Counties with only one state-maintained route

[TheHighwayMan3561]

A spin-off from the no US/Interstate thread.

Cook County, MN has only ever been served by the original MN 1 and its successor US/MN 61, and no other state routes. What are others?

[wxfree]

Because of the FM/RM system, Texas has none.  The most barren is Loving County, which is at times (but not presently) the least populous US county.  In addition to SH 302, it has FM 1933,  a half-mile loop through the very small county seat of Mentone, FM 867, a short rural route that dead ends in both directions, and RM 652, which crosses a corner of the county from Reeves County to Lea County, New Mexico.

[Max Rockatansky]

The fewest in any California County I believe is three.  Arizona doesn't have any single route counties either.  Off the top of my head I can't fathom New Mexico has any single state route counties due to the sheer glut of them.  Monroe County in Florida has US 1, if I remember my geography right the county line barely missed US 41 in the Everglades. 

[formulanone]

Monroe County in Florida has US 1, if I remember my geography right the county line barely missed US 41 in the Everglades.

There's been some debate about whether US 41 (FL 90) just glances mainland Monroe County. I've never seen any signage, but on my last visit along Tamiami Trail in 2014, I found this by the roadside on the eastbound lane.



Not terribly official - especially since "Monroe" is missing the Krylon Touch - but in absence of any signage...some topographic and county maps do show it touching the border.

[jakeroot]

Skamania County, WA has only one year-round state-maintained route: WA-4. During the non-winter season, WA-504 (Spirit Lake Highway, serving Mt St Helens) sticks it nose in up in the northwest corner.

[pdx-wanderer]

Oregon's closest is Curry County which has only US 101 and then two unsigned state routes (250 and 255).

[Mapmikey]

The fewest in any California County I believe is three.  Arizona doesn't have any single route counties either.  Off the top of my head I can't fathom New Mexico has any single state route counties due to the sheer glut of them.  Monroe County in Florida has US 1, if I remember my geography right the county line barely missed US 41 in the Everglades. 

Monroe County FL also has a FL A1A segment

Because secondary systems are maintained by the states, SC, NC, VA, and WV have no counties with small numbers of state-maintained routes.  However, Virginia's independent cities can end up with small numbers...Manassas Park and Poquoson both have just 2 state routes.

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana has no counties with only one state-maintained route.  The lowest number I can find is 3 in Ohio County.  Blackford County has 3 plus one that follows the county line, so I guess that's 3½.

[Max Rockatansky]

The fewest in any California County I believe is three.  Arizona doesn't have any single route counties either.  Off the top of my head I can't fathom New Mexico has any single state route counties due to the sheer glut of them.  Monroe County in Florida has US 1, if I remember my geography right the county line barely missed US 41 in the Everglades. 

Monroe County FL also has a FL A1A segment

Because secondary systems are maintained by the states, SC, NC, VA, and WV have no counties with small numbers of state-maintained routes.  However, Virginia's independent cities can end up with small numbers...Manassas Park and Poquoson both have just 2 state routes.

That's right forgot about South Roosevelt Blvd. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Monroe County in Florida has US 1, if I remember my geography right the county line barely missed US 41 in the Everglades.

There's been some debate about whether US 41 (FL 90) just glances mainland Monroe County. I've never seen any signage, but on my last visit along Tamiami Trail in 2014, I found this by the roadside on the eastbound lane.



Not terribly official - especially since "Monroe" is missing the Krylon Touch - but in absence of any signage...some topographic and county maps do show it touching the border.

What's really interesting is the History if County Route 94 which is known as the Everglades Loop Road.  It essentially is an alternate to US 41 from 40 Mile Bend to where Monroe Station was located.  The roadway was specifically built to get the Tamiami Trail through mainland Monroe County but was bypassed in favor the current route.  There are a couple ghost towns on the Loop Road in Monroe County that had connections back to mob activity out of Chicago. 

But I digress since I forgot about A1A on South Roosevelt....

[Flint1979]

Keweenaw has US-41 and M-26.
Lake has US-10 and M-37.
Mason has US-10, US-31 and M-116.

Those are the counties in Michigan with the fewest state maintained highways. I guess we don't have a county that only has one state maintained highway.

[US 89]

Utah's winner in this category appears to be Daggett County, with 3 numbered routes: US 191, SR 43, and SR 44. There are a few counties with 4 numbered routes: Rich (US 89 and SR 16, 30, 39), Wayne (SR 12, 24, 72, 95). Morgan also has 4 if we don't count the very short, unsigned SR 306 (I-84 and SR 65, 66, and 167).

This all surprised me somewhat, because Utah is not known for having a large state route system. I guess the large average county size makes up for that though.

EDIT: mistyped US 191 as 89.

[Max Rockatansky]

Utah's winner in this category appears to be Daggett County, with 3 numbered routes: US 89, SR 43, and SR 44. There are a few counties with 4 numbered routes: Rich (US 89 and SR 16, 30, 39), Wayne (SR 12, 24, 72, 95). Morgan also has 4 if we don't count the very short, unsigned SR 306 (I-84 and SR 65, 66, and 167).

This all surprised me somewhat, because Utah is not known for having a large state route system. I guess the large average county size makes up for that though.

That's the same issue down in Arizona.  The counties are so large that by default they have more than one route.  I haven't thought too hard on Nevada but I believe Storey County has the least at 2 State Highways. 

[hotdogPi]

From what I can tell, Nantucket has one state-maintained road. (It's not numbered.)

[hbelkins]

Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina laugh heartily at this concept.

[GaryV]

Keweenaw has US-41 and M-26.
Lake has US-10 and M-37.
Mason has US-10, US-31 and M-116.

Those are the counties in Michigan with the fewest state maintained highways. I guess we don't have a county that only has one state maintained highway.

Correct, no Michigan highways with only 1 highway.

Others with 2 are Montmorency and Oscoda. 

Do business routes count?  Otsego County (Gaylord) has only M-32 and I-75, plus BL I-75.

Oceana has 2 inside the county, US-31 and M-20.  But M-120 runs on the border with Newaygo County, so that's a third. Plus business routes of US-31.

[hotdogPi]

Do business routes count?

Only if it's state maintained.

[cl94]

TECHNICALLY, New York has 5 with NO state-maintained routes - the 5 boroughs of New York City. Why do I say this? Day-to-day maintenance of all roadways in the city is performed by the city or toll authorities.

Massachusetts has two counties with no signed state routes (Dukes and Nantucket), but both have state-maintained roads. Only Nantucket has exactly one state-maintained road. The major roads on Martha's Vineyard are state-maintained.

[Eth]

As far as I can tell, no county in Georgia has fewer than 3 such routes, and even that requires that you treat a US route and its state route companion as one and the same (US 82/GA 50 in Quitman County, along with GA 27 and GA 39).

[Flint1979]

Keweenaw has US-41 and M-26.
Lake has US-10 and M-37.
Mason has US-10, US-31 and M-116.

Those are the counties in Michigan with the fewest state maintained highways. I guess we don't have a county that only has one state maintained highway.

Correct, no Michigan highways with only 1 highway.

Others with 2 are Montmorency and Oscoda. 

Do business routes count?  Otsego County (Gaylord) has only M-32 and I-75, plus BL I-75.

Oceana has 2 inside the county, US-31 and M-20.  But M-120 runs on the border with Newaygo County, so that's a third. Plus business routes of US-31.

I think most of our counties are a pretty decent size area wise with the biggest ones being in the U.P. so the chances of there only being one state maintained highway in a county seemed pretty small to me. I think the business routes are maintained by MDOT so they should count. M-13 is a county border runner too south of Saginaw but the counties it borders have more than one state maintained highway even without including M-13.

[roadfro]

I haven't thought too hard on Nevada but I believe Storey County has the least at 2 State Highways.

Storey County probably does have the least, but it's more than two state highways.

Your mind probably went immediately to Virginia City, and thought about SR 341 & SR 342. But recall that most of the developed Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center actually lies in Storey County, so that introduces USA Pkwy (SR 439) and a portion of Waltham Way (SR 655). Also, I-80 actually enters Storey County twice for less than half a mile each time–once due to the county line possibly being on an old bend in the Truckee River (this brief entrance to Storey County is not signed, and mileposts stay reflecting Washoe County), and again just before entering Lyon County near Wadsworth (this one is signed, but mileposts stay with Washoe County).

[US 89]

I haven’t thought too hard on Nevada but I believe Storey County has the least at 2 State Highways.

Storey County probably does have the least, but it's more than two state highways.

Your mind probably went immediately to Virginia City, and thought about SR 341 & SR 342. But recall that most of the developed Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center actually lies in Storey County, so that introduces USA Pkwy (SR 439) and a portion of Waltham Way (SR 655). Also, I-80 actually enters Storey County twice for less than half a mile each time—once due to the county line possibly being on an old bend in the Truckee River (this brief entrance to Storey County is not signed, and mileposts stay reflecting Washoe County), and again just before entering Lyon County near Wadsworth (this one is signed, but mileposts stay with Washoe County).

Where's the second one? I know Storey is signed from I-80 between Washoe and Lyon County (link to GSV), but I just did a quick look at Google and Mob-Rule, and I didn't see anywhere else that 80 actually crossed the Storey-Washoe line.

[Max Rockatansky]

I haven't thought too hard on Nevada but I believe Storey County has the least at 2 State Highways.

Storey County probably does have the least, but it's more than two state highways.

Your mind probably went immediately to Virginia City, and thought about SR 341 & SR 342. But recall that most of the developed Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center actually lies in Storey County, so that introduces USA Pkwy (SR 439) and a portion of Waltham Way (SR 655). Also, I-80 actually enters Storey County twice for less than half a mile each time–once due to the county line possibly being on an old bend in the Truckee River (this brief entrance to Storey County is not signed, and mileposts stay reflecting Washoe County), and again just before entering Lyon County near Wadsworth (this one is signed, but mileposts stay with Washoe County).

Where's the second one? I know Storey is signed from I-80 between Washoe and Lyon County (link to GSV), but I just did a quick look at Google and Mob-Rule, and I didn't see anywhere else that 80 actually crossed the Storey-Washoe line.

NV 341 and NV 342 are right next to each other descending south out of Virginia City.  I forgot about USA Parkway on NV 439 the other night since I didn't have access to a viable map. The rest of the Nevada Counties have lots of routes due to sheer size.

[roadfro]

I haven't thought too hard on Nevada but I believe Storey County has the least at 2 State Highways.

Storey County probably does have the least, but it's more than two state highways.

Your mind probably went immediately to Virginia City, and thought about SR 341 & SR 342. But recall that most of the developed Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center actually lies in Storey County, so that introduces USA Pkwy (SR 439) and a portion of Waltham Way (SR 655). Also, I-80 actually enters Storey County twice for less than half a mile each time–once due to the county line possibly being on an old bend in the Truckee River (this brief entrance to Storey County is not signed, and mileposts stay reflecting Washoe County), and again just before entering Lyon County near Wadsworth (this one is signed, but mileposts stay with Washoe County).

Where's the second one? I know Storey is signed from I-80 between Washoe and Lyon County (link to GSV), but I just did a quick look at Google and Mob-Rule, and I didn't see anywhere else that 80 actually crossed the Storey-Washoe line.

I didn't realize this one until recently, and only discovered it via mention in NDOT's State Maintained Highways document and examining the maps. It's a distance of 0.208 miles, and can be found here, between exits 32 (USA Parkway) & 36 (Derby Dam).

Looking into things further, it appears the state made clarifications in the state laws that define the line between Storey County and Washoe County in 1973. The line is now defined, in part, as "the centerline of the Truckee River as such centerline existed on the effective date of section 6 of chapter XXIV, Laws of the Territory of Nevada 1861, and such boundary shall not change because of artificially created or natural changes made or which may be made in the course of the Truckee River" (NRS 243.335). It appears that the course of the Truckee River in this small area was changed when the adjacent railroad was built, and subsequently I-80 went in alongside. I'm guessing that this little bit (and possibly other areas) was disputed for some time, resulting in legal clarification.

NDOT's maps in the SMH book clearly show the county line going around this small area, which coincides with the grassy bulb on the opposite side of I-80 from the Truckee River that I linked above. However, Google Maps' outline of Storey County does not account for this little bulb, appearing to follow the current centerline of the Truckee River as modified.

[DandyDan]

The fewest any county in Iowa has is 2, as Mitchell County has only US 218 and IA 9 and Winnebago County has US 69 an IA 9. Howard, Hancock, Palo Alto, Taylor and Ringgold Counties all have a highway that goes North/South, a highway that goes East/West and a highway on the border with a neighboring county.