The most remote state routes

[kphoger]

Saskatchewan's Highways and Infrastructure ministry somehow came up with a traffic count on that highway. In 2016, the AADT was only 5. There are a few other northern 900-series highways with AADTs of 5, but none with lower AADTs.

AADT counts in the state seem to be rounded to the nearest 50 or 100.

I wonder if these two phenomena are related.  It's possible that Saskatchewan has a floor of 5 AADT in their reporting.

[oscar]

Saskatchewan's Highways and Infrastructure ministry somehow came up with a traffic count on that highway. In 2016, the AADT was only 5. There are a few other northern 900-series highways with AADTs of 5, but none with lower AADTs.

AADT counts in the state seem to be rounded to the nearest 50 or 100.

I wonder if these two phenomena are related.  It's possible that Saskatchewan has a floor of 5 AADT in their reporting.

Except Saskatchewan also reports truck AADTs. For the 900-series northern secondary routes, the TAADTs are often zero, but there are a few TAADTs of 1. Looks like there's a lot of rounding to the nearest 5 (also for the 1-397 primary routes), but not always.

[sparker]

CA 266 is probably the grand champion in California.  AZ 288, AZ 366, AZ 261, AZ 273, AZ 373, and AZ 473 all come to mind in Arizona as being decidedly off grid.

I'd take a calculated guess that the northern section of CA 169 might come close in that regard; it's barely more than a local street serving a line of houses along the lower Klamath River.  The southern section actually serves as access to the Hoopa Native American reservation, so it sees pretty regular usage. 

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 266 is probably the grand champion in California.  AZ 288, AZ 366, AZ 261, AZ 273, AZ 373, and AZ 473 all come to mind in Arizona as being decidedly off grid.

I'd take a calculated guess that the northern section of CA 169 might come close in that regard; it's barely more than a local street serving a line of houses along the lower Klamath River.  The southern section actually serves as access to the Hoopa Native American reservation, so it sees pretty regular usage.

CA 229 would be right there too south of Creston.  When drove by a Caltrans crew doing tree trimming on 229 they were getting five vehicles a day north of CA 58. 

[kphoger]

CA 266 is probably the grand champion in California.

AADT = 140 (NW endpoint)
AADT = 300 (SE endpoint)

the northern section of CA 169 might come close in that regard;

AADT = 200 (Johnsons, CA)

CA 229 would be right there too south of Creston ... north of CA 58. 

AADT = 140 (S endpoint)

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 266 is probably the grand champion in California.

AADT = 140 (NW endpoint)
AADT = 300 (SE endpoint)

the northern section of CA 169 might come close in that regard;

AADT = 200 (Johnsons, CA)

CA 229 would be right there too south of Creston ... north of CA 58. 

AADT = 140 (S endpoint)

What about 229's north terminus?  I seem to recall it was something like 500 back in the 1990s. 

[kphoger]

What about 229's north terminus?  I seem to recall it was something like 500 back in the 1990s. 

Oh, OK, I just found a more up-to-date map and figured out how to navigate multiple data points at one location.

North terminus is right by town, so it's count is higher at 4450 AADT.
South terminus at CA-58 is 120 AADT.

[debragga]

Surprised no one's said TX-54.

A few different part of nearby FM-2185 have an AADT of 5

[Max Rockatansky]

What about 229's north terminus?  I seem to recall it was something like 500 back in the 1990s. 

Oh, OK, I just found a more up-to-date map and figured out how to navigate multiple data points at one location.

North terminus is right by town, so it's count is higher at 4450 AADT.
South terminus at CA-58 is 120 AADT.

Holy crap that's a huge variance for such a short highway, I didn't think it was that high at the north terminus.  Weird to consider the north part of 229 was once US 466 all the way to the one-lane segment.  Most of the one lane state highways have really low AADT numbers and 229 bears that out at it's south terminus. 

[sparker]

What about 229's north terminus?  I seem to recall it was something like 500 back in the 1990s. 

Oh, OK, I just found a more up-to-date map and figured out how to navigate multiple data points at one location.

North terminus is right by town, so it's count is higher at 4450 AADT.
South terminus at CA-58 is 120 AADT.

Holy crap that's a huge variance for such a short highway, I didn't think it was that high at the north terminus.  Weird to consider the north part of 229 was once US 466 all the way to the one-lane segment.  Most of the one lane state highways have really low AADT numbers and 229 bears that out at it's south terminus. 

With that in mind, can someone come up with an AADT for CA 172, which is 1-lane for much of its short length (although close to recreational facilities).

[Max Rockatansky]

What about 229's north terminus?  I seem to recall it was something like 500 back in the 1990s. 

Oh, OK, I just found a more up-to-date map and figured out how to navigate multiple data points at one location.

North terminus is right by town, so it's count is higher at 4450 AADT.
South terminus at CA-58 is 120 AADT.

Holy crap that's a huge variance for such a short highway, I didn't think it was that high at the north terminus.  Weird to consider the north part of 229 was once US 466 all the way to the one-lane segment.  Most of the one lane state highways have really low AADT numbers and 229 bears that out at it's south terminus. 

With that in mind, can someone come up with an AADT for CA 172, which is 1-lane for much of its short length (although close to recreational facilities).

Didn't see a single vehicle on it when I drove it last back in 2017.  I would imagine the East terminus is by far busier than the western terminus. 

[kphoger]

AADT for CA 172

Western endpoint (Mineral) to postmile 5.77:  180 AADT
Eastern endpoint to postmile 5.77:  150 AADT

[Max Rockatansky]

AADT for CA 172

Western endpoint (Mineral) to postmile 5.77:  180 AADT
Eastern endpoint to postmile 5.77:  150 AADT

So you're saying people don't like driving over Mineral Summit?...

IMG_1026 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I'm sincerely surprised that CA 172 apparently beat out CA 266.

[GaryA]

How much traffic is there on CA 299 between Cedarville and the NV state line (where it becomes an unpaved road, once but no longer NV 8A)?

[sparker]

AADT for CA 172

Western endpoint (Mineral) to postmile 5.77:  180 AADT
Eastern endpoint to postmile 5.77:  150 AADT

So you're saying people don't like driving over Mineral Summit?...

IMG_1026 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I'm sincerely surprised that CA 172 apparently beat out CA 266.

It's not that folks don't relish driving on a 1-lane highway (which was LRN 29, the primary route up the hill from Red Bluff until the mid-30's), it's just that it bypasses the west CA 36/89 junction, north of which (on 89) is the southern entrance to Lassen Volcanic N.P., the principal tourist/recreational attraction in the area.  When old LRN 86 was built as the cutoff from the western end of CA 172 up the hill to that junction, SSR 36 was relocated over it, leaving the now-CA 172 "loop" as an unsigned road -- so most traffic simply stayed on 36 unless their destination was specifically on the Mineral loop.  And from that point on not much has changed, as evidenced by the sparse AADT on 172 (thanks to the Wichita Stat-man for that info!). 

[cl94]

New York has two potential candidates due to the method of reporting.
-The east end of NY 344 (AADT 86, counter east of the western Bash Bish Falls parking lot) is the lowest recorded AADT in the system, but since the segment covers the entire route and the counter is placed after the turnoffs for most destinations, this is not reflective of the entire route.
-NY 421 has a recorded AADT of 130, with the counter placed at the intersection with NY 30. The long segment west of Warren Point was not counted, but given the lack of destinations out there, I would not be surprised if AADT on that segment is well under 30 even during the summer.

As far as through routes (not dead ends or connect to a numbered route across a state/international border), our winner is NY 30 with an AADT of 257 at its northern end. NY 189 has an AADT of 259 near its southern end, but has an asterisk thanks to the Canadian checkpoint being closed.

I will not bother attempting to list all routes with a segment under 1000, because there are far too many to keep track of. Most 2-lane roads through the Adirondacks and Catskills have at least one such section, as well as several routes in rural parts of Central NY and the Southern Tier.

[kphoger]

How much traffic is there on CA 299 between Cedarville and the NV state line (where it becomes an unpaved road, once but no longer NV 8A)?

Good call!

AADT @ Nevada state line = 70

[Max Rockatansky]

How much traffic is there on CA 299 between Cedarville and the NV state line (where it becomes an unpaved road, once but no longer NV 8A)?

Good call!

AADT @ Nevada state line = 70

That way is so back country you can still find NV 8A shields in the wild. 

[oscar]

That way is so back country you can still find NV 8A shields in the wild. 

Indeed, there was one visible from the end of CA 299's pavement, when I was out there in 2017.

[sbeaver44]

From PA https://www.penndot.gov/ProjectAndPrograms/Planning/Maps/Pages/Traffic-Volume.aspx
AADTs seem to be rounded to 50

150:
PA 144 Clinton Co S of Renovo
PA 127 Forest Co S of PA 227
PA 127 Warren Co S of QR 3002
PA 170 Wayne Co btwn QR 4025 and PA 247
PA 381 Westmoreland Co Cook Twp
PA 484 Fulton Co between PA 26 and PA 731
PA 731 Fulton Co between PA 484 and QR 3004
PA 915 Fulton Co between I-70 and QR 4005

100:
PA 244 Potter Co between Oswayo and QR 4011
PA 284 All (Lycoming Co)
PA 381 Westmoreland Co Cook Twp
PA 666 Forest Co Kingsley-Howe Twp Line
PA 858 Susquehanna Co btwn QR 4017 and QR 4014

50:
PA 858 Susquehanna Co bwtn PA 706 and QR 4017

[Max Rockatansky]

That way is so back country you can still find NV 8A shields in the wild. 

Indeed, there was one visible from the end of CA 299's pavement, when I was out there in 2017.

If I remember right there was actually quite a few East of there also.  I took it during an off road touring trip back around 2008. 

[NWI_Irish96]

For Indiana:

The southern tip of IN 161 has an AADT of 37
The southern tip of IN 111 has an AADT of 42
The northern tip of IN 458 has an AADT of 84

I've actually clinched all three of these roads.

[Mapmikey]

The winner in Virginia is the unpaved portion of VA 91 with a traffic count of 40 in 2018.  North of that segment is consistently below 200 up to Tazewell.

Also on the low end:

VA 298 southmost segment in West Point is 70 (jumps to 1100 in the next segment!)

For through route segments:
VA 40 near Woolwine - 120
VA 252 near south end - 130
VA 18 at south end - 170
VA 42 west of US 52 - 140
VA 598 - 130

The US route segments that I saw with the lowest traffic counts are:
US 58 near Grayson Highlands SP - 300
US 250 at the WV border - 270

[ftballfan]

For Indiana:

The southern tip of IN 161 has an AADT of 37
The southern tip of IN 111 has an AADT of 42
The northern tip of IN 458 has an AADT of 84

I've actually clinched all three of these roads.

IN 161 has to be much more than 37 at its south end as its south end is at a bridge that connects directly with downtown Owensboro (and was US-231 for years)

[NWI_Irish96]

For Indiana:

The southern tip of IN 161 has an AADT of 37
The southern tip of IN 111 has an AADT of 42
The northern tip of IN 458 has an AADT of 84

I've actually clinched all three of these roads.

IN 161 has to be much more than 37 at its south end as its south end is at a bridge that connects directly with downtown Owensboro (and was US-231 for years)

That was a typo.  Supposed to be IN 166.