Interesting things about states and their roads

[KEVIN_224]

I sometimes wondered if Connecticut's upside down panhandle (lower Fairfield County) was ever considered part of New York state?

[hotdogPi]

The line shown here seems to line up with the current border north of the "panhandle". If this border was originally straight all the way to Long Island Sound, some of each state has switched.

This line is to the west of what I mentioned above by a few miles.

[sparker]

It's not Oklahoma's fault that their state has a very asymmetrical shape.  Any deviation from the boring circle is an improvement imo.

This is something that is uniquely true for Oklahoma–Indian Territory was basically what was left over when all of the surrounding states were formed. The panhandle, in particular, was land that Texas didn't want for its own panhandle because it was north of the Missouri Compromise line.

Most states do have an asymmetrical shape.   What is Maryland's excuse, for example?  Can't imagine anything more asymmetrical!   

Maryland's "excuse", so to speak, was that it was caught in the middle between PA, which claimed all the territory north of the Mason-Dixon line (the current & historic E-W state line) and the original VA territory, which extended to the Potomac River.  Since the distance between the Mason-Dixon and VA was exceptionally small at the "Hancock Narrows", there wasn't much MD could do without altering the original colonial-era configuration.  But the western mostly triangular portion of the state west of the "narrows" was the site of some of the more productive early coal fields, so while a bit unwieldly in terms of the state's physical layout, there was never any chance that MD would give up its western reaches as long as there were resources to extract (which became an even more efficient undertaking in the mid/late 19th century when both the B & O and Western Maryland rail lines tapped those coalfields, with Cumberland as the region's principal collection point).  So even though intrastate traffic has to squeeze into a narrow jurisdictional passage (as the combination of I-70 and I-68 does so today),  the odd state outline doesn't make for much of an obstacle, commercial-wise.     

[Beltway]

Most states do have an asymmetrical shape.   What is Maryland's excuse, for example?  Can't imagine anything more asymmetrical!   

Maryland's "excuse", so to speak, was that it was caught in the middle between PA, which claimed all the territory north of the Mason-Dixon line (the current & historic E-W state line) and the original VA territory, which extended to the Potomac River.  Since the distance between the Mason-Dixon and VA was exceptionally small at the "Hancock Narrows", there wasn't much MD could do without altering the original colonial-era configuration.  But the western mostly triangular portion of the state west of the "narrows" was the site of some of the more productive early coal fields, so while a bit unwieldly in terms of the state's physical layout, there was never any chance that MD would give up its western reaches as long as there were resources to extract (which became an even more efficient undertaking in the mid/late 19th century when both the B & O and Western Maryland rail lines tapped those coalfields, with Cumberland as the region's principal collection point).  So even though intrastate traffic has to squeeze into a narrow jurisdictional passage (as the combination of I-70 and I-68 does so today),  the odd state outline doesn't make for much of an obstacle, commercial-wise.     

The B&O Railroad reached Cumberland in 1842 and was later extended westward.

Plus the C&O Canal --
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland.  The canal's principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains.  [Wikipedia]

Looking at the land only, eastern Virginia and Maryland looks odd, but if rightly considering the Chesapeake Bay as part of the state territory, it doesn't look odd.

[Eth]

Wisconsin:

* One of two states to have a duplication of two route classes on the same road.

There are at least 3 such states; in addition to Wisconsin, you have North Carolina (I-74/US 74) and Georgia (US 23/GA 23).

[sparker]

Wisconsin:

* One of two states to have a duplication of two route classes on the same road.

There are at least 3 such states; in addition to Wisconsin, you have North Carolina (I-74/US 74) and Georgia (US 23/GA 23).

And in NC it's about to increase to three when the initial section of the Winston-Salem bypass opens as NC 74 -- a simple placeholder for eventual I-74 signage. 

[Bruce]

Washington has a very strict numbering system (with spur routes using the first one or two digits to identify a parent) that hasn't been broken often since it was implemented in 1964. As part of this system, some US highways are assigned "hidden" parent numbers to fit the grid that aren't actually used for anything (as they are legally state routes that match their US number), e.g. SR 29 for US 395 or SR 15 for US 97 (which also has a few child 97Xs).

When US 12 was extended west across Washington in 1967, it took over SR 14 and thus all the parent routes had to change. old SR 121 became SR 141, old SR 141 became SR 121 (and is now severed from US 12)...huge messes just to keep the numbering scheme going.

[kphoger]

i do, however, remember the Butterfly Crusade. 

Oh shoot, not this again.

We will never forget the horrors that were unleashed in the final days of the Caterpillar War.

. . . must . . . resist . . . satan . . .   

[Max Rockatansky]

i do, however, remember the Butterfly Crusade. 

Oh shoot, not this again.

We will never forget the horrors that were unleashed in the final days of the Caterpillar War.

. . . must . . . resist . . . satan . . .   

Goat Jesus saves. 

[kphoger]

You're not helping.

[hbelkins]

i do, however, remember the Butterfly Crusade. 

Oh shoot, not this again.

We will never forget the horrors that were unleashed in the final days of the Caterpillar War.

. . . must . . . resist . . . satan . . .   

Goat Jesus saves.

and does not save

[Beltway]

i do, however, remember the Butterfly Crusade. 

Oh shoot, not this again.

We will never forget the horrors that were unleashed in the final days of the Caterpillar War.

. . . must . . . resist . . . satan . . .   

Goat Jesus saves.

and does not save

Neither does the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[cl94]

I sometimes wondered if Connecticut's upside down panhandle (lower Fairfield County) was ever considered part of New York state?

Yes. The panhandle was disputed land, as was a strip 1.81 miles wide stretching the height of Connecticut along the west border of the state north to MA. NY got the strip, CT got the panhandle.

Speaking of New York...

- US Routes were not signed in New York until several years after system was designated
- New York allows suffixed routes, usually along alternate routes or old alignments. US 9 currently has 10 suffixed state routes and 1 suffixed US route.
- NY allows route number duplication. Normally, US and NY routes are separate, but there are currently two exceptions: US/NY 2 and US/NY 15. Officially, US 2 is designated Route 2U. NY 15 is the former north end of US 15.
- The internal designation for all Interstates is the route number with an I as the suffix (i.e. 95I, 87I, etc.)
- Interstate and NY 90 cross each other west of Syracuse, but without an interchange
- Unsigned Interstate 878 in Queens is the only Interstate existing in only one direction
- NY has a robust system of car-only freeways ("parkways"), mostly in the NYC metro area
- When construction is completed next year, Interstate 587 in Kingston will be the only Interstate to have both termini at roundabouts
- NYCDOT maintains (but does not necessarily own) all free roads within New York City limits that are not airport access roads, including Interstates. I-695 in the Bronx and I-878 are thus the only Interstates that are 100% city-maintained.
- NY 3 and NY 28 each change signed direction twice along their routes. Several other routes change signed direction once, including NY 7 and NY 17
- NY 431 is the highest state-numbered route in the northeastern United States in terms of elevation, topping out at around 4,600 feet
- Interstate 278 is the only route to enter all 5 boroughs of New York City
- NY 171 east of Utica is the only route with no direct connection to the rest of the state highway system