Farm/Ranch to Market Road distribution (was: try to guess what this is)

[US81]

Weren't there a few "Urban Road" shields actually put up, at least for a short time? As I remember, they did not look like FM/RM shields but more like TX SH shields.

[dfwmapper]

For anyone not familiar with it, urban road (UR) is just an internal designation meaning it isn't eligible for state funds for expansion, only for maintenance of existing capacity. The state system for rural roads isn't going to pay to widen city streets, that's up to the city or county. Occasionally they get dropped entirely, like FM (UR) 544 within Plano, but most remain on the system because people like the signs I guess.

I imagine the reason why URs stick around is because the city has to agree to take the road over from the state (otherwise if the state drops the road then it just sits there and rots). As long as there is no need to expand the road, the city has no incentive to take over maintenance.

I can think of at least one reason, being able to make functional and aesthetic decisions about the road for themselves instead of needing TxDOT approval. Cities don't control speed limits on state highways that run through them, and they can't change up the road to make it more pedestrian/bike friendly. I can't imagine downtown Plano being anything like what it is today if FM 544 and SH 5 still ran through it.

[NE2]

Found a sign where they patched RANCH over FARM.

[usends]

Can we stop calling US 281 the dividing line between FM and RM now?

Yeah, but someone should tell TXDOT; see the 4th bullet point on this page:
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/fmfacts.htm