About a week ago, I got in contact with as many of the state DOTs as I could to find the latest editions of their state highway maps. I think I was able to order all the states except for Alaska and Washington State. I have already received about a dozen. So as the maps trickle in, I will be posting grades from 1 to 10 for their maps based on a few categories:
1. Ease of reading. Can I distinguish between an interstate, tollway and other divided expressways and freeways. City name size. County seats. Distinguishing county boundaries and names. Etc. Mainly looking at this from a standpoint of someone who is not a roadgeek like us.
2. Quality of information. City inset maps. Mileage charts. Mileage between exits or towns.
3. Utilizing the space for actual useful information. One big pet peeve of mine is when they post several pictures of landscapes and things instead of useful driving or points of interest information.
4. Accuracy. Obviously each map has small intentional errors for copyright reasons. Glaring errors. Missing exits. That kind of thing.
5. Overall look.
So the final grades will be between 5 and 50 with 50 being the best.
Let the games begin!
NEW YORK: https://www.iloveny.com/travel-tools/guides/
c. 2018
14 City/Region Insets: New York City, Midtown and Lower Manhattan, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo/Niagara Falls, Rome, Watertown, Ithaca, Binghamton, Saratoga Springs, Utica, Elmira/Corning, Albany/Troy/Schenectady, Long Island
1: Red for the NYS Thruway. Green for other freeways. Amber for multilane divided highways. Does use 2 types of red for state roads that are not freeways. Major county roads are shown but not labelled. The city name size is very small. Gray lines for county boundaries are easy to read but the county names are small.
Grade: 7
2: Very readable city index with some city populations. Has an index for state parks and points of interest. Index for major airports. Decent mileage chart (29 x 29). Could use a few more cities within the state. There is NO mileage between exits or towns at all. The exit numbers for the interstates are in sequence and not mileage based so you have to get out the ruler to measure that Dunkirk to Hamburg is about 25 miles on the NYS Thruway. Could use city insets for Newburgh (28k), Kingston (23k), Poughkeepsie (32k), White Plains (56k), Middletown (28k) since Watertown is 27k.
Grade: 4 Having to guess the mileage is a big hit.
3: Each region has one picture with a name of what it is and then about a dozen points of interest in the region with the city name and coordinates of the location. Also has regional offices that you can get more localized information.
Grade: 10
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: In general, this is a good state issued map. Having it be a 2018 edition though does not give it full marks.
Grade: 8
Final Grade: 39
BONUS Points for no pictures of the Governor, Secretary of State, etc.
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 05:11:32 PM
About a week ago, I got in contact with as many of the state DOTs as I could to find the latest editions of their state highway maps. I think I was able to order all the states except for Alaska and Washington State.
What about Hawaii? It's been ages since its DOT put out a new highway map. University of Hawaii publishes a set of road maps, but it costs about $20 for the five maps needed to cover the whole state.
NEW JERSEY: https://www.visitnj.org/form/request-or-download-free-travel-guides
c. 2020
10 City/Region Insets: Northern Metro Area (Newark, Passaic, Jersey City), Downtown Newark, Trenton, Downtown Trenton, New Brunswick, Morristown, Camden, Atlantic City, NJ Transit Rail, New York Harbor Commuter Ferries
1: Tollways (NJT, GSP, ACE) are in green. Freeways are in red. Divided highways are in amber. State highways are a thin red. County highways are gray and labeled. However, there are a few highways, such as NJ 47 south of Vineland, that have a different marking that has not been explained in the legend. County names are huge (almost too big) and the boundaries are distinguishable. City and town names are a good size. There is a different symbol for cities by population.
Grade: 8
2: The city index is ok but black on blue does not make it easy to read. No population numbers for the city index. There is a county index with the county seats. The size of the numbers for the highways is good. Mileage chart has about 50 cities. I like that. It does show mileage between points but not exits. Could use city insets for Cape May and Vineland but other than that, solid.
Grade: 8
3: It uses 4 to 5 pictures for each of the 6 regions and the city that they are found in but no other information. It does have contact information for a few transportation agencies. No state park information.
Grade: 5
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Like New York, New Jersey does have a good quality state map.
Grade: 8
Final Grade: 39
Quote from: oscar on March 20, 2020, 05:24:57 PM
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 05:11:32 PM
About a week ago, I got in contact with as many of the state DOTs as I could to find the latest editions of their state highway maps. I think I was able to order all the states except for Alaska and Washington State.
What about Hawaii? It's been ages since its DOT put out a new highway map. University of Hawaii publishes a set of road maps, but it costs about $20 for the five maps needed to cover the whole state.
Hawaii was another one I could not find the information.
MARYLAND: https://www.visitmaryland.org/brochure (in the travel package)
c. 2019-2020
18 City/Region insets: Baltimore/Washington/Annapolis, Downtown Baltimore, Central Annapolis, Metro Area Highways and Rail Transit, BWI Airport, Ocean City, Salisbury, Deep Creek Lake, Westminster, Hagerstown, Frederick, Easton, Havre De Grace, Cambridge, Aberdeen, Bel Air, Cumberland, Elkton
1: Yellow for Tollways. Green for Freeways. Double lines for Divided Highways. US Highways in Red. State Highways in black. County Highways in gray. County highways are not labeled. County boundaries and names are very easy to distinguish. City name size is small for the majority of places. If the name size was a bit bigger, this would be a 10.
Grade: 9
2: The city index is good but shows no population numbers. The county seats have a different symbol and the city size has different font size for the population. Easily can read the highway numbers. Mileage chart has about 40 cities. County roads even have mileages between junctions. Big plus. Every city over 10k has a city inset. No cities need to be added at all.
Grade: 10
3: Not very many pictures at all besides the cover and a couple of region pics. Very detailed information and contact information for Maryland Transportation Services, locations of DMVs, state driving laws and welcome centers. Only hit is the picture of the politicians.
Grade: 9
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade : 10
5: Overall, this is a great map. My only gripe, a minor one, is that the exit boxes are the same shade of green and yellow as the rest of the freeways and tollways are instead of a white box.
Grade: 9
Final Grade: 47
I didn't know NY was still publishing maps does anyone how I could get one? I am with you all the way about not having a picture of the Governor. I wish my state did that.
OREGON: https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Data/Pages/Maps.aspx
c. 2019-2021
20 City/Region Insets: Portland and Vicinity, Albany, Ashland, Astoria, Baker City, Bend, Coos Bay/North Bend, Corvallis, Eugene/Springfield, Grants Pass, Hood River, Klamath Falls, La Grande, McMinnville, Medford, Ontario, Pendleton, Roseburg, The Dalles, Salem/Keizer
1: Interstates are Green. Divided Highways are Double Red. Other State and US Highways are Single Red. County Highways are Dark Gray but are unlabeled. County boundaries and names are easy to read. Bigger towns and cities (over 2,500) are a good name size even those with no city insets.
Grade: 9
2: The city index is a good reading size and does show most populations for the towns. There's even Greenhorn with a population of, wait for it, 2! County seats do have a different symbol. The city population has different size and types of font. Mileage chart shows about 40 places. Good. Almost every road, including the county roads, have mileages between cities and towns. Interstates however do not have mileages between each exit. They do use the mile markers for each exit though. Cities over 10k have an inset except for Hermiston (18k). It could use one since it is a major junction between interstates. Baker City has one though with a pop of 9,890. Go figure.
Grade: 8
3: Only 4 pictures on the whole map. One on each side of the cover, a tiny one on the "Welcome" paragraph and a small one of the Governor. That's what I like to see. Just pure information for the amount of space for things like travel information resources, welcome center locations and state driving laws. Great job!
Grade: 10
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Yet another great state issued map. Even on the city insets it shows EVERY street in a tiny, thin gray. That's cool to see.
Grade: 10
Final Grade: 47
Quote from: dvferyance on March 20, 2020, 06:23:12 PM
I didn't know NY was still publishing maps does anyone how I could get one? I am with you all the way about not having a picture of the Governor. I wish my state did that.
I found it through the I Love NY Travel Website. You can specifically ask for the road map.
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 06:42:47 PM
Quote from: dvferyance on March 20, 2020, 06:23:12 PM
I didn't know NY was still publishing maps does anyone how I could get one? I am with you all the way about not having a picture of the Governor. I wish my state did that.
I found it through the I Love NY Travel Website. You can specifically ask for the road map.
Thank you I just did that.
NEVADA: https://www.nevadadot.com/travel-info/maps/state-maps
c. 2019-2020
6 City/Region Insets: Lake Tahoe Region, Reno/Sparks Region, Las Vegas/Henderson Region, Carson City, I-15/I-80 Exit Strips (I love those), Nevada Adventure Map (Auto trails through the state).
1: Interstates and Freeways are in Dark Red. Divided Highways are Double Lines. Paved Highways are single solid red or black. Other Roads are Light Gray and are likely not paved. No county highways are labeled. County boundaries and names are hard to see at first glance. Smaller cities, like Winnemucca and Ely, are very small to read.
Grade: 4
2: The town index is small to read and shows only a few populations. Black on orange is not very good. County Seats do have a different symbol. Mileage chart, which is very readable, shows about 30 places in both miles and kilometers. At least the highway numbers are big and each border state's "sign" looks like the road sign like the California spade or the Utah beehive. Could use insets for places like Mesquite (13k), Fernley (19k), Elko (20k), Laughlin (8900) and Pahrump (37k)
Grade: 7
3: The main side, good. The back side though, ugh. A lot of wasted space for 1 artsy map with several pictures. I expect this from a travel agency. Not a DOT.
Grade: 3
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Not a good quality map IMO. The Interstates strips are the only real plus.
Grade: 5
Final Grade: 29
Upcoming maps:
MINNESOTA
MONTANA
UTAH
ARKANSAS
WISCONSIN
NEBRASKA
IOWA
MISSOURI
VIRGINIA
NEW MEXICO
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 07:23:37 PM
Upcoming maps:
MINNESOTA
MONTANA
UTAH
ARKANSAS
WISCONSIN
NEBRASKA
IOWA
MISSOURI
VIRGINIA
NEW MEXICO
As you do these, would you consider including links to the .pdf files for those you can (or did) find online? It would make a great resource for us all as you're going through...
Kentucky should be issuing two-year maps (2020-2022) anytime now, unless that release is delayed due to the ongoing virus issues.
Quote from: sturmde on March 21, 2020, 01:47:31 AM
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 07:23:37 PM
As you do these, would you consider including links to the .pdf files for those you can (or did) find online? It would make a great resource for us all as you're going through...
What I will do is post a link to where you can get the state map ordered. A number of those places if you poke around will have the pdf.
VIRGINIA: https://www.virginiadot.org/travel/maps-state.asp
c. 2018-2020
24 City/Region Insets: Northern Virginia (Washington DC/Arlington/Leesburg/Manassas), Arlington & Nations Capitol, Roanoke/Salem, Downtown Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Winchester, Waynesboro, Staunton, Front Royal, Fredericksburg, Hampton Roads (Norfolk/Williamsburg/Virginia Beach), Downtown Norfolk, Downtown Williamsburg, Martinsville, Richmond/Petersburg/Colonial Hts/Hopewell, Downtown Richmond, Danville, Bristol, Norton/Wise, Blacksburg/Christianburg, Radford, Lexington
1: Interstates and Freeways are Blue. Tollways are Green. Dividied Highways are Dark Red. US Highways are Red. State Highways and County Highways are Gray. County Highways are labeled. County names and boundaries are ok to read. City and town names for the most part are good size.
Grade: 8
2: City Index is very readable but show no population numbers. County Seats have a different symbol. The mileage chart shows about 35 places but none of them are out of state. A few out of state cities would be nice. I would use places like Roanoke Rapids NC, Durham, Elizabeth City, Greensboro, Mt Airy, London KY, Beckley WV, Morgantown, Martinsburg, Frederick MD and Salisbury that are either major cities or first city of size on a major highway leading out of Virginia. Lack of those places does ding the map a bit. Could use insets for Culpepper and Emporia.
Grade: 7
3: Overall, good on use of space. A few pictures on the front side with some information. But do I really need the whole Transportation Board with the Governor's face? No. Backside has a points of interest index and contact numbers/websites.
Grade: 8
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: With a few minor issues, this is a very good map.
Grade: 9
Final Grade: 42
WISCONSIN: https://www.travelwisconsin.com/order-guides?_sm_au_=iVVJZFR5wTsfq6n6CkfpsKs72RJpW (Scroll down)
c. 2019-2020
18 City/Region Insets: Milwaukee, Downtown Milwaukee, Madison, Downtown Madison, Racine/Kenosha, Janesville/Beloit, Fond du Lac, Waukesha, Green Bay, Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls, Fox Cities (Appleton/Neenah/Kaukauna), Manitowoc/Two Rivers, Oshkosh, Wausau, Stevens Point, La Crosse, Superior
1: Freeways are Dark Red Triple Line. Tollways are Yellow. Expressways are a Wide Dark Red Double Lined. Other Divided Highways are Double Pink or Double Black. US and State Highways are Pink or Black. County Highways are a Thin Gray and labeled. Cities with a population over 5k are very easy to read. The smaller towns are not too bad either. County boundaries and names are easy to find.
Grade: 9
2: The highway numbers are a bit snug if they are 3 digits. The city index is the best one yet. Shows county seats in pink. Has the populations. And even shows if that city or town has a hospital. I wish more states would do this especially ones that have a lot of rural areas. The mileage chart shows about 50 cities. Years ago (circa 1984), Wisconsin would have an inset for every city over 10k. I have that map around somewhere in my room. Anyway, 10k would be difficult today but there could be insets for Wisconsin Rapids (18k), Watertown (23k), West Bend (31k), Menomonie (16k), Sun Prairie (as an extension of Madison, 29k), Hudson/River Falls (12k/15k), Marinette/Menominee MI (11k/8100).
Grade: 9
3: Frontside, fantastic! Tons of information on Memorial Highways, Bridges, Historic Sites, Veterans Sites, County Index, State Patrol Regions and Amtrak/Bus Service Map. Backside, not what I like to see. Positives: Index for State Parks and Trails with a ton of info on what is at each park in a chart. Negative: The big artsy map with pictures of people at the landmarks. Ugh! Ever since Wisconsin scaled back the amount of insets from like 35 to the current 18, they have used the space for things like this.
Grade: 7 only because of the State Park info chart.
4: I have not found any glaring errors. Even has the brand new Wis 318 marked.
Grade: 10
5: Overall, a really great map. Biggest gripe is the backside waste of space.
Grade: 9
Final Grade: 44
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 06:41:38 PM
OREGON: https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Data/Pages/Maps.aspx
c. 2019-2021
20 City/Region Insets: Portland and Vicinity, Albany, Ashland, Astoria, Baker City, Bend, Coos Bay/North Bend, Corvallis, Eugene/Springfield, Grants Pass, Hood River, Klamath Falls, La Grande, McMinnville, Medford, Ontario, Pendleton, Roseburg, The Dalles, Salem/Keizer
1: Interstates are Green. Divided Highways are Double Red. Other State and US Highways are Single Red. County Highways are Dark Gray but are unlabeled. County boundaries and names are easy to read. Bigger towns and cities (over 2,500) are a good name size even those with no city insets.
Grade: 9
Disagree. With no disambiguation between freeway and non-freeway, it puts the Sunset and OR 217 in the same category as decided non-freeway expressways that do get notated as 'divided highways' (OR 34 near Tangent -- and I'm not even sure the ODOT map notates this segment; or better yet, US 97 in Bend). Furthermore, there's the implication that the Interstates are of better road quality than non-Interstates, while I'd argue the Sunset in particular is of better standard (particularly west of Sylvan) than most of I-5 within Portland city limits.
This symbology actually obfuscates what is being conveyed, and helps perputate the idea that only Interstates can have the higher speed limit. A better standard would be 'Freeway/Controlled Access Expressway' and 'Highway', with the a dual line variant for 'Divided Highway'.
I'd grade this a '4'.
CALIFORNIA: https://www.visitcalifornia.com/
c. 2020
3 Insets: San Francisco/San Jose. Oakland, Los Angeles/Riverside, San Diego/Oceanside
1. All roads are marked as a gray line. There are no county boundaries but the county seats are marked. At least the font size is readable for smaller cities.
Grade: 2
2: City Index is readable but does not show populations. Highway numbers are white numbers on pale gray background. Bad. Does have a useful mileage map with times included. As for city insets that should be included, there are so many that it is silly. But not having some basics like Sacramento is stupid. The state of California itself is split up on both sides of the map.
Grade: 3 only for the mileage map.
3: Has "5 Trips from LA, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento" in each section. Has Winter Driving and Road Driving tips. But this really reads more as a brochure map from the local Holiday Inn instead of from a state government.
Grade: 3
4: No glaring errors.
Grade :10
5: Overall, if I was a novice, this would be just ok. But to be honest, this map sucks out loud. Nevada was better.
Grade: 2
Final Grade: 20
MASSACHUSETTS: https://www.mass.gov/official-transportation-map
c. 2019
6 City/Region Insets: Boston, Downtown Boston, MBTA Commuter Rail/Rapid Transit, Worcester, Springfield, New England
1: Interstates, Freeways and Expressways are Double Red. Tollways are Double Gold. Primary Highways (US and State) are Pink. Other State Highways are Black. County Roads are Gray and are not labeled. Scenic Roads are Green. County lines and names are not used. However, Township lines are shown. City names are very readable.
Grade: 9
2: Highway numbers are easy to read. Mileages are shown on state level or higher roads between cities and exits. City Index is easy to read but does not show populations. Has a nice Mileage map with times. Does show locations for Registry of Motor Vehicles on the map. I would have insets for Lowell/Lawrence, Fall River, New Bedford.
Grade: 8
3: There is no wasted space on either side. Information on Service Plazas on the Expressways and Mass Pike, Shared use paths for bicycles, State Road Laws, Regional Tourism and Transportation Contact Information. Only dig is the obligatory Governor's pic and message.
Grade: 9
4: No glaring errors.
Grade :10
5: This is a very nice map packed with great information.
Grade: 9
Final Grade: 45
Upcoming Maps:
MAINE
NEBRASKA
IOWA
MONTANA
WEST VIRGINIA
NEW MEXICO
MINNESOTA
UTAH
ARKANSAS
MISSOURI
SOUTH DAKOTA
OKLAHOMA
INDIANA
TEXAS
OHIO
VERMONT
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 22, 2020, 09:39:56 PM
VIRGINIA: https://www.virginiadot.org/travel/maps-state.asp
c. 2018-2020
24 City/Region Insets: Northern Virginia (Washington DC/Arlington/Leesburg/Manassas), Arlington & Nations Capitol, Roanoke/Salem, Downtown Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Winchester, Waynesboro, Staunton, Front Royal, Fredericksburg, Hampton Roads (Norfolk/Williamsburg/Virginia Beach), Downtown Norfolk, Downtown Williamsburg, Martinsville, Richmond/Petersburg/Colonial Hts/Hopewell, Downtown Richmond, Danville, Bristol, Norton/Wise, Blacksburg/Christianburg, Radford, Lexington
1: Interstates and Freeways are Blue. Tollways are Green. Dividied Highways are Dark Red. US Highways are Red. State Highways and County Highways are Gray. County Highways are labeled. County names and boundaries are ok to read. City and town names for the most part are good size.
Grade: 8
2: City Index is very readable but show no population numbers. County Seats have a different symbol. The mileage chart shows about 35 places but none of them are out of state. A few out of state cities would be nice. I would use places like Roanoke Rapids NC, Durham, Elizabeth City, Greensboro, Mt Airy, London KY, Beckley WV, Morgantown, Martinsburg, Frederick MD and Salisbury that are either major cities or first city of size on a major highway leading out of Virginia. Lack of those places does ding the map a bit. Could use insets for Culpepper and Emporia.
Grade: 7
3: Overall, good on use of space. A few pictures on the front side with some information. But do I really need the whole Transportation Board with the Governor's face? No. Backside has a points of interest index and contact numbers/websites.
Grade: 8
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: With a few minor issues, this is a very good map.
Grade: 9
Final Grade: 42
I would like to point out I noticed the 2018 edition is the first edition that marks Westlake Corner in Franklin County. That place had been there since the early 90's and I had always wrote it in on the map but when I got the is edition I saw oh I don't have to anymore it's on the map. I also find it interesting that the DOT map does not mark Hwy 697 in Franklin County while the Rand McNally atlas does. Typically DOT maps mark more of the secondary routes than Rand McNally does.
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 07:20:55 PM
NEVADA: https://www.nevadadot.com/travel-info/maps/state-maps
c. 2019-2020
6 City/Region Insets: Lake Tahoe Region, Reno/Sparks Region, Las Vegas/Henderson Region, Carson City, I-15/I-80 Exit Strips (I love those), Nevada Adventure Map (Auto trails through the state).
1: Interstates and Freeways are in Dark Red. Divided Highways are Double Lines. Paved Highways are single solid red or black. Other Roads are Light Gray and are likely not paved. No county highways are labeled. County boundaries and names are hard to see at first glance. Smaller cities, like Winnemucca and Ely, are very small to read.
Grade: 4
2: The town index is small to read and shows only a few populations. Black on orange is not very good. County Seats do have a different symbol. Mileage chart, which is very readable, shows about 30 places in both miles and kilometers. At least the highway numbers are big and each border state's "sign" looks like the road sign like the California spade or the Utah beehive. Could use insets for places like Mesquite (13k), Fernley (19k), Elko (20k), Laughlin (8900) and Pahrump (37k)
Grade: 7
3: The main side, good. The back side though, ugh. A lot of wasted space for 1 artsy map with several pictures. I expect this from a travel agency. Not a DOT.
Grade: 3
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Not a good quality map IMO. The Interstates strips are the only real plus.
Grade: 5
Final Grade: 29
RE #1: I hope you're not downgrading the map quality for a lack of marked county routes. Aside from CC-215 in the Las Vegas area, which is clearly marked on the map, signed county routes in Nevada are virtually non-existent. (Yes county routes exist, but not really with any cohesive numbering systems as seen in other states, and any numbering is most often internal.)
RE: #3. This map is produced primarily for tourism purposes, so...
Although I will concur with some of the comments about color choices. The brownish-orange background used to be a bluish-gray for many years up until one or two additions ago, and I liked that color scheme a little better as it was a little easier to read things like the index.
Quote from: roadfro on March 28, 2020, 03:18:02 PM
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 20, 2020, 07:20:55 PM
NEVADA: https://www.nevadadot.com/travel-info/maps/state-maps
c. 2019-2020
6 City/Region Insets: Lake Tahoe Region, Reno/Sparks Region, Las Vegas/Henderson Region, Carson City, I-15/I-80 Exit Strips (I love those), Nevada Adventure Map (Auto trails through the state).
1: Interstates and Freeways are in Dark Red. Divided Highways are Double Lines. Paved Highways are single solid red or black. Other Roads are Light Gray and are likely not paved. No county highways are labeled. County boundaries and names are hard to see at first glance. Smaller cities, like Winnemucca and Ely, are very small to read.
Grade: 4
2: The town index is small to read and shows only a few populations. Black on orange is not very good. County Seats do have a different symbol. Mileage chart, which is very readable, shows about 30 places in both miles and kilometers. At least the highway numbers are big and each border state's "sign" looks like the road sign like the California spade or the Utah beehive. Could use insets for places like Mesquite (13k), Fernley (19k), Elko (20k), Laughlin (8900) and Pahrump (37k)
Grade: 7
3: The main side, good. The back side though, ugh. A lot of wasted space for 1 artsy map with several pictures. I expect this from a travel agency. Not a DOT.
Grade: 3
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Not a good quality map IMO. The Interstates strips are the only real plus.
Grade: 5
Final Grade: 29
RE #1: I hope you're not downgrading the map quality for a lack of marked county routes. Aside from CC-215 in the Las Vegas area, which is clearly marked on the map, signed county routes in Nevada are virtually non-existent. (Yes county routes exist, but not really with any cohesive numbering systems as seen in other states, and any numbering is most often internal.)
RE: #3. This map is produced primarily for tourism purposes, so...
Although I will concur with some of the comments about color choices. The brownish-orange background used to be a bluish-gray for many years up until one or two additions ago, and I liked that color scheme a little better as it was a little easier to read things like the index.
Hwy 215 is marked and I was not talking about that one. But stuff like road between Battle Mountain and west of Dixie Valley. The road is 92 miles before it becomes NV 121 for the last 27 miles. It obviously cuts off a good amount of distance between BM and Fallon NAS. It would be nice to know what it is called. You know?
On a side note, why does Nevada only use 3 digit numbers for state highways? I always found that odd.
There are ways to make a "tourism map" be informative and look good. This fails in my opinion. Better than California though.
OHIO: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/maps/Pages/Request.aspx
c. 2019
14 City/Region Insets: Cleveland, Downtown Cleveland, Columbus, Downtown Columbus, Cincinnati/Covington KY, Downtown Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Springfield, Hamilton, Youngstown, Canton, Akron, Lorain/Elyria.
1: Interstates are Blue. Ohio Tpk is Yellow. Other Freeways are Red. Divided Highways are Double Red. All other roads are Thin Black. County boundaries are Orange and the county names are very readable. City names over 5k are easy to read. Smaller towns are not too bad.
Grade: 9
2: The highway numbers are easy to read. Mileages are used on all state highways between towns and junctions. City Index is very easy to read but shows now populations. The mileage chart shows about 30 places but none of them are out of state. I would have used places like Erie PA, Wheeling WV, Parkersburg WV,
Maysville KY, Richmond IN, Van Wert and Bryan. There are city insets for cities over 50k. That's a good start but there are a few other insets I would have used like Sandusky, Bowling Green, Findlay, Lima, Marion, Mansfield, Massillon, Steubenville, Warren, Newark, Zainesville, Middletown, Chillicothe, Xenia, Lancaster, Athens, and Portsmouth.
Grade: 7
3: Front side, no wasted space. Highway patrol numbers and NOAA Weather Radio info are good. Backside though has over 2 dozen pics. The Ohio facts info, Ohio transportation contact info, and state park chart index are good but have 2 messages from the politicians? Really?
Grade: 5
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Overall, a good map. Huge actual size. But the wasted space is what hurts this map.
Grade: 8
Final grade: 39
TEXAS: PDF form: https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/forms-publications/maps.html Request: https://www.traveltexas.com/plan-a-trip/travel-guide/
c. 2020
29 City/Region Insets: Houston/Galveston/Texas City, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas/Ft Worth, Del Rio, San Angelo, Wichita Falls, El Paso, Laredo, Beaumont/Port Arthur/Orange, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, Longview, Marshall, Amarillo, Brownsville, McAllen, Harlingen, Brazosport Area, Temple/Belton/Killeen, Waco, Abilene, Texarkana, Tyler, Nacogdoches/Lufkin, Midland/Odessa, Sherman/Denison, Lubbock, Denton.
1: Freeways are Dark Red. Tollways are Dark Green (but do not show exits). US Highways are Red. State Highways are Black. FM Roads are Gray and labeled. Divided Highways are Double Lined. County boundaries and names are Light Green and readable. Cities over 25k are easy to read. The smaller cities and towns are not too bad either.
Grade: 8 for no exits on the tollways.
2: The highway numbers a a bit tight but understood why. The mileages on FM Roads are for each junction or city. However, the higher classification roads only do mileages between red arrows and not every junction or city. Exit numbers are only used on the city inset maps. The city index is easy to read and shows populations. County seats are in all caps on the index. There is no mileage chart. Only a small box that has mileages across Texas in important corridors. It is hard to complain about a state that gives you 29 city insets BUT there are no Downtown Insets. There are some cities that could use insets as well such as Victoria (66k), Huntsville (41k), Seguin (30k), New Braunfels (78k), Georgetown (69k), Cleburne (32k) and Conroe (85k).
Grade: 8
3: There is no wasted space at all. Travel Center Locations, County Index, State Park Index, Driver Info, etc. Only a couple of small ads for Big Bend and Texas Highways. The only dig is the Governor and his minions.
Grade: 9
4: I have not found any glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5: Texas has always produced one of my favorite maps. It's clean, huge and full of info.
Grade: 9 because of the lack of exits on the tollways.
Final Grade: 44
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 29, 2020, 01:02:20 PM
Hwy 215 is marked and I was not talking about that one. But stuff like road between Battle Mountain and west of Dixie Valley. The road is 92 miles before it becomes NV 121 for the last 27 miles. It obviously cuts off a good amount of distance between BM and Fallon NAS. It would be nice to know what it is called. You know?
That's a collection of unpaved roads with no numbers, out in the middle of nowhere, that maybe provides access to a couple of ranches and/or mines. Not anything you'd want to direct any traffic down. Not that there's much of anything in or around Dixie Valley (the map shows it as a "site", which is generally code for "this is barely a settlement, and there might not be anyone living there")...but anybody going between there and Battle Mountain is probably going to take SR 305, since it'll likely be faster than taking 97 miles of unpaved roads despite the longer distance with backtracking.
A lot of Nevada is undeveloped or sparsely-developed land in the middle of nothing, which doesn't necessitate as many connecting paved roads as other states may have. It's why you do see many paved state highways abruptly ending at random spots and unpaved roads filling in the gaps.
Quote
On a side note, why does Nevada only use 3 digit numbers for state highways? I always found that odd.
See this old post of mine (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2736.msg60342#msg60342) on the Pacific Southwest board for more background.
I think Pennsylvania has a great road map, and at least somewhat recently was easily available at rest areas on the Turnpike. I have quite a few, and they've been very consistent with good insets and legibility. New Jersey had a good one - I grew up with one on a wall in the house (probably late 70s/early 80s vintage) and it heavily influenced my young map drawing days - although I'm not sure if I have a recent one to compare. I try to grab the state maps whenever I can...
Quote from: roadfro on March 29, 2020, 03:03:09 PM
Quote from: hobsini2 on March 29, 2020, 01:02:20 PM
Hwy 215 is marked and I was not talking about that one. But stuff like road between Battle Mountain and west of Dixie Valley. The road is 92 miles before it becomes NV 121 for the last 27 miles. It obviously cuts off a good amount of distance between BM and Fallon NAS. It would be nice to know what it is called. You know?
That's a collection of unpaved roads with no numbers, out in the middle of nowhere, that maybe provides access to a couple of ranches and/or mines. Not anything you'd want to direct any traffic down. Not that there's much of anything in or around Dixie Valley (the map shows it as a "site", which is generally code for "this is barely a settlement, and there might not be anyone living there")...but anybody going between there and Battle Mountain is probably going to take SR 305, since it'll likely be faster than taking 97 miles of unpaved roads despite the longer distance with backtracking.
A lot of Nevada is undeveloped or sparsely-developed land in the middle of nothing, which doesn't necessitate as many connecting paved roads as other states may have. It's why you do see many paved state highways abruptly ending at random spots and unpaved roads filling in the gaps.
Quote
On a side note, why does Nevada only use 3 digit numbers for state highways? I always found that odd.
See this old post of mine (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2736.msg60342#msg60342) on the Pacific Southwest board for more background.
Wow. I figured that there was something to it. Thanks for the insight. To me though, it would just seem easier having 1 or 2 digit routes as the primary routes in the state and the 3 digit routes to supplement them. I would even carry over numbers from other states and vice versa too. For example, NV 163 could logically be a carryover of AZ 68 connecting Kingman AZ, Laughlin and US 95. NV 164 should carryover on Nipton Rd to I-15 as a shortcut. Just a thought.
I just realized that I stopped doing this and never got back to it.
So to recap the states that I have done are with their grades out of 50:
CA 20, MD 47, MA 45, NV 29, NY 39, NJ 39, OH 39, OR 47, VA 42, TX 44, WI 44
States that I will be doing soon:
ALABAMA
ALASKA
ARKANSAS
COLORADO
DELAWARE
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
INDIANA
IOWA
KANSAS
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA
MAINE
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSOURI
NEBRASKA
NEW MEXICO
NORTH CAROLINA
OKLAHOMA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
UTAH
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
WYOMING
States that I am reordering the maps for because they were lost:
ARIZONA
CONNECTICUT
HAWAII (If I could get it.)
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
MONTANA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NORTH DAKOTA
PENNSYLVANIA
RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA
VERMONT
OKLAHOMA Request: https://oklahoma.gov/odot/get-a-state-map.html
c. 2019-2020
8 City insets plus 10 insets of each Turnpike (pre Kickapoo Tpk): Oklahoma City Vicinity, Downtown OKC, Tulsa & Vicinity, Downtown Tulsa, Muskogee, Stillwater, Enid, Lawton/Ft Sill
1. Turnpikes are Orange. Free Interstates are Green. Other Freeways are Red. Other Multilane highways are Yellow. Other state highways are Blue. Roads not in the state system are Gray. County names are big enough to read but are light gray on white. County lines are clear dashed lines. County seats are distinguished with their own symbol and in a larger font size. Cities over 5k have a brown outline area around the city. Small towns are harder to read. And the numbers on the highways could be a bit bigger as well. But little detail more than 5 miles from the border.
Grade: 7
2. The city index does include most populations but is also small in font size. The mileage chart has over 80 places listed but none are out of state. Could use Wichita Falls, Paris, Sherman, Dallas, Amarillo, Liberal, Wichita, Joplin and Fayetteville, Ft Smith. Mileages everywhere on the map but are pretty small to read. Possible insets for McAlester (18k), Durant (18k) and Ardmore (24k) but not necessary.
Grade: 9 Only ding on this is the font size.
3. Half of the back is used for travel pics and the Governor's family. But tourism centers are listed.
Grade: 6
4. I have found no glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5. In general, this is a good map but the main issue I have is with font size.
Grade:8
Final Grade: 40
NEW MEXICO Request: https://www.dot.nm.gov/travel-information/request-a-map/
c. 2019-2020
13 City insets: Albqueurque, Santa Fe, Alamogordo, Clovis, Las Cruces, Gallup, Farmington, Hobbs, Taos, Carslbad, Las Vegas, Espanola, Roswell. Also has a map for NM Scenic Byways and NM DOT Offices with information.
1. Interstates are Double Red. Paved 4 lanes or more highways are Pink. Paved 2 lane highways are Blue. Gravel Roads are Dashed Black. Other roads are a Thin Black. County Lines are a dashed Yellow with the county name in Gray. County Seats are not marked. Cities over 10k have a Pale Yellow area. Place names are easy to read as are the highway numbers. County Highway numbers are a bit harder to read. It does give a bit of detail for things out of state.
Grade: 9
2. The city index does not include populations. However, each of the city insets do population and elevation. The in state mileage chart shows about 40 places. There is also a small mileage map that does show out of state places. No places really needed to be added for the city insets.
Grade: 9
3. A minimal number of pictures of the map over all. Good use of the areas.
Grade: 9
4. I found no glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5. This is a great map overall. Lots of detail and information useful for travelers. Easy to read. This is how a state map should be.
Grade:10
Final Grade: 47
ALABAMA Online Version: https://www.dot.state.al.us/maps/pdf/ALHighwayMapFront.pdf
I could not find a link to request the paper map.
c. 2019-2020
13 City insets: Anniston, Auburn/Opelika, Birmingham, Decatur, Dothan, Florence/Muscle Shoals/Sheffield/Tuscumbia, Gadsden, Eastern Shore (Daphne/Spanish Fort), Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Phenix City, Tuscaloosa. This also includes interstate strips with design details of the interchanges. A map of the "Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail". Lots of state park information.
1. Interstates are Dark Green. Non Interstate controlled access highways are Double Black with Red inside. All other divided highways are Double Lined with US Routes in Red and State Routes in Black. County lines are Dashed Brown lines. County names are in Brown and easy to read. County Seats are marked with a dot inside the Yellow circle. Highway numbers are easy to read, even the county highways. Urban areas are marked with an Orange-ish area. However, the smaller the town, the smaller the font. Hard to read towns under 1000.
Grade: 8
2. City index does not show populations and is small in font. The mileage change includes out of state places and is roughly 45 x 26. Shows the state "things". Lots of information. Could use a city inset for Selma but that's not a big issue.
Grade: 9
3. My biggest issue on the back is with the city insets for the bigger places, like Birmingham, are pretty small. The insets take up about a fifth of the back. The interstate strips take up about 2/5 in the middle. There's too many pictures for my liking especially when Birmingham and Mobile could really use bigger maps.
Grade: 5
4. I found no glaring errors.
Grade: 10
5. Easy to read for the most part. Overall, it is one of the better state issued maps with lots of detail especially the out of state detail but it could be so much more better and frankly I am disappointed.
Grade: 7
Final Grade: 39