Long Bridge Ahead, Check Gas
Where we live now, we sometimes drive past a sign that warns us to check our fuel level due to an upcoming long bridge. The bridge in question is a few miles long at most. Other areas of the world also have signs warning you to check your fuel level, and they are used… differently.
Nothing but the Sky Ahead
As far as we’re aware, there aren’t any regulations in any country defining when, precisely, a gap between gas stations becomes notable enough to sign. Sometimes, a sign will be posted for any area where fuel is not available for any length of time and running out of fuel could pose a significant problem to other drivers. This is how you get the signs in Florida reading “Long bridge ahead, check gas” for a 7-mile gap. Florida is a densely populated state and running out of gas on the bridge could cause traffic to grind to a standstill.
Other areas will post signs for any distance they consider “long”. Your mileage may vary on what “long” means. I have heard of signs for distances as short as 20 miles and unsigned gaps as long as 66 miles. You’d think the distance that makes folks feel like there really ought to be a sign would correlate with how far things are from each other in their local area. This is correct, in a very general sense, some of the time. In reality, the presence or absence of signs seems to be somewhat random.
Signs warning of fuel gaps can be put up for many different reasons. Oftentimes, the reason is altruistic, trying to prevent people from being stranded in the middle of the desert. In other cases, these signs are more focused on getting you to spend money. Warning of a lack of services for miles can scare a motorist into actually stopping in a town, or driving directly to the services farther down the road. These signs can be somewhat tricky. “No services: 40 miles” and “No services: 40 miles on Highway X” are not synonyms! If you see a sign that uses the latter wording, there’s a decent chance there’s gasoline available within a reasonable distance of the road before the next services right on the road.
Case Studies
I’d love to be able to let you know what the longest direct sensible gasless route between two places in the contiguous US is, but that information can be hard to dig up. Anything that is not an Interstate highway, US highway, or state highway usually goes completely unrecorded. I can give you a look at some of the longest or most notable gaps that I am aware of in the sections below.
Dry Chugwater
Many of the longest unsigned gaps in the highway system can be chalked up to some level of negligence, or cost-benefit analysis. Signs aren’t free and underfunded government agencies might drag their feet on serving remote sections of large highways, even if a sign would come in handy. It really might not be worth it to warn travellers headed from one town of 500 to another town of 500 on state and county roads that there is no gas available. If a person is in that situation, they probably already know.
Some unsigned gaps are not a result of years of putting off going out and doing a job. Unexpected circumstances can force the only available gas on a long stretch to close temporarily or permanently. Economic decline can shutter a business, the couple running the station can die or move or become ill, a natural disaster can damage the pumps. Out of all the reasons for a sudden gas gap I have seen, there might not be one more sudden than a SUV plowing through the only gas station on a 70-mile stretch of road.
Wyoming’s government put up electronic signs warning of the new lack of services, but tired motorists still rolled into Chugwater running on fumes multiple times a day. GPS devices weren’t made aware of the problem and kept sending folks up to Chugwater’s nonexistent gas pumps, leaving people stuck knocking on the doors of locals and asking if anyone had gas cans in their garage.
No Bull, No Service
Interstate 70 runs for 106 miles between Salina and Green River, Utah. Along that stretch of highway, you won’t find a single gas station. As this is an Interstate Highway, it is quite well-traveled in comparison to other gasless roads. Travellers from the urbanized coasts often speed past the last station in Green River completely unaware of how dire their situation is.
This stretch is signed on both ends. Drivers are warned of the road ahead, but the signs are arranged in a way that might hide that warning until it is just barely too late for them. While Salina put up a highly noticeable billboard to steer motorists towards its gas stations, Green River relies on smaller signs that blend in with all other messages on the roadside. There are two signs in Green River, one before the turnoff, one after. The gas station in Salina believes that many drivers simply miss the first Green River sign and find themselves forced to drive westbound, knowing they’ll soon be stranded.