itinerary without tunnels
 

I will be traveling from New York to Texas with someone who has claustrophobia and will need to avoid tunnels. We will take the route N.Y, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, etc. Does anyone know how I can check the highways to make sure there are no tunnel once we are out NYC, particularly the highways in the mountainous areas of Virginia and Tennessee.
Any suggestions are welcomed...

What qualifies as a tunnel that will cause problems? E.g., the Holland or Lincoln Tunnels are obviously trouble because they are over a mile long and the traffic is slow (and thus, you'll either take the GWB or one of the Staten Island-New Jersey bridges, but what about a quick 15-20 pop through a mountain? If any overpass causes trouble, your companion is sunk.

Pennsylvania, West Va. and Western Maryland are also hilly. You can trace the path of I-81 until it ends at I-40 in Tennessee on Google Maps but I've never checked for tunnels. I know I-40 has a few east of I-81 because it cuts through the Smokies on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Not thinking there are tunnels west of Nashville on I-40 or on I-30 from just west of Little Rock to its end point west of Fort Worth other than the Dallas mixmaster where I-30 and I-35 converge.

As long as he can see the light of day as he enters, it's alright (knowing that there can be a bend or uphill slope that blocks the view) so a 15 to 20 sec tunnel is not a problem, but as you say the 1+ mile tunnels are out and of course once out of the mountainous areas no problem either. I was wondering if there are travel sites or map sites that mark tunnels as such on their maps. It seems to me this should exist but I haven't seen one. Even The AAA says they don't do this except eventually on a state to state basis and I can't sign up in 5 states! Many thanks for your thoughts on the subject.

Paging Dr.Freud, paging Dr.Freud.

BigRuss has it right. I-80 from the end of the GW Bridge to I-81 near Scranton I-81 into eastern Tennessee. I-40 all the way to Memphis. In Memphis decide on going south or continuing on I-40 depending on which part of Texas.
Can your special someone sleep while you drive? The longer tunnels do have lights overhead. Don't drive through Baltimore on I-95.

For what it's worth, tunnels are identified on Google Maps when you zoom in. (The line for the road is shaded lighter and the outline is dotted.) You could turn on the Terrain view to see areas that would potentially have tunnels; the tunnels themselves are a bit more difficult to identify in that mode, so you may want to toggle regular Map view.

Also, I believe that AAA will still provide triptik booklets (print). Maybe if you order one, they can identify the tunnels throughout?

There are 2 tunnels on I-40, just east of the Tennessee/NC state line on the NC side. The only ones I have ever encountered.

These inputs are a big help. I'll try google maps to see what info I can get from there.

Does Dr. Freud have up to date maps of the US? If not....

Thanks again

This site, http://www.interstate-guide.com/interstate.html, describes all the tunnels on the Interstate system. Here's a suggested tunnel-free route to Dallas, TX, assuming you leave New York City for New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan or the Verazzano Bridge from Brooklyn and the Goethals Bridge from Staten Island:

Take the New Jersey Turnpike, I-95 south to I-78 West. I-78 has no tunnels.
Take I-78 west through New Jersey into Pennsylvania, then take I-81 South. I-81 has no tunnels.
Take I-81 south to Knoxville, then take I-40 West. I-40 has tunnels, but they are many miles east of your route of travel.
Take I-40 west to Little Rock, then take I-30 West. I-30 has no tunnels.
Take I-30 west to Dallas.

Happy 4th Burt! and everyone else

Thanks, Sue! And, make that Verrazano.

We all have our issues. My Dear One hates high bridges, so I drive the GWB or Tappan Zee, she drives the Jersey Turnpike (!), and I start again just before the Delaware Memorial Bridge. And so forth.

bspielman, that site is impressive - thanks! (And I always misspell Verrazano. It just cries out for double-z's!)

Curiously, if you look up the derivation of the bridge's name, the explorer's name was spelled Giovanni da Verrazzano. Two r's <i>and</i> two z's!

Hmm, then maybe my brain reaches for some long-buried social studies memorization! :D

Thanks bspielman for the internet link. Looks great. Just what the doctor ordered! Also thanks to Ackislander for your moral support...

@ggreen, that would be memorrizzation!

why can't your travel mate just close their eyes when in a tunnel? Pretend they're sleeping until you're out of the tunnel -- unless, of course, they're the one driving. :)

bspielman, my mind boggles with all the double letters...

~ ggrreenn


(I noticed Aduchamp used the correct spelling on another thread. He must've been peeking at this one!)