Saudi Arabia’s Highway 10 holds the amazing distinction of being the longest straight road in the world.
Everyone loves curving and twisting roads, but sometimes you like to cut corners and choose to go straight and boring roads to reach a destination faster. The world’s longest straight road record goes to Saudi Arabia Highway 10. It’s an amazing road you wouldn’t have heard before. You may be familiar with the Australian Eyre Highway, which was formerly the longest continuous road in the world, spanning 146 kilometers.
A staggering 256-kilometer journey on the world’s longest stretch of straight road. Saudi Arabia’s Highway 10 starts from Al Haradh to Al Badha. An unimaginable 260-kilometer road without turns, bends curves, and cuts through the Rub Al Khalid desert. Originally constructed as a private road for King Fahd (SAU), without any bends or conspicuous gradients. Highway 10 is a well-maintained road and it offers smooth driving along its entire length, even though it is located in an isolated area.
Haradh city is famous for oil and natural gas and Al Batha is the border to UAE. Highway 10 is mainly used for transporting goods and tourists passing from the central and western regions of Saudi Arabia to the UAE by road. It is listed as the longest straight road in Guinness World Records, surpassing Australia’s Eyre Highway connecting Western Australia and South Australia, The road is fully paved and heavily used for transporting goods across the vast arid desert,
If you are lazy or sleepy during travel, this road won’t be for you. The straight road is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, stretching the hottest and driest desert with a soaring temperature of 50 C during a sunny day and freezing at night. It is likely to happen; the beautiful sand shifting and natural landscape will not keep you awake here. It’s a straight road running right through the desert for 2 hours and 25 minutes without worrying about any curve or slope. It is mostly 2×2 lanes.
This is just another bold and divisive move by Saudi Arabia to increase its influence internationally. This road emphasizes a lack of bends; collisions are not uncommon. The desert landscape presents its own set of hazards, with vehicles needing to be cautious of stray camels and occasional animals. Regardless of its remoteness, Highway 10 is a wonderful monument to modern engineering and provides a unique driving experience, albeit one that necessitates a high level of driver awareness.
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