Some car trips are terribly boring. But it also happens that it is not the destination, but the road and the streets along which you drive are the main attractions.
If you like to travel by car and want to see something unique at your next corner behind the wheel, tune your navigator to the strangest and most unusual roads and streets of the world.
10. The most winding street in the world - Lombard Street
Where is: on Russian Hill in San Francisco, USA
Anyone who hopes to drive along the most crooked street in the world in the world may now have to pay a toll. A road with eight turns of 400 meters is so popular among tourists that it creates problems for the people who live there.
City bosses believe that charging drivers $ 10 (a little less than 640 rubles) will help ease traffic jams and noise on this unusual road.
9. The coolest paved road - Ford Pen Leh
Where is: Harlech North Wales, UK
In July 2019, this street took the official title of the steepest paved road in the world from the previous record holder for steepness - Baldwin Street in New Zealand.
The Ford Pen Leh has a length of 330 meters and a lift height of 50 meters. Some of its sections have a slope of 37.45%. At the steepest point, the slope of the road is 1: 2.67 (the height rises by one meter for every 2.67 meters of length), while at Baldwin Street - 1: 2.86.
To avoid accidents, authorities restricted traffic on the northern part of the street, where cars are allowed to move only down.
8. The most musical road - Civil music road
Where is: Lancaster City, California, USA
Many motorists like to say that they can hear the music of the road, but some roads really sound, and how.
One of the places where you can feel the rhythm of the asphalt is located in Lancaster, California, on the Civic Musical Road.
Throughout its 400-meter length, car owners hear an excerpt from the overture to Joachkino Rossini's opera Wilhelm Tell. Initially, the road was intended to advertise a Honda Civic, but soon after its construction, musical bands had to be moved away from residential buildings. Local residents did not appreciate the art and began to complain about the increased noise level.
7. The most “office road” - the multi-storey building of Gate Tower
Where is: Osaka city, Japan
Imagine a typical day at the office. Employees are busy with paper work, someone drinks coffee, and someone secretly from the authorities opened this site and reads it. And nearby cars rush noiselessly.
This is exactly what happens in one of the office buildings in Osaka, through which the Hanshin Expressway passes. The highway occupies three floors of a 16-story office building. Since the place of passage of the track is perfectly soundproofed, cars do not interfere with office workers.
6. The narrowest street - Sproyerhofstrasse
Where is: Reutlingen city, Germany
During the construction of this amazing street in 1727, the city authorities hardly thought that someday “self-moving carts” would sweep along it. They do not rush, because even a person who wants to walk along the Sproyerhofstrasse has to move sideways.
At its narrowest point, the width of the Sproyerhofstrasse is 31 cm, and at its widest, 50 cm.
But, despite its “impassability”, the street has become a symbol of the city and a popular tourist attraction.
5. The shortest street - Ebenezer Place
Where is: Wick City, Scotland
Say something like “John Wick Baba Yaga” on the go and you will already reach the end of the shortest street in the world. Its length is only 2.6 meters. And there is only one house on it. At number 1. This is a small hotel Mackays Hotel.
4. The longest road in winter - Wapusk Trail
Where is: between Gillam, Manitoba and Peawanook, Ontario, Canada
The longest 752 km long seasonal road is built every January in Canada.
It is based on snow and ice, and allows local residents to travel to remote areas located around the Hudson Bay for several weeks. In the warmer months, these areas are only accessible by air.
3. The most difficult road - “Magic Carousel”
Where is: Swindon city, England
This bunch of rings will make any tourist who dares to go there by car, rip his hair and curse the day when he decided to sit behind the wheel. It was built in 1972 and even then had the glory of the most complex denouement in the world.
Drivers need to move in a large ring clockwise, alternating over five small circular nodes. Mini-rings are marked only with markings, which does not simplify the task for drivers.
2. The widest street - Monumental shaft
Where is: Brasilia city, Brazil
The widest road in the world is in the capital of Brazil. This avenue was opened in April 1960 and is 250 meters wide. It connects Municipal Square with the Three Powers.
Local residents even have an urban legend that hundreds of cars can simultaneously drive along the Monumental shaft. As the saying goes, a strong statement that no one will verify.
1. The longest road is the Pan American Highway
Where is: from Alaska in the USA to Brasilia in Brazil, South America
The total length of this highway is 30,000 kilometers. If you do not take into account the 87-kilometer Darien gap located in the jungle, on the border of Panama and Colombia, the Pan American Highway is the longest road in the world, it creates a single road system that includes all the national road networks of the continental states of America.
