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Why doesnt the East Coast have an equivalent to the Pacific Coast Hwy in California?
Maybe I-95 can be. It is not as scenic though. In some parts, it is far from the coast. NJ has the Garden State Parkway. The Delmarva has Hwy 13, and the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge. Florida has Rte 1.
I'll try to go over this on my take. For starters, isn't the Pacific coast Hwy a mountainous drive along the coast? Our east coast mountains (with the exception of northern New England perhaps?) are hours inland. If you want that kind of drive there is Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Pkw in VA and NC. Beautiful drives along a ridge in the Appalachians, though about 4 to 8 hrs from any coast.
As far as scenic coastal drives, there are a few and one can make do with many others. A couple of the best come to mind as NC12 along the outer banks of North Carolina. Combine it with the ferry's which are offered and you can take in practically the whole NC coast. 13 isn't much but it does go over the bay bridge tunnel at the mouth of the Chesapeake. Other then that it just goes through small towns and farm land. The VA barrier islands are constantly shifting and are quite small that a road could not be made to connect them like in NC. You can pick up rt 1/coastal highway at ocean city, MD and head north to the lewes/Cape May ferry across the DE bay. That can be a decent drive through the regions coastal resorts if you time it right.
Farther south there is 17 (I'm thinking SC and Georgia as it's been a while) which winds through swamp land, small towns and swings in near the coast in a few spots if I remember correctly. Then when you hit FL there is A1A which is pretty much the coastal road the length of the state and you can't leave it out as you cross over the keys and see water clarity not seen anywhere else in the mainland US!
It's just that the Geography of the east coast with resorts, small towns, state parks, national parks and shifting berrier islands along the whole coast does not lend itself well for a continuous "coastal hwy" along the whole eastern seaboard. Add in that the mountains are hours away and anything along the majority of the coast is flatland and nothing can be built to compare. To me, though, there rae some beautiful coastal drives all along the east coast. Just not one continuous stretch!
The Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) exists only as tourist highway. It is not a major north/south corridor, unless you want to take it real slow. You probably could connect the dots on the east coast and find something similar. CA-1 is definitely a beautiful highway, but bring your patience and expect to be slowed by recreational vehicles constantly. The highway ends near Leggett, CA (about 140 miles north of San Francisco), where it merges with 101, which also is no picnic, with stretches of freeway and two-lane all the way up to the Oregon border.
The 101 is a whole other topic, why it hasn't been built out as a freeway is beyond comprehension. As it stands today, it is a mismatch of freeway and 2-lane highway from Cloverdale (about 30 miles north of Santa Rosa), to the Oregon border.
The pacific coast is very hilly and fairly straight with very few large bays, whereas the Atlantic coast is very flat and has many bays in the way, the closet thing would be US route 1 particularly in New England and Florida.
The Pacific coastline has cliffs. This allows them to build a highway at the edge of the cliff without the risk of flooding. Not to mention it can still be somewhat away from the coast but since it's built at the edge of an cliff, it has an ocean view.
No cliffs on the east coast until you start to get to the NE, and those are much smaller still.
Also the coastline of the EC is far more irregularly shaped than the coastline of the WC, there is still a road that hugs the ocean (Ocean Blvd, 1a) in the EC.
The Pacific coastline has cliffs. This allows them to build a highway at the edge of the cliff without the risk of flooding. Not to mention it can still be somewhat away from the coast but since it's built at the edge of an cliff, it has an ocean view.
No cliffs on the east coast until you start to get to the NE, and those are much smaller still.
Also the coastline of the EC is far more irregularly shaped than the coastline of the WC, there is still a road that hugs the ocean (Ocean Blvd, 1a) in the EC.
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Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133
Why doesnt the East Coast have an equivalent to the Pacific Coast Hwy in California?
Maybe I-95 can be. It is not as scenic though. In some parts, it is far from the coast. NJ has the Garden State Parkway. The Delmarva has Hwy 13, and the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge. Florida has Rte 1.
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