AARoads Forum

National Boards => General Highway Talk => Topic started by: rte66man on February 23, 2011, 06:44:27 PM

Title: Map shields
Post by: rte66man on February 23, 2011, 06:44:27 PM
For each state, in general, do maps reflect the official shield?

Did the best I could trying to split this, hopefully you understand the intent. ~S
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: mightyace on February 24, 2011, 11:31:24 PM
Off the top of my head....

Ohio - yes
Pennsylvania - no

Tennessee - half and half
The primary state routes are just plain rectangles without the state outline at the bottom.
But, the secondary state routes are the rounded triangle.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: xonhulu on February 24, 2011, 11:50:55 PM
Oregon does use the acorn for OR state routes on its map; however, they also use the acorn for all the neighboring states' highways, too.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: rickmastfan67 on February 25, 2011, 12:29:27 AM
West Virginia - yes
Virginia - yes
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: NE2 on February 25, 2011, 02:51:00 AM
Doesn't Virginia use rectangles for secondaries on its map?
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: rickmastfan67 on February 25, 2011, 04:25:44 AM
Quote from: NE2 on February 25, 2011, 02:51:00 AM
Doesn't Virginia use rectangles for secondaries on its map?

They do.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Quillz on February 25, 2011, 04:42:40 AM
California does a pretty good job of using the miner's spade.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: hobsini2 on February 25, 2011, 08:00:19 AM
Wisconsin and Illinois both use circles on the maps for state highways.
And neither one uses the correct Interstate shield, Illinois is black with white numbers and Wisconsin is light blue with black numbers.  At least the US Highway shields are correct.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Hot Rod Hootenanny on February 25, 2011, 12:48:44 PM
Quote from: mightyace on February 24, 2011, 11:31:24 PM
Off the top of my head....

Ohio - yes

Now they do, but before the GIS'ation of their maps (2000?) they used circles for state routes on their maps.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: kj3400 on February 25, 2011, 02:44:48 PM
Maryland-yes
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: corco on February 25, 2011, 04:18:18 PM
Washington- no, Wyoming- no, Arizona- yes, Nebraska- yes.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: BigMattFromTexas on February 25, 2011, 04:20:33 PM
Texas has light blue interstate shields, and the state routes are just circles. The loops are hexagons, and the U.S. shields are right, but they're a pinkish color.
BigMatt
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Bickendan on February 25, 2011, 08:33:02 PM
Thomas Bros -- yes, for California, Nevada and Arizona. No, for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. Possibly a universal no now as RMN seems to be intent on swapping the Thomas Bros symbology with their own.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: bulldog1979 on February 25, 2011, 08:44:55 PM
MDOT uses diamonds and pentagons in Michigan. The Interstate shields are black with white numbers (but green and white for business loops/spurs) Neighboring states and Ontario get circles.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: roadfro on February 26, 2011, 02:02:21 PM
The NDOT map has used Nevada outlines for indicating state routes since the last major map redesign in the 1990s, but neighboring state's state routes get ovals.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: cu2010 on February 26, 2011, 02:50:23 PM
NY (map produced by MapWorks for the tourism department)- yes on NY routes, while neighboring states and Canada get circles.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Michael in Philly on February 28, 2011, 11:36:22 AM
Quote from: cu2010 on February 26, 2011, 02:50:23 PM
NY (map produced by MapWorks for the tourism department)- yes on NY routes, while neighboring states and Canada get circles.

All MapWorks titles use the proper New York shield in New York.  Which reminds me - AAA members who care about that sort of thing can get lots of MapWorks titles free.  AAA publishes the Buffalo-Niagara Falls and Finger Lakes, for example, under their own cover, and I got a MapWorks New Haven at one of those AAA offices that lets you help yourself to maps and TourBooks off the shelves.

Now as for Pennsylvania:  I don't know why the PennDOT official map doesn't use the keystone for state routes - it's a perfectly nice, distinctive marker.  But what I really don't know is why, if they're not going to use the keystone, they still bother differentiating Pennsylvania routes (with a rectangle) from neighboring states (circles).
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: corco on February 28, 2011, 12:30:43 PM
The Quebec map is my favorite- detailed Autoroute shields for autoroutes (everything but the Fleur de lis), simplified Quebec shields for provincial routes, interstate shields for US interstates and Ontario 400-series highways, and circle shields for everything else (bordering provincial highways/state routes and US routes).

Also, Washington uses a stylized maple leaf for the Trans Canada in BC, and Arizona uses a simplified Mexico shield for the carreteras federales
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: MDOTFanFB on February 28, 2011, 03:20:12 PM
Quote from: bulldog1979 on February 25, 2011, 08:44:55 PM
MDOT uses diamonds and pentagons in Michigan. The Interstate shields are black with white numbers (but green and white for business loops/spurs) Neighboring states and Ontario get circles.

Wasn't always like that, I have an offical MDOT map from 2003 and it shows all of the trunklines as circles in Michigan itself!
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: njroadhorse on February 28, 2011, 10:11:33 PM
New Jersey does! What a concept! :-D
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: corco on February 28, 2011, 10:25:33 PM
QuoteNew Jersey does! What a concept!

So does Iowa!
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: bugo on February 04, 2012, 11:09:07 PM
I haven't seen a map that wasn't drawn by a road guy that had the meat cleaver on it.  Every commercial and ODOT/OTA map I've seen has either a circle or a diamond.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Alex on February 04, 2012, 11:29:27 PM
Quote from: bugo on February 04, 2012, 11:09:07 PM
I haven't seen a map that wasn't drawn by a road guy that had the meat cleaver on it.  Every commercial and ODOT/OTA map I've seen has either a circle or a diamond.

The Harper County, Oklahoma map has them on there:  :nod:   :biggrin:
http://www.buffalooklahoma.com/Map1.html

Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: rte66man on February 12, 2012, 05:07:45 PM
Quote from: bugo on February 04, 2012, 11:09:07 PM
I haven't seen a map that wasn't drawn by a road guy that had the meat cleaver on it.  Every commercial and ODOT/OTA map I've seen has either a circle or a diamond.

KFOR-4 has them on their weather maps. Not sure about the other stations.

rte66man
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Scott5114 on March 19, 2012, 10:54:14 PM
The official DOT map of Oklahoma still uses the circle, which Oklahoma abandoned in 2006. I do have one Oklahoma City atlas that uses the "meat cleaver", which proves it's not really practical for map purposes.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: apeman33 on March 19, 2012, 11:02:02 PM
Kansas - no. It just uses circles.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: agentsteel53 on March 19, 2012, 11:49:44 PM
Quote from: bugo on February 04, 2012, 11:09:07 PM
I haven't seen a map that wasn't drawn by a road guy that had the meat cleaver on it.  Every commercial and ODOT/OTA map I've seen has either a circle or a diamond.

what is the most recent map which you have seen that has a diamond? and what is the most recent official issue?

reason I ask is: I believe ODOT abandoned the diamond at the same time they switched to the circle for both oversize (24" and larger) and reassurance (16"-18") use, which may have been their implementation of the 1961 MUTCD, so maybe as early as 1963, and certainly by 1970.  so it would be interesting to see much-later use of the diamond.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Scott5114 on March 20, 2012, 12:04:27 AM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 19, 2012, 11:49:44 PM
Quote from: bugo on February 04, 2012, 11:09:07 PM
I haven't seen a map that wasn't drawn by a road guy that had the meat cleaver on it.  Every commercial and ODOT/OTA map I've seen has either a circle or a diamond.

what is the most recent map which you have seen that has a diamond? and what is the most recent official issue?

The last use of diamonds on the official ODOT map is on the 1962 edition. The 1963 was the first with circles. You still see diamonds on some maps, especially county-level drafting maps. Somewhere I have a map of McClain County printed sometime in the mid-1990s that still featured diamonds, for example.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: brownpelican on March 20, 2012, 01:00:03 AM
Louisiana - absolutely not
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: bugo on March 20, 2012, 01:19:45 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 19, 2012, 10:54:14 PM
The official DOT map of Oklahoma still uses the circle, which Oklahoma abandoned in 2006. I do have one Oklahoma City atlas that uses the "meat cleaver", which proves it's not really practical for map purposes.

The ODOT General Highway county maps show the state route as a diamond, a shape that hasn't been used in a long time on route markers.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: agentsteel53 on March 20, 2012, 09:55:13 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 20, 2012, 12:04:27 AM

The last use of diamonds on the official ODOT map is on the 1962 edition. The 1963 was the first with circles.

that jives well with my belief that 1963 is when Oklahoma adopted the 1961 MUTCD. 

I believe they dropped the 16" cutout shields then too, even though the 1961 MUTCD still provided for it.  I wonder if they regularly made 16 or 18 inch black squares.  I know you and I stumbled across that small OK-3 circle but that seemed to be somewhat less than made to specification.

I have seen an embossed block-font Oklahoma US 77 with a 1960 stamp on the back - looks to me they took it down, put reflective sheeting on it, and put it back up.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: texaskdog on March 20, 2012, 10:57:00 AM
MN official maps do
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Eth on March 20, 2012, 12:43:16 PM
For Georgia, it depends on the map.  The official state map just uses circles; however, I believe all GDOT-produced county maps do in fact employ the state outline.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: empirestate on March 20, 2012, 01:26:49 PM
Quote from: Michael in Philly on February 28, 2011, 11:36:22 AM
All MapWorks titles use the proper New York shield in New York.  Which reminds me - AAA members who care about that sort of thing can get lots of MapWorks titles free.  AAA publishes the Buffalo-Niagara Falls and Finger Lakes, for example, under their own cover, and I got a MapWorks New Haven at one of those AAA offices that lets you help yourself to maps and TourBooks off the shelves.

I think pretty much all of the commercial mapping companies in NY use the proper shield, as does NYSDOT on all of its official maps (state atlas, county map series, 7.5' quads), although lamentably, NYSDOT hasn't published a map since 2001. (I have to admit, of all the various effects of 9/11, I'd never have guessed that among them would be the loss of the state's ability to produce outstanding maps.)

Quote from: Michael in Philly on February 28, 2011, 11:36:22 AM
Now as for Pennsylvania:  I don't know why the PennDOT official map doesn't use the keystone for state routes - it's a perfectly nice, distinctive marker.  But what I really don't know is why, if they're not going to use the keystone, they still bother differentiating Pennsylvania routes (with a rectangle) from neighboring states (circles).

PENNDOT most certainly does use the keystone on its official maps, the Type 10 series, as well as township and borough maps. I'm going to assume it's for space reasons that they opt for a rectangle on the statewide Official Tourism Map, but of all the official maps produced, that one is the exception, so I'd call it a "yes" for Pennsylvania overall.

The only large company I can think of that uses the correct shield for all of the areas it maps is the Canadian outfit, MapArt. (And not at all scales...)
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: The High Plains Traveler on March 20, 2012, 01:58:10 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on March 20, 2012, 10:57:00 AM
MN official maps do
The MN map also uses circles for county roads rather than the square or pentagonal markers actually posted. And, they use ellipses for adjoining state markers regardless of number of route digits.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: PAHighways on March 20, 2012, 02:11:11 PM
The free official Pennsylvania state map hasn't used keystones since the 1927 edition.  The Department of Highways then switched to circles for the next 37 years and finally to the rectangle still used today when the maps were begun to be printed in full color starting in 1964.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: kphoger on March 20, 2012, 03:05:46 PM
At work here, we have a large 2006 map of the Wichita area on the wall, put out by KBP.  State routes are circles, US highways are correct though stylized, and Interstates are black on white with no banner at the top.  The Turnpike is a circle inside a square, and KTA written inside the circle.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: bugo on March 20, 2012, 06:03:39 PM
Arkansas official highway maps used to use a state cutout shield.  I believe 1962 was the last year of this type of cartography.  The style that began in 1963 was used up until the 1990s or 2000s.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: vtk on March 23, 2012, 06:08:51 PM
I once saw a book of bike trails for Ohio and portions of neighbor states.  It used the correct marker shapes for each state, and the legend even showed each symbol, identifying which state's route it is.

Saw it in a book store, didn't buy it, don't remember the title.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: hbelkins on March 23, 2012, 09:14:17 PM
The old Kentucky official maps from the 1950s and earlier used correct state route markers for all the neighboring states. State outlines for MO, IL, IN and OH; squares for WV, shields for VA and triangles for TN. I thought it was a noble effort to be correct. When Kentucky switched to a different style of cartography and typography in the 1960s, all neighboring states got circles.
Title: Re: Map shields
Post by: Takumi on March 24, 2012, 01:32:14 PM
NC uses circles/ovals. Circles for 1-2 digit routes and ovals for 3 digit routes.