Highways that BARELY enter or miss a county

[webny99]

I know a lot of folks here use mob-rule to track visited counties, so you may have seen this page, which lists some common questions and answers as to whether or not certain routes enter certain counties. It's far from exhaustive, though, so I thought this could be a place to add to this list with some you've encountered that aren't listed, or otherwise obscure examples that you know of. Inspiration for this was two-fold: the thread about routes with multiple crossings of the same county line, plus an obscure county entry that I discovered this weekend (more on that below).

Generally, a route should be within a county's borders for five miles or less to qualify. If it's much longer than that, it should be pretty obvious from a map that it enters the county, unless it straddles the county line or has some otherwise unusual context (in which case, please note it as such!). And please, limit this to state routes/US routes/interstates! Lower tiered roads, such as county roads, aren't in the TM system and are unlikely to be used on road trips, so they aren't relevant here.


My first two entries for NY:

1. Does NY 21 enter Yates County?
Yes. When I encountered an Ontario County line sign approaching Naples on NY 21 southbound, I did a double-take. Wasn't I already in Ontario County? No, it turns out that NY 21 passes through the corner of Yates County for about 0.7 miles, so you'll pick up a bonus county if you're following NY 21 between Naples and points north (a great drive for fall foliage, I might add).

2. Does NY 30 enter St. Lawrence County?
Yes. Short and sweet, NY 30 is only in St. Lawrence County for about 0.6 miles, but contains its junction with NY 421, arguably NY's most isolated state route, and some great scenic views at nearby Bog River Falls. It would be strange to clinch NY's largest county via the this short and isolated stretch of NY 30, but it is certainly in play.

[1995hoo]

VA-231 cuts through the northwest corner of Louisa County for approximately 0.2 of a mile. North of that segment, it's in Orange County; south of that segment, it's in Albemarle County.

Something tells me we may have had a similar thread in the past, but I don't remember what the subject may have been. I'll try searching for my username and "Louisa County" because if we have discussed it, I would have mentioned that same stretch of road.

Edited to add—Not quite the same thing: "HIghway With the Shortest Trip Through a Jurisdiction" from 2021. So this thread is a little different in that it also asks about roads that just miss entering a jurisdiction.

[MATraveler128]

I-84 very briefly crosses into Hampden County, MA in the town of Holland upon crossing in from Connecticut.

[epzik8]

I-95 in Darlington County, SC

[JayhawkCO]

Lower tiered roads, such as county roads, aren't in the TM system and are unlikely to be used on road trips, so they aren't relevant here.

I'm guessing not too many county roads go into another county.

For Colorado, not that many close calls. Off the top of my head:

1. Does CO46 enter Jefferson County? No. The county line is its official end.

2. Does CO103 enter Jefferson County? No. Clear Creek CR 151 is its official end.

3. Does CO317 enter Routt County? Yes. Routt CR 29 is its official end, about 1/8 of a mile from the county line.

4. Does CO394 enter Routt County? No. The county line is its official end.

5. Does CO112 enter Saguache County? Partially. The westbound lanes are in Saguache County.

6. Does CO150 enter Saguache County? No. The state highway ends at the National Monument border, despite what Google Maps says.

7. Does CO150 enter Costilla County? No. It misses it by less than ten feet.

8. Does CO17 enter Archuleta County? Yes. It clips the southeast corner for about 1/3 of a mile.

9. Does CO127 enter Larimer County? No. It misses by about 1/4 of a mile.

10. Does CO2 enter Arapahoe County? Partially. The northbound lanes enter the exclave of Glendale.

11. Does CO470 enter Arapahoe County? Yes. For about 1/3 of a mile.

12. Does CO121 enter Denver County? Yes. There are some funky border lines near Bow Mar.

13. Does CO96 enter Otero County? Yes. For about 400 feet.

[CtrlAltDel]

I know a lot of folks here use mob-rule to track visited counties, so you may have seen this page, which lists some common questions and answers as to whether or not certain routes enter certain counties.

It's also worth mentioning that there are a few errors here and there as well. For instance, it says that I-294 doesn't enter DuPage County, Illinois, but it does (near the gore of the really long ramps / really short route that connect to I-88).

Also, here is another thread on this same topic.

[flan]

I-94 barely misses Chippewa County, WI.

WI 29 very briefly enters the northeastern corner of Outagamie County.

A more well-known one, US 56/412 comes within feet of the northwestern corner of the Texas Panhandle (Dallam County).

MN 23 crosses the southeastern corner of Lincoln County for a little more than a mile.

US 218 clips the southwestern corner of Dodge County in Minnesota for less than a mile.

MN 280 is very close to the Hennepin County line for its entire length, but the closest it gets is about 600 feet away from the border.

MN 97 ends about 1/5 of a mile into Anoka County.

MN 41 ends about 300 feet into Hennepin County.

MN 210 crosses the northern tip of Morrison County for about a half mile.

ND 54 crosses the Red River a few hundred feet north of the northern edge of Grand Forks County.

[Big John]

WI 29/32 barely cuts the NE corner of Outagamie County.

[JayhawkCO]

I'm pretty sure that's the first and only instance of two people mentioning Outagamie County on the internet within 30 seconds.

[hbelkins]

Some Kentucky examples -- I-64 has a near-miss of both Greenup and Lewis counties, and I-75 a close encounter with Owen County.

The WK Parkway has a short incursion into Butler County but there is no exit within the county.

Along I-79 in West Virginia, the route very briefly enters either Braxton or Gilmer (I forget which) before entering Lewis County. This is between Burnsville and Weston.

During the Marshalltown, Iowa meet in 2010, we visited the spot on IA 330 where the route clips the corner of a county so briefly that you can get both county line signs in the same photo.

[webny99]

Edited to add—Not quite the same thing: "HIghway With the Shortest Trip Through a Jurisdiction" from 2021. So this thread is a little different in that it also asks about roads that just miss entering a jurisdiction.

Also, here is another thread on this same topic.

I will leave it up to the mods if they'd like to merge, but FWIW I am viewing this as basically a compilation of these two threads, plus adding near misses. Basically, anything that would make sense to add to the Mob-rule page if you wanted to be more exhaustive and include state routes.

I'm guessing not too many county roads go into another county.

Ha, that is fair, but there may be occasional cases of keeping the same number across county lines.

[Flint1979]

I-75 barely misses Gladwin County, Michigan by about a quarter mile. Several people say they are missing Gladwin County on mob-rule but I wonder how many would have it if I-75 had clipped it.

[SEWIGuy]

US-12 used to just miss Rock County, Wisconsin by about 440 feet...until they put in the bypass around Whitewater.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rock+County,+WI/@42.8433802,-88.779966,16.5z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x88063c68a5b658dd:0x36527cebc1a80ef!8m2!3d42.6251506!4d-89.0179332!16zL20vMG1ra3c?entry=ttu

[JayhawkCO]

Side questions on this topic.

Highways (that I know of) that only enter a county in one direction (i.e. just the northbound lanes, etc.): CO2, CO112, K-42

The closest a highway comes to entering a county but doesn't?: My nomination of CO150 and Costilla County. 10 ft. per mob-rule map.

[webny99]

Another one for the "near-miss" category: PA 487 does not enter Wyoming County despite being less than 150 feet away at its closest point. This frustrating fact has cost me a clinch of Wyoming County despite a pair of trips to Ricketts Glen via PA 487. And there is nothing nearby that would allow for an easy out-and-back clinch. The nearest state route crossings lead to Tunkhannock, over 20 miles as the crow flies, and 40 miles/50 minutes by road. As such, Wyoming County has become a semi-permanent donut on my county map; a true example of "you have to be going there to go there".

[webny99]

Highways (that I know of) that only enter a county in one direction (i.e. just the northbound lanes, etc.): CO2, CO112, K-42

This would potentially be the case for any routes that straddle county lines for their entire length. Orleans County, NY is partially bound by a pair of such routes: NY 272 on the east side and NY 269 on the west.

This leads to the interesting oddity where you could theoretically go south on NY 272, west on NY 104 and north on NY 269 without leaving Orleans County. But by reversing the trip and going south on NY 269 first, then west on NY 104 and north on NY 272, you'd clinch Niagara and Monroe counties as well.

The closest a highway comes to entering a county but doesn't?: My nomination of CO150 and Costilla County. 10 ft. per mob-rule map.

Just mentioned PA 487 and Wyoming County at which is roughly 130 feet, but 10 feet is next level.

[jp the roadgeek]

I-84 very briefly crosses into Hampden County, MA in the town of Holland upon crossing in from Connecticut.

Only the westbound lanes do.  Eastbound goes directly into Sturbridge (Worcester County).

Speaking of I-84, it misses Sussex County, NJ by about 50 feet.

[Max Rockatansky]

I-80 barely passes through southeast Sierra County upon entering California.

[tmoore952]

I-84 very briefly crosses into Hampden County, MA in the town of Holland upon crossing in from Connecticut.

Only the westbound lanes do.  Eastbound goes directly into Sturbridge (Worcester County).

Speaking of I-84, it misses Sussex County, NJ by about 50 feet.

I-70 misses Montgomery County MD by (guessing) about 1/8 of a mile near Mount Airy. There are four counties right in that area (Howard, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery) although there is not a common point between all 4. I-70 goes through the other three counties listed.

The common road of DE 896 and PA 896 passes through the northeast corner of Cecil County MD for a short distance (1/4 mile at most?). This may be MD 896 but it is NOT signed as such.

Beaver Valley Road, an E-W road east of Brandywine Creek, leaves Delaware, enters Pennsylvania (Delaware County) for a short distance, and then reenters Delaware (topographic reasons, it is following a creek). No signage, but there is a change in pavement. There is (or at least used to be) an 1892 PA -DE border stone on the wooded hill to the south of that road. I haven't been to that stone since about 1990 which is why my language is indefinite about its continued existence.

In the 1990s I walked under the I-84 bridge(s) over the Delaware River to the NY-PA-NJ tristate marker (was able to get there from a cemetery in Port Jervis NY). Assuming that the stone is in the actual tristate location (northenmost point of Sussex County NJ, and of NJ in total), it seemed to me to be less than 50 feet to the eastbound lanes. Maybe 50 feet to a point between the two bridges?

[IowaTraveler]

During the Marshalltown, Iowa meet in 2010, we visited the spot on IA 330 where the route clips the corner of a county so briefly that you can get both county line signs in the same photo.

In fact, IA 330 is in Story County for such a short distance that the southbound lanes are in Story County for almost twice as long as the northbound lanes (500 feet southbound, 300 feet northbound).

Other examples in Iowa:

US 69 goes through the northwest corner of Worth County for about 1600 feet before entering Minnesota.

IA 39 misses the southeast corner of Ida County by about 500 feet.

I-35 is about 500 feet from Madison County at its closest point.

IA 16 cuts across the northeast corner of Davis County for about 0.8 miles.

IA 15 goes through the northwest corner of Humboldt County for about 1.7 miles before straddling the Palo Alto/Kossuth County line, although IA 15 never fully enters Palo Alto County.

IA 78 runs along the Washington/Jefferson County line for 2.8 miles before shallowly angling into Jefferson County for 1.5 miles.

IA 16 straddles the Henry/Lee County line in the very southwest corner of Henry County for about 0.6 miles but never fully enters Henry County.

The westernmost portion of IA 57 runs along the Franklin/Hardin County line without fully entering either one.

The southernmost portion of IA 25 straddles the Taylor/Ringgold County line without ever fully entering either county. It then passes through the four corners intersection of Adams, Union, Taylor, and Ringgold Counties and straddles the Adams/Union County line without ever fully entering Adams County.

The southernmost portion of IA 17 runs along the Dallas/Polk County line, aside from about 2.6 miles in the middle where it deviates slightly into Polk County, never getting more than 1100 feet from the county line. IA 17 never fully enters Dallas County.

The opposite end of IA 17 has the same situation as IA 25. It straddles the Kossuth/Hancock County line without ever fully entering either one and passes through the four corners intersection of Kossuth, Hancock, Humboldt, and Wright Counties. Then, it straddles the Humboldt/Wright County line without ever fully entering Humboldt County.

There are still several more highways in Iowa that straddle county lines, but I'm going to stop myself there to keep this post from getting excessively long.

[ran4sh]

the route clips the corner of a county so briefly that you can get both county line signs in the same photo.

Here's an example of such a thing on an Interstate in Georgia: https://maps.app.goo.gl/CyYQsRox9X1F56W99

I-75 enters Crawford County for a short distance, but the county lines either way are fully signposted.

[GaryV]

I-75 enters Crawford County for a short distance, but the county lines either way are fully signposted.

Huh? I-75 completely crosses Crawford county from north border to south border.

[JayhawkCO]

I-75 enters Crawford County for a short distance, but the county lines either way are fully signposted.

Huh? I-75 completely crosses Crawford county from north border to south border.

Crawford is the county on the left. Is there another Crawford in a different state that you're talking about?

[Hunty2022]

US 33 in Orange County, VA goes just north of the Albemarle County line.
VA-20 goes just west of Fluvanna County in Scottsville.
VA-20 also misses Spotsylvania County. It ends at VA-3 just west of the county line.
VA-230 ends just north of the Madison/Orange line.

I-10 barely enters Nassau County, FL.
I-64 barely enters Nelson County, VA on Rockfish Gap.
I-95/495 go through the southernmost tip of Washington, DC.

a nice example of me being sloppy in a post.

[webny99]

I-75 enters Crawford County for a short distance, but the county lines either way are fully signposted.

Huh? I-75 completely crosses Crawford county from north border to south border.

Crawford is the county on the left. Is there another Crawford in a different state that you're talking about?

[img snipped]

Although arguably still true that I-75 crosses from north border to south border.