition decent for pulling the Airstream without beating it to death? We have traveled on Rt 30 and Rt 24 thru Indiana and Ohio and both roads are really nice, and we do love the less traveled, slower pace and the scenery. Last year stopping in Auburn IN to visit the Auburn Cord Dussenburg museum, and really loved that. Let me know about Rt 36, we might travel that to Indy and catch Rt 40.
Thanks everyone
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Old 05-22-2015, 07:58 AM   #12
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Inter State Hways

Us 40 is slow, but a lot of small towns that you would miss if you took ISH.
In 2002 we took a trip from central IN to Alaska and back with a 74 31ft AS. Total mileage was 14,500 miles. Less than 300 miles on ISH. We saw a lot of things that we would have missed if we would have been on ISH. I would like to do it again!!!
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Old 05-22-2015, 09:45 AM   #13
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Rt 36 was great. There is one section that turns into a divided highway, forget exactly where, but other than that section is was primarily 2 lane, easy drive, lots of farmland interspersed with small town America. I don't remember any bad sections.
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Old 07-04-2015, 01:39 PM   #14
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Rt 36 was great. There is one section that turns into a divided highway, forget exactly where, but other than that section is was primarily 2 lane, easy drive, lots of farmland interspersed with small town America. I don't remember any bad sections.

In Indiana, that would be Avon, west of Indy. Then it arrows and goes through Danville.


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Old 07-04-2015, 01:45 PM   #15
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I haven't driven Rt. 40 yet but often take Rt. 36. Been coast - coast through Missouri and Kansas and it's a nice divided highway in Mo but good single lane in Kansas. My preferred route through that area
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Old 07-05-2015, 02:35 PM   #16
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From central OH westwards, US Route 40 presents little in the way of scenic splendor. If you enjoy looking at mostly-flat rural farm country, and an occasional remnant of the golden age of the National Road, you might find it enjoyable. I'll provide a brief overview of the portions in OH and IN on which I've traveled.

From Terre Haute, IN to Brazil, IN the road is four-lane all the way (except in the cities themselves), with moderate to heavy traffic depending upon time of day. Note that for about a third of this distance (at the Brazil end), US 40 is following a bypass rather than the historic National Road.

In between Richmond, IN and Springfield, OH US Route 40 is a very straight, mostly-level, two-lane road with light to moderate traffic. There are two rather roundabout exceptions to the straightness, though, where flood control zones built to protect Dayton caused the road to be rerouted atop the dams several miles to the south, rather than via the historic route.

Between Springfield, OH and Columbus, OH it is a four-lane highway, divided in many places. Mostly straight and level, except for the climb out of the valley in which Springfield lies. Traffic is usually very light because I-70 runs parallel to it, never more than 2.5 miles away. This portion is almost entirely via the historic route, as the road was expanded onto adjacent farmland or the abandoned right-of-way of an electric interurban railroad, the Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railroad. Around the tiny villages of South Vienna and Summerford, US 40 diverts from the historic National Road to follow the route the railroad took. When US 40 was upgraded to a highway, in couple of places the eastbound lanes follow the railroad right-of-way while the westbound lanes continue along the historic National Road; this allowed construction of a four-lane highway without destroying houses along the south side of the road.

Expect traffic in Terre Haute, Brazil, Richmond, Springfield, and Columbus.
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Old 07-14-2015, 06:10 PM   #17
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Let me just add a revision of something I posted some months ago re the truly miserable, rivet-popping conditions of I-70 through much of Indiana and Ohio. Got back last nite from a 5 week, 7,168 mile tour pulling "Daisy", and want to report that both states have gone a long ways to fix I-70. Its drivable now. jon
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