2015 RandMcNally Road Atlas

[Alex]

I picked up a copy today and noted what I'm sure is an error: an I-278E shield posted on the New Jersey map over the Grand Central parkway between I-278 at the Triboro (RFK) Bridge and I-678. This shield is not posted on the New York City inset map, nor on the southern New York and Long Island inset map.

This has been there for several years now, may be as far back as 2008 when the atlas first started debuting in April of the year versus October.



I opted to buy a copy from Books-A-Million in Pensacola, as Walmart from here to NW Florida has yet to stock the Rand.

Noted that the Baldwin Beach Express is shown as completely open in Baldwin County, Alabama and signed with a CR 83 shield through to the interchange with I-10, which they show as complete and signed as Exit 49. The interchange is slated to open in October.

They also have the Mid-Bay Bridge Connector/Niceville Bypass (FL Toll 293) shown from FL 85 south to the Mid-Bay Bridge now. This fully opened in January of this year.

[bugo]

There was no 1983 Chevrolet Corvette (well, there was one...)

[bandit957]

Canada still gets short shrift, Mexico even less. They still have the crappy city inset maps for Calgary and Edmonton, which given the size of those places really ought to go out to the circumferential roads for each city. They do this for Winnipeg.

Regina could go out a little more as well, with a new western bypass being built.  But at least a little of the new bypass is shown (perhaps jumping the gun a little on its opening to traffic), as is the completion of Saskatoon's Circle Drive freeway.

The short shrift given to Mexico is further aggravated by the change from the 2014 edition, to show topography as well as roads, with the roads harder to pick out from the topography.  That's consistent with how the national-level maps for the U.S. and Canada are handled, but for those countries there are state/province-level maps that don't have the topography getting in the way of showing the roads.  Mexico should get a few more pages, both to show the highway network without the distracting topography, as well as provide a better scale to show more detail.  One page per estado would be overdoing it, but maybe most of Mexico on two additional pages without topography, the Yucatan Peninsula on a third page, and additional city insets (including at least Acapulco, Tijuana, and Monterrey) on a fourth page.  Or two extra pages covering all of Mexico without topography, a third with more insets, and the fourth to cover Puerto Rico (an eighth of a page just doesn't cut it, and in particular has no room for a San Juan inset).

I'm pretty sure you can get a Mexico-based road atlas from some other publisher. I know I looked for one on Amazon once, and some of their offerings looked pretty interesting. Of course, it's in Spanish, but for place names that really doesn't matter.

[6a]

I really wish they would give Columbus a little more love since it's always cut in half by the northern/southern pages.

[hobsini2]

I really wish they would give Columbus a little more love since it's always cut in half by the northern/southern pages.

They do with a rather nice inset. lol Only thing that is missing for Columbus is a Downtown inset. But other than OSU, who really goes to Columbus? lol

[Alex]

Interstate 81 has a gap at Hagerstown (was present in the 2014 edition too). Check it out on the Maryland page.

[Henry]

I really wish they would give Columbus a little more love since it's always cut in half by the northern/southern pages.

They do with a rather nice inset. lol Only thing that is missing for Columbus is a Downtown inset. But other than OSU, who really goes to Columbus? lol

The same argument could be made for San Jose, as it's been the largest city in the Bay Area for some time now.

[apjung]

I guess we'll never see US 165 in Louisiana shown as the 4-lane that it is.

How about my old hometown, Lafayette, LA with its 100k population still omitted from the US map?

[US 41]

I guess we'll never see US 165 in Louisiana shown as the 4-lane that it is.

How about my old hometown, Lafayette, LA with its 100k population still omitted from the US map?

At least they included DeRidder, LA. I sometimes wonder how they decide which towns get put on. Cities with 100K are left off, but towns with 2K are on.

[lamsalfl]

At least they included DeRidder, LA. I sometimes wonder how they decide which towns get put on. Cities with 100K are left off, but towns with 2K are on.

What?

[hotdogPi]

At least they included DeRidder, LA. I sometimes wonder how they decide which towns get put on. Cities with 100K are left off, but towns with 2K are on.

What?

He means that some cities with one hundred thousand people don't get an inset on the atlas, but some small towns with only two thousand people do get it.

[tdindy88]

Does DeRidder, LA really have an inset map? I'm finding it hard to believe a town of that size being on the map unless it were part of a larger metropolitan area's inset.

[apjung]

Does DeRidder, LA really have an inset map? I'm finding it hard to believe a town of that size being on the map unless it were part of a larger metropolitan area's inset.

No, if you scroll up, the actual question was Lafayette, LA labeling always being omitted from the main US map (2 pages) on the RmN atlas where I-49 ends at I-10. Lafayette could get 200,000 population and RmN would still omit it while Winnemucca or Elko, NV would be on the main US map.

[shadyjay]

After visits to Walmarts in 3 states (seems like last year all over again), I finally got my copy of the 2015 atlas, tracking it down at the Super Walmart in Woodsville NH (last one left).  Overall, I'm pretty impressed, especially with the cover.  Thank god all that yellow is gone!  Also the RMcN iphone scanner/QR Code/etc on each page is gone, replaced with additional road condition information per state.  The "box" also includes toll road information and the "how to calculate mileages" diagram.

Regarding the Northeast, here's the changes I've noticed:


NY: 
I-86 extended to a point east of Binghamton (previously mentioned)
I-190 toll barrier at the Thruway finally removed

ME:
Big change here is the changing of the icon from a rest area to a service area to the plaza in between the Maine Turnpike and I-295's north end.  Also bigger news is the showing of the Kennebunk service areas for the first time ever.  Those in Gray (north of Portland) still not shown.

NH:
Two off-highway information centers, which were shown on the NH map as rest areas are no longer shown.  These were located "on" I-93 in the Plymouth and Lincoln areas. 

RI:
I-95 NB rest area near Exit 3 is no longer shown, since it closed a few years back.

VT:
I-91 SB rest area near Lyndonville has been restored


That's all I've noticed so far, from my "neck of the woods".

[DandyDan]

Nebraska's not generally a state which changes much, but I can't help but notice some errors, which probably go back a while.  Some of the roads in the Omaha inset are either misnamed, shown as gravel instead of paved (the most ridiculous example being Giles Road, which is 4 lane divided), or missing altogether, like the southern extension of 96th Street, which was put in at least 8 years ago.  Also, at various points, the scale is off.  US 275/NE 92, which is L Street, is exactly half a mile from F Street and Q Street, but it's shown as being a lot closer to Q Street.  Also on the main map, US 275 is freeway all the way to Fremont and not simply divided east of Valley and US 6/NE 31 is divided north of Gretna.  Also, on both the main map and the Omaha inset, the road which used to be NE 38 gets shown as divided, uniquely amongst all city streets.  If they did that for every street that was divided, there'd be a lot more divided streets shown.  Does anyone ever bother to check what the actual status of the roads are?

[cl94]

NY: 
I-86 extended to a point east of Binghamton (previously mentioned)
I-190 toll barrier at the Thruway finally removed

They finally got rid of it!?! Only took nearly a decade.

[shadyjay]

More changes I've discovered:

NYC area:
I-80/I-95 between the GWB and the split in NJ is now signed solely as I-95.
"Ed Koch" added to the Queensboro Bridge (NYC detail insert only)
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is now signed as the Hugh L Carey Tunnel

[mapman1071]

At some Wal-Mart Stores they have a "Map Rack" up by Customer Service in others it would be on the displays in the Book/Magazine Isle or section

[jdb1234]

At some Wal-Mart Stores they have a "Map Rack" up by Customer Service in others it would be on the displays in the Book/Magazine Isle or section

Or in my store's case, the automotive section which is where I found my copy Friday.

[shadyjay]

I just don't understand why Walmart, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) retail chains in the nation, can't be consistent with their layouts.  In some stores, the books/magazines are in their own section (where they should be).  In others, they're relegated to an aisle in the electronics department (which makes no sense).  One should be able to walk into a Walmart anywhere in the country and know "roughly" where to find things. 

[xcellntbuy]

I agree.  I usually pick-up my Rand-McNally "present" in BJ's Wholesale Club.  It has not been found for sale in any Club since I purchased my 2011 edition.  And, by the way, WalMart is the world's largest retailer.

[bugo]

I just don't understand why Walmart, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) retail chains in the nation, can't be consistent with their layouts.  In some stores, the books/magazines are in their own section (where they should be).  In others, they're relegated to an aisle in the electronics department (which makes no sense).  One should be able to walk into a Walmart anywhere in the country and know "roughly" where to find things. 

They do that on purpose.  They want you to stay in the store longer, which means spending more money on things you see walking around the store looking for what you went there for.

[cl94]

I just don't understand why Walmart, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) retail chains in the nation, can't be consistent with their layouts.  In some stores, the books/magazines are in their own section (where they should be).  In others, they're relegated to an aisle in the electronics department (which makes no sense).  One should be able to walk into a Walmart anywhere in the country and know "roughly" where to find things. 

They do that on purpose.  They want you to stay in the store longer, which means spending more money on things you see walking around the store looking for what you went there for.

Walmart has a few planograms that are in use. In new construction, there are typically ~3 layouts that may be mirrored, all of which include a full grocery section. Every one I've seen built within the past 5-8 years is a standard small, medium, or large layout. Electronics are in the opposite corner of the bakery/deli, etc. The older ones are another story. Older Supercenters follow a standard planogram. What screws stuff up are the (rapidly disappearing) "classic" Walmarts where seemingly each store is different.

[triplemultiplex]

Is that someone complaining about not enough uniformity in a big box retailer?

[6a]

I just don't understand why Walmart, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) retail chains in the nation, can't be consistent with their layouts.  In some stores, the books/magazines are in their own section (where they should be).  In others, they're relegated to an aisle in the electronics department (which makes no sense).  One should be able to walk into a Walmart anywhere in the country and know "roughly" where to find things. 

They do that on purpose.  They want you to stay in the store longer, which means spending more money on things you see walking around the store looking for what you went there for.

Walmart has a few planograms that are in use. In new construction, there are typically ~3 layouts that may be mirrored, all of which include a full grocery section. Every one I've seen built within the past 5-8 years is a standard small, medium, or large layout. Electronics are in the opposite corner of the bakery/deli, etc. The older ones are another story. Older Supercenters follow a standard planogram. What screws stuff up are the (rapidly disappearing) "classic" Walmarts where seemingly each store is different.

Yep, my wife's job is remodeling Walmarts. One other thing about that is they are constantly trying out new looks. For example one year she spent half her time on the road reconfiguring the main drags  of the store (action alleys) to have pallets in the middle after they'd spent half the previous year reconfiguring those same aisles to not have pallets.