States with best county road systems

[Thing 342]

Since I don't live near a state with numbered county-maintained routes (Kentucky's probably the closest, but I don't understand how their system actually functions), I'll reflect on my experiences with sub-primary state routes.

VA: Secondaries are pretty consistent in signage (either the circle shield or the small white box), but they can vary wildly in quality. The number scheme sort of gives a hint, with 600-series routes generally being the oldest and therefore most important, but this isn't always true (ie Fairfax SR 600, which has unpaved sections IIRC).

WV: Call them what you want, but these are maintained by the state and are thus secondary routes IMO. They have the more useful numbering system navigation-wise, with the numerator of the fractional route generally being the main route the route splits off of, however sometimes they use an old route number for the numerator, so this has become, less reliable over the years. They are the best signed, with full shields and names posted at every intersection with a state-maintained highway. However, they are a mixed bag with route number generally not being a useful indicator of importance or quality. The whole-number routes are somewhat less likely to peter out into a dirt trail, but this isn't a reliable fact.

NC & SC: Lumping these states together since I largely have the same opinion on their secondaries. These are the worst signed, with little attempt to make them relevant to navigation, although SC tries a bit harder with the separately-posted plaques at intersections. They have mostly random numbering systems (with SC's S-XX-YYYY being the worse of the two) that make them fairly useless as a tool for navigation. They're clearly meant more for DOT inventory rather than the general public.   

[DandyDan]

I personally like the alphanumeric system used by Iowa, but I think a lot of the county roads in Iowa are crap and many seem to still have their original pavement from years ago.

Illinois, as I remember it, has nice county roads, but signage is spotty and possibly nonexistent, depending on what county it is.  It seems to me McHenry County has the alphanumeric system thing going on as well that could translate to the rest of Illinois, but it doesn't.  Every county seems to have it's own way of doing things there.

Nebraska's, OTOH, is poor, as they are generally unmarked and unpaved.  I think it is generally safe to say if you are not on a state highway in a rural Nebraska county, you are on a gravel road.

[froggie]

Are any county maintained highways, like letter highways in Wisconsin, freeways??  Do we have County H hitching a ride on an Interstate, even for a short duration?

It could be argued that CSAH 1 in Hennepin County, MN has a brief concurrency with US 169.  Though not really official (standard policy is that county routes are not concurrent with state-maintained routes in Minnesota), it's signed.

Prior to 1988, that same Hennepin County had two county freeways.  They traded them to MnDOT in 1988.

while others don't sign the system at all (such as Monroe)

Or Onondaga County...

Minnesota's county roads are often very good. The existence of a statutory funding scheme for priority county highways (the County State-Aid System) ensures that counties have access to gas tax money. All counties have numbering schemes, so you can follow one or more routes as long as you know which way you're going. Downside is that each county's numbering scheme is independent, so oftentimes a route changes number at the county line.

I've also noticed that, as with in other states, some Minnesota counties are better at internally signing their route junctions than others.

Mad props to my home state of Alabama--sort of.

Some counties have excellent county roads that are well maintained and well-signed, including trailblazing signs and cardinal directions on routes.  Others are poorly maintained, poorly signed, poorly everything.

One needn't go any farther than the Gulf Coast to see the disparity among Alabama counties.  Baldwin County is very excellent on the signage, while Mobile County doesn't sign theirs at all.  The only county route signs in Mobile County are those along state/US highways at county route junctions.

Jefferson and Shelby Counties are another example.  Shelby signs theirs well, while Jefferson doesn't bother.

I am always impressed by Minnesota's county highways. Seriously, where else are you as likely to find hard paved shoulders on a country road as in Minnesota?

Steve Riner touched on this a little in his comment earlier, but in addition to a Constitutional funding scheme (gas tax funding for county state aid highways is in Article 14 of the state Constitution), there are fairly rigid minimum design standards for county state aid routes.  In this case, the standards call for a minimum 6ft shoulder if average daily traffic is over 1500, and for a minimum 8ft shoulder if the road is also functionally classified as an arterial.

Illinois, as I remember it, has nice county roads, but signage is spotty and possibly nonexistent, depending on what county it is.

I've noticed this as well.  In addition, I've noticed that county routes in a lot of Illinois counties, while paved, lack a centerline.  I've also noticed this in parts of Alabama.

[SD Mapman]

Nebraska's, OTOH, is poor, as they are generally unmarked and unpaved.  I think it is generally safe to say if you are not on a state highway in a rural Nebraska county, you are on a gravel road.

I feel like you could say that about a lot of the Plains states.

[Mapmikey]

Since I don't live near a state with numbered county-maintained routes (Kentucky's probably the closest, but I don't understand how their system actually functions), I'll reflect on my experiences with sub-primary state routes.

VA: Secondaries are pretty consistent in signage (either the circle shield or the small white box), but they can vary wildly in quality. The number scheme sort of gives a hint, with 600-series routes generally being the oldest and therefore most important, but this isn't always true (ie Fairfax SR 600, which has unpaved sections IIRC).



NC & SC: Lumping these states together since I largely have the same opinion on their secondaries. These are the worst signed, with little attempt to make them relevant to navigation, although SC tries a bit harder with the separately-posted plaques at intersections. They have mostly random numbering systems (with SC's S-XX-YYYY being the worse of the two) that make them fairly useless as a tool for navigation. They're clearly meant more for DOT inventory rather than the general public.   

For Virginia, numbering suggests age but not importance.  The secondary route system had a pattern of how route numbers were assigned in 1933.  i have deciphered some but not all of it but it involved sequential numbering along the county lines, starting with the lowest 6xx number not already assigned along a county line somewhere (I haven't yet figured out how they decided which county they started at 600 for).  You can still see this county line sequentially numbering in many, many locations.  Numbering of secondary routes not across a line appears to be in clusters but there could have been a pattern with that as well.  It does appear that the 1933-present system did not seem to correspond in any way with the 1932-33 system that briefly existed and had never been posted in the field. 

South Carolina actually had an interesting pattern for assigning their secondary routes in 1947 when they decided that many of the unimportant/unimproved primary routes needed to be in a secondary system:  Numbers were assigned sequentially based upon when the discontinued primary segment (not route number which sometimes was changed) was placed into the state highway system.  If the state highway was added in pieces over several years, it got several secondary numbering segments - the designation could change in the middle of nowhere with no intersection at another route.  By the mid-1950s most counties renumbered these secondary roads so that route continuity made some sense.  Further, primary routes that remained primary routes also received a secondary number designation that only came out if the route (or large part of the route) were decommissioned or bypassed.  This means that some low numbers have never been used in some counties.  Numbers up to as high as 56 in some counties means it was a primary route before 1947.  Some counties the top number for this was only around 30.  County maps from 1947-51 show that not that many roads were in the initial secondary system.  There was a county numbering system prior to 1947 but I have not studied it and the numbers definitely did not translate to the 1947 system.

SC secondary routes have been posted essentially the same way since 1947 except up through the the 1960s it was a black-on-white instead of white-on-black numbering as today.

NC secondary routes were assigned as clusters clockwise around a basic grid developed for each county (except Lincoln) whose dividing lines were generally primary routes.  The original design was to not have numbers stay the same across county lines although it is not impossible.  They are posted at every intersection but other than the 10xx routes they are hard to see if you are moving.

Mike

[cjk374]

Louisiana and its 64 parishes make a grand total of 65 separate road systems (major municipalities excluded). The state does nothing to sign parish roads...that is the responsibility of the parish. I don't know of any parish that signs its numbered roads along any state maintained roads.

[vdeane]

while others don't sign the system at all (such as Monroe)

Or Onondaga County...

Onondaga being notable for signing former NY 57 with the blue pentagon despite it being CR 91.

[mwb1848]

Growing up in South Mississippi, I only saw numbered County Roads when we visited family in Alabama. It's generally an very well-marked network of roads which are very well communicated on ALDOT's state highway map. Though I'm unsure of the funding scheme, they often included in state highway sign assemblies and function almost as secondary state highways: https://goo.gl/maps/PCtx6odw5Zx

[bzakharin]

In NJ county routes are now signed at just about any signalized intersection, except when concurrent with something else, at least in the parts of the state where I've been. As for freeway concurrencies, CR 501 is concurrent with part of the NJ 440 freeway. It even pretends to follow 440 through Staten Island as it is signed along NJ 440 on both ends of the Island.

[jbnati27]

I think in Ohio it's hit or miss. I've seen counties that actually have markers along the road. Some counties will indicate it on the street signs. In other counties, you have roads where you don't know if it's a county road or a township road.

I've always at least been entertained by West Virginia's fractional county "routes".

[Brandon]

Illinois, as I remember it, has nice county roads, but signage is spotty and possibly nonexistent, depending on what county it is.

I've noticed this as well.  In addition, I've noticed that county routes in a lot of Illinois counties, while paved, lack a centerline.  I've also noticed this in parts of Alabama.

Those may be township roads instead of county highways.  The counties in Illinois do not maintain every road in them outside municipalities.  Any road not designated a county highway, and this can be difficult to tell in some counties as many do not sign them, is maintained by the township.

[froggie]

Those may be township roads instead of county highways.

I distinctly verified via IDOT maps that some of the centerline-less roads I traveled were indeed county roads.  But we're also talking about 15 years ago now.

[Roadgeek Adam]

The portion of the Bronx Parkway in Westchester County is also county-maintained, although it doesn't have a CR number.

It does, but it's secret. (That is, secreter than the already-unsigned normal CRs.) I think it's 9998 or something zany like that.

9987.

The new IL 336 freeway west of Macomb has CR 8 concurrent for a section and signed equally for the short distance.

As for New York, another member of this site has noted that Clinton County has joined NY in signing CRs, so we'll hopefully see a couple more come on board after Tompkins, Clinton, and Warren join the club.

[formulanone]

Florida's has two types of "county roads": the secondary or primary routes that were downgraded to county road status, and the existing county road system that differs a bit from county to county.

The former are usually well-marked, pavement usually in good shape, but have varying amounts of reassurance signage. I'd say about 5% of the numbered-and-posted county roads are not paved, although that's usually in very rural areas. A good rule of thumb is that if it appears on a paper map, it's probably in good shape. Usually the CR number denotes the old State Road number. The largest counties generally do not bother with labeling the roads with county shields (for example: Miami-Dade, Duval), or at least those counties with a great number of state roads in them.

Some counties also have their own county road numbers; Pinellas uses the county pentagon shields for many roads, and the seem to be labelled independently from the traditional Florida numbering grid. I think Sumter County is another one like that. There's all sorts of local roads and streets which probably have no internal numerical designation which naturally also have no posted numbers.

I think the Osceola Parkway (CR 522) and the Goldenrod Road Extension (connected, but not officially FL 551) are the only limited-access roads without a state road designation. A few more are proposed.

[kkt]

It depends what you mean by "best."  California's Santa Clara County (City of San Jose and vicinity) has an extensive network of expressways.  6-8 lanes, at-grade intersections but only about every mile.  Best for drivers in a hurry if you can't afford full freeways, but not so best for pedestrians or neighbors.

[jwolfer]

Florida's has two types of "county roads": the secondary or primary routes that were downgraded to county road status, and the existing county road system that differs a bit from county to county.

The former are usually well-marked, pavement usually in good shape, but have varying amounts of reassurance signage. I'd say about 5% of the numbered-and-posted county roads are not paved, although that's usually in very rural areas. A good rule of thumb is that if it appears on a paper map, it's probably in good shape. Usually the CR number denotes the old State Road number. The largest counties generally do not bother with labeling the roads with county shields (for example: Miami-Dade, Duval), or at least those counties with a great number of state roads in them.

Some counties also have their own county road numbers; Pinellas uses the county pentagon shields for many roads, and the seem to be labelled independently from the traditional Florida numbering grid. I think Sumter County is another one like that. There's all sorts of local roads and streets which probably have no internal numerical designation which naturally also have no posted numbers.

I think the Osceola Parkway (CR 522) and the Goldenrod Road Extension (connected, but not officially FL 551) are the only limited-access roads without a state road designation. A few more are proposed.

CR210 in St Johns and Duval is limited access for a few miles east of us1.

Some of the weird County roads are from pre 1946 Florida SR number (CR 3 in Pinellas)

[bing101]

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/rda/plans/expyplan2040/Pages/study.aspx


http://sf.streetsblog.org/2014/07/29/santa-clara-county-plans-to-widen-expressways-despite-lower-traffic/


Santa Clara County has a good expressway system and they were supposed to alleviate city street traffic in the San Jose area.

[Ace10]

I think the Osceola Parkway (CR 522) and the Goldenrod Road Extension (connected, but not officially FL 551) are the only limited-access roads without a state road designation. A few more are proposed.

World Drive and Epcot Center Drive in Walt Disney World (or more accurately, the Reedy Creek Improvement District) are two more limited-access roads that are unnumbered by the state or any county, though Epcot Center Drive may carry FL 536 until the state maintenance ends.

[cl94]

The signage of county routes in NY definitely changes with county as mentioned previously and I think that's the rule of thumb no matter who's signing the route (NYSDOT or whoever else).  My feeling is that Albany County's one of the better ones, though, although vdeane may disagree with me on that fact.

Albany is very good with it.  Many counties just slap a reassurance shield down after major junctions and leave it at that (Oneida and Warren come to mind), while others don't sign the system at all (such as Monroe).  St. Lawrence is an interesting one... it has very good junction signs that include the shield and a control city at all of its junctions between county routes, but NOT at any state route junctions.  Finding St. Lawrence county routes from state highways is very hard to do if you only know the number; in Albany County, it's easy.

At least Warren actually signs them now.

Rensselaer has quite a few places where it is signed from major routes.

What annoys me is that Region 1 never signs county routes on freeway signs, even when routes are marked well. This applies to Northway Exits 4, 8A, 10, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, etc. In fact, Exit 24 is the only Warren County CR that is signed well, with direction banners and everything.

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana does not have a statewide standard for county road systems.

The most common system used by counties is a coordinate based system, especially common in the more gridlike northern 60% of the state.  E-W roads are numbered based on their distance from a central baseline road, so CR 450 N would be an E-W road that is exactly/approximately 4.5 miles north of the baseline.  N-S roads are numbered similarly, so that 600 E would be a N-S road that is 6 miles East of the baseline road.  Baseline roads are usually state or US highways running through the middle of the county, though sometimes they are just county roads called Division Rd or Baseline Rd.  A lot of counties, especially in Southern Indiana, have no numbering/lettering system at all.  The roads just have names.

St Joseph County names E-W roads for people and N-S roads for plants, both proceeding alphabetically.  Marshall County keeps the names of the St Joseph County roads that cross the county line.

Don't know that I'd claim any of these systems to be the best, though the coordinate based system does have a built-in way to avoid getting lost.

This is probably a pipe dream, but I would like to see the state adopt a CR bannering system, so that discontinued state routes could be signed as county routes (Keystone Pkwy could be CR 431, State St in Lafayette could be CR 26, etc.) or other important county roads could be bannered (CR 17 in Elkhart Co)

[bassoon1986]

Louisiana and its 64 parishes make a grand total of 65 separate road systems (major municipalities excluded). The state does nothing to sign parish roads...that is the responsibility of the parish. I don't know of any parish that signs its numbered roads along any state maintained roads.

I've heard that Cameron Parish has impeccable parish signage since Hurricane Rita hit in 2005. They must have gotten a considerable amount of money following the damage.

[Roadgeek Adam]

The signage of county routes in NY definitely changes with county as mentioned previously and I think that's the rule of thumb no matter who's signing the route (NYSDOT or whoever else).  My feeling is that Albany County's one of the better ones, though, although vdeane may disagree with me on that fact.

Albany is very good with it.  Many counties just slap a reassurance shield down after major junctions and leave it at that (Oneida and Warren come to mind), while others don't sign the system at all (such as Monroe).  St. Lawrence is an interesting one... it has very good junction signs that include the shield and a control city at all of its junctions between county routes, but NOT at any state route junctions.  Finding St. Lawrence county routes from state highways is very hard to do if you only know the number; in Albany County, it's easy.

What annoys me is that Region 1 never signs county routes on freeway signs, even when routes are marked well. This applies to Northway Exits 4, 8A, 10, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, etc. In fact, Exit 24 is the only Warren County CR that is signed well, with direction banners and everything.

Of course, for a long time Warren CR 11 was signed on the blades, but it's basically the most important non-state route or above in the county since it connects the Northway to 9N & Bolton Landing.

Also, since Warren put up shields, they've horribly botched 11 because the spurs now are also 11 and are north/south when Bolton Landing-Riverbank Road is East/West. The spur to B-L should really be 11A.

[cl94]

The signage of county routes in NY definitely changes with county as mentioned previously and I think that's the rule of thumb no matter who's signing the route (NYSDOT or whoever else).  My feeling is that Albany County's one of the better ones, though, although vdeane may disagree with me on that fact.

Albany is very good with it.  Many counties just slap a reassurance shield down after major junctions and leave it at that (Oneida and Warren come to mind), while others don't sign the system at all (such as Monroe).  St. Lawrence is an interesting one... it has very good junction signs that include the shield and a control city at all of its junctions between county routes, but NOT at any state route junctions.  Finding St. Lawrence county routes from state highways is very hard to do if you only know the number; in Albany County, it's easy.

What annoys me is that Region 1 never signs county routes on freeway signs, even when routes are marked well. This applies to Northway Exits 4, 8A, 10, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, etc. In fact, Exit 24 is the only Warren County CR that is signed well, with direction banners and everything.

Of course, for a long time Warren CR 11 was signed on the blades, but it's basically the most important non-state route or above in the county since it connects the Northway to 9N & Bolton Landing.

Also, since Warren put up shields, they've horribly botched 11 because the spurs now are also 11 and are north/south when Bolton Landing-Riverbank Road is East/West. The spur to B-L should really be 11A.

Yeah, but the issue is that the official listing has CR 11 in two segments. One was built by NYSDOT when the Northway was built, the other the spur. Both are officially CR 11.

Of course, CR 23 was signed long before anything else was thanks to NYSDOT, but it also happens to be the shortest route in the system at 1/4 mile, if that. The CR 7 designation was also quite public before signs were posted.

Last I checked, 2 in/around Lake George Village are unsigned, nor is there really any reason to sign CR 51 or CR 69.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Yeah, but the issue is that the official listing has CR 11 in two segments. One was built by NYSDOT when the Northway was built, the other the spur. Both are officially CR 11.

Of course, CR 23 was signed long before anything else was thanks to NYSDOT, but it also happens to be the shortest route in the system at 1/4 mile, if that. The CR 7 designation was also quite public before signs were posted.

Last I checked, 2 in/around Lake George Village are unsigned, nor is there really any reason to sign CR 51 or CR 69.

Yeah I know it was 11 in official records, but that should've been fixed before the signage process occurred, because now it can confuse everyone. (The solution opposite is to take over the mainline (BL-Rbank Road) and make it a touring route.

As for 51 and 69. 51 is in the village limits (something rare in itself) and no one really cares if it's CR 51 because it's Beach Road to them. (Or to tourists, the place where the Minne-Ha-Ha, Lac du Saint Sacrament and Mohican all depart.) As for 69, you could make an argument, but there's no point. No one calls it West Brook Road either.

Also, you mean 6 not 2.

[cl94]

Yeah, but the issue is that the official listing has CR 11 in two segments. One was built by NYSDOT when the Northway was built, the other the spur. Both are officially CR 11.

Of course, CR 23 was signed long before anything else was thanks to NYSDOT, but it also happens to be the shortest route in the system at 1/4 mile, if that. The CR 7 designation was also quite public before signs were posted.

Last I checked, 2 in/around Lake George Village are unsigned, nor is there really any reason to sign CR 51 or CR 69.

Yeah I know it was 11 in official records, but that should've been fixed before the signage process occurred, because now it can confuse everyone. (The solution opposite is to take over the mainline (BL-Rbank Road) and make it a touring route.

As for 51 and 69. 51 is in the village limits (something rare in itself) and no one really cares if it's CR 51 because it's Beach Road to them. (Or to tourists, the place where the Minne-Ha-Ha, Lac du Saint Sacrament and Mohican all depart.) As for 69, you could make an argument, but there's no point. No one calls it West Brook Road either.

Also, you mean 6 not 2.

No, I mean 2. CR 51 and CR 69.