What state has the best looking milage markers?

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

Illinois maybe, only detractors is that they do it by county, instead of total, and not every county (especially Cook and unfortunately Kankakee) has them.

[epzik8]

When I was driving through NE Ohio this past April, I loved how they had enhanced mile markers in the median every 2/10 miles while also leaving up their older mile markers every whole mile alongside the newer ones in the median.

[vdeane]

These classics from around Albany, NY.

[I-55]

When I was driving through NE Ohio this past April, I loved how they had enhanced mile markers in the median every 2/10 miles while also leaving up their older mile markers every whole mile alongside the newer ones in the median.

This is my preferred method. Blue 2/10 enhanced markers in the median with green 10/10 markers on the outside shoulder. Some states do the enhanced in green (though I like blue better), some states put the enhanced markers on the outside shoulder instead of the median (looks wrong). Some places (Indiana) can't make up their mind or vary by district on placement.

[Scott5114]

Nevada's milemarkers are so goofy I can't help but love them.

[PNWRoadgeek]

All I know is that Oregon definitely doesn't. We just typically slap a small green "MILE (insert mile here)" sign on the side of the highway. Some miles don't even have them.

[freebrickproductions]

All I know is that Oregon definitely doesn't. We just typically slap a small green "MILE (insert mile here)" sign on the side of the highway. Some miles don't even have them.

Pretty sure that's the basic MUTCD standard, Alabama is very much the same way.

That being said, I do like how Alabama puts them on every state-maintained highway (unlike Mississippi), and has them count upwards from the southern/western-most point of the highway without resetting at the county lines (unlike Tennessee and Georgia).

I suppose Tennessee's mileposts are a bit unique as well, at least when it comes to the non-Interstate/freeway highways, given that they always contain two numbers: the state route and the milepost.

[The_Ginger]

Nevada's milemarkers are so goofy I can't help but love them.

Those look cool, but what does the "NY" mean? Is 35 the mile marked?

[Big John]

^^ I think NY is the abbreviation for Nye County and 35 is the mile maeker.

[Scott5114]

Yep, they started out as a copy of California's, and likewise reset at county lines (which is sensible since some of Nevada's counties are bigger than entire states and it's not uncommon for a highway to rack up three digits worth of mileage in a single county). But then they got way bigger and started having a shield on them. (In urban areas they still use the kind that look like CA's.)

Since there's only 17 counties it's pretty easy to remember the whole list of them, especially since there's only one that isn't the first two letters or first letter of each word.

CC - Carson City
CH - Churchill
CL - Clark
DO - Douglas
EL - Elko
ES - Esmeralda
EU - Eureka
HU - Humboldt
LA - Lander
LN - Lincoln
LY - Lyon
MI - Mineral
NY - Nye
PE - Pershing
ST - Storey
WA - Washoe
WP - White Pine

[kphoger]

I do admit, I have a nostalgic soft spot for Kansas' mile markers using individual number squares.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BbQyHVteSYFYa21F7

reset at county lines

I hate that practice.

[roadfro]

Nevada's milemarkers are so goofy I can't help but love them.

Those look cool, but what does the "NY" mean? Is 35 the mile marked?

Scott gave a great primer a couple posts back. Here's further info/discussion about Nevada's enhanced mileposts, if interested:

NDOT: Milepost Signs
AARoads thread in Pacific Southwest (started in 2014): New style of mileposts in test trials on Nevada highways

[Bitmapped]

I do admit, I have a nostalgic soft spot for Kansas' mile markers using individual number squares.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BbQyHVteSYFYa21F7

West Virginia does the same on US, WV, and select county routes, just with black-on-white signs. Here's a very old example: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sT7tDVv5iaUgZtcJA

[kphoger]

Nevada's milemarkers are so goofy I can't help but love them.

I cannot say that any mile marker is good whose most important piece of information is displayed sideways.

[Road Hog]

Both Oklahoma and Arkansas are beginning to use mileposts with the shield and direction on freeways. Oklahoma even uses half-mile markers on U.S. 69 north of the Red River. I'm glad Oklahoma brought back mile markers on 69.

[The_Ginger]

I do admit, I have a nostalgic soft spot for Kansas' mile markers using individual number squares.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BbQyHVteSYFYa21F7

West Virginia does the same on US, WV, and select county routes, just with black-on-white signs. Here's a very old example: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sT7tDVv5iaUgZtcJA

I like looking out for these on trips. (Here's a better GSV view) The catch is that they are only put on one side of the road, and installed double-sided. I'm not sure if there is any rhyme or reason to which side they are installed on.

This becomes a problem because the larger markers—which are discussed in the second part of my post—are only installed on select 4-lane highways. So, in areas along the US 33/WV 2 freeway near me or spots along US 50 (Corridor D), the post is only installed on one side, and can't see them from the other side. Look at this link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HaanikwntyhXVup86 . That third post to the right of the BGS is a marker.
For the actual markers, West Virginia uses one of three types of markers.

• Interstates
  These are green and white, and feature the shield, cardinal direction, and mile. They are typically installed every 0.5 miles, but exceptions occur. https://maps.app.goo.gl/FmTfRp2ZyGaXuQD28
• ADHS Corridors
  Same layout as the Interstates, but blue. In the place of the shield, a WV outline is inserted and the letter of the Corridor is placed. https://maps.app.goo.gl/MbL1cTj6UvY3dYLfA
• Select US and WV 4-lane Routes
  Some routes, like WV 9 and US 35, have these markers. They are the same layout as the ADHS Corridor posts, but instead of the WV outline, it is the route shield. https://maps.app.goo.gl/NBQKfENW8c8g11iHA

[Scott5114]

I hate that practice.

In a state that is as large as Nevada, with as many remote areas as it has, it is necessary. US 95 has greater than 100 miles in three consecutive counties (CL NY ES), and reaches the 90s in the fourth (MI). If the mileposts shouldn't reset there, they shouldn't be resetting between Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts either.

I cannot say that any mile marker is good whose most important piece of information is displayed sideways.

Ah. You just don't like fun.

[The_Ginger]

I cannot say that any mile marker is good whose most important piece of information is displayed sideways.

Ah. You just don't like fun.

After looking at some of these, I actually don't find it that hard to read. It's more natural than I thought.

Maybe it's time to start rotating the numbers on BGS's around here. [/sarcasm] 

[kphoger]

In a state that is as large as Nevada, with as many remote areas as it has, it is necessary. US 95 has greater than 100 miles in three consecutive counties (CL NY ES), and reaches the 90s in the fourth (MI). If the mileposts shouldn't reset there, they shouldn't be resetting between Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts either.

I don't see how Nevada's remoteness and large counties have anything to do with it.  I don't think mile markers should reset unless the route ends or it hits a state line.  Heck, if I had to choose between (a) resetting at every county line and (b) not resetting at state lines, then I'd choose (b).

Is there some good reason why US-95 in Nevada shouldn't simply go up to mile marker 508?  You say "it is necessary" for the numbers to reset in the middle of nowhere halfway between Tonopah and Luning, but I just don't see how it's necessary that they don't simply keep counting up.  Here is mile marker 667 on US-2 in Montana;  is that somehow a barrier to navigation that Nevada must avoid?

What I'd really rather have is mile markers that count down to cities rather than political boundaries that aren't typically anybody's destination.  But at least a state line feels like an actual thing to cross, whereas a county line is pretty much meaningless to me as a driver.

[Scott5114]

Is there some good reason why US-95 in Nevada shouldn't simply go up to mile marker 508?  You say "it is necessary" for the numbers to reset in the middle of nowhere halfway between Tonopah and Luning, but I just don't see how it's necessary that they don't simply keep counting up.  Here is mile marker 667 on US-2 in Montana;  is that somehow a barrier to navigation that Nevada must avoid?

Most of Nevada has no cell service, so if you see someone in trouble you have to remember where they were and call the authorities next time you have service.

If you're reporting someone broken down at "Nye County mile 57" everyone involved knows exactly which county sheriff needs to be dispatched.

If you just had a bald statewide mileage of "mile 159", at some point someone is going to need to cross-reference that with...I dunno, AARoads Wiki or something, to see what county it's in. And the people they hire as 911 dispatchers in Clark County, at least, don't have the brainpower for that. (When high winds left a street name sign here about to fall into traffic, it took me fifteen minutes to get the dispatcher to understand which intersection I was talking about and that it was a street sign the city owned and not a sign owned by a business.)

There is also the problem for NDOT that if there's a realignment, you might end up with several hundred miles of incorrect milemarkers. At least if they reset at county lines the problem will be contained in one county.

[Mapmikey]

Virginia, but only this one:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aZirVjBYiUjFaXFK9

[kphoger]

Most of Nevada has no cell service, so if you see someone in trouble you have to remember where they were and call the authorities next time you have service.

If you're reporting someone broken down at "Nye County mile 57" everyone involved knows exactly which county sheriff needs to be dispatched.

But, on the other hand, if you say "mile marker 57" and didn't happen to notice which county code it is (or even know that the two-letter code is a county code), then they'd ask you "which mile marker 57"?

At any rate, I agree that resetting at county lines is better if the county name (or code, I guess) is also displayed on the mile marker—better than if it isn't.

[Scott5114]

But, on the other hand, if you say "mile marker 57" and didn't happen to notice which county code it is (or even know that the two-letter code is a county code), then they'd ask you "which mile marker 57"?

Because the counties are so large, it's unlikely that calls for two of them numbered alike would be routed to the same call center. US-95 doesn't have a 57 in Clark County (because it was along what is now the I-11 overlap), but CL 54 is just south of Boulder City. The next 54 is NY 54, south of Beatty 132 miles away, and not even in the same area code as CL 54!

[kphoger]

Because the counties are so large, it's unlikely that calls for two of them numbered alike would be routed to the same call center. US-95 doesn't have a 57 in Clark County (because it was along what is now the I-11 overlap), but CL 54 is just south of Boulder City. The next 54 is NY 54, south of Beatty 132 miles away, and not even in the same area code as CL 54!

In that particular case, yes.

As a counterexample, I give you NV-361, whose Nye County mile markers are 22.2 miles from their same-number Mineral County counterparts.

[freebrickproductions]

Most of Nevada has no cell service, so if you see someone in trouble you have to remember where they were and call the authorities next time you have service.

If you're reporting someone broken down at "Nye County mile 57" everyone involved knows exactly which county sheriff needs to be dispatched.

But, on the other hand, if you say "mile marker 57" and didn't happen to notice which county code it is (or even know that the two-letter code is a county code), then they'd ask you "which mile marker 57"?

At any rate, I agree that resetting at county lines is better if the county name (or code, I guess) is also displayed on the mile marker—better than if it isn't.

Yeah, part of the problem with resetting highway mileposts at county lines is that most states that reset at the county lines don't exactly post the county (or county code) on the mileposts. And then, in states, like Tennessee and Georgia, you also just have close to, if not well over, 100 different tiny little counties (with Tennessee have 95, and Georgia having 159), meaning that it's pretty rare to reach a three-digit milepost on a non-Interstate highway (or even close to or above MP 50, it feels like, especially in Georgia). And then, if you can't recall what county sign you last passed...