Lowest-numbered route you haven't been on

[Bruce]

I'm now up to 25.

1: BC, MI, US [NJ], Berlin
2: US [WA], MA
3: WA, ON, A [ENG]
4: WA
5: I [WA, OR], MI
6: WA, OR, US [OH]
7: WA, BC, OR
8: WA, OR, I [CA], MI
9: WA, MA
10: WA, MI
11: WA, OR
12: US [WA, MI]
13: QC
14: WA
15: BC,
16: WA
17: WA
18: WA
19: WA
20: WA, US [OR, ID, MA], QC
21: NJ
22: OR
23: US [OH]
24: WA
25
26: US [OR, ID]
27: WA
28: WA, MA
29
30: US [OR, ID], MA
31
32
33: US [OH]
34: OR
35

[US 89]

Mine is still 57, but over the past few months I've made considerable headway further down the list. As of now, there are only 5 route numbers below 200 that I have never used:

57: I should get I-57 on a cross country drive in a couple weeks ... and if not, I have a central Utah clinchdrive planned at some point that will pick up the one in Utah
161: easiest would be Utah, which I've passed both endpoints of but never actually used
162: annoyingly, I've been right past the end of Utah 162, but it is so far southeast it's hard to get to without another dedicated trip to the area. I've also been past the end of GA 162, which is close enough to Atlanta to be reachable
188: no obvious candidates here. There is no 188 in Utah, and Georgia's is way down south. Even neighboring states with a 188 have them in rather inaccessible places.
192: Georgia would be the easiest for this one, but I don't really ever have a reason to be in that part of the state (plus I've done that bit of I-16 already). Maybe someday I'll go to Disney again and find US 192 for a bit

[Ketchup99]

Drove I-195 to Cape Cod recently, which included a short overlap with MA-24. So 24 is done.
MA-25
PA-26
NC-27
MA-28
US-29
US-30
I think 31 is next.

[Rothman]

Down table leapfrogging...

oscar	511
formulanone	479
HTM Duke	386
hbelkins	334
corco	329
Konza	316
cl94	288
Rothman	288
Mapmikey	266
Duke87	265
jayhawkco	203
Hot Rod Hootenanny	192
deathtopumpkins	188
paulthemapguy	175
plain	174
rel4	170
hockeyjohn	154
csw	153
dfilpus	149
A.J. Bertin	148
Jim	139
dlsterner	135
Thing 342	127
Buck87	112
SGwithADD	112
Bitmapped	111
adwerkema	108
amroad17	107
cabiness42	107
Great Lakes Roads	107
tq-07fan	107
sparker	102
TheHighwayMan394	102
DandyDan	102
sbeaver44	102
skluth	102
bassoon1986	101
Flint1979	97
hobsini	97
1995hoo	96
Scott5114	93
74/171FAN	89
7/8	88
I-55	86
chesapeake256	84
Caps81943	82
Eth	63
SkyPesos	58
US 89	57
BrianP	53
Bickendan	48
mgk920	48
milbfan	47
noelbotevera	47
Big John	46
texaskdog	42
TBKS1	39
ipeters61	35
Evan_Th	33
ran4sh	32
Thunderbyrd316	31
ketchup99	31
doorknob60	29
Ben114	29
ftballfan	26
Bruce	25
mapman1071	24
kphoger	22
KEK Inc.	21
jp the roadgeek	19
stevashe	19
sharkyfour	19
CNGL-Leudimin	18
kurumi	18
Takumi	18
dvferyance	17
1	14
Roadgeekteen	14
RyanB06	14
cwf1701	13
SoDakInterstateEnthusiast	13
apeman33	12
JMoses24	12
ClassicHasClass	11
KEVIN_224	11
wxfree	9
FrCorySticha	9
CoreySamson	9
jeffandnicole	8
PHLBOS	8
TheGrassGuy	8
WillWeaverRVA	8
Tarkus	7
TheStranger	7
Pink Jazz	6
DeaconG	6
Skye	5
Super Mateo	4
Roadsguy	4
SoCal Kid	3
thspfc	3
LilianaUwU	3
Occidental Tourist	3
Truvelo	2
bzaharin	2
Zeffy	2
Finrod	2
Kulerage	2
Aaron Camp	2
skquinn	2
Hurricane Rex	1
idk	1

[kphoger]

Meanwhile, I still have never been on a 22 as far as I can determine.

Of all the times I've driven to and from the Mexican border on I-35, I don't think I've ever stopped for gas in Hillsboro, TX.  I've driven right past the northern terminus of MN-22, on MN-23.  I've been around the east side of Mexico (MO) but never the west side.  I've ridden Greyhound right past the northern terminus of WI-22, on US-41 en route to Menominee, MI.  So several close calls, but none qualifying.

Frustrating, it is.

[SkyPesos]

Meanwhile, I still have never been on a 22 as far as I can determine.

Of all the times I've driven to and from the Mexican border on I-35, I don't think I've ever stopped for gas in Hillsboro, TX.  I've driven right past the northern terminus of MN-22, on MN-23.  I've been around the east side of Mexico (MO) but never the west side.  I've ridden Greyhound right past the northern terminus of WI-22, on US-41 en route to Menominee, MI.  So several close calls, but none qualifying.

Frustrating, it is.

Just like how you found it surprising that I (and some others) haven't been on US 60 when you been on hundreds of miles of it, I find it surprising that you haven't been on a 22 when there is one in my backyard 

[kphoger]

I find it surprising that you haven't been on a 22 when there is one in my backyard

should have been a nimby

[Konza]

Meanwhile, I still have never been on a 22 as far as I can determine.

Of all the times I've driven to and from the Mexican border on I-35, I don't think I've ever stopped for gas in Hillsboro, TX.  I've driven right past the northern terminus of MN-22, on MN-23.  I've been around the east side of Mexico (MO) but never the west side.  I've ridden Greyhound right past the northern terminus of WI-22, on US-41 en route to Menominee, MI.  So several close calls, but none qualifying.

Frustrating, it is.

Never been on Half Day Road in the Chicago suburbs?  Was just on IL 22 in Lake Zurich and Fox River Grove a month ago...

[kphoger]

Never been on Half Day Road in the Chicago suburbs?  Was just on IL 22 in Lake Zurich and Fox River Grove a month ago...

Not that I can recall, no.

I used to live in Wheaton and Carol Stream (and River Forest before that), and my girlfriend at the time had some family in Ingleside.  That was twenty years ago, and I only specifically remember taking Metra up to Ingleside from downtown Chicago.  I do have a vague memory of driving between DuPage County and Ingleside, so it's likely that I have crossed Route 22 while driving on Rand Road a time or two.  But I don't count crossing a highway as "being on" that highway.

While living in the area, I rarely had any other occasion to go to the northern suburbs.  The only couple I can think of never took me that far north.

[Roadsguy]

I drove part of DE 4 last week, so my new lowest is 5. I don't live near any Route 5s, so it'll be a while before I have an excuse to drive one.

[Mapmikey]

Making the big move...

Took an 18-hr U-turn trip specifically to drive OH 266.

This means that the lowest number I have not been on is now 428...

[Rothman]

This is the kind of persistence and "someone needs to reconsider their life's priorities" kind of determination that I like to see in Operation: Get Oscar, whether you move up a couple hundred slots or just one.

oscar	511
formulanone	479
Mapmikey	428
HTM Duke	386
hbelkins	334
corco	329
Konza	316
cl94	288
Rothman	288
Duke87	265
jayhawkco	203
Hot Rod Hootenanny	192
deathtopumpkins	188
paulthemapguy	175
plain	174
rel4	170
hockeyjohn	154
csw	153
dfilpus	149
A.J. Bertin	148
Jim	139
dlsterner	135
Thing 342	127
Buck87	112
SGwithADD	112
Bitmapped	111
adwerkema	108
amroad17	107
cabiness42	107
Great Lakes Roads	107
tq-07fan	107
sparker	102
TheHighwayMan394	102
DandyDan	102
sbeaver44	102
skluth	102
bassoon1986	101
Flint1979	97
hobsini	97
1995hoo	96
Scott5114	93
74/171FAN	89
7/8	88
I-55	86
chesapeake256	84
Caps81943	82
Eth	63
SkyPesos	58
US 89	57
BrianP	53
Bickendan	48
mgk920	48
milbfan	47
noelbotevera	47
Big John	46
texaskdog	42
TBKS1	39
ipeters61	35
Evan_Th	33
ran4sh	32
Thunderbyrd316	31
ketchup99	31
doorknob60	29
Ben114	29
ftballfan	26
Bruce	25
mapman1071	24
kphoger	22
KEK Inc.	21
jp the roadgeek	19
stevashe	19
sharkyfour	19
CNGL-Leudimin	18
kurumi	18
Takumi	18
dvferyance	17
1	14
Roadgeekteen	14
RyanB06	14
cwf1701	13
SoDakInterstateEnthusiast	13
apeman33	12
JMoses24	12
ClassicHasClass	11
KEVIN_224	11
wxfree	9
FrCorySticha	9
CoreySamson	9
jeffandnicole	8
PHLBOS	8
TheGrassGuy	8
WillWeaverRVA	8
Tarkus	7
TheStranger	7
Pink Jazz	6
DeaconG	6
Skye	5
Roadsguy	5
Super Mateo	4
SoCal Kid	3
thspfc	3
LilianaUwU	3
Occidental Tourist	3
Truvelo	2
bzaharin	2
Zeffy	2
Finrod	2
Kulerage	2
Aaron Camp	2
skquinn	2
Hurricane Rex	1
idk	1

[74/171FAN]

Making the big move...

Took an 18-hr U-turn trip specifically to drive OH 266.

This means that the lowest number I have not been on is now 428...

I am glad to hear that there is one in Ohio.  I was wondering how you would get there because I saw that only NY seems to have one in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast.

I am expecting to stay at 89 for a while. (though that might change if I make it to Arizona next month)  I recently got 91 (OH), 108 (PA), 151 (OH), 210 (PA), 240 (VA), 243 (VA), 318 (MD and PA), 349 (MD), 350 (PA), 353 (MD), 368 (PA), 371 (KY), 379 (VA), 383 (MD), 385 (VA), and 388 (VA).  I will not look above 400 at this point, but there is a chance that I go up to 154 in a few months.

[Konza]

Yep, if you're in it to win it, have to keep your next routes in mind.

No fornicating fecal matter.

Last month I crossed over Ohio 323 while driving I-71 from Columbus to Cincinnati.  Obviously if I had been at the top of my game I would have exited the super slab and driven 323 for a while.

It's still probably the most accessible 323 to me, but who knows when I will be there again?

Life can be an unpleasant woman some times.

[dlsterner]

This is the kind of persistence and "someone needs to reconsider their life's priorities" kind of determination that I like to see in Operation: Get Oscar, whether you move up a couple hundred slots or just one.

I have the sneaking suspicion that sometime soon, oscar is going to post and announce that he has just returned from one of his road trips and is now up to somewhere in the upper 700's ...

[Scott5114]

This is the kind of persistence and "someone needs to reconsider their life's priorities" kind of determination that I like to see in Operation: Get Oscar, whether you move up a couple hundred slots or just one.

I have the sneaking suspicion that sometime soon, oscar is going to post and announce that he has just returned from one of his road trips and is now up to somewhere in the upper 700's ...

Either that or someone like the TxDOT Farm-to-Market Road Program Director is going to join and then we're all going to have to get to 3551 or something.

(I'm a little surprised H.B. is on a three-digit number and not a four-digit one...)

[US 89]

Mine is still 57, but over the past few months I've made considerable headway further down the list. As of now, there are only 5 route numbers below 200 that I have never used:

57: I should get I-57 on a cross country drive in a couple weeks ... and if not, I have a central Utah clinchdrive planned at some point that will pick up the one in Utah
161: easiest would be Utah, which I've passed both endpoints of but never actually used
162: annoyingly, I've been right past the end of Utah 162, but it is so far southeast it's hard to get to without another dedicated trip to the area. I've also been past the end of GA 162, which is close enough to Atlanta to be reachable
188: no obvious candidates here. There is no 188 in Utah, and Georgia's is way down south. Even neighboring states with a 188 have them in rather inaccessible places.
192: Georgia would be the easiest for this one, but I don't really ever have a reason to be in that part of the state (plus I've done that bit of I-16 already). Maybe someday I'll go to Disney again and find US 192 for a bit

I just clinched Utah 57 and 161 today. My lowest is now 162.

[SkyPesos]

Mine is still 57, but over the past few months I've made considerable headway further down the list. As of now, there are only 5 route numbers below 200 that I have never used:

57: I should get I-57 on a cross country drive in a couple weeks ... and if not, I have a central Utah clinchdrive planned at some point that will pick up the one in Utah
161: easiest would be Utah, which I've passed both endpoints of but never actually used
162: annoyingly, I've been right past the end of Utah 162, but it is so far southeast it's hard to get to without another dedicated trip to the area. I've also been past the end of GA 162, which is close enough to Atlanta to be reachable
188: no obvious candidates here. There is no 188 in Utah, and Georgia's is way down south. Even neighboring states with a 188 have them in rather inaccessible places.
192: Georgia would be the easiest for this one, but I don't really ever have a reason to be in that part of the state (plus I've done that bit of I-16 already). Maybe someday I'll go to Disney again and find US 192 for a bit

I just clinched Utah 57 and 161 today. My lowest is now 162.

I actually thought you would get I-57 first for a 57, considering that I-57 is included in the "Ultimate I-64 and I-70 Experience" package, and it seemed like you were in the Midwest over the past week based on your other posts.

[Rothman]

A somewhat decent bump up...

oscar	511
formulanone	479
Mapmikey	428
HTM Duke	386
hbelkins	334
corco	329
Konza	316
cl94	288
Rothman	288
Duke87	265
jayhawkco	203
Hot Rod Hootenanny	192
deathtopumpkins	188
paulthemapguy	175
plain	174
rel4	170
US 89	162
hockeyjohn	154
csw	153
dfilpus	149
A.J. Bertin	148
Jim	139
dlsterner	135
Thing 342	127
Buck87	112
SGwithADD	112
Bitmapped	111
adwerkema	108
amroad17	107
cabiness42	107
Great Lakes Roads	107
tq-07fan	107
sparker	102
TheHighwayMan394	102
DandyDan	102
sbeaver44	102
skluth	102
bassoon1986	101
Flint1979	97
hobsini	97
1995hoo	96
Scott5114	93
74/171FAN	89
7/8	88
I-55	86
chesapeake256	84
Caps81943	82
Eth	63
SkyPesos	58
BrianP	53
Bickendan	48
mgk920	48
milbfan	47
noelbotevera	47
Big John	46
texaskdog	42
TBKS1	39
ipeters61	35
Evan_Th	33
ran4sh	32
Thunderbyrd316	31
ketchup99	31
doorknob60	29
Ben114	29
ftballfan	26
Bruce	25
mapman1071	24
kphoger	22
KEK Inc.	21
jp the roadgeek	19
stevashe	19
sharkyfour	19
CNGL-Leudimin	18
kurumi	18
Takumi	18
dvferyance	17
1	14
Roadgeekteen	14
RyanB06	14
cwf1701	13
SoDakInterstateEnthusiast	13
apeman33	12
JMoses24	12
ClassicHasClass	11
KEVIN_224	11
wxfree	9
FrCorySticha	9
CoreySamson	9
jeffandnicole	8
PHLBOS	8
TheGrassGuy	8
WillWeaverRVA	8
Tarkus	7
TheStranger	7
Pink Jazz	6
DeaconG	6
Skye	5
Roadsguy	5
Super Mateo	4
SoCal Kid	3
thspfc	3
LilianaUwU	3
Occidental Tourist	3
Truvelo	2
bzaharin	2
Zeffy	2
Finrod	2
Kulerage	2
Aaron Camp	2
skquinn	2
Hurricane Rex	1
idk	1

[Rothman]

Where we're at:

Did some very, very simple statistical analysis of our little group of 112 roadgeeks: 

--Our current range goes from 1 to 511, but a histogram is obviously skewed very much to the right, with a skew just over 2.  The kurtosis is also more than a little obvious, with the data peaking all the way over to the left with a very long tail (kurtosis =4.39). 

--The mode of our dataset is 2, with seven roadgeeks stuck down there, but we also have another secondary peak of five roadgeeks that are stuck at 102 (get thee to Acadia National Park, thou stuck roadgeeks). 

--The median is at 40, which is demonstrative of the tremendous skew of our dataset (i.e., half our roadgeeks are stuck at 40 or below, and the remainder, after a secondary lump, spread out thinner and thinner all the way up to 511).  Our mean is 84, and the difference between the mean and median is also indicative of the tremendous skew of the data.

--A key point is 203.  Beyond this point, the gaps between roadgeeks get notably larger.  Below 203, the biggest gap is 19 (between 63 and 82).  Beyond 203, despite a small five-point gap between 329 and 334, most of the rest are relatively gigantic (in the 40s, 50s and even above 60).

An amateur may conclude that "the higher you go, the harder it gets," but I do not think the data supports that assertion.  I would think the larger gaps in the upper range would indicate that large jumps are easier, probably due to people racking up routes when further down the line while having holes of lower numbers that they still needed to snag.

And, of course, the skew to the right seems to correlate to American income distribution histograms, where those with more economic means and schedule freedom have more ability to move up the ranks than those that do not.

Here's an image of the histogram of our little group, for what little it may be worth:

[74/171FAN]

Making the big move...

Took an 18-hr U-turn trip specifically to drive OH 266.

This means that the lowest number I have not been on is now 428...

I guess your next trip will lead you to PA 428 in Oil City, PA.

[Scott5114]

--The mode of our dataset is 2, with seven roadgeeks stuck down there, but we also have another secondary peak of five roadgeeks that are stuck at 102 (get thee to Acadia National Park, thou stuck roadgeeks).

Or Lincoln or Pottawatomie counties in OK. OK-102 is a fairly painless clinch close in to the OKC metro. It also concurs with I-40 if you're in it for the easy pickup for this thread (but not the other one). It even connects with old US-66 on the north end so you can touch it as part of a 66 trip.

An amateur may conclude that "the higher you go, the harder it gets," but I do not think the data supports that assertion.  I would think the larger gaps in the upper range would indicate that large jumps are easier, probably due to people racking up routes when further down the line while having holes of lower numbers that they still need to snag.

I suspect the truth of "the higher you go, the harder it gets" depends on the state(s) within your daytrip range. I'd be interested in seeing a plot of the data that identified the declared state of residence of the user.

The highest state highway number Oklahoma has ever commissioned will be a week old tomorrow, and that number is 375. There's also a ton of gaps in between there and the lower numbers (the valid SH in numbers in OK above 170 are 171, 199, 209, 266, 270, 251A, 301, 312, 351, 364, and 375, with 344 having been approved but not constructed yet.) The highest number in OK, full stop, is 444.

Meanwhile, someone living in Cincinnati, Virginia, or central Texas has access to large densities of high numbers within daytrip range. Seeing the sorts of numbers I'd need to get Oscar is a novelty when I travel out of Oklahoma; we just don't have things like Route 744 in Springfield MO or SR-912 in northwest IN.

[74/171FAN]

Meanwhile, someone living in Cincinnati, Virginia, or central Texas has access to large densities of high numbers within daytrip range. Seeing the sorts of numbers I'd need to get Oscar is a novelty when I travel out of Oklahoma; we just don't have things like Route 744 in Springfield MO or SR-912 in northwest IN.

Well I have MD 940, PA 994, PA 995, PA 997, and PA 999 within 100 miles of my current residence.  That only helps oscar.

[Mapmikey]

Making the big move...

Took an 18-hr U-turn trip specifically to drive OH 266.

This means that the lowest number I have not been on is now 428...

I guess your next trip will lead you to PA 428 in Oil City, PA.

I'm missing 5 of the next 6 numbers, so going specifically to get 428 won't net me much.  There is no 429 within my day trip range.

I do have an itinerary to go get the rest of the US routes I'm missing in Penna, which include most of US 62; east half of US 20 and most of US 6 west of Warren.  This would give me opportunities to get 428 and 430...

Geography of where roadgeeks live is a huge factor.  If you live way out west you might struggle to get the <10 numbers. 

Per Wikipedia, there is only one current primary 511 in the lower 48 (OH 511).  Some people might count state-wide secondary systems such as NJ and FL having 511s.  I'm guessing most people would not count the very well posted full-shielded Virginia secondary routes, which would enable both Oscar and me to run up the number line quite easily once either of us reaches 600.

[dlsterner]

--The mode of our dataset is 2, with seven roadgeeks stuck down there, but we also have another secondary peak of five roadgeeks that are stuck at 102 (get thee to Acadia National Park, thou stuck roadgeeks).

Or Lincoln or Pottawatomie counties in OK. OK-102 is a fairly painless clinch close in to the OKC metro. It also concurs with I-40 if you're in it for the easy pickup for this thread (but not the other one). It even connects with old US-66 on the north end so you can touch it as part of a 66 trip.

Yet another option is to go to the Jacksonville FL airport.  The access road to the airport is FL 102, which is how I got my 102.  Somehow I missed getting ME 102 when I was at Acadia back in 2019.