Things every roadgeek should know

[kkt]

Is there a roadgeek dictionary? I know that clinching a route means driving or riding the entire distance, but what does it mean to clinch a county?

There's no dictionary because definitions vary.  For example:

Clinching a route: Most people are going to allow for getting off and back on at an interchange.  There may be a half-mile or so of roadway that you didn't clinch, but most people are fine with missing that short stretch of roadway.  However, exiting at Exit 29 and re-entering at Exit 30, because it's convenient to do so, is generally not considered clinching, even if the interchanges are only the same half-mile apart.  Also, driving a highway one direction is all that is needed by most for it to be considered clinched.

For counties, most are fine with just entering it; a few hard core people must go to the actual town and/or the courthouse or other principal building.

In the end, it's all on the honor system and your conscience; no one is going to know if you fully clinched something or not.  One example coming up: Many people have clinched I-295 in DE & NJ.  However, soon it's going to be signed into PA as well.  Some may feel that it's now 'unclinched' and they'll drive the newly signed section from US 1 (NJ) to the PA Turnpike (PA) in order to re-clinch it.  Same thing with the new section of 95 on the PA Turnpike, although few people have truly clinched all of I-95.

You forgot the truly nutty: County high pointers and yes, it is a thing.

I know people who make a point of bagging county high points.  I keep track of the state high points I've been to, though I don't really make it a center of my life.

[jon daly]

I heard of high pointers elsewhere.

I laugh when folks discuss counties. We don't really have them in Connecticut, but I clinched them all years ago. I'll have to check, but I have most of the rest of NE, too, plus some other states.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Since this question seems to be asked a lot:

Q: Why are there are no non-Interstate routes inside of I-465 around Indianapolis?

A: The state was looking to save mileage under its constitutional mileage cap, so it turned back everything else and routed all of those routes onto I-465.