2017 Rand Mcnally Road Atlas

[briantroutman]

I wonder if they'll push an update to the iOS book version and/or app like they did last year?

Apparently so–this just showed up in my app updates:

[mukade]

Indiana-Kentucky: I-265 shown as complete (should be open this year)

Indiana:
-Part of Lloyd expressway in Evansville shown as freeway (correctly)
-SR 641 in Terre Haute shown as complete (scheduled completion in 2016)
-Muncie bypass shown as freeway on east side (almost right; there is one stoplight at McGalliard Rd.)
-I-65 Worthville Rd. exit shown
-sections of Elkhart CR 17 shown as freeway in similar way to SR 25

-I-69 section 5 not shown as freeway (correct due to contractor issues), but i thought last year that section showed the yellow highlight indicating construction
-US 31/SR 28 interchange not shown (scheduled completion in 2016)
-SR 750 North Vernon bypass not marked as such (same as 2016 edition)
-SR 267 no longer marked and same as 2016 edition: not technically correct because some parts remain, but what else can you do?

Michigan: M-231 shown



All in all, not too bad.

[Kniwt]

First thing I checked, and it was wrong:

In southern Utah: SR 7 is shown only to Exit 10. Exit 10 to Exit 15 opened in December 2015, and the remainder to MP 19 opened in 2013, but both aren't shown at all, not even under construction.

Second thing I checked, also wrong:

In the NWT, the Deh Cho Bridge still isn't shown, only the discontinued ferry.

[bandit957]

Did they ever update the downtown Cincinnati street-level inset? I don't think it's been updated since about 2000, despite all the changes there.

[empirestate]

Any exciting new city insets, or upgrades of existing ones to the "big city" style?


iPhone

[SimMoonXP]

Looks like I can just tell that there noticable major changes in 2017 Road Atlas on Page 15 in Southern California (Mojave Desert) such as adding new National Monuments!
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Monuments_of_the_United_States#National_Monuments

[SimMoonXP]

http://www.randmcnally.com/images/press-release/The_2017_Rand_McNally_Road_Atlas_is_Here.pdf. For new information about 2017 Road Atlas. It does add new inset map of Laramie, Wyoming!

[Rothman]

http://www.randmcnally.com/images/press-release/The_2017_Rand_McNally_Road_Atlas_is_Here.pdf. For new information about 2017 Road Atlas. It does add new inset map of Laramie, Wyoming!

Yay?

Looks like it missed Castle Mountains NM, just announced recently.

[US 41]

Has anyone seen the atlas yet in Barnes and Noble (or elsewhere)?

[SD Mapman]

http://www.randmcnally.com/images/press-release/The_2017_Rand_McNally_Road_Atlas_is_Here.pdf. For new information about 2017 Road Atlas. It does add new inset map of Laramie, Wyoming!

Y'know, if Laramie gets an inset, Gillette deserves one too (as well as Aberdeen, SD).

[empirestate]

http://www.randmcnally.com/images/press-release/The_2017_Rand_McNally_Road_Atlas_is_Here.pdf. For new information about 2017 Road Atlas. It does add new inset map of Laramie, Wyoming!

Y'know, if Laramie gets an inset, Gillette deserves one too (as well as Aberdeen, SD).

And Grand Junction, CO.

[US 41]

Changes I've noticed on a first look through the new Atlas.

AL
1) Tuscaloosa inset shows part of McFarland Blvd in blue (freeway).

AK
1) More freeways in Fairbanks inset shown in blue.

AZ
1) New SW downtown bypass (I assume Loop 202 extension) shown as under construction.

AR
1) In Fort Smith inset "Future I-49" is now labeled as 549.

CO
1) SR 21 shown in blue in northeastern part of CO Springs.

DE
1) New US 301 toll road shown as under construction in green.

IN
1) Parts of Muncie bypass shown in blue.
2) Lloyd Exp. west of US 41 shown in blue.
3) SR 641 shown as complete in Terre Haute (Hooray!).
4) SR 48 shown in orange (multilane unlimited access) in Bloomington west of SR 37.
5) SR 37 no longer highlighted as under construction between Btown and Martinsville, but is still shown in orange.

Iowa
1) New freeway shown as under construction in Ceder Rapids.

KS
1) Finally got rid of the blue dashed line showing a future KS 4 freeway in the Topeka inset.

KY
1) I-265 toll bridge shown as complete.
2) I-65 Ohio River bridge now shown as a toll bridge in green.

MS
1) I-22 now shown in MS.
2) I-269 was shown as complete in the 2016. It is now shown as under construction. They must've realized they jumped the gun too much on that one.

NV
1) Not a change, but a question. Are they ever going to finish the Carson City bypass south of Fairview Dr?

NC
1) A new Asheboro bypass for US 64 shown as under construction in blue.

ND
1) New Williston bypass shown in orange. US 85 also shown as multilane from Williston to Alexander now.

TX
1) I-69 now shown through downtown Houston.

WY
1) New Laramie inset.
2) New Grand Teton inset.
3) There's a BR 80 in the Cheyenne inset now.
4) the state map shifted 90 degrees and is now smaller than it was.

Mexico
1) New Ciudad Chihuhua eastern bypass shown in green.
2) New Torreon / Gomez Palacio bypass shown in green.
3) New autopista Durango - Mazatlan shown in green.
4) northwestern Saltillo bypass now shown in green rather than orange and labeled 40D.

[bob7374]

Has anyone seen the atlas yet in Barnes and Noble (or elsewhere)?

My local B&N had several editions of the 2017 maps this afternoon. Too bad for them that they only had the 'Best of the Road' wire-bound deluxe edition, and the small and medium size (and a medium large print edition), not the standard size I was looking for.

Noticed a couple things not mentioned: the new I-395 exit numbers are used for the CT map, for NC the East End Connector in Durham is shown under construction along with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, and the Greensboro Loop and I-73 projects that were shown on last year's (or should I say this year's?) city inset.

[Mapmikey]

In Virginia they finally dropped VA 167 and the decommissioned 4xx routes in Virginia Beach although they left VA 407 intact too far east...

[Kacie Jane]

I was at my local Target last week, and they had mostly the 2015 edition on sale.

[US 41]

I was at my local Target last week, and they had mostly the 2015 edition on sale.

2015? Wow they're two years behind!

Has anyone seen the atlas yet in Barnes and Noble (or elsewhere)?

My local B&N had several editions of the 2017 maps this afternoon. Too bad for them that they only had the 'Best of the Road' wire-bound deluxe edition, and the small and medium size (and a medium large print edition), not the standard size I was looking for.

Noticed a couple things not mentioned: the new I-395 exit numbers are used for the CT map, for NC the East End Connector in Durham is shown under construction along with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, and the Greensboro Loop and I-73 projects that were shown on last year's (or should I say this year's?) city inset.

The Barnes and Noble in Plainfield, IN had it and that's where I bought my copy. They seem to get it first in my general area. I can always count on Plainfield having it by 2 weeks after the release date. I make my annual drive there every year to go pick one up. It cost me $16 exactly (including tax).

Bloomington's didn't have it as of last week, but they might have it now. There is a B&N in Terre Haute, but it's more devoted toward college students going to Indiana State, and I don't think they even carry Rand McNally Atlases there.

[exit322]

I was at my local Target last week, and they had mostly the 2015 edition on sale.

No shock, Target is usually a year or two behind in my experience.  Though I did get my 16 there last year.

[shadyjay]

Just got mine in the mail today from Amazon.  Most of the changes that I suggested got implemented, mostly in New England and mostly rest area-related.  There's a few less 400+ state routes shown in CT (Waterbury inset's been cleaned up) and the pair of "rest areas" on the MassPike are now shown as service areas.   Same goes for the ones on I-93 just south of Concord NH.  Some closed rest areas in Maine and VT are no longer shown.  I-395 in CT has its new mile marker exits shown.  And, the suffixes Garden State Parkway interchanges (for incomplete interchanges) are gone.  About time, since they got rid of the explanation for what N and S meant about 30 years ago. 

Still don't understand why RMcN is against showing service areas on non-tolled roads as such.  I suggested the ones on I-95 and Rt 15 in CT, plus the pair on I-95/128 around Boston.  But they have held to their ground of marking them as rest areas, and have even added two more service plaza rest areas to the fold... I-95 in Delaware, thanks to a modification of what is actually a toll road.  Yet, the two on the Major Deagan (I-87) in NYC are still service areas.  Go figure. 

Overall, nice job with the 2017 atlas.

[US 41]

I just noticed today that there is toll road under construction (green dashed line) along US 74 southeast of Charlotte, NC.

[DevalDragon]

Same with the Maryland House and Chesapeake House on I-95 thru Maryland. Full service, but shown as normal rest areas. And even then, only in one direction.

Then go to Kentucky - the Beaver Dam Service Plaza on the West Kentucky Parkway is full service with food and fuel - and it's not on the 2017 map either. But it's been there for years.

Yet it shows the Chicago Skyway as having a service area; as far as I know they never sold fuel and the McDonald's closed last year.

And I-35 in Central Texas has a lot of rest areas that are gone. All the rest areas on 35E / 35W are closed. The "picnic areas" near Elm Mott and Bruceville-Eddy are gone as part of the widening project. The full service rest stops in Round Rock and the one between Kyle and San Marcos have been closed for 10 years now. And so has the one outside of Corpus Christi on I-37.

Somebody at Rand McNally needs to visit rest areas - hope nobody plans a pee break based on these maps. You might run into an unwelcome surprise!

Still don't understand why RMcN is against showing service areas on non-tolled roads as such.  I suggested the ones on I-95 and Rt 15 in CT, plus the pair on I-95/128 around Boston.  But they have held to their ground of marking them as rest areas, and have even added two more service plaza rest areas to the fold... I-95 in Delaware, thanks to a modification of what is actually a toll road.  Yet, the two on the Major Deagan (I-87) in NYC are still service areas.  Go figure. 

Overall, nice job with the 2017 atlas.

[empirestate]

For those of you who buy the RMcN annually, is there another brand of atlas you'd buy instead if it were published annually and as widely available?

I've always relied on the NatGeo/Mapquest product myself, but it's only been issued a handful of times. (Still, even when it was a few years old it tended to be more current than the most recent RMcN!)

[US 41]

For those of you who buy the RMcN annually, is there another brand of atlas you'd buy instead if it were published annually and as widely available?

I've always relied on the NatGeo/Mapquest product myself, but it's only been issued a handful of times. (Still, even when it was a few years old it tended to be more current than the most recent RMcN!)

Tbh the RMcN is not that bad. It is usually by far the most accurate based on what I've seen. Obviously online maps will be better because they are updated constantly. I would personally never switch. I've drove all over the continent and the RMcN has never really got me lost and is pretty accurate in most cases.

[empirestate]

For those of you who buy the RMcN annually, is there another brand of atlas you'd buy instead if it were published annually and as widely available?

I've always relied on the NatGeo/Mapquest product myself, but it's only been issued a handful of times. (Still, even when it was a few years old it tended to be more current than the most recent RMcN!)

Tbh the RMcN is not that bad. It is usually by far the most accurate based on what I've seen. Obviously online maps will be better because they are updated constantly. I would personally never switch. I've drove all over the continent and the RMcN has never really got me lost and is pretty accurate in most cases.

It's not that it's "that bad", just that it's not the best, and yet is by far the best-known and most widely available. Given the standard of current news and accuracy many of us here seem to prefer, I have no doubt that if the NatGeo/MapQuest (and that is a paper atlas, not online) were published as often and sold at as many stores, we'd handily prefer it. Or the MapArt North American atlas, as another example. Is that not so?

[paulthemapguy]

The Barnes and Noble in Plainfield, IN had it and that's where I bought my copy. They seem to get it first in my general area. I can always count on Plainfield having it by 2 weeks after the release date. I make my annual drive there every year to go pick one up. It cost me $16 exactly (including tax).

Bloomington's didn't have it as of last week, but they might have it now. There is a B&N in Terre Haute, but it's more devoted toward college students going to Indiana State, and I don't think they even carry Rand McNally Atlases there.

I am tripping balls right now because I just bought my copy of the atlas at a Barnes & Noble in Plainfield, Illinois.

[Revive 755]

I am tripping balls right now because I just bought my copy of the atlas at a Barnes & Noble in Plainfield, Illinois.

Please share your ability to access alternate realities so I can see how Chicagoland would be with more of the once proposed freeways completed, as the Barnes and Noble in Plainfield, Illinois closed a year or two ago.
Streetview from when Plainfield, Illinois had a Barnes and Noble
More recent streetview of the same site