Inspired by the map of counties reachable by routes from Georgia (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=27023.0), which illustrated that there are no direct routes between Georgia and Missouri. Vermont and Rhode Island were also mentioned in that thread.
Are those the best examples of two nearby states with no single routes connecting the two?
What other examples exist, and what is the closest state to yours that lacks a connection?
Are adjacent states that do not have a shared water crossing automatically disqualified?
For Texas it would either probably be Indiana or Utah.
For Michigan, it's Pennsylvania (thanks to Lake Erie) and West Virginia (which is a bit more surprising).
Upon (very) brief inspection it looks like for Minnesota it's Kentucky to the south, West Virginia or Maryland to the east, and Oregon to the west.
When I populated the map for Kansas, you would think, it being "Midway USA", that there would be routes passing through it in all directions. The reality was that the vast majority of those routes went due north-south, or straight east-west.
It isn't far from the northwest corner of Kansas to the southeast corner of Wyoming, but I do not believe the states share any routes.
Ditto with Kentucky and Tennessee, two states that border Kansas' eastern neighbor, Missouri.
Appears to be South Dakota for California.
Nevada: New Mexico. Laughlin NV to the point on the AZ/NM border on I-40 is about 342 miles.
Quote from: ilpt4u on June 09, 2020, 09:52:10 PM
Are adjacent states that do not have a shared water crossing automatically disqualified?
If their only shared border is on water, and they
also don't have any land connections, either directly or through another state, they would probably qualify. I can't think of any examples of this though.
For my current home state (Colorado), I counted 14 states without a direct connection:
There are no same route direct connections to any of the Pacific Northwest (ID, OR, WA). I never realized that before doing this exercise, and it's slightly surprising, as the Pacific Northwest is not that far away.
No direct connections to Minnesota or Wisconsin, the only 2 midwest states in that category.
3 of the 6 New England states (ME, NH, VT). US-6 provides a connection to the rest of New England.
The remaining 6 states are in the South (AR, FL, KY, NC, SC, TN). The odd thing is those 6 states are non-contiguous. US-84 just barely touches Colorado but that does provide a connection to the Deep South states of LA, MS, AL and GA.
For Massachusetts, it's West Virginia unless I'm missing something.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 09, 2020, 10:29:04 PM
Appears to be South Dakota for California.
Even closer: There are no direct routes between South Dakota and Utah. Which is really interesting when one realizes that there are still Delta Connection flights between Rapid City and Salt Lake City.
For Illinois, the closest state with no connecting routes appears to be Vermont, at about 700 miles as the crow flies.
Looks like the closest unconnected state to Utah is Oklahoma, though South Dakota and Washington are close.
Unless I missed something, I think Maryland & Kentucky are unconnected, which would be notable since only West Virginia (and/or Virginia, depending on your route) lies in between.
Quote from: US 89 on June 10, 2020, 01:07:59 AM
Looks like the closest unconnected state to Utah is Oklahoma, though South Dakota and Washington are close.
Oklahoma certainly passed the eyeball test, but I decided to double check.
Surprisingly, it's 333 miles corner to corner for Oklahoma, 311 miles corner to corner for Washington, and only 291 miles corner to corner for South Dakota.
Quote from: jmacswimmer on June 10, 2020, 09:50:07 AM
Unless I missed something, I think Maryland & Kentucky are unconnected
US 50 flirts with Kentucky for a while, but I believe you are correct.
Quote from: adwerkema on June 09, 2020, 10:07:45 PM
For Michigan, it's Pennsylvania (thanks to Lake Erie) and West Virginia (which is a bit more surprising).
US-33 used to connect MI and WV until it was truncated in northern Indiana
For CT, MA, and RI, it's WV. NY is MI, unless you consider US 2 to be one continuous route with a silent concurrency through Canada. Then it would be KY.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on June 10, 2020, 10:39:22 AM
For CT, MA, and RI, it's WV. NY is MI, unless you consider US 2 to be one continuous route with a silent concurrency through Canada. Then it would be KY.
It's Vermont for RI.
I'm going to guess Alabama for MO, and as mentioned earlier GA is probably a close 2nd.
Quote from: CoreySamson on June 09, 2020, 10:01:55 PM
For Texas it would either probably be Indiana or Utah.
When I-69 is completed, Texas will be connected to Indiana
I'm assuming for purposes of this exercise, we're considering Interstate routes, US routes, and continuously numbered state routes (MSRs). Are we also considering continuous ribbons of pavement (state routes) with different route numbers? (Which inspires a new thread I'll post shortly).
Kentucky's winner would appear to be Maryland. Closest we get is US 119 running through Morgantown, WV, about 20 miles west of the state line.
Kentucky and Missouri have the distinction of being the only adjacent states that do not have a physical crossing. Of course, US 60 and US 62 link the Bluegrass to the Show-Me via Illinois, and there is a ferry between Hickman, Ky., and Dorena, Mo., but there's no direct roadway.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 10, 2020, 01:23:17 PM
Are we also considering continuous ribbons of pavement (state routes) with different route numbers?
Yes, although I don't think there are any states with a direct border that lack a crossing or connecting route, so it would have to be across three or more states. I can't think of very many, if any, cases where that would come into play.
Quote from: webny99 on June 10, 2020, 01:38:16 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 10, 2020, 01:23:17 PM
Are we also considering continuous ribbons of pavement (state routes) with different route numbers?
Yes, although I don't think there are any states with a direct border that lack a crossing or connecting route, so it would have to be across three or more states. I can't think of very many, if any, cases where that would come into play.
But do any of those roads make a
turn in the second state? If so, then I'd say they're not a "continuous ribbon of pavement".
For MN it reciprocates Colorado (it's about 480 miles from the SW corner to Colorado's NE corner). Originally I thought it was Kentucky, but I forgot US 52 connects them.
For PA, it would be either Michigan or Vermont. One can, however, see Michigan from roads that enter PA (I-80/I-90)...
South Carolina is a tough one, because US 52 begins there and hits just about every state to the NW except TN, but other US routes provide those connections. I think it's Missouri, which I think is a little bit closer than Vermont.
For Arizona, it appears we are talking about Nebraska.
I-10, I-40, and US 60 and 70 do a pretty good job of reaching states to the east, and the only contiguous state not connected to the north or west is Washington.
For Pennsylvania, I believe it's Vermont. The rest of New England have I-95, as does most of the East Coast. The mid-South is mostly connected via I-81 and US-19. US-11 gets very close to Vermont, but crosses into Canada just before.
Quote from: webny99 on June 09, 2020, 09:39:02 PM
Inspired by the map of counties reachable by routes from Georgia (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=27023.0), which illustrated that there are no direct routes between Georgia and Missouri. Vermont and Rhode Island were also mentioned in that thread.
Are those the best examples of two nearby states with no single routes connecting the two?
What other examples exist, and what is the closest state to yours that lacks a connection?
I believe that you can't get to Montana (nor either Dakota) by staying on any road that originates in California (at least not without the road's changing its name), but that is the closest.
Quote from: michravera on June 10, 2020, 05:36:54 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 09, 2020, 09:39:02 PM
Inspired by the map of counties reachable by routes from Georgia (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=27023.0), which illustrated that there are no direct routes between Georgia and Missouri. Vermont and Rhode Island were also mentioned in that thread.
Are those the best examples of two nearby states with no single routes connecting the two?
What other examples exist, and what is the closest state to yours that lacks a connection?
I believe that you can't get to Montana (nor either Dakota) by staying on any road that originates in California (at least not without the road's changing its name), but that is the closest.
Interstate 15; US 91 before it was truncated at both ends.
Quote from: Ketchup99 on June 10, 2020, 04:58:31 PM
For Pennsylvania, I believe it's Vermont. The rest of New England have I-95, as does most of the East Coast. The mid-South is mostly connected via I-81 and US-19. US-11 gets very close to Vermont, but crosses into Canada just before.
I'd say PA 29 / NY 7 / VT 9 counts.
Quote from: Ben114 on June 10, 2020, 06:27:00 PM
Quote from: Ketchup99 on June 10, 2020, 04:58:31 PM
For Pennsylvania, I believe it's Vermont. The rest of New England have I-95, as does most of the East Coast. The mid-South is mostly connected via I-81 and US-19. US-11 gets very close to Vermont, but crosses into Canada just before.
I'd say PA 29 / NY 7 / VT 9 counts.
I guess, but that's not one route number, which is what I was calculating. My answer might have changed if we could do same road different number.
Quote from: Konza on June 10, 2020, 05:43:21 PM
Quote from: michravera on June 10, 2020, 05:36:54 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 09, 2020, 09:39:02 PM
Inspired by the map of counties reachable by routes from Georgia (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=27023.0), which illustrated that there are no direct routes between Georgia and Missouri. Vermont and Rhode Island were also mentioned in that thread.
Are those the best examples of two nearby states with no single routes connecting the two?
What other examples exist, and what is the closest state to yours that lacks a connection?
I believe that you can't get to Montana (nor either Dakota) by staying on any road that originates in California (at least not without the road's changing its name), but that is the closest.
Interstate 15; US 91 before it was truncated at both ends.
You're right! So, it's South Dakota
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 10, 2020, 02:52:03 PM
For MN it reciprocates Colorado (it’s about 480 miles from the SW corner to Colorado’s NE corner). Originally I thought it was Kentucky, but I forgot US 52 connects them.
Quote from: kendancy66 on June 10, 2020, 11:48:39 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 10, 2020, 02:52:03 PM
For MN it reciprocates Colorado (it's about 480 miles from the SW corner to Colorado's NE corner). Originally I thought it was Kentucky, but I forgot US 52 connects them.
I wondered where US-52 entered Kentucky? I saw that US-52 enters Ohio from Indiana on I-74, then through Ohio to Huntington WV. Since it follows the Ohio River it gets pretty close though. But after exhaustive search on Google maps now see what you are talking about. It crosses from WV into Kentucky, south of Borderland, WV along Tug Fork.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 10, 2020, 11:40:51 AM
I'm going to guess Alabama for MO, and as mentioned earlier GA is probably a close 2nd.
Likewise, it looks like North Carolina, then Missouri are the two closest states without a common route designation for Alabama.
Methodology: measure distance tool to extreme point of a state using Google Maps from the Geographic Center of Alabama. Not perfect, but "about 180 miles" versus "around 250" seems good enough to me.
Quote from: formulanone on June 11, 2020, 06:27:30 AM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 10, 2020, 11:40:51 AM
I'm going to guess Alabama for MO, and as mentioned earlier GA is probably a close 2nd.
Likewise, it looks like North Carolina, then Missouri are the two closest states without a common route designation for Alabama.
Methodology: measure distance tool to extreme point of a state using Google Maps from the Geographic Center of Alabama. Not perfect, but "about 180 miles" versus "around 250" seems good enough to me.
North Carolina: I-85
Quote from: kphoger on June 10, 2020, 01:52:53 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 10, 2020, 01:38:16 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 10, 2020, 01:23:17 PM
Are we also considering continuous ribbons of pavement (state routes) with different route numbers?
Yes, although I don't think there are any states with a direct border that lack a crossing or connecting route, so it would have to be across three or more states. I can't think of very many, if any, cases where that would come into play.
But do any of those roads make a turn in the second state? If so, then I'd say they're not a "continuous ribbon of pavement".
I thought "continuous ribbon of pavement" was only relevant at the state line specifically, because that's the only point where a number change might come into play.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 10, 2020, 01:00:24 AM
For Illinois, the closest state with no connecting routes appears to be Vermont, at about 700 miles as the crow flies.
I'm looking at a map, and it appears that Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are the only lower 48 states Illinois doesn't share a route with.
Quote from: Super Mateo on June 11, 2020, 11:52:27 AM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 10, 2020, 01:00:24 AM
For Illinois, the closest state with no connecting routes appears to be Vermont, at about 700 miles as the crow flies.
I'm looking at a map, and it appears that Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are the only lower 48 states Illinois doesn't share a route with.
That is correct, and it's why I chose Illinois for the initial thread that started all of this.
Quote from: 1 on June 11, 2020, 06:35:37 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 11, 2020, 06:27:30 AM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 10, 2020, 11:40:51 AM
I'm going to guess Alabama for MO, and as mentioned earlier GA is probably a close 2nd.
Likewise, it looks like North Carolina, then Missouri are the two closest states without a common route designation for Alabama.
Methodology: measure distance tool to extreme point of a state using Google Maps from the Geographic Center of Alabama. Not perfect, but "about 180 miles" versus "around 250" seems good enough to me.
North Carolina: I-85
Oh, duh on me
Quote from: 1 on June 11, 2020, 11:56:23 AM
Quote from: Super Mateo on June 11, 2020, 11:52:27 AM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 10, 2020, 01:00:24 AM
For Illinois, the closest state with no connecting routes appears to be Vermont, at about 700 miles as the crow flies.
I'm looking at a map, and it appears that Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are the only lower 48 states Illinois doesn't share a route with.
That is correct, and it's why I chose Illinois for the initial thread that started all of this.
One can take US-62 from the Paseo del Norte International Bridge to the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge, meaning Illinois is also connected to Chihuahua.
Similarly, one can take US-52 from the Saskatchewan border at Portal (ND) to Illinois via the Savanna-Sabula Bridge.
And, of course, one can take I-94 from the Ontario border at the Blue Water Bridge to the south suburbs of Chicago.
Any others I'm missing?
Quote from: kphoger on June 11, 2020, 12:13:44 PM
One can take US-62 from the Paseo del Norte International Bridge to the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge, meaning Illinois is also connected to Chihuahua.
Similarly, one can take US-52 from the Saskatchewan border at Portal (ND) to Illinois via the Savanna-Sabula Bridge.
And, of course, one can take I-94 from the Ontario border at the Blue Water Bridge to the south suburbs of Chicago.
Any others I'm missing?
I didn't catch any that added Mexican states, but I did see two other routes to go from Illinois to Chihuahua: US 54 (if it reaches the border) and US 67.
Quote from: Super Mateo on June 11, 2020, 12:43:59 PM
Quote from: kphoger on June 11, 2020, 12:13:44 PM
One can take US-62 from the Paseo del Norte International Bridge to the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge, meaning Illinois is also connected to Chihuahua.
Similarly, one can take US-52 from the Saskatchewan border at Portal (ND) to Illinois via the Savanna-Sabula Bridge.
And, of course, one can take I-94 from the Ontario border at the Blue Water Bridge to the south suburbs of Chicago.
Any others I'm missing?
I didn't catch any that added Mexican states, but I did see two other routes to go from Illinois to Chihuahua: US 54 (if it reaches the border) and US 67.
US-54: Doesn't quite reach the border, but
really close! Still, though, I didn't even check it–which is dumb, considering I've walked under the bridge just north of its southern terminus (along Paisano Drive, assuming that interchange existed in January 2002) and driven across the bridge where it enters Illinois several times.
US-67: Good catch.
Quote from: kendancy66 on June 10, 2020, 11:48:39 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 10, 2020, 02:52:03 PM
For MN it reciprocates Colorado (it's about 480 miles from the SW corner to Colorado's NE corner). Originally I thought it was Kentucky, but I forgot US 52 connects them.
Where does US-52 enter Kentucky? US-52 enters Ohio from Indiana on I-74, then through Ohio to Huntington WV. Since it follows the Ohio River it gets pretty close though.
Twice, briefly, in Pike County, when the new route of Corridor L (which is basically US 119, but US 52 comes along from the ride north of Williamson). However, the road is maintained by WVDOT, not KYTC, so it does not officially enter Kentucky.
https://goo.gl/maps/zXkFwAj7g49qSvpo6
Arkansas and Kansas. Less than 50 miles corner to corner.
Quote from: MikieTimT on June 11, 2020, 05:01:52 PM
Arkansas and Kansas. Less than 50 miles corner to corner.
Not only US 59, but US 270.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 11, 2020, 04:39:27 PM
Quote from: kendancy66 on June 10, 2020, 11:48:39 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 10, 2020, 02:52:03 PM
For MN it reciprocates Colorado (it's about 480 miles from the SW corner to Colorado's NE corner). Originally I thought it was Kentucky, but I forgot US 52 connects them.
Where does US-52 enter Kentucky? US-52 enters Ohio from Indiana on I-74, then through Ohio to Huntington WV. Since it follows the Ohio River it gets pretty close though.
Twice, briefly, in Pike County, when the new route of Corridor L (which is basically US 119, but US 52 comes along from the ride north of Williamson). However, the road is maintained by WVDOT, not KYTC, so it does not officially enter Kentucky.
https://goo.gl/maps/zXkFwAj7g49qSvpo6
That said, it does at least connect to KY 292.
Quote from: adwerkema on June 09, 2020, 10:07:45 PM
For Michigan, it's Pennsylvania (thanks to Lake Erie) and West Virginia (which is a bit more surprising).
New York comes very close to that. It's 189 miles from Port Huron to Niagara Falls.
Yes, it's an older bump, but with the discussion going on in the other thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=28691.0), I thought it worthy just to have complete info.
So in this thread until now, it looks like everyone had VT/RI as the shortest. 60 miles.
In that thread I found OK/LA that don't connect and they're 49 miles at their closest point.
Is that the winner?
Chris
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kansas and Arkansas (34 miles) share no highways. (Although US 59 comes within feet.)
Quote from: Ketchup99 on March 07, 2021, 05:32:46 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kansas and Arkansas (34 miles) share no highways. (Although US 59 comes within feet.)
They do share two, discussed on the previous page. US 59 is the easy one but US 270 is a sneaky one.