2018 Rand McNally Road Atlas

[dvferyance]

Good grief and we are not even 1/3rd through 2017 yet. The next years atlas should not come out until at least August of the preceding year. I remember the days when it wasn't out until October.

[US 41]

I guess now that it has been officially released as of yesterday I will have to drive to Plainfield in a week or two (to make sure they have it) and go pick one up at Barnes & Noble. I have a couple big road trips planned for this year, so it will be interesting to see what has been added to the atlas this year (or is it next year?  ).

[The High Plains Traveler]

It's April 18. Where is it, Amazon??!! 

[Bickendan]

It's April 18. Where is it, Amazon??!! 

Probably in the Amazon?

[nexus73]

I ordered mine on Amazon.  It won't be here for about three weeks.  Seeing as they had a small and a large ringbinder map, I went with both.  I'll let a friend whose b-day is coming up soon pick one and I'll take the other.

Rick

[NWI_Irish96]

I guess the question is why do we need a Rand McNally Atlas anymore? It may be nice for some people, but for me, I like having 50 states of paper maps in my car. Hell, I have a bucket of over 600 in my car.

Oh to remember when we had really good Oregon maps and also ones dedicated for PDX!  California state maps were nice but getting one for each major city was quite the deal which made navigating them much easier.  Yeah, I can see why you'd carry 600 folding pieces of paper!

Rick

Just ordered my usual 2 copies of the new RmcN -- one for home, one for the car.  CSAA/ACSC regional and local maps fill the side pockets in the door plus the flap behind the drivers' seat.   I tend to get my AAA eighty-buck membership back in maps alone (plus the occasional tow!).  

You get free maps with AAA membership?  I've had AAA for 10 years and never knew that.

[Rothman]

I guess the question is why do we need a Rand McNally Atlas anymore? It may be nice for some people, but for me, I like having 50 states of paper maps in my car. Hell, I have a bucket of over 600 in my car.

Oh to remember when we had really good Oregon maps and also ones dedicated for PDX!  California state maps were nice but getting one for each major city was quite the deal which made navigating them much easier.  Yeah, I can see why you'd carry 600 folding pieces of paper!

Rick

Just ordered my usual 2 copies of the new RmcN -- one for home, one for the car.  CSAA/ACSC regional and local maps fill the side pockets in the door plus the flap behind the drivers' seat.   I tend to get my AAA eighty-buck membership back in maps alone (plus the occasional tow!).  

You get free maps with AAA membership?  I've had AAA for 10 years and never knew that.

What do you think you are paying for?

That said, I have never gone through the bother.  Road atlas and Google Maps are  enough for me.

[7/8]

I guess the question is why do we need a Rand McNally Atlas anymore? It may be nice for some people, but for me, I like having 50 states of paper maps in my car. Hell, I have a bucket of over 600 in my car.

Oh to remember when we had really good Oregon maps and also ones dedicated for PDX!  California state maps were nice but getting one for each major city was quite the deal which made navigating them much easier.  Yeah, I can see why you'd carry 600 folding pieces of paper!

Rick

Just ordered my usual 2 copies of the new RmcN -- one for home, one for the car.  CSAA/ACSC regional and local maps fill the side pockets in the door plus the flap behind the drivers' seat.   I tend to get my AAA eighty-buck membership back in maps alone (plus the occasional tow!).  

You get free maps with AAA membership?  I've had AAA for 10 years and never knew that.

I love going to CAA/AAA for the free maps and travelbooks!  You still have to pay for road atlases, but I believe there's a discount.

[Mr. Matté]

It's April 18. Where is it, Amazon??!! 

Probably in the Amazon?

Makes sense since it's produced just south of there:

Note it has to make a stop in U-R-Gay.

[Roadrunner75]

No 2018s in our local Walmart and Target yet.  In fact, the Walmart closest to me dumped the maps/atlases entirely from their downsized magazine section.  I expect Target to engage in their usual shenanigans of shoving the new 2018 atlases behind their stack of 2017 and 2016 atlases.  Looking forward to playing "Spot the Changes".

[US 41]

I usually wait a full two weeks after the release date and the Barnes and Noble in Plainfield has had the newest version everytime I've done that (3 years in a row, hopefully going on 4 this year). But yes they did put them on the bottom of the stack, so I had to dig to the bottom to get one.

[US 41]

I picked mine up today in Plainfield.

I made three specific suggestions for the Mexico page and they did all three! The edits I suggested was making MX 57 orange (other multilane highway) from San Luis Potosi to Monterrey, making MX 54 orange (other multilane highway) from the Coah./Zac. state line to Ciudad Zacatecas, and placing a MX 24 shield on the gray line between Hidalgo del Parral and Ciudad Chihuahua. All three appear in the new atlas.

They also made the Mexico City inset more accurate which is nice. They also made the US, Canada, and Mexico pages have white backgrounds so that they are all easier to read. They get an A+ for that move.

Some changes I noticed just flipping through the atlas for the first time (I'm sure I'll find a lot more later).

I-555 is now labeled in Arkansas.
US 67 from SR 226 to Hoxie is now shown as complete.

The Terre Haute inset is a little more accurate and they show 13th St turning into a 4 lane road on the southside of TH. They show it connecting to 641, but for some reason forgot the box indicating that there is an exit there.  Maybe next year they'll fix that.

I-90 in Springfield, MA from Exit 4 to Exit 7 is shown in blue now as opposed to green.

The Carson City, NV bypass is shown as complete.

The Rochester, NY inset was moved to Page 69, while Ithaca and Watertown now get insets on Page 70. Ithaca and Watertown have not had inset maps in previous atlases.

I-140 in Wilmington, NC is shown as complete.
Greenville, NC is apparently getting a new freeway that will extend down to Ayden (shown as dashed blue line).
295 in Fayetteville was shown as an interstate in last years addition. Now it is shown as NC 295. It is shown as complete up to NC 24/87. It has a blue dashed line now extending to Cliffdale Rd.

TN 840 is now shown as I-840.

Regina, Saskatchewan has a blue dash around the southside of the city now too.

I saw other edits made to the new atlas, but some were so small that they weren't worth really mentioning.

[sparker]

Just got mine delivered today; they did show I-14 as signed on US 190 west of Belton.  But they didn't show any sign (pun intended) of I-269 around Memphis, neither along the N-S section of TN 385 nor on the independent segment extending into MS.  Did show the full MS section of the loop UC, however.  Will give it a more detailed look later this week.

[MikeTheActuary]

I've had mine for over a week, thanks to Amazon.  I haven't commented on changes because I didn't get the 2017 edition....

I-90 in Springfield, MA from Exit 4 to Exit 7 is shown in blue now as opposed to green.

Also, they have the AET gantries marked as toll barriers, and the stretch from Exit 10 to Exit 11 is blue.

Just got mine delivered today; they did show I-14 as signed on US 190 west of Belton.  But they didn't show any sign (pun intended) of I-269 around Memphis, neither along the N-S section of TN 385 nor on the independent segment extending into MS.

In fairness, TDOT doesn't show any sign of I-269 on most of I-269 either. 

In CT, they caught the new exit numbers on I-395.

[kphoger]

They also made the Mexico City inset more accurate

You mean it's better than completely useless now?

[Bickendan]

They also made the Mexico City inset more accurate

You mean it's better than completely useless now?

You mean to say it's mostly useless...?

[kphoger]

They also made the Mexico City inset more accurate

You mean it's better than completely useless now?

You mean to say it's mostly useless...?

Very likely.  The expressway system in CdMx is so wonky, you could have a very detailed map and still not know where to exit.

[Bickendan]

It doesn't help that OSM doesn't seem to be completely fleshed out for CdMX

[shadyjay]

In CT, they caught the new exit numbers on I-395.

They "caught" that in the 2017 edition. 


Just got my 2018 today.  Other Northeast changes I've noticed so far (I'm sure I'll notice more):

RI:  the rest area/info center near Exit 3 on I-95 reopened last fall, and is now shown again.
VT:  revamping of the Burlington area and Montpelier-Barre inserts, both slightly larger and with more detail
NJ/NY:  I-95 through the Meadowlands is shown as "95W" for the Western spur and "95" for the eastern spur. 
NY:  reference routes for the parkways are gone, with the ovals eliminated or in some cases, initializing the parkways, such as "TSP" for Taconic State Parkway.  This is a lot better than "987G" for a route that isn't even posted as such in the field... except possibly on the small reference markers.
NY/PA:  I-86 in PA has had its "Route 17" shields removed.... again.

[Kniwt]

Sadly, the iOS app (essentially just giant PDFs of the printed pages) hasn't yet been updated or replaced. Granted, it's been quite a deal/steal with free updates the past few years, but there's not even a new version available at any price yet.

[Roadrunner75]

I finally broke down and picked up a 2018 at my local BN.  Haven't spotted too many changes yet, and probably wouldn't have noticed the needless signing of I-14 over what should at best be a 3di if it hadn't already been mentioned here.

[bob7374]

I finally broke down and picked up a 2018 at my local BN.  Haven't spotted too many changes yet, and probably wouldn't have noticed the needless signing of I-14 over what should at best be a 3di if it hadn't already been mentioned here.

I found the 2018 editions at the second closest BN. Was disappointed in the NC maps since they were, other than the changes already noted of I-295 to NC 295 on the Fayetteville inset and a complete I-140 around Wilmington, largely the same as in the 2017 version. The segments of I-73 in the Greensboro area that are to be completed this year, if not by early 2018, are still shown as under construction. While it has been noted I-14 has been added to the Texas map, the Raleigh-Durham inset still lists I-495 on the Knightdale Bypass, not I-87, approved of earlier. While the Wilmington Bypass is shown as complete, it is signed as I-140 only on the western half, and US 17 on the whole route, contrary to the approved move by AASHTO back through Wilmington. Am hoping NC will issue a new state highway map soon that will be more up to date.

BN also had the new 2018 Michelin available, but only the large print edition at my location. From what I saw there was nothing new for the NC area maps from 2017. While other state maps, like NY where Future I-86 is listed, have future interstates listed, there were none for NC. The large print edition has fewer city inset maps than the other editions with only Charlotte included for NC.

[Kniwt]

Just got my update notice ... now available, and still free. Waiting patiently for the 608MB update to download on this hotel wi-fi.

Sadly, the iOS app (essentially just giant PDFs of the printed pages) hasn't yet been updated or replaced. Granted, it's been quite a deal/steal with free updates the past few years, but there's not even a new version available at any price yet.

[Alex]

Recently got one, and noticed that Florida G1A is still shown along what is Florida 300 out to St George Island.

[Roadrunner75]

My local Walmart finally had a 2018 as of last weekend, so I grabbed another copy to go with my one from BN.  The Walmart version has a different cover (Bryce Canyon), has the store directory and of course the discount price ($7.97).  Nothing at Target yet.  I was really surprised to see them there at all - A few weeks ago they moved the books/magazine area in my local store and removed the maps/atlases entirely.  Saturday they had a separate freestanding bin of them at the end of the aisle.