So, about 18 months ago we had a series of threads entitled "getting from ___ to the rest of the country". I thought recently about what would happen if we applied the same logic to counties. I wonder which county has the most connections to other counties via the routes that pass through the county in question. This could get interesting.
Here's my county, for reference:
(https://imgur.com/LsYfhRy.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/g0BQvYmH/Highways.png)
Couldn't have been happier to make Baltimore City green.
For Waterloo Region, ON:
(https://i.imgur.com/o3a6BGY.png)
EDIT: Included Quebec's A-20 as an extension of the 401.
Black = Waterloo Region
Yellow = The 401 and A-20
Red = Highway 7 (note: there is a downloaded gap in Highway 7 north of Toronto, so it's debatable whether the eastern portion should count)
Orange = Both Highway 7 and the 401
Blue = Highway 8
Purple = Both Highway 7 and 8
Green = Highway 24
With Fresno County it would just be everything I-5 touches and nothing else.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 06, 2021, 02:34:28 PM
With Fresno County it would just be everything I-5 touches and nothing else.
Not true. At first glance, CA41 goes to SLO, Madera, and Mariposa Counties.
CA99 to Tulare County, etc.
Quote from: jayhawkco on December 06, 2021, 02:36:15 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 06, 2021, 02:34:28 PM
With Fresno County it would just be everything I-5 touches and nothing else.
Not true. At first glance, CA41 goes to SLO, Madera, and Mariposa Counties.
CA99 to Tulare County, etc.
Yes, brain farted that one for some reason. CA 43, CA 145, County Route J1, County Route J40, CA 180, CA 33, CA 198, CA 201, County Route J19, CA 269 and CA 63 are also going to hit in-California counties. I-5 would be the only Route hitting something out of state. Even former US 99 would mostly duplicate I-5 but would hit some different counties like; Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Placer, Yuba, Sutter and Butte just in California factoring 99E.
Two questions before I submit mine:
1. Do continuous state routes count if they change numbers at the state line?
2. Can I count US 15 and NY 15 as the same route?
Obviously the counties that have the most interstates will likely connect to the most other counties. A fun side question: which county that doesn't have an interstate connects to the most other counties?
And just for the record, Arapahoe County, CO is connected to 171 other counties if I added them correctly.
What are you using to make the maps? (Not that I'm going to try it immediately. I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and among the routes that pass through here are US-1, US-29, US-50, and I-95.)
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 06, 2021, 02:53:29 PM
What are you using to make the maps? (Not that I'm going to try it immediately. I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and among the routes that pass through here are US-1, US-29, US-50, and I-95.)
mapchart.net (http://mapchart.net)
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 06, 2021, 02:53:29 PM
What are you using to make the maps? (Not that I'm going to try it immediately. I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and among the routes that pass through here are US-1, US-29, US-50, and I-95.)
Looks like jlam beat me to it, but I'm using
mapchart.net (https://mapchart.net/usa-counties.html) and I imagine that's what others are using as well.
I did it with metro areas 3 months ago...
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30208.msg2662051#msg2662051
Anyways, map for Hamilton County, OH. Pretty much the metro area map without KY and IN state routes.
(https://i.imgur.com/LKqGEsX.png)
Quote from: webny99 on December 06, 2021, 02:50:20 PM
1. Do continuous state routes count if they change numbers at the state line?
OP counted OK-6 as part of TX-6 so same-number routes are okay. I would say if the numbers change they wouldn't count, because at that point the highway doesn't really have much more of a connection to the route in your area than if your route turned and going straight was a different route.
I'm also curious, aside from the obvious (Delaware), if there are any counties that have a connecting route to every other county in their state.
Quote from: webny99 on December 06, 2021, 03:13:27 PM
I'm also curious, aside from the obvious (Delaware), if there are any counties that have a connecting route to every other county in their state.
Also obvious, but Providence County, RI.
Merrimack, NH works too. Nope, misses Carroll.
It looks like NY 19 becoming PA 449 is the only route affected by my earlier question, and that only costs me one county. And I can't count US 15 since NY 15 is no longer signed on I-390/I-86, so here goes (I used "extra large" legend size which will hopefully make it easier to read):
(https://imgur.com/jHzqlNV.jpg)
Quote from: webny99 on December 06, 2021, 03:13:27 PM
I'm also curious, aside from the obvious (Delaware), if there are any counties that have a connecting route to every other county in their state.
If we're including Canada:
- Yukon, only has one county :D
- PEI, all three counties qualify since PEI 2 passes through all three counties
- Westmoreland County, NB qualifies (NB 1 and 2 cover the west half, NB 11 the east half, and there's multiple highways that go south into Albert County)
Here is mine. If I counted correctly, you can get to 223 counties from Weld County (including Weld County)
(https://i.postimg.cc/3xrQmzyK/countiesfromweld.png) (https://postimg.cc/YhPPwnfV)
I don't have time to create a map right now, but Ada County, ID would be pretty much a thick east-west line (or a few parallel lines) with US-20, US-26, and US-30, but almost nothing north/south since US-95 does not pass through the county (though I would say it serves the county for long distance traffic, not good enough here).
Quote from: doorknob60 on December 06, 2021, 04:59:53 PM
I don't have time to create a map right now, but Ada County, ID would be pretty much a thick east-west line (or a few parallel lines) with US-20, US-26, and US-30, but almost nothing north/south since US-95 does not pass through the county (though I would say it serves the county for long distance traffic, not good enough here).
And I-84.
La Porte County (IN) would be good at E-W highways but it would suffer from a lack of N-S routes.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211207/1ccd6e65f6f32396aa4fc4f9a5f5921a.jpg)
I knew any place in Louisiana wouldn't get too far unless you live along I-10. For being dead center of Louisiana in Rapides Parish, you really don't reach far. US 71 is what got my path beyond Arkansas. We just don't have a single route number that reaches that far. And no single east-west route that does much of anything because it's limited by the geography here. You connect to US 84 to cross into Mississippi or eventually to US 190 west to get further into Texas.
iPhone
From DuPage Co IL, I-55 is best connection to many parts of US. I-90 used to go through, but is now in Cook Co.
For US highways, good ol' US 20. :cool:
Not even worth it for me to try to do a map. I only have state routes in my county, and none cross state lines. Only 18 Kentucky counties total can be reached from roads in my county.
Orange County, North Carolina has some quirks. Of course, we've got both I-85 and I-40.
US-15/501 cuts through the southeast corner of the county, and is useful to get from most of Orange County to the Sandhills. But it is still better (discounting rush hour) to get south (through Fayetteville) to by taking I-40 -to- I-95 or to get south (through Rockingham) via I-85 -to- I-73.
On the other hand, to get north there are two state routes that get us out of here. NC-86/VA-86 into Danville, Virginia is arguably the most important two-lane state route in the southeast, connecting Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill to Lynchburg and Charlottesville via US-29. And while NC-57 to Roxboro isn't perceived as so important, it is still part of the best route to get to the western suburbs of Richmond via US-501 -to- US-360. Including rush hour, both of these routes are far better to get to Washington DC than using I-95.
Quote from: hbelkins on December 07, 2021, 11:32:45 AM
Not even worth it for me to try to do a map. I only have state routes in my county, and none cross state lines. Only 18 Kentucky counties total can be reached from roads in my county.
It could be worse. Nassau and Suffolk counties, NY only get each other, Queens, Kings (a.k.a. Brooklyn) and maybe New York (a.k.a. Manhattan) depending on how one counts I-/NY 495. Richmond County, NY (a.k.a. State Island) only gets the other New York City boroughs and Union County, NJ (although one could argue for Hudson County, NJ as well; I don't count that as I consider different state routes in different states different routes even if they bear the same number). The aforementioned Queens and Kings get the other NYC boroughs, the other two Long Island counties, and Union.
Clarke and Oconee counties in GA have the same four US routes, so their maps would look similar. However none of those routes reaches outside the South (counting Maryland as South): US 29, 78, 129, and 441 (routes reach Maryland/DC, Memphis TN, Charleston, eastern TN, and Florida)
Hall County GA has fewer US routes but does manage to leave the South, because it has US 23 (and US 129). So from Hall County the routes reach from Florida to Michigan.
For Delaware County, Ohio version. The answer is 156.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51733391490_54f76a6fa4_h.jpg)
Since Spain doesn't have "counties", I decided to use the closest thing: municipalities.
A-7 and N-340 do a great job at connecting my home with the rest of the country's eastern coast. There's a reason it's called the Highway of the Mediterranean.
(https://i.imgur.com/CGzA0Ix.png)
Dane County, WI
(https://i.postimg.cc/XqtQHbdL/Dane-Co.png)
That was fun. I like how US 51 'takes over' for I-39 both north and south.
(Whoops, missed Trempealeau County for I-94. Oh well.)
Quote from: triplemultiplex on December 08, 2021, 11:55:43 AM
Dane County, WI
(https://i.postimg.cc/XqtQHbdL/Dane-Co.png)
That was fun. I like how US 51 'takes over' for I-39 both north and south.
(Whoops, missed Trempealeau County for I-94. Oh well.)
WI-22?
(https://i.ibb.co/YWPrQN8/Jefferson-County-Connected.png) (https://ibb.co/Ctmr8wv)
what's on my screen (https://whatsmyscreenresolution.com/)
Jefferson County, AL (Birmingham) was more connected than I would have anticipated especially beyond interstates. 266 total counties (including Jefferson).
I did include US11 and US31 north of their respective splits into E and W in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. Most of US31 while split were counties already reached by I-65. The US11 split is just from Knoxville to Bristol with only 1 county in TN not being entered by both versions. If you don't want to include them for your purposes, the splits are shaded a slightly different color.
Washington County, AR has 2 routes to Canada and 1 to Mexico, one of which goes both to Canada and Mexico as an E/W US route (62).
(https://i.imgur.com/hbsyBxl.jpg)
I spent way too long on this. Here's Fulton County, GA:
(https://i.imgur.com/0CbBPjD.png)
Quote from: SEWIGuy on December 08, 2021, 12:05:13 PM
WI-22?
Southern terminus in Columbia County, not Dane. ;)
Just for fun, I did Milwaukee County since I lived there back when I joined this forum.
(https://i.postimg.cc/qqdJ6wk7/MKE-Co.png)
Side note: Georgia has way too many goddamn counties! The hell's going on down there? :-D
Quote from: webny99 on December 06, 2021, 03:13:27 PM
I'm also curious, aside from the obvious (Delaware), if there are any counties that have a connecting route to every other county in their state.
Washington County, VT
Quote from: hbelkins on December 07, 2021, 11:32:45 AM
Not even worth it for me to try to do a map. I only have state routes in my county, and none cross state lines. Only 18 Kentucky counties total can be reached from roads in my county.
Even some of use who have more than state routes are limited...
(https://i.imgur.com/8oirf7b.png)
Quote from: triplemultiplex on December 09, 2021, 09:55:46 AM
Quote from: SEWIGuy on December 08, 2021, 12:05:13 PM
WI-22?
Southern terminus in Columbia County, not Dane. ;)
Just for fun, I did Milwaukee County since I lived there back when I joined this forum.
(https://i.postimg.cc/qqdJ6wk7/MKE-Co.png)
Side note: Georgia has way too many goddamn counties! The hell's going on down there? :-D
Ah that's right about WI-22. Thanks.
Cascade County, MT, touches much of the Western US. Its highways reach 124 counties including Cascade:
(https://i.imgur.com/L6rrz8S.png)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211209/0fac03b48a27d8f013c61bf441b5338e.jpg)
I went back and did a previous locale for me: Denton County Texas. Not huge reaches outside of I-35. Dallas or Tarrant (Fort Worth) County would get a lot more, especially with things like US 287.
iPhone
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 06, 2021, 02:53:29 PM
What are you using to make the maps? (Not that I'm going to try it immediately. I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and among the routes that pass through here are US-1, US-29, US-50, and I-95.)
You also have I-66, I-395, and I-495 (which exists in Virginia only in Fairfax County and Alexandria city).
Arlington County, Virginia has those and the other routes listed in your post, with the big exception of I-95 and the small exception of I-495. In many places, I-95 goes through the same counties as US 1, but with major exceptions in Maine, both Carolinas, and Georgia. So my map would be less impressive than yours, though both still reach out to northern California, both west (Pensacola) and south (Key West) Florida, and the Canadian border.
I'll take a pass on doing my own map.
Quote from: oscar on December 09, 2021, 12:00:08 PM
I'll take a pass on doing my own map.
It takes some time, to be sure, but I was surprised by how quickly mine went. I was expecting to take ages to fill in I-90 across the country, but it went quickly thanks to Wikipedia's handy "Interstate [XX] in [State X]" series that lists the counties the route passes through. It looks like a similar series exists for US routes.
Quote from: webny99 on December 09, 2021, 12:05:32 PM
It takes some time, to be sure, but I was surprised by how quickly mine went. I was expecting to take ages to fill in I-90 across the country, but it went quickly thanks to Wikipedia's handy "Interstate [XX] in [State X]" series that lists the counties the route passes through. It looks like a similar series exists for US routes.
That's what I ended up using for the one Interstate and most of the length of the US highways.
Or you can use mob-rules' "View Your Travels on Google Maps".
I don't live in a county, so mine would be for Richmond city limits.
US 60 is the farthest reaching, almost to CA (though it used to go there).
The few primary State Routes that serves counties not already served by the other routes are grouped together in YELLOW (VA 5, 10, 33).
Note that this is for the city only, not the metro.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211210/bad14718ebd13af1a5aace2839440595.jpg)
moto g(7) optimo (XT1952DL)
EDIT: doesn't look like it came out right, I might have to try again.
What did everyone use to get the map on here?
Quote from: plain on December 09, 2021, 11:44:06 PM
What did everyone use to get the map on here?
The majority of us are using mapchart.net. You can then download it and get the BBC from another website, like postimages or imgur.
I've been having fun filling in maps trying to find the counties with the most connectivity.
Dallas, TX - 331 total counties
Marion, IN (Indianapolis) - 377
St. Louis, MO (county, not the city) - 403
Cook, IL (Chicago) - 710!!
Are there any that can go greater than Cook County? It had so many cross country east-west routes. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211215/0454d57bf8631cb68b6f18e3f9ef472f.jpg)
iPhone
Seems unlikely that any county can touch Cook in this category. Lake County, IN would have an impressive showing since many of the same east-west routes pass through there. But it wouldn't hit quite as hard with the north-south corridors.
You'd gain I-65 and US 231, but lose I-55, I-57 and US 45. Probably not enough to make up the difference even before the drop off from not having I-88, US 14, US 34, and that dumb CKC multistater.
Any county with one of those long, angling US highways coming through is at an advantage since they lock in well over a hundred counties each. US 52 and US 62, specifically. For this reason, it be worth looking at Hamilton County, Ohio. US 52, US 50 and I-75 alone should be enough to breach 300 counties.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on December 16, 2021, 01:17:25 PM
For this reason, it be worth looking at Hamilton County, Ohio. US 52, US 50 and I-75 alone should be enough to breach 300 counties.
Quote from: SkyPesos on December 06, 2021, 03:00:27 PM
I did it with metro areas 3 months ago...
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30208.msg2662051#msg2662051
Anyways, map for Hamilton County, OH. Pretty much the metro area map without KY and IN state routes.
(https://i.imgur.com/LKqGEsX.png)
Total is 436 counties.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on December 16, 2021, 01:17:25 PM
Any county with one of those long, angling US highways coming through is at an advantage since they lock in well over a hundred counties each. US 52 and US 62, specifically.
Could take a look at Brown County, OH. They lack N-S highways, but it's where US 52 and 62 meet, as well as US 50 skirting it on the north.
EDIT: Just did Brown County. It has 279 counties just from the 4 US routes that passes through it.
(https://i.imgur.com/JIHiOXW.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/2qvwxTHb/Map-Chart-Map.png) (https://postimg.cc/2qvwxTHb)
Hamilton County, TN (Chattanooga) - 405 counties including Hamilton
Sacramento County, CA since it has I-80, US-50 and I-5 it can reach the rest of the country.
Some of this was covered on the Cook County and Hamilton County parts of the thread for US-50 and I-80.
Quote from: bassoon1986 on December 15, 2021, 05:43:54 PM
I've been having fun filling in maps trying to find the counties with the most connectivity.
Dallas, TX - 331 total counties
Marion, IN (Indianapolis) - 377
St. Louis, MO (county, not the city) - 403
Cook, IL (Chicago) - 710!!
Are there any that can go greater than Cook County? It had so many cross country east-west routes. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211215/0454d57bf8631cb68b6f18e3f9ef472f.jpg)
iPhone
Cook gets even higher if you start counting decommissioned US routes. You'd get a few in California with the historic extent of US 6, and a handful in northern Utah with old US 30S.
Quote from: US 89 on December 20, 2021, 12:31:52 AM
Cook gets even higher if you start counting decommissioned US routes. You'd get a few in California with the historic extent of US 6, and a handful in northern Utah with old US 30S.
US 66 will also add a lot to Cook County's total, particularly everything west of St Louis on its route.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on December 16, 2021, 01:17:25 PM
Seems unlikely that any county can touch Cook in this category. Lake County, IN would have an impressive showing since many of the same east-west routes pass through there. But it wouldn't hit quite as hard with the north-south corridors.
You'd gain I-65 and US 231, but lose I-55, I-57 and US 45. Probably not enough to make up the difference even before the drop off from not having I-88, US 14, US 34, and that dumb CKC multistater.
Any county with one of those long, angling US highways coming through is at an advantage since they lock in well over a hundred counties each. US 52 and US 62, specifically. For this reason, it be worth looking at Hamilton County, Ohio. US 52, US 50 and I-75 alone should be enough to breach 300 counties.
Newton County would get a lot for a county that is so sparsely populated. US 24, 41 and 52, and I-65. Probably not many counties < 15k population would do better.
Quote from: US 89 on December 20, 2021, 12:31:52 AM
Quote from: bassoon1986 on December 15, 2021, 05:43:54 PM
I've been having fun filling in maps trying to find the counties with the most connectivity.
Dallas, TX - 331 total counties
Marion, IN (Indianapolis) - 377
St. Louis, MO (county, not the city) - 403
Cook, IL (Chicago) - 710!!
Are there any that can go greater than Cook County? It had so many cross country east-west routes. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211215/0454d57bf8631cb68b6f18e3f9ef472f.jpg)
iPhone
Cook gets even higher if you start counting decommissioned US routes. You'd get a few in California with the historic extent of US 6, and a handful in northern Utah with old US 30S.
US 54 used to go into downtown Chicago, so that could bring in counties in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
Quote from: Great Lakes Roads on December 06, 2021, 06:52:21 PM
La Porte County (IN) would be good at E-W highways but it would suffer from a lack of N-S routes.
I just did the mapping of La Porte County, and it comes out to... 536 total counties!
Quote from: Great Lakes Roads on December 20, 2021, 10:48:57 PM
Quote from: Great Lakes Roads on December 06, 2021, 06:52:21 PM
La Porte County (IN) would be good at E-W highways but it would suffer from a lack of N-S routes.
I just did the mapping of La Porte County, and it comes out to... 536 total counties!
I'm not surprised. Two coast to coast interstates, two cross-country US highways, and yes, two N-S US Highways.
I'll attempt Wood County, OH in a bit. Have all the interstates and US routes of neighboring Lucas County (Toledo), thought trading out US 24 for US 6, which should place it above Lucas. Both I-75 and US 23 in Georgia should add a good amount of counties, with Georgia counties being tiny.
(https://i.postimg.cc/56SDnrgr/Jackson-Co-MO.png) (https://postimg.cc/56SDnrgr)
427 for Jackson Co MO (Kansas City)
US69 misses one county to the West and one county to the North or there would be an additional 27 counties.
I did find it interesting that Ray Co MO (which borders Jackson Co MO in the NE) is not connected as there is not a Missouri River crossing and all other routes terminate or pass through Clay Co MO (directly north of Jackson Co MO).
Quote from: SkyPesos on December 20, 2021, 11:19:44 PM
I'll attempt Wood County, OH in a bit. Have all the interstates and US routes of neighboring Lucas County (Toledo), thought trading out US 24 for US 6, which should place it above Lucas. Both I-75 and US 23 in Georgia should add a good amount of counties, with Georgia counties being tiny.
Here it is:
445 counties, 472 including US 25. Not having US 24 compared to the Toledo metro area map lost 53 unique counties.
(https://i.imgur.com/8HLLZn7.jpg)
Cochise County, Arizona:
I-10 to Los Angeles and Jacksonville. US 191 to the Canadian border. One other county in Arizona (Santa Cruz) via AZ 82 and 83.
A bunch more if US 80 had not been decommissioned.