State-wide county road naming systems

[Revive 755]

Semi off-topic, but there's this interesting note in the Wisconsin supplement to the MUTCD:

The M1-6 County Route Sign illustrated in the MUTCD is intended to identify a special system of important County Highways, and shall not be used unless the Wisconsin Counties Association has established a state-wide system as prescribed by the National Association of Counties

http://www.dot.state.wi.us/business/engrserv/docs/wmutcd.pdf Page 26 of 64, 2D.11 Paragraph 01

[Alps]

ALT 694 was signed along I-287 when a short piece of it opened north of NJ 23, but there is no NJ multiplex of a county route on any freeway (let alone Interstate) other than the aforementioned 551/295.

501/440, sort of.

It's true according to the SLDs, although I believe unsigned.

[NE2]

Actually, don't the SLDs take CR 508 on I-280 over the Passaic?

[Alps]

Actually, don't the SLDs take CR 508 on I-280 over the Passaic?

No, it uses 21 to Bridge St.

[emory]

The original question was about street names. But since all the replies are about route numbers:
A number of states use alphanumeric designations:
California...

California's alphanumeric runs very roughly north-south from A to S, but I think only about half the letters are used. Some counties have quite a few routes (Santa Clara) while others have none at all (San Mateo). I would venture to say that signage of county routes is sporadic at best.

I hate the California system of county road names. No one tells anyone "Just take route N8." There's routes with state road gaps in them that have nonsensical county route numbers assigned. Another is San Diego County Road S80, aka old US 80. However, San Bernardino County Road 66 (old US 66) seems to have broken the alphanumeric system. Also CalTrans won't acknowledge county roads on freeway signs. The signs are either placed on their own post directing motorists, or they're nailed to the freeway signpost.

[mrsman]

The original question was about street names. But since all the replies are about route numbers:
A number of states use alphanumeric designations:
California...

California's alphanumeric runs very roughly north-south from A to S, but I think only about half the letters are used. Some counties have quite a few routes (Santa Clara) while others have none at all (San Mateo). I would venture to say that signage of county routes is sporadic at best.

I hate the California system of county road names. No one tells anyone "Just take route N8." There's routes with state road gaps in them that have nonsensical county route numbers assigned. Another is San Diego County Road S80, aka old US 80. However, San Bernardino County Road 66 (old US 66) seems to have broken the alphanumeric system. Also CalTrans won't acknowledge county roads on freeway signs. The signs are either placed on their own post directing motorists, or they're nailed to the freeway signpost.

Sorry to chime in here so late, but I agree, CA's county road system needs improved signage to be useful.

N8 is a bad number, N39 makes more sense as it tries to fill in the 39 gap.

I believe the La Cienega Expressway between I-10 and I-405 should also get some type of highway number.

This website tries to make sense of the system:  http://www.cahighways.org/county.html

[SD Mapman]

Not sure if this has been discussed: have you noticed South Dakota has a county road naming system that's consistent throughout the entire state?

The northern border of the state is defined by a line of latitude.  Any road along this line is called "100th St".  The next section-line road to the south is "101st St", and so on, all the way down to the southern border.  The western 3/4ths of the southern border is also a line of latitude, and this is "304th St".  The eastern quarter of the southern border is formed by the Missouri River, which dips further south.  The highest-numbered east-west road I see is "335th St", near the southeastern tip of the state.

There's a jog in the western border of the state: the line shared with Wyoming is almost a mile further west than the line shared with Montana.  But I don't see any numbered roads right along the border; the westernmost numbered road I've seen is "124th Av", roughly between Whitewood and Nisland.  But if you count section lines westward from there, it's clear that the western border was assumed to be "100th Av".  This increases to the east, and by the time you get to the eastern border, you get as high as "488th Av".

This system appears to be consistent throughout the state.  (Well, I see a few counties in the west that gave their roads names, instead of numbers, presumably because the terrain is such that the roads weren't surveyed along section lines.  But it appears all counties that number their roads do so in accordance with this statewide system.)  Are any other states organized in a statewide fashion like this?

Oh... finally something I know about!!!!  (and sorry for posting so late)

There is a 104th Avenue near my house, and also 100th Court on the Wyoming border.
Us West River counties only use the grid where it's flat enough to support the enterprise.  Also even if the road is named it does not mean it doesn't fit the grid (200th Street is named Homestake Road in Lawrence County)

For other states I know about Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Utah and southern Idaho have those city-grids, so those don't count.

[myosh_tino]

California's alphanumeric runs very roughly north-south from A to S, but I think only about half the letters are used. Some counties have quite a few routes (Santa Clara) while others have none at all (San Mateo). I would venture to say that signage of county routes is sporadic at best.

I hate the California system of county road names. No one tells anyone "Just take route N8." There's routes with state road gaps in them that have nonsensical county route numbers assigned. Another is San Diego County Road S80, aka old US 80. However, San Bernardino County Road 66 (old US 66) seems to have broken the alphanumeric system. Also CalTrans won't acknowledge county roads on freeway signs. The signs are either placed on their own post directing motorists, or they're nailed to the freeway signpost.

Sorry to chime in here so late, but I agree, CA's county road system needs improved signage to be useful.

Part of the problem, at least in Santa Clara county, is the county routes are better known by their names rather than the route number.  For example...

* CR-G2 is known as Lawrence Expressway
* CR-G3 is known as Page Mill Road
* CR-G4 is known as San Tomas Expressway and Montague Expressway
* CR-G7 is known as Bloomfield Avenue

In fact, I'm not aware of any county route that is not already named although I'm not 100% sure of this.