Rand McNally's Road Atlas turns 90

[txstateends]

According to a posting a few hours ago on their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/randmcnally

It says their website's been revamped also.

[WillWeaverRVA]

And it's gradually become senile over the years, true to its age.

[mukade]

I downloaded the iPad version of the 2014 atlas and looked at Indiana which should have a bunch of changes. It does:

Shown as complete:
- I-69 sections 1, 2, and 3
- US 31 Kokomo bypass (opens in 2013)
- US 31 South Bend-Plymouth (opens in 2014)
- US 24 Fort to Port (also was in 2013 atlas)
- SR 25 eastern and western ends with some sections shown as freeway (it kinda sorta is, but is really an expressway with many overpasses)
- US 231 bypass in West Lafayette (even shows US 52 on route)
- SR 331 in Mishawaka
- SR 45/SR 46 bypass in Bloomington

Showing as under construction:
- SR 25 around Delphi (opened in 2012)
- I-69 section 4
- SR 641 Terre Haute bypass

Not shown as under construction:
- SR 25 from Delphi to Rockfield (is UC)
- I-265 east end (will be UC)
- US 31 Hamilton County (is UC)

Not shown or incorrect:
- Several highways near interchanges not shown as multilane (SR 22 east side of Kokomo, SR 14 west side of Ft. Wayne, several on I-465)
- US 136 Crawfordsville Rd. realignment
- SR 931
- I-69 Union Chapel interchange
- Current US 24/US 35 section in Logansport that will be ripped out shown as freeway
- SR 49 Vale Park Rd interchange
- SR 912 (Cline Avenue) truncated at US 12

Bonuses:
- US 27 Decatur-SR 124 finally shown as divided
- SR 28 from I-65 to Frankfort finally shown as divided
- US 231 expressway south of I-64 finally shown and part as freeway
- Part of SR 49 in Valpo shown as freeway
- Part of SR 37 in Bloomington shown as freeway
- Parts of US 41 shown as freeway
- US 35 in Logansport shown as freeway (is not divided, but does have interchanges)
- I-65 109th Avenue interchange shown
- I-69 new exit numbers shown!!

I am OK calling some short stretches that are fully controlled as freeway, but it is inconsistent. Part of Lloyd Expressway in Evansville and part of the Muncie bypass should also be shown as freeway if that is the standard.

[bugo]

May it live 90 more.  A lot of road enthusiasts diss the Rand McNally, but there's no question that it was my favorite storybook during my formative years.  I still buy one every year, and retire my current atlas when I get a new one.  Despite its flaws, it is an icon and I would hate to lose it.

[Bickendan]

I just took a gander at their site, and unless I just couldn't find it in their store, it looks like the Thomas Guide (and the Street Guide) are no more.

[Kniwt]

Dropped my five bucks. US 50 in Nevada is still labeled "LONLIEST ROAD" (sic). Harumph.

On edit:
The southeast bypass of Yuma (SR 195) still isn't shown at all.
The Eisenhower Tunnel on Colorado I-70 still looks like it's under construction and closed; the dashed lines extend between the two exits and not just the length of the tunnel, and US 6 over Loveland Pass is shown as a primary route.
But on the plus side, the Devil's Slide tunnel on California SR 1 is shown as complete.

[kphoger]

Harumph.

In Nevada, that's spelled Pahrump, and it's nowhere near US-50.

[NWI_Irish96]

I downloaded the iPad version of the 2014 atlas and looked at Indiana which should have a bunch of changes. It does:

Shown as complete:
- I-69 sections 1, 2, and 3
- US 31 Kokomo bypass (opens in 2013)
- US 31 South Bend-Plymouth (opens in 2014)
- US 24 Fort to Port (also was in 2013 atlas)
- SR 25 eastern and western ends with some sections shown as freeway (it kinda sorta is, but is really an expressway with many overpasses)
- US 231 bypass in West Lafayette (even shows US 52 on route)
- SR 331 in Mishawaka
- SR 45/SR 46 bypass in Bloomington

Showing as under construction:
- SR 25 around Delphi (opened in 2012)
- I-69 section 4
- SR 641 Terre Haute bypass

Not shown as under construction:
- SR 25 from Delphi to Rockfield (is UC)
- I-265 east end (will be UC)
- US 31 Hamilton County (is UC)

Not shown or incorrect:
- Several highways near interchanges not shown as multilane (SR 22 east side of Kokomo, SR 14 west side of Ft. Wayne, several on I-465)
- US 136 Crawfordsville Rd. realignment
- SR 931
- I-69 Union Chapel interchange
- Current US 24/US 35 section in Logansport that will be ripped out shown as freeway
- SR 49 Vale Park Rd interchange
- SR 912 (Cline Avenue) truncated at US 12

Bonuses:
- US 27 Decatur-SR 124 finally shown as divided
- SR 28 from I-65 to Frankfort finally shown as divided
- US 231 expressway south of I-64 finally shown and part as freeway
- Part of SR 49 in Valpo shown as freeway
- Part of SR 37 in Bloomington shown as freeway
- Parts of US 41 shown as freeway
- US 35 in Logansport shown as freeway (is not divided, but does have interchanges)
- I-65 109th Avenue interchange shown
- I-69 new exit numbers shown!!

I am OK calling some short stretches that are fully controlled as freeway, but it is inconsistent. Part of Lloyd Expressway in Evansville and part of the Muncie bypass should also be shown as freeway if that is the standard.

How about the changes in Clark/Floyd counties discussed here: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=6921.msg214759#msg214759

[StogieGuy7]

I just took a gander at their site, and unless I just couldn't find it in their store, it looks like the Thomas Guide (and the Street Guide) are no more.

The Rand McNally Company should be brought up on charges for gradually killing off the venerable Thomas Guide. 

At one time, Thomas Brothers Mapping was expanding into other markets from Phoenix and Tucson to Washington and Baltimore.  Them Rand McNally bought them and rapidly scaled back their marketing area to California only.  Then they destroyed their beautiful topography.  First by cheapening it, finally by making it comply with their own mapping standards (much like the concept of the Golden Corral chain buying up Morton's Steakhouses, then trying to pass off Golden Corral steaks as Morton's).   

So finally, they snuffed it out all together?  Rand McNally's contemporary maps are not very good; they're really crappy when compared with what they offered 15 years ago.  A Rand McNally atlas of LA or the Bay Area (or Seattle) is absolutely no substitute for a Thomas Guide.   

[mukade]

How about the changes in Clark/Floyd counties discussed here: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=6921.msg214759#msg214759

No, those changes are not in there, but they were pretty recent. I did notice that the New Harmony bridge is gone, though. Bottom line is that they fixed more things in this 2014 edition than I remember in any previous year - for Indiana.

A quick look at other states showed some changes like Illinois 255 being extended to US 67 and US 20 upgrade across Iowa. I-69 in Texas is only shown right by I-37. I guess I would have expected that one to be marked from Houston north as far as it goes.

[US 41]

The Rand McNally is the most accurate road atlas I know of. I know it has some mistakes, but every road atlas has mistakes, some worse than others. Whenever I go on vacations I always bring my Rand Mcnally road atlas with me. It hasn't gotten me lost yet. IMO Randmcnally is a 5 star road atlas.   

[empirestate]

The Rand McNally is the most accurate road atlas I know of.

Behold, as I transform that sentence from true to false: MapArt makes a road atlas. Now you know of a more accurate one. :-)

[PHLBOS]

I'd be curious to know if Rand McNally finally made the following updates on their PA maps & atlases:

1.  Include the newly-opened US 202 Parkway (I'm a bit surprised that previous editions did not even show this road as "under construction").

2.  Include the new Exit 329 (Henderson Rd.) interchange off I-76/Schuylkill Expressway) westbound; this opened about a year ago.

3.  Include the newly-opened Exit 320 (PA 29) interchange off I-76/PA Turnpike.

[swbrotha100]

From what I was able to see of the 2014 edition, Rand McNally FINALLY corrected the US 60 routing in the downtown Phoenix area. Also included the Loop 303 connection to I-17 (as a freeway) and has the first mile of AZ 24 (guess it will be open by 2014).

I noticed I-49 got labeled more in Missouri (south of Joplin). I-49 is also shown in Louisiana (from about the border with Arkansas to a little north of the Shreveport area.

Still no I-22 shields on US 78 in Alabama and Mississippi. I figured there would be a connection between I-22 and I-65 by the end of next year.

More toll roads in the Dallas/Fort Worth area than I can keep track of. At least one new tollway is shown as under construction. There seem to be a lot more tollways in Houston too. I wasn't able to compare the 2014 atlas side-by-side with a 2013 edition, so maybe I didn't notice.

[FLRoads]

I'd be curious to know if Rand McNally finally made the following updates on their PA maps & atlases:

1.  Include the newly-opened US 202 Parkway (I'm a bit surprised that previous editions did not even show this road as "under construction").

2.  Include the new Exit 329 (Henderson Rd.) interchange off I-76/Schuylkill Expressway) westbound; this opened about a year ago.

3.  Include the newly-opened Exit 320 (PA 29) interchange off I-76/PA Turnpike.

They did add an interchange box for PA 29 at the Turnpike on the eastern PA page. There is no interchange box shown in the Philadelphia inset for Exit 329.

[Alex]

More toll roads in the Dallas/Fort Worth area than I can keep track of. At least one new tollway is shown as under construction. There seem to be a lot more tollways in Houston too. I wasn't able to compare the 2014 atlas side-by-side with a 2013 edition, so maybe I didn't notice.

That's Chisholm Trail (SH 121). I noticed they also show SH 49 around Tyler completed and SH 550 toward Brownsville.

I just took a gander at their site, and unless I just couldn't find it in their store, it looks like the Thomas Guide (and the Street Guide) are no more.

They no longer maintain the Thomas Guides...

[PHLBOS]

I'd be curious to know if Rand McNally finally made the following updates on their PA maps & atlases:

1.  Include the newly-opened US 202 Parkway (I'm a bit surprised that previous editions did not even show this road as "under construction").

2.  Include the new Exit 329 (Henderson Rd.) interchange off I-76/Schuylkill Expressway) westbound; this opened about a year ago.

3.  Include the newly-opened Exit 320 (PA 29) interchange off I-76/PA Turnpike.

They did add an interchange box for PA 29 at the Turnpike on the eastern PA page. There is no interchange box shown in the Philadelphia inset for Exit 329.

That's kind of ironic because Exit 329 (King of Prussia-Norristown aka Henderson Road) has been open to traffic longer than Exit 320 (PA 29).

FWIW, AAA's recent maps for the area do not yet show the above-updates (not even a dashed/under construction line for the US 202 Parkway).  New editions of these maps will likely become available this coming July.  Not sure if the state-issued maps that one gets at the various PA Welcome Centers have been updated as of yet.

[Henry]

As always, it'll be interesting to see what new changes have been made since the last update! I can easily see this as a collector's item, being the 90th edition and all.

[FLRoads]

I've had my 2014 for a few days now and after looking it over quite a few times, I have to admit that I am more satisfied with this edition over the previous two editions. It looks like they have updated their map base again as I noticed some alignment changes on some insets (FL East Coast inset for example) and map pages.

Recent additions like I-781 in NY and I-580 in NV are shown this edition, so it shows that there has been some improvement in their research department. Though there are still some errors, it was also nice to see that some have finally been corrected (like I-170 in the Baltimore inset).

[swbrotha100]

I noticed on the Washington DC inset, how wide I-495 in Virginia seems to be. You would get the impression that there were 3 separate roadways. The map shows the Dulles Airport Road as 3 separate, wider roadways than I-495..

[SSOWorld]

They seem to be marking non-freeway portions of on routes not marked as Interstates.

i.e. GSP at-grades marked as non-limited divided and the connected freeway portions as non-tolled in Cape May region, but sections with driveways in Texas of I-10 and I-40 are still marked full freeway.

Subject change:

Changes noticed in Wisconsin that I found:
* US 10 related reroutes including WIS highways 80, 13, 66, and 186 around Marshfield, Wis Rapids and Stevens Point
* US 45 marked as a freeway NW of US 41 near Oshkosh (accurately)
* US 41 more accurately routed aroundOconto and Pestigo. (was marked with city dots on the route in 2013)
* WIS 54-57 marked as freeway from I-43 to the split of the two routes
* WIS 29 now shows where Interchanges are present with the road marked as limited access around the interchanges (Boyd, Stanley, Thorp, Withee, Curtiss, Abbotsford, WIS 97 to Edgar, Marathon City, Ringle, Hatley, Wittenburg, Angelica and WIS 32.  There are still inaccuracies (portion between Boyd and US 53 entirely access controlled, not all of road between WIS 97 and Edgar controlled,
* Phantom uncontrolled divided US 17 south of Rhinelander finally corrected two 2-lane (what after two+ decades?? (They also removed the portion east - which is urban divided - but this might be justifiable as a portion of that has a center left-turn "Chicken" lane)
* US 12 marked as freeway from I-94 to Baraboo (The Casino Freeway)

There are still inaccuracies left open though (no surprise)
* Wausau's business 51 still marked uncontrolled divided - not true (the only "median" is a raised rumble strip)
* If they're being specific with WIS 29 - why not do that with US 151 between Madison and Dubuque?

Other notables (from what I personally witnessed only...)
* Arizona changes mentioned earlier (Loop 303 is very late)
* I-49 marked Open in Louisiana north of Shreveport, but not in Arkansas (Was not open when I personally drove US 71 this February)
* They defy the renaming of the BBT in NYC
* Is GA 400 no longer tolled?
* IL-255 extension to Godfrey shown
* Indiana changes mentioned earlier

That's all for now.

[Big John]

* Is GA 400 no longer tolled?

Jumping the gun there.  Still tolled but are planned to be removed by the end of the year.

[Mapmikey]

I noticed on the Washington DC inset, how wide I-495 in Virginia seems to be. You would get the impression that there were 3 separate roadways. The map shows the Dulles Airport Road as 3 separate, wider roadways than I-495..

At least they have VA 286, 289, and 294 all labeled...

US 311 extension to Danville is also shown....

For the umpteenth year in a row they also show long-decommissioned routes VA 167, 408, 409, 410, 411, and 414.  Also US 158 Business on the Outer Banks...

Mapmikey

[SSOWorld]

* Is GA 400 no longer tolled?

Jumping the gun there.  Still tolled but are planned to be removed by the end of the year.

I did phrase it in the form of a question

[US 41]

Has the new atlas made it to Walmart yet?