Symbolic county road letter designations in Wisconsin

[SSOWorld]

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

So we can't drive on them.

Call a pot a kettle.  Put peanut butter on an apple, not an orange.

[Rothman]

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

So we can't drive on them.

Call a pot a kettle.  Put peanut butter on an apple, not an orange.

So...County Trunk Highways are not County Roads...

[hotdogPi]

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

So we can't drive on them.

Call a pot a kettle.  Put peanut butter on an apple, not an orange.

So...County Trunk Highways are not County Roads...

It's not like West Virginia, where their "county" roads are actually state-maintained.

[JoePCool14]

As anyone who lives in or has visited Wisconsin will know, the state marks its county roads with letters instead of numbers. The vast majority of these roads are designated either by a single letter, or by the same letter doubled (or sometimes even tripled). However, there are some county roads throughout the state whose designation consists of two different letters. Sometimes, these letter combinations are chosen due to having some symbolic meaning, such as:

• County Road KR, which runs along the border of Kenosha and Racine counties
• County Road PB southwest of Madison, named such because it connects Paoli and Belleville; also, it's in a former lead-mining region, and the road's name is the chemical symbol for lead
• County Road LS, which parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline between Sheboygan and Manitowoc (short for "Lake Shore," perhaps?)

Aside from what I mentioned, what are some other similarly meaningful or symbolic lettered county-road designations that might be found throughout Wisconsin? In addition, there are some others I'm aware of but don't know their meaning; for example, why is Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay marked as County Road VK? (If anything, it should be "VL" for Vince Lombardi.)

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

The official name may be CTH, but does it really matter that much if we call them County Roads?

[peterj920]

Calumet County has County HR for Hacker Rd and LP for Lake Park Rd but is decommissioned.
Door Co uses WD for Whitefish Dunes and NP for Newport State Park.
Brown County has 3 county Roads stating with an "I" . IL goes to a dump, IV goes to a sewage plant, and IR goes to the Zoo. All 3 are spurs. Other than that Brown Co doesn't use logic. County G west of De Pere was recently changed to County GF. County HS was most likely for Howard/Suamico which it passes through and was once US 41.
GV in Outagamie Co. was Wis 76 and stands for Greenville. Ironically it's not that far away from GV in Brown Co and they're the only 2 in the state.

[SEWIGuy]

As anyone who lives in or has visited Wisconsin will know, the state marks its county roads with letters instead of numbers. The vast majority of these roads are designated either by a single letter, or by the same letter doubled (or sometimes even tripled). However, there are some county roads throughout the state whose designation consists of two different letters. Sometimes, these letter combinations are chosen due to having some symbolic meaning, such as:

• County Road KR, which runs along the border of Kenosha and Racine counties
• County Road PB southwest of Madison, named such because it connects Paoli and Belleville; also, it's in a former lead-mining region, and the road's name is the chemical symbol for lead
• County Road LS, which parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline between Sheboygan and Manitowoc (short for "Lake Shore," perhaps?)

Aside from what I mentioned, what are some other similarly meaningful or symbolic lettered county-road designations that might be found throughout Wisconsin? In addition, there are some others I'm aware of but don't know their meaning; for example, why is Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay marked as County Road VK? (If anything, it should be "VL" for Vince Lombardi.)

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

The official name may be CTH, but does it really matter that much if we call them County Roads?

I have rarely, if ever, heard them called "County Roads."

[SEWIGuy]

Here in Madison, Broadway (old US 12/18) is known as CTH-BW. I wish it was signposted on the Beltline. Exits 262 through 265 all intersect (or in 265's case, nearly) County Highways, but none are signed. 262 intersects CTH-MM, 263 marks the eastern terminus of CTH-MC, 264 marks the western terminus of CTH-BW, and 265 is located just south of CTH-BB's southern terminus at CTH-BW (I don't think BB was ever extended to the Beltline interchange). Even CTH-MS has never been signed at Exit 251A-B.

There really is no reason to sign most of them.  There is no reason to sign most urban county highways in Wisconsin because they are not really used for navigational purposes.

On the way home from work, I exit on Mason Street on the east side of Green Bay, which is also Brown County V.  No one calls it "County Highway V."  It's "Mason Street."  Yet it has the V shield on the BGS, which is undoubtedly accurate, but wholly unnecessary. 

[triplemultiplex]

IL goes to a dump

I bet they did that intentionally.
Then did the other I's to make it look like part of a system and not a cheap dig at the southern neighbors.

[invincor]

As anyone who lives in or has visited Wisconsin will know, the state marks its county roads with letters instead of numbers. The vast majority of these roads are designated either by a single letter, or by the same letter doubled (or sometimes even tripled). However, there are some county roads throughout the state whose designation consists of two different letters. Sometimes, these letter combinations are chosen due to having some symbolic meaning, such as:

• County Road KR, which runs along the border of Kenosha and Racine counties
• County Road PB southwest of Madison, named such because it connects Paoli and Belleville; also, it's in a former lead-mining region, and the road's name is the chemical symbol for lead
• County Road LS, which parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline between Sheboygan and Manitowoc (short for "Lake Shore," perhaps?)

Aside from what I mentioned, what are some other similarly meaningful or symbolic lettered county-road designations that might be found throughout Wisconsin? In addition, there are some others I'm aware of but don't know their meaning; for example, why is Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay marked as County Road VK? (If anything, it should be "VL" for Vince Lombardi.)

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

The official name may be CTH, but does it really matter that much if we call them County Roads?

I have rarely, if ever, heard them called "County Roads."

Um... up here in the northwest, it's all "county roads" all the time, and you never ever hear "county trunk". 

[SEWIGuy]

As anyone who lives in or has visited Wisconsin will know, the state marks its county roads with letters instead of numbers. The vast majority of these roads are designated either by a single letter, or by the same letter doubled (or sometimes even tripled). However, there are some county roads throughout the state whose designation consists of two different letters. Sometimes, these letter combinations are chosen due to having some symbolic meaning, such as:

• County Road KR, which runs along the border of Kenosha and Racine counties
• County Road PB southwest of Madison, named such because it connects Paoli and Belleville; also, it's in a former lead-mining region, and the road's name is the chemical symbol for lead
• County Road LS, which parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline between Sheboygan and Manitowoc (short for "Lake Shore," perhaps?)

Aside from what I mentioned, what are some other similarly meaningful or symbolic lettered county-road designations that might be found throughout Wisconsin? In addition, there are some others I'm aware of but don't know their meaning; for example, why is Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay marked as County Road VK? (If anything, it should be "VL" for Vince Lombardi.)

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

The official name may be CTH, but does it really matter that much if we call them County Roads?

I have rarely, if ever, heard them called "County Roads."

Um... up here in the northwest, it's all "county roads" all the time, and you never ever hear "county trunk". 

Really?  That's interesting.  I have not heard "county trunk" either though.

[triplemultiplex]

Our parlance where I grew up is "County W"; "County F"; "County M".
But if you wrote an address, it was usually "CTH W" "CTH F" etc.

[skluth]

As anyone who lives in or has visited Wisconsin will know, the state marks its county roads with letters instead of numbers. The vast majority of these roads are designated either by a single letter, or by the same letter doubled (or sometimes even tripled). However, there are some county roads throughout the state whose designation consists of two different letters. Sometimes, these letter combinations are chosen due to having some symbolic meaning, such as:

• County Road KR, which runs along the border of Kenosha and Racine counties
• County Road PB southwest of Madison, named such because it connects Paoli and Belleville; also, it's in a former lead-mining region, and the road's name is the chemical symbol for lead
• County Road LS, which parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline between Sheboygan and Manitowoc (short for "Lake Shore," perhaps?)

Aside from what I mentioned, what are some other similarly meaningful or symbolic lettered county-road designations that might be found throughout Wisconsin? In addition, there are some others I'm aware of but don't know their meaning; for example, why is Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay marked as County Road VK? (If anything, it should be "VL" for Vince Lombardi.)

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.  Most people have posted using the correct CTH acronym.  For generations, county highways were called county trunks (County Trunk A), with CTH A, County A, or County Highway A also used.  However, County Road is incorrectly used due to the incorrect addressing by the USPS (when did the post office ever have jurisdiction over or maintain county highways?), and also by Google et. al., and people from surrounding states that call them county roads.

The official name may be CTH, but does it really matter that much if we call them County Roads?

I have rarely, if ever, heard them called "County Roads."

Um... up here in the northwest, it's all "county roads" all the time, and you never ever hear "county trunk". 

Really?  That's interesting.  I have not heard "county trunk" either though.

I heard it when I was a kid in the 60's, but I think it's dropped out of the local vernacular. My dad used to say it; he also washed his hands in the "zinc" and fished in the "crick." These days, it's just Highway X or just X (Webster Av where I grew up) when I go back to GB.

[JoePCool14]

Here's what I do. I will refer to them as "County B" or "County G" when speaking, especially to non-roadgeeks. I will write it out that way too. If I'm writing more formally, I will then use CTH-B or CTH-G. These ways are most logical and simple.

I didn't grow up in Wisconsin, but I've spent enough time here to have an opinion.

[paulthemapguy]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

[KeithE4Phx]

Our parlance where I grew up is "County W"; "County F"; "County M".
But if you wrote an address, it was usually "CTH W" "CTH F" etc.

In Vilas County, where I spent my summers as a kid, county roads were either called "County xx" or just "Highway xx." 

I'm old enough to remember the road signs spelling out the full name of the road, such as "County Trunk Highway J" or "State Forest Road E," for those lettered roads that were on State Forest land.  Those designations ended around 1962 or so, and regardless of who's land they ran over, they were signed "County x" after that.

[SEWIGuy]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

Calm down.  It is completely on topic. 

And if you don't think so, report it to the moderator.  Because whining about topic changes never works.

[JoePCool14]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

The discussion sure seems relevant to the thread title to me.

[NE2]

County highways in Wisconsin are not county roads.

Sure they are. A county road is a road maintained by the county. A county highway is a highway maintained by the county. A highway is a road.

[SSOWorld]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

The discussion sure seems relevant to the thread title to me.

However, you're making mountains out of molehills and are taking it off topic - please read the topic title.  This is my mod mode speaking.

[thspfc]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

The discussion sure seems relevant to the thread title to me.

However, you're making mountains out of molehills and are taking it off topic - please read the topic title.  This is my mod mode speaking.

Classic over-moderation here. Threads go different directions sometimes. Not every reply has to be about the specific topic in the title. This is relevant discussion, no need for purple text.

[thspfc]

I've always heard county roads referred to as "Highway C" , or sometimes just the letter with no prefix. CTH is the official abbreviation; nobody outside of this forum cares about that.

[KCRoadFan]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

The discussion sure seems relevant to the thread title to me.

However, you're making mountains out of molehills and are taking it off topic - please read the topic title.  This is my mod mode speaking.

Classic over-moderation here. Threads go different directions sometimes. Not every reply has to be about the specific topic in the title. This is relevant discussion, no need for purple text.

OK, fair enough. It's just that when I create threads, I often check them several times a day for new replies (especially if they pertain to a topic I'm really curious about, which is, after all, the main reason I make them in the first place). Because I'm looking for new examples, it just kind of bothers me to discover that the latest few posts are nothing more than (what appears to me to be) a pointless squabble over semantics.

All right, rant over. Anyway, here's my attempt to get the thread back on track. In Fond Du Lac, Winnebago Drive (which runs along the lake of the same name, east of downtown) is marked as County WH, presumably named for Lake Winnebago and the nearby Lighthouse Harbor.

[peterj920]

County WH is mostly former Wis 149 that became 3 different county roads. Between Marytown and Kiel, it became an extension of County HH. The concurrent section with County G is just County G. Between US 151 and County G the route was changed to County WH. When US 151 was rerouted, County WH was extended through Taycheedah along old 151. No idea why WH was chosen other than Old Wis 149 intersecting County HH and County W.

Keep in mind Fond Du Lac County may have more County road routes than any other county in the state.

It has HHH, VVV, and OOO for triple letters and once had County KKK which probably went away for obvious reasons. However, it was renamed Triple Kay Rd.

Other odd choices are County AS, AW, TC, and RP.

[paulthemapguy]

Oh my god shut up about the stupid gatekeeping of what you think is proper nomenclature and stop derailing the thread.

The discussion sure seems relevant to the thread title to me.

However, you're making mountains out of molehills and are taking it off topic - please read the topic title.  This is my mod mode speaking.

Classic over-moderation here. Threads go different directions sometimes. Not every reply has to be about the specific topic in the title. This is relevant discussion, no need for purple text.

Cry harder.  Context: I literally work at a county DOT.  A county road is a county route is a county highway.  We all use them interchangeably.   Nitpicking between which synonym you prefer is NOT productive discussion.  It's insanely irritating and pointless.  Arguing between your preference toward the word "big" versus the word "large" is not only completely irrelevant to this thread; it's completely irrelevant in general.  I was looking forward to this thread until there was an entire page's worth of pointless bickering.

[hotdogPi]

Moderators: Delete several posts (including what I'm typing right now) and continue with the actual discussion.