Pennsylvania needs county roads.

[cpzilliacus]

This speaks to a broader topic, since many other states have few or no county roads, especially in this area (Maryland, Virginia, NC, WV). My experience is that when the counties stay on top of maintenance (New York, for example), it can be a great thing. Maintenance dollars are collected and spent locally, local priorities are taken care of, and decisions are made on an appropriate level. State agencies have more overhead and dollars can get spread around. Many states with few or no county roads just don't have enough funding trickling down to the smallest roads, which suffer greatly as a result. Most states with county roads have superior back roads to the state-maintenance-only ones.

Maryland has plenty of county roads, since in unincorporated areas (i.e., most of the state), counties maintain all public roads that are not numbered highways or federal parkways.

Correct. 

It is also true that county roads can vary wildly in condition and upkeep between counties of Maryland.  Many county roads in Prince George's County are in terrible condition (at least in part thanks to the TRIM property tax limitation [details here), and there are numerous posted bridges on county roads in Baltimore County (in particular north of the Urban/Rural Demarcation Line).

[logan230]

Quadrant Routes.