driving from Oregon to Ohio

[Serenitystar]

early in March, I plan on driving from Oregon to Ohio.
Based on what I've read so far, I'm not sure what the best route would be.

1/80, 1/70 or 1/40.... How safe are 1/80 and 1/70 in the winter months?also ve never been thru the Southern part of the US while it would add an extra day of driving it might be safer, with no snow.

What do you all recommend?

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There is absolutely no guarantee that I-40 will see no snow. In fact the sections across northern Arizona and New Mexico often see significant snowfall, with portions of those roadways being above 8,000 feet in elevation. Even I-10, the southernmost east-west Interstate is subject to occasional ice and snow storms and a week or so ago the section between Phoenix and Tucson was closed for about a day due to a major, multi-fatality accident caused by blowing dust. No highway is intrinsically safer than any other. If you have the extra time to go as far out of your way as you are proposing, then you would be better off using that time to simply sit out any inclement weather, on whatever highway you choose, whenever it might occur. I-90, I-80, and I-70 through the Rockies are major commercial and transportation arteries and are kept open and clean in all but the worst of conditions.

AZBuck

[Foy]

Hello Serenitystar,

One can study the situation rather readily by a regular review of current conditions at various zip codes along a planned route via the Weather Channel's weather "dot" com, and by simultaneous daytime viewing of the various Mountain West states' webcams, easily found with Mr Google's help. Try "Utah Commuterlink" for starters.

What you'll see is exactly what AZBuck suggests: I-90, I-80, and I-70 are kept open under all but the worst conditions, and waiting it out for a few hours to a day is statistically safer than lengthy detours.

Look ahead, relax, and enjoy planning and taking your RoadTrip.

Foy