Roads have been a vital aspect of human society since time immemorial. People have always needed to transport themselves and goods from one place to another. Humanity has built roads across some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain. Some roads have lasted the test of time from when most travel was animal-powered into an age of motorized transportation. However, roads have been dangerous for just as long. Here are the most dangerous roads in the world:
The Atlantic Road in Norway is absolutely stunning. The 5.2-mile-long road connects a series of islands in the Norwegian Sea just off of the country’s coast. The swooping viaducts might be beautiful to stare at, but they are also subject to frigid climate and the Arctic winds coming off the ocean.
Besides its wealth of natural resources, Siberia is known for its remoteness and harsh winters. The region’s most dangerous highway is referred to as the Roads of Bones because of the hundreds of thousands of forced laborers who died building the road. The road itself is two highways, the R504 Kolyma Highway and the A360 Lena Highway, connected by an ice road over a frozen river.
Ending this trilogy of dangerous northern roads is the Dalton Highway in Alaska. The 414-mile mostly gravel highway was built to support the dangers of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System during the 1970s. Because of the industrial focus behind the highway’s construction, it wasn’t fully accessible to the general public until 1994.
This stretch of US Route 1 and Route 9 made this list largely through poor design. The urban thoroughfare is located only two miles south of Newark Liberty International Airport and has two of the deadliest intersections in the United States.
For the United States, the War in Afghanistan ended just over two years with its evacuation of the country and the subsequent collapse of its democratic government. The segment of the Afghanistan Ring Road is vital to the country’s economy, and a significant portion of the two-decade conflict revolved around restoring and defending the highway.
European settlers were drawn to Skippers Canyon in New Zealand by the prospect of striking it rich gold mining in the 19th century. A one-lane road was eventually built through the gorge in the 1890s to bring in heavy mining machinery. Much of the road remains unpaved as it was in the 19th century and is protected as a national heritage site.
The Zoji La Pass in the Himalayan Mountains is treacherous, to say the least. The pass sits at 11,575 feet high and serves as a vital link between Ladakh and Kashmir. However, this pass can be completely closed off for months by blizzards. A tunnel is currently under construction to bypass the road and allow for travel for longer periods throughout the year.
The Guoliang Tunnel’s unique appearance was created by its method of construction. The residents of the remote Chinese village needed easier access to the outside world so they literally carved their own path. Villagers sold their livestock for tools and got to work. They hammered and chiseled their way at about a foot per day to create the 0.78-mile-long tunnel in 1977.
The North Yungas Road in Bolivia is often referred to as the Death Road. This Bolivian road claimed up to 300 lives per year until the early 1990s. Rainy conditions, poor visibility, lack of guardrails and its single-lane width led to the astronomic death rate. The road has been made safer over the past 20 years by widening the roadway and adding safety improvements in places, and completely bypassing the route in other areas.