Modest, Surprising, or Otherwise Indistinguishable Borders

[frankenroad]

Then there's State Line Road in Bright, Indiana, which does NOT follow the state line at all.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/State+Line+Rd,+Bright,+IN/@39.1908381,-84.8331497,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8841d345d69a597d:0xcbe2c89303834fd3!8m2!3d39.1925361!4d-84.8401165

[GaryV]

t the very southern end it does follow the state line.  Not for very much of a distance, but it's there.

[Flint1979]

Driving down Secor Road approaching the Michigan-Ohio border there is nothing there to tell you that you just entered another state. The scenery is the same on both sides.

[vdeane]

The Village of Colonie technically extends a short distance across the Northway, ending at Wolf Road.  Good luck noticing that one side of the street is in a different jurisdiction than the other*.  There are welcome signs on nearby Central Avenue, but only once you cross the Northway.

*In NY, Villages exist within towns, not separately from them, so it is technically the Town of Colonie on both sides, but the Village is only one side.

I don't see how villages exist within towns.  Village of Colonie has its own leadership and taxes than the Town of Colonie, for example.  They seem like separate entities, as opposed to hamlets, which are just named places within other municipalities.

Villages are weird.  They're not like towns and cities, which both exist under counties at the same level... areas in a village are also in a town, and all parts of the state are in a town or city.  Then there are strange examples like the Village/Town of Green Island (it's incorporated as both).  There are also villages that cross county lines, like Saranac Lake.  That's also how village dissolutions work... they revert to being just the town and become a hamlet area.

Villages have their own boundaries and governments separate from towns.  Not sure what it means for them to actually be part of towns when that's the case.  Colonie's Town Supervisor doesn't have jurisdiction over the village, for example.

Villages tend to vary.  Some act a lot like small cities or towns, and then there are ones like Kiryas Joel (now the Town of Palm Tree) and Tuxedo Park (no public roads, few entrances, all gated except the one with the police department).

https://www.dos.ny.gov/lg/localgovs.html

Villages in New York State must exist within a town. Every citizen in New York State that lives in a village lives in 3 different municipalities: a village, a town and a county. Villages are also the only form of general purpose local governments that truly exist at the discretion of its residents. Villages can be created or dissolved by local initiative, a structure that enables residents of villages to respond to the need to provide specific services in areas with a high density of population. Villages are also sometimes established as a result of a difference in development philosophies of citizens and town officials.

Differences in the size of villages and in the services they perform make it difficult to describe the organization of a "typical"  village. Larger villages often have multi-departmental organizations similar to cities, while small villages may employ one or two individuals. Functions performed by villages range from basic road repair and snow removal to large-scale community development programs and public utility plants. A number of villages operate their own municipal electric systems.

[hbelkins]

VA/WV 102 winds across the border of the two states several times, and not all crossings are marked. There is usually a pavement seam, though.

Lots of county roads cross boundaries in Kentucky with no notation.

My hometown recently installed "city limits" signs on the state routes. In most of those cases, you'd have no idea you were entering the municipality from the county.

Does the consistent pavement imply that a single state DOT does all the maintenance (I have to assume it does). Definitely a good idea for a follow-on question (roads in which another state or jurisdiction does the maintenance).

If you're talking about consistent pavement crossing city limits, then yes, Kentucky generally maintains state routes within incorporated areas (with some exceptions for Lexington and Louisville). The VA/WV example, to the best of my recollection, there's a noticeable change in pavement at each crossing.

For an example of one state maintaining a road in another state, US 52/119 (Corridor G) twice crosses into Pike County, Ky., from Mingo County, WV. West Virginia built and maintains the road, but other than a small signs saying "Pike County Kentucky" and "Mingo County West Virginia" the only indication that you're in Kentucky is the 55 mph speed limit. Once the road crosses into WV for good, the speed limit increases to 65.

[NWI_Irish96]

Apparently, the two trucks in this GSV are either straddling the state line or are parked inches into PA

If you zoom in on the mapview, it seems as though Google has the state line in the wrong place.  There's a pretty clear delineation a few feet north of there about where that street ends.

[lstone19]

I don't see how villages exist within towns.  Village of Colonie has its own leadership and taxes than the Town of Colonie, for example.  They seem like separate entities, as opposed to hamlets, which are just named places within other municipalities.

Illinois is the same way. Cities and villages exist within townships and can span counties. Townships are all in one county. Cities and villages are incorporated and provide municipal services. Townships are not incorporated and provide different services than cities and villages do. Not all land is in a city or village.

Back to the topic, we live in an unincorporated area (township but not village) but the street in front of our house is in the adjacent village. The unmarked border runs through our front yard at the edge of the legal street right of way. About the only thing that marks it is our water well head is just a few inches on to our property at one of the corners. We're on a corner lot but the street on the side where our driveway is not in the village. Village maintains the street in front; township maintains the one on the side (township maintains roads only in the unincorporated areas not maintained by the county or state).

[Kniwt]

Before someone else mentions it, I'll add 0 Avenue in Abbottsford B.C., paired with Boundary Road on the Washington side. That's the international border between the two roads.

[froggie]

Most backroad crossings between towns (and, conversely in some cases, counties) in Vermont would qualify for this thread.

[AlexandriaVA]

Before someone else mentions it, I'll add 0 Avenue in Abbottsford B.C., paired with Boundary Road on the Washington side. That's the international border between the two roads.

Modest, Surprising, or Otherwise Indistinguishable Borders

[hotdogPi]

When I walked across the US 1 bridge between New Hampshire and Maine, I could not figure out where the exact boundary was, even by pavement markings. While it's obvious that the border is on the bridge, that still gives a 1/3 mile region of uncertainty.

EDIT: And if you don't know the region, the area code change is your only clue, even after getting off the bridge. The road signs don't tell you, either.

[hobsini2]

Most Twin Cities suburbs you have to tell by the change in street blades whether you've crossed lines. Minneapolis does have city limit signs on major arterials like France and Xerxes, but most cities don't even on major roads.

The MN 23 dip into Wisconsin is unmarked, and there are no connections to anywhere else in Wisconsin from it.

While that is true, the Mont du Lac Resort is in Wisconsin on MN 23.
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.6582005,-92.2879625,15.25z?hl=en

On a side not in that same area, on MN 39/WIS 105, there is no welcome sign for Minnesota and the Wisconsin sign is after Minneapolis Ave in Oliver. About 1/2 mile after crossing the St Louis River.
Also, the Oliver Bridge is a pretty cool bridge that carries the road and a railroad above the roadway.

[hobsini2]

Then there's State Line Road in Bright, Indiana, which does NOT follow the state line at all.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/State+Line+Rd,+Bright,+IN/@39.1908381,-84.8331497,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8841d345d69a597d:0xcbe2c89303834fd3!8m2!3d39.1925361!4d-84.8401165

I bit further up the border at West Harrison, notice how the mailbox numbers are different by a lot on either side of State St. 1104 on the east. 703 on the west.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2536155,-84.8200545,3a,71.7y,192.45h,71.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXVMAXSoA83dfTsfNPYxmhA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[hobsini2]

Before someone else mentions it, I'll add 0 Avenue in Abbottsford B.C., paired with Boundary Road on the Washington side. That's the international border between the two roads.

And no wall between the international borders? Wait til Donny hears about this.

[webny99]

When I walked across the US 1 bridge between New Hampshire and Maine, I could not figure out where the exact boundary was, even by pavement markings. While it's obvious that the border is on the bridge, that still gives a 1/3 mile region of uncertainty.

EDIT: And if you don't know the region, the area code change is your only clue, even after getting off the bridge. The road signs don't tell you, either.

Many of the Mississippi River crossings appear to be similar situations. This would never happen at the international water crossings, though, which are always marked clearly. The Peace Bridge, for example (there's also a (faded) plaque on the other side of the bridge).

[MikeTheActuary]

Well, if "Boundary Road" is too obvious to fit within the definition, then try this: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0101454,-73.3816947,3a,75y,277.68h,83.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVPPnThB8QS3r9R-XqSi2zg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[lstone19]

Well, if "Boundary Road" is too obvious to fit within the definition, then try this: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0101454,-73.3816947,3a,75y,277.68h,83.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVPPnThB8QS3r9R-XqSi2zg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Despite where the blue line is in the  one above, other sources suggest the road is entirely in the U.S.

OTOH, this one in Beene Plain, Vermont / Stanstead, Quebec has the border down the middle of this residential street (Rue Canusa in French). Houses to the right are in the U.S.; to the left are in Canada.
https://goo.gl/maps/WY7S1dc4PXn1f619A

The west end of the street ends at a cross-border road between the entrance stations. To the east, the road turns north into Canada so people living on the U.S. side of the street can't to that way without first being admitted into Canada.

A few miles to the east is the famous Haskell Library and Opera House where the entrance and theater seats are in the U.S. and the stage and the library are in Canada.

[deathtopumpkins]

When I walked across the US 1 bridge between New Hampshire and Maine, I could not figure out where the exact boundary was, even by pavement markings. While it's obvious that the border is on the bridge, that still gives a 1/3 mile region of uncertainty.

EDIT: And if you don't know the region, the area code change is your only clue, even after getting off the bridge. The road signs don't tell you, either.

There is at least a "Welcome to Kittery, Maine" sign: https://goo.gl/maps/CrrXZZY14PJLxnAg9 as you leave Badgers Island, and the usual litany of "state law X" signs you'll find entering a state between Badgers Island and the signal at Government St, so there are some clues. The sign does say Maine after all.

Nothing southbound though, and I am really surprised they didn't put up either a blue welcome sign (like after the Long Bridge) or a green state line sign (like on the Piscataqua Bridge). I guess MaineDOT figured only local traffic would be using the Memorial Bridge given the poorly posted, somewhat circuitous route US 1 follows in Portsmouth and the presence of both I-95 and US 1 Bypass for through traffic.

[MikeTheActuary]

Well, if "Boundary Road" is too obvious to fit within the definition, then try this: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0101454,-73.3816947,3a,75y,277.68h,83.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVPPnThB8QS3r9R-XqSi2zg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Despite where the blue line is in the  one above, other sources suggest the road is entirely in the U.S.

OTOH, this one in Beene Plain, Vermont / Stanstead, Quebec has the border down the middle of this residential street (Rue Canusa in French). Houses to the right are in the U.S.; to the left are in Canada.
https://goo.gl/maps/WY7S1dc4PXn1f619A

The west end of the street ends at a cross-border road between the entrance stations. To the east, the road turns north into Canada so people living on the U.S. side of the street can't to that way without first being admitted into Canada.

A few miles to the east is the famous Haskell Library and Opera House where the entrance and theater seats are in the U.S. and the stage and the library are in Canada.

NY 276 is entirely in the US.  However, once you're away from the port of entry at the western end of this particular segment of highway....well, looking at the Streetview, can you tell that the border is the northern edge of the right-of-way? 

I thought about posting Rue Canusa, but if "Boundary Rd" doesn't fit the thread title, then "Rue Canusa" also doesn't fit.

A few years ago, when my wife and I were looking to move, I stumbled across this house being for sale: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0058981,-72.1419735,3a,27.4y,248.62h,89.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0kQRNCe9hYChT9GTRAYAFg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Note the border obelisk at the steps up to the front porch.

Sadly, neither my wife nor I are handy (and it looked like the place needed a lot of work), traffic is a bit of a problem, and we were trying at that point to move closer to family rather than further away.... 

Since then, I started to work cross-border, and I semi-regret not being able to take advantage of a unique opportunity.

[lstone19]

A few years ago, when my wife and I were looking to move, I stumbled across this house being for sale: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0058981,-72.1419735,3a,27.4y,248.62h,89.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0kQRNCe9hYChT9GTRAYAFg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

According to the Wikipedia article about Beebe Plain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beebe_Plain), that house was originally the joint post office for both the U.S. and Canadian sides. One postmaster working both sides. It would be interesting to live there but probably also a pain. From what I've read, pre-2001, the U.S. Immigration and Customs agents tended to know all the U.S. residents living along the border so they could quickly get across. Now things are a lot more formal.

[1995hoo]

A few years ago, when my wife and I were looking to move, I stumbled across this house being for sale: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0058981,-72.1419735,3a,27.4y,248.62h,89.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0kQRNCe9hYChT9GTRAYAFg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

According to the Wikipedia article about Beebe Plain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beebe_Plain), that house was originally the joint post office for both the U.S. and Canadian sides. One postmaster working both sides. It would be interesting to live there but probably also a pain. From what I've read, pre-2001, the U.S. Immigration and Customs agents tended to know all the U.S. residents living along the border so they could quickly get across. Now things are a lot more formal.

I read an article about living in that area that said there are a lot of nuisances involved in owning a house that's split by the border. Differing plumbing and electrical codes are one issue: If you replace a toilet, for example, you have to make sure you note in which country that bathroom is located so that you buy a toilet that's compliant with that country/state/province plumbing code. (That is, while Canadian law may have changed since that article was written, they allowed toilets that used more water per flush compared to the US law that took effect in 1994 limiting new toilets to 1.6 gpf. Toilets from the 1980s typically used 3.5 gpf and older ones used even more.) The same article also mentioned the importance of making sure you sleep in the country in which you're a citizen.

I don't remember where I found that article. Odds are it was the Washington Post or the New York Times, but I just don't remember anymore. I'm sure it was written sometime in the months after September 11 to discuss how life in those border communities had been changed.

[renegade]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7053066,-84.4226272,3a,90y,83.83h,92.61t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sUGXYPV5okVC_DEUKqUN2eg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DUGXYPV5okVC_DEUKqUN2eg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D83.38278%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The right side is in Ohio, the left is in Michigan.  No sign mentioning either, the last time I was through there.

[vdeane]

A few years ago, when my wife and I were looking to move, I stumbled across this house being for sale: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.0058981,-72.1419735,3a,27.4y,248.62h,89.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0kQRNCe9hYChT9GTRAYAFg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

According to the Wikipedia article about Beebe Plain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beebe_Plain), that house was originally the joint post office for both the U.S. and Canadian sides. One postmaster working both sides. It would be interesting to live there but probably also a pain. From what I've read, pre-2001, the U.S. Immigration and Customs agents tended to know all the U.S. residents living along the border so they could quickly get across. Now things are a lot more formal.

I read an article about living in that area that said there are a lot of nuisances involved in owning a house that's split by the border. Differing plumbing and electrical codes are one issue: If you replace a toilet, for example, you have to make sure you note in which country that bathroom is located so that you buy a toilet that's compliant with that country/state/province plumbing code. (That is, while Canadian law may have changed since that article was written, they allowed toilets that used more water per flush compared to the US law that took effect in 1994 limiting new toilets to 1.6 gpf. Toilets from the 1980s typically used 3.5 gpf and older ones used even more.) The same article also mentioned the importance of making sure you sleep in the country in which you're a citizen.

I don't remember where I found that article. Odds are it was the Washington Post or the New York Times, but I just don't remember anymore. I'm sure it was written sometime in the months after September 11 to discuss how life in those border communities had been changed.

At least with respect to that specific house, I would think customs wouldn't be an issue since the garage is on the US side behind the barrier, and there's the fence blocking off the property access from Canada.

[hbelkins]

When I walked across the US 1 bridge between New Hampshire and Maine, I could not figure out where the exact boundary was, even by pavement markings. While it's obvious that the border is on the bridge, that still gives a 1/3 mile region of uncertainty.

EDIT: And if you don't know the region, the area code change is your only clue, even after getting off the bridge. The road signs don't tell you, either.

Typically, one jurisdiction or the other maintains the entire structure. Some of Kentucky's river crossings are marked with signs at the state line, but most aren't. You may not notice a change in pavement striping until you get on land at the other side of the bridge, or you may notice one before you get onto the bridge.

[lstone19]

At least with respect to that specific house, I would think customs wouldn't be an issue since the garage is on the US side behind the barrier, and there's the fence blocking off the property access from Canada.

You're right. I spent so much time looking at the house itself that I missed the barrier and fence. Clearly, the house is considered to be in the U.S. and has access avoiding the border stations.

The people who have it "interesting" are the one living on the U.S. side of Rue Canusa. Getting to their houses from the U.S. side would mean passing the U.S. border station and then turning right on Rue Canusa. I would assume that get the attention of CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) as everyone heading down Rue Canusa to anyplace other than the what appears to be 13 U.S. houses in going into Canada and needs to formally enter Canada. And if they're coming from the east on Rue Canusa, they're in Canada so I assume they need to pass their house, enter the U.S., make a U-turn, and then back to the house.

Leaving, I assume they must go west to either pass the U.S. station (even though they are already in the U.S. other than they had to drive down the Canadian side of the street) or formally enter Canada at their station. No matter what, you're getting in line at one of the inspection stations.

Anyway, it turns out this was discussed here three years ago: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19841.0