Thanks for watching everyone! If you have additional tips, share 'em in the comments! There's only so much I could go over in one episode. As always, if you're interested in US GeoGuessr, feel free to join the US Geo Discord server - anyone from around the world is welcome! discord.com/invite/h9BrcZNB2a
Another major difference is how they handle 3 digit numbers - the NC diamond remains in a square shape but with smaller numbers, the MI diamond stretches into a wide shape while maintaining the same size numbers.
@@ChicagoGeographer Why did you say Minnesota's has nothing about it, it's the only one that is solid blue with a gold outline a little inside the sign so it makes it recognizable
In Washington State, a three-digit state highway's first one or two digits correspond to a major state route, US highway, or interstate that makes up one of the highway's termini. The last digit increases when going south to north, or going east to west. For example: Interstate 405 terminates with Interstate 5 at both ends. It crosses several state routes that spur out from Interstate 5. From south to north, it crosses: SR 518 SR 520 SR 522 SR 527* SR 525. *SR 527 terminates at a junction with Interstate 5 north of where Interstate 405 meets it.
Oregon routes from 1 to 90 actually follow a similar grid pattern like the other states you mentioned, with ddd-numbered routes being north-south and increase in number going west, and even-numbered routes being east-west and increase in number going south. However from OR99 onwards, the pattern breaks with 99-199 being new additions to the system (with many unsigned) and 200+ being secondary routes
Florida has a neat system. 1-99 from east to west and 2-94 from north to south. Some numbers are hidden as they are conjoined mostly by U.S. and Interstate Highways. 1 is A1A (renamed to not get confused with U.S. 1 which runs nearby. 3 is in Cape Canaveral, 5 is U.S. 1, 7 is U.S. 441 from Miami to WPB, and 9 is Interstate 95.
I'm surprised that you didn't go into more depth about Washington's numbering system. One- and two-digit routes are main routes; three-digit routes are spur routes where the first digit(s) identify the main route. SR 141 is a spur of SR 14, SR 121 is a spur of US 12, SR 105 is a spur of US 101, SR 501 is a spur of I-5, SR 901 is a spur of I-90, etc. Also: The New York sign shape is an homage to tavern signs that were common in colonial days; Arizona signs had a swastika on them before World War II; California signs represent the shovels that miners used during the Gold Rush; Oregon signs, which are based on the state shield, were more elaborate with an eagle and the word Oregon; The earliest Wisconsin signs were two pieces with a triangle that identified the road as a Wisconsin state route and a rectangle with the route number mounted over it.
The only Idaho shields that have been replaced are along reconstruction projects, none have been properly replaced yet. We've also changed our shield many times in the last decade, and all are visible.
Also, if you see a stop sign with a small black sign with white lettering attached to its top, you're in SC. They contain county and road identifiers. I've never seen them look like that anywhere else.
Yep, those are SC specific afaik. Do you know if they're used on just county roads, or state highways too? In any case I'll talk about them in the secondary highways episode
@@ChicagoGeographer Even though they don't appear on all roads, they are designed to be used on all roads. The letter codes on the signs tell the road type. Not sure of all but of what I recall, S=state, C=county, F=farm to market. I know there are a couple of more. I've never understood why some roads got them and some roads didn't.
@@ChicagoGeographer These black signs are actually specific to secondary state roads (i.e., not found on state highways or county roads.) The format is the letter "S" followed by two numbers. The first number indicates the county, since secondary state road numbers repeat in each county; the county numbers run from 1-46, aligning with the alphabetical names of the counties. The second number is just the road number. In South Carolina, vast numbers of minor roads that would be county roads in other states are secondary state roads instead. There are also a few with "C" or "R" instead of "S" for "connectors" and "ramps."
I know this video is a few years old now but there's a few things I wanted to add. Oklahoma used a circle until 2006 and while the vast majority of them have since been replaced (and even the current image is a cleaned up version of the one introduced in 2006), there are still a good handful of circle signs left in service, particularly around OKC and Tulsa (there's one really noteworthy 'button copy' variant left in service in downtown Tulsa). Oklahoma highways also have lettered suffixes for spurs and loops and business routes. Additionally, along Oklahoma highways there will be a tall green sign with three rows of numbers on the backside of stop signs to label county roads. I do not know what the numbers correspond to, however, but this type of sign is exclusive to Oklahoma as far as I have seen.
7:31 a way to distict South Carolina from the others, especially on Interstates, or highways with numbered exits, is the exit number which is slightly inward than directly lined up with the information
One thing to note that in Missouri you will often see smaller state routes that are labeled with letters from A-to-Z they can have one letter like A or two letters like AA sometimes they even have two different letters like AB these are usually shorter roads. There are multiple roads with the same letters in the state they are usually in different parts. The single letter road is often near its double letter counterpart.
New Mexico has simple circles on its interstate, and often directional, signs rather than the zia symbol found on the markers and the state flag. Colorado uses the state flag, Kansas the sunflower, Utah a beehive, Pennsylvania a keystone, and New Hampshire the now-collapsed Old Man in the Mountain rock profile. Oklahoma used a circle until about 20 years ago.
VA's secondary highways (circle shields) start at 600 and go up (in some places up to five digits, though this is extremely rare). Most secondary highways are 6xx or 7xx. These secondary highways are reused in different counties, leading to many discontiguous road segments with the same number. VA also has frontage roads along highways that are signed (albeit pretty rarely) with an F prefix in the circle shield.
Pennsylvania's 3-digit state highways usually connect to a 2-digit parent, like the interstates. For example, PA 108, 208, 308 and 408 all connect to PA 8 at some point. This would help a lot more if the parents had any sort of organization though
It's based off the US Highway numbering system except with the opposite directional rules to avoid numbering conflicts. The parent single and 2 digit routes are North/South even numbers and odd going East/West. Odd numbers progress south to north and evens west to east. There are plenty of exceptions though such as some 3 digit parents, numbers for routes that were downgraded from the US system, etc.
Another thing to add to NJ is that the highway numbers no longer have the black square border on them, when on a sign or mile marker. I just started seeing this this year.
Puerto Rico uses the one with the black squares for very local roads, kinda like how Virginia uses them for county roads. A variation of the Virginia state road shield is used for urban roads, a blue version of that for Expressways and mayor roads, and the usual blue and orange county sign for secondary highways.
Would love to see this series updated. Especially if you get into the state/region specific terrain. I'm also from Illinois so places like NC/TN/GA/AL always stump me.
Wisconsin in DOT documents and some street signs you will see “STH” for State Trunk Highway. CTH is similarly for County Trunk Highway. Any road with a number is a STH, any road designated with a letter is a CTH. Wisconsin is also unique that general maintenance (snow removal, pothole filling, etc) is done by each county’s maintenance garage, there are no state maintenance garages.
Some tips for Oregon and Washington: Oregon two digit roads are roughly geographically organized, with odd numbers running N-S and starting with 3 in the east, and evens running E-W and starting with 6 in the northwest. 126, 168, and 140 are considered equivalent to two digit roads, but 126 connects to US 26 and 138 connects to OR 38. 140 does not connect to any 40. The 200 series generally increase from east to west, but have no fixed direction. The system is complicated by the state's decision to add route numbers to all of the highways with secret numbers that were unnumbered before 2000. Usually these use the same number as the secret highway number, but when there is a duplicate and for secret number 69, the 500 series is used. Washington's three digit roads are numbered based on parent Interstate, US, and two digit roads.
Unless the sign was taken down, years ago there was a sign that said DC 500 just like the DC 295 sign. This sign would be found on the road that passes to the south of Washington Hospital center, just west of the hospital. it to my knowledge consisted of the rte. that got you through Columbia Heights & Adams Morgan going towards Connecticut avenue. You would end up on Columbia Road. 2:32
Connecticut does have a system with most of their highways. Most Odd highways are north south, most even highways are east west. Some highways are grouped together by region: 33-39 are in the Danbury area. 41-47 are in Litchfield County 53-59 are in Fairfield County 63-71 are in New Haven County 71-75 are in Hartford County (71 is in both counties) 77-97 are in the eastern half of the state. There are many exceptions but most highways follow this pattern.
Iowa should use its state boundaries as a shield. Delaware should use a blue diamond as its shield since it is nicknamed the Diamond State as well as the First State.
@garyholt8315 not quite 50 unique shapes, almost. Quoting Weird Al: "I sued Colorado, cause you know, I think it looks a little bit too much like Wyoming" 😅
In West Virginia the numbering system is unique to the state. The original system predates the introduction of the U.S. highway system. Here's a very basic outline: Numbers in squares are "state trunk" Numbers in circles are "County trunk roads" Fractional Numbers in circles are "County Branch Roads ". They're called fractional roads because the number in the shield looks like a fraction. The number on top of the "fraction" is the number of the road it branched off of when the road was assigned a number. If the trunk road has been assigned a new number the Branch roads will retain the original number. Example is when US-119 was relocated as an expressway the old two lane roads got new state Numbers but the top number on the "County Branch Roads" kept 119 on the top. WV-152 from Huntington to Crum use to be US-52. Driving that road you can see Branch roads with top numbers either using 52 or 152 depending upon when the Branch road came into existence. The bottom number of the "fraction" is simply in consecutive order from the county line and reset at each County line. If newly introduced Branch roads are introduced the next available number is used so when traveling the Numbers are not necessarily in consecutive order because newer roads got the next available digit. Exit 20 of I-64 has US-60 and County road 60/89 on the interstate highway signs. So the fractional number means it branches off 60 and is the 89th number used in Cabell County when that road was assigned a number. The last type is "HARP" Roads. (House Assistant Road Program) Numbers in octagon. These are technically private roads but the state maintains minimal maintenance because school busses and emergency vehicles use the road. Most of these roads are former access to coal mines, natural gas wells or even abandoned railroad right of way. In West Virginia the department of highways are responsible for ALL roads (regardless of its a steate or County) except for streets without a number in cities with "home rule" status. Example: US-60 runs through the city of Huntington as a street. The streets the carry the US-60 shield are maintained by the state. Streets not carrying a US or State number are the exclusive domain of the city of Huntington. If it's a small town without home rule the state is responsible for maintenance on all streets.
Being from Kentucky, pretty bummed out we don't have unique signs apart from 4 digit circles. Also Alaska's 98 could be something interesting, like is it connected to a Canadian road?
If you see a three-digit circle highway sign (a circle, not an oval), are you guaranteed to be in Virginia? Or do places like Mississippi, Puerto Rico, etc. also have these three-digit roads?
Iowa's pre-2014 3 digit shields are circles, and a lot of those signs still exist. Not sure on PR, but I think all the other circle states expand to ovals for 3 digits
I agree and they are hard to remember. Three digits are bad enough. Four digits give me a break. Texas has those farm to market roads with the states boundaries as a shield.
guys, I want to buy a geoguessr pro, but maybe it sounds a little bit stupid, but Im afraid of scammers. Can I do something wrong(for example enter unnecessary info about my card) and lose all my money? Especially Im afraid to enter MM/YY CVC of my card.
Thanks for watching everyone! If you have additional tips, share 'em in the comments! There's only so much I could go over in one episode.
As always, if you're interested in US GeoGuessr, feel free to join the US Geo Discord server - anyone from around the world is welcome! discord.com/invite/h9BrcZNB2a
One small thing to note is that NC’s diamond has rounded corners while Michigan’s are pointed.
This is correct, and something I wish I addressed in the video.
Another major difference is how they handle 3 digit numbers - the NC diamond remains in a square shape but with smaller numbers, the MI diamond stretches into a wide shape while maintaining the same size numbers.
@@ChicagoGeographer Why did you say Minnesota's has nothing about it, it's the only one that is solid blue with a gold outline a little inside the sign so it makes it recognizable
SC's old signs used to look almot identical to RI's, albeit with of course "SC" at the top instead of "RI".
In Washington State, a three-digit state highway's first one or two digits correspond to a major state route, US highway, or interstate that makes up one of the highway's termini. The last digit increases when going south to north, or going east to west. For example:
Interstate 405 terminates with Interstate 5 at both ends. It crosses several state routes that spur out from Interstate 5. From south to north, it crosses:
SR 518
SR 520
SR 522
SR 527*
SR 525.
*SR 527 terminates at a junction with Interstate 5 north of where Interstate 405 meets it.
Fun fact: the shield used for California state highways is intended to be shaped like a miner's spade, in reference to the 1849 gold rush.
Oregon routes from 1 to 90 actually follow a similar grid pattern like the other states you mentioned, with ddd-numbered routes being north-south and increase in number going west, and even-numbered routes being east-west and increase in number going south. However from OR99 onwards, the pattern breaks with 99-199 being new additions to the system (with many unsigned) and 200+ being secondary routes
Florida has a neat system. 1-99 from east to west and 2-94 from north to south. Some numbers are hidden as they are conjoined mostly by U.S. and Interstate Highways. 1 is A1A (renamed to not get confused with U.S. 1 which runs nearby. 3 is in Cape Canaveral, 5 is U.S. 1, 7 is U.S. 441 from Miami to WPB, and 9 is Interstate 95.
I'm surprised that you didn't go into more depth about Washington's numbering system. One- and two-digit routes are main routes; three-digit routes are spur routes where the first digit(s) identify the main route. SR 141 is a spur of SR 14, SR 121 is a spur of US 12, SR 105 is a spur of US 101, SR 501 is a spur of I-5, SR 901 is a spur of I-90, etc. Also:
The New York sign shape is an homage to tavern signs that were common in colonial days;
Arizona signs had a swastika on them before World War II;
California signs represent the shovels that miners used during the Gold Rush;
Oregon signs, which are based on the state shield, were more elaborate with an eagle and the word Oregon;
The earliest Wisconsin signs were two pieces with a triangle that identified the road as a Wisconsin state route and a rectangle with the route number mounted over it.
The only Idaho shields that have been replaced are along reconstruction projects, none have been properly replaced yet. We've also changed our shield many times in the last decade, and all are visible.
Also, if you see a stop sign with a small black sign with white lettering attached to its top, you're in SC. They contain county and road identifiers. I've never seen them look like that anywhere else.
Yep, those are SC specific afaik. Do you know if they're used on just county roads, or state highways too? In any case I'll talk about them in the secondary highways episode
@@ChicagoGeographer Even though they don't appear on all roads, they are designed to be used on all roads. The letter codes on the signs tell the road type. Not sure of all but of what I recall, S=state, C=county, F=farm to market. I know there are a couple of more. I've never understood why some roads got them and some roads didn't.
@@VidClips858 Thanks for the info!
@@ChicagoGeographer These black signs are actually specific to secondary state roads (i.e., not found on state highways or county roads.) The format is the letter "S" followed by two numbers. The first number indicates the county, since secondary state road numbers repeat in each county; the county numbers run from 1-46, aligning with the alphabetical names of the counties. The second number is just the road number. In South Carolina, vast numbers of minor roads that would be county roads in other states are secondary state roads instead. There are also a few with "C" or "R" instead of "S" for "connectors" and "ramps."
I know this video is a few years old now but there's a few things I wanted to add. Oklahoma used a circle until 2006 and while the vast majority of them have since been replaced (and even the current image is a cleaned up version of the one introduced in 2006), there are still a good handful of circle signs left in service, particularly around OKC and Tulsa (there's one really noteworthy 'button copy' variant left in service in downtown Tulsa). Oklahoma highways also have lettered suffixes for spurs and loops and business routes. Additionally, along Oklahoma highways there will be a tall green sign with three rows of numbers on the backside of stop signs to label county roads. I do not know what the numbers correspond to, however, but this type of sign is exclusive to Oklahoma as far as I have seen.
7:31 a way to distict South Carolina from the others, especially on Interstates, or highways with numbered exits, is the exit number which is slightly inward than directly lined up with the information
One thing to note that in Missouri you will often see smaller state routes that are labeled with letters from A-to-Z they can have one letter like A or two letters like AA sometimes they even have two different letters like AB these are usually shorter roads. There are multiple roads with the same letters in the state they are usually in different parts. The single letter road is often near its double letter counterpart.
New Mexico has simple circles on its interstate, and often directional, signs rather than the zia symbol found on the markers and the state flag. Colorado uses the state flag, Kansas the sunflower, Utah a beehive, Pennsylvania a keystone, and New Hampshire the now-collapsed Old Man in the Mountain rock profile. Oklahoma used a circle until about 20 years ago.
Goated episode, thanks for your dedication to the community
VA's secondary highways (circle shields) start at 600 and go up (in some places up to five digits, though this is extremely rare). Most secondary highways are 6xx or 7xx. These secondary highways are reused in different counties, leading to many discontiguous road segments with the same number. VA also has frontage roads along highways that are signed (albeit pretty rarely) with an F prefix in the circle shield.
In Virginia, the exception on secondary numbering is primary 895. This is a place holder for a future I-895.
Pennsylvania's 3-digit state highways usually connect to a 2-digit parent, like the interstates. For example, PA 108, 208, 308 and 408 all connect to PA 8 at some point. This would help a lot more if the parents had any sort of organization though
It's based off the US Highway numbering system except with the opposite directional rules to avoid numbering conflicts. The parent single and 2 digit routes are North/South even numbers and odd going East/West. Odd numbers progress south to north and evens west to east. There are plenty of exceptions though such as some 3 digit parents, numbers for routes that were downgraded from the US system, etc.
Another thing to add to NJ is that the highway numbers no longer have the black square border on them, when on a sign or mile marker. I just started seeing this this year.
Puerto Rico uses the one with the black squares for very local roads, kinda like how Virginia uses them for county roads. A variation of the Virginia state road shield is used for urban roads, a blue version of that for Expressways and mayor roads, and the usual blue and orange county sign for secondary highways.
Would love to see this series updated. Especially if you get into the state/region specific terrain. I'm also from Illinois so places like NC/TN/GA/AL always stump me.
State
State
State
State is that a state does
State
State
The only problem is to remember everything. Streetsigns, car numbers, bollards, whatever… i cant even remember what countries drives on the left ;)
yay I've been waiting for this episode !!
Wisconsin in DOT documents and some street signs you will see “STH” for State Trunk Highway. CTH is similarly for County Trunk Highway. Any road with a number is a STH, any road designated with a letter is a CTH.
Wisconsin is also unique that general maintenance (snow removal, pothole filling, etc) is done by each county’s maintenance garage, there are no state maintenance garages.
I always see upside down triangle ones in Tennessee
Those are secondary routes. The primary routes use the square with the state outline shield
Some tips for Oregon and Washington:
Oregon two digit roads are roughly geographically organized, with odd numbers running N-S and starting with 3 in the east, and evens running E-W and starting with 6 in the northwest. 126, 168, and 140 are considered equivalent to two digit roads, but 126 connects to US 26 and 138 connects to OR 38. 140 does not connect to any 40. The 200 series generally increase from east to west, but have no fixed direction. The system is complicated by the state's decision to add route numbers to all of the highways with secret numbers that were unnumbered before 2000. Usually these use the same number as the secret highway number, but when there is a duplicate and for secret number 69, the 500 series is used.
Washington's three digit roads are numbered based on parent Interstate, US, and two digit roads.
Unless the sign was taken down, years ago there was a sign that said DC 500 just like the DC 295 sign. This sign would be found on the road that passes to the south of Washington Hospital center, just west of the hospital. it to my knowledge consisted of the rte. that got you through Columbia Heights & Adams Morgan going towards Connecticut avenue. You would end up on Columbia Road. 2:32
Connecticut does have a system with most of their highways. Most Odd highways are north south, most even highways are east west. Some highways are grouped together by region:
33-39 are in the Danbury area.
41-47 are in Litchfield County
53-59 are in Fairfield County
63-71 are in New Haven County
71-75 are in Hartford County (71 is in both counties)
77-97 are in the eastern half of the state.
There are many exceptions but most highways follow this pattern.
States should have separate shapes so it’s not confusing
50 unique shapes shouldn't be difficult. puzzling why Many states are the same.
Iowa should use its state boundaries as a shield. Delaware should use a blue diamond as its shield since it is nicknamed the Diamond State as well as the First State.
@garyholt8315 not quite 50 unique shapes, almost. Quoting Weird Al: "I sued Colorado, cause you know, I think it looks a little bit too much like Wyoming" 😅
Great video, this is gonna help! Thank you 👍
I decided to major in Geography so I've gotten REALLY into geoguessr, probably not as much as you haha but your videos provide useful information
In West Virginia the numbering system is unique to the state. The original system predates the introduction of the U.S. highway system.
Here's a very basic outline:
Numbers in squares are "state trunk"
Numbers in circles are "County trunk roads"
Fractional Numbers in circles are "County Branch Roads ". They're called fractional roads because the number in the shield looks like a fraction. The number on top of the "fraction" is the number of the road it branched off of when the road was assigned a number. If the trunk road has been assigned a new number the Branch roads will retain the original number. Example is when US-119 was relocated as an expressway the old two lane roads got new state Numbers but the top number on the "County Branch Roads" kept 119 on the top. WV-152 from Huntington to Crum use to be US-52. Driving that road you can see Branch roads with top numbers either using 52 or 152 depending upon when the Branch road came into existence.
The bottom number of the "fraction" is simply in consecutive order from the county line and reset at each County line. If newly introduced Branch roads are introduced the next available number is used so when traveling the Numbers are not necessarily in consecutive order because newer roads got the next available digit.
Exit 20 of I-64 has US-60 and County road 60/89 on the interstate highway signs. So the fractional number means it branches off 60 and is the 89th number used in Cabell County when that road was assigned a number.
The last type is "HARP" Roads. (House Assistant Road Program) Numbers in octagon. These are technically private roads but the state maintains minimal maintenance because school busses and emergency vehicles use the road. Most of these roads are former access to coal mines, natural gas wells or even abandoned railroad right of way.
In West Virginia the department of highways are responsible for ALL roads (regardless of its a steate or County) except for streets without a number in cities with "home rule" status. Example: US-60 runs through the city of Huntington as a street. The streets the carry the US-60 shield are maintained by the state. Streets not carrying a US or State number are the exclusive domain of the city of Huntington. If it's a small town without home rule the state is responsible for maintenance on all streets.
does anyone know why most states dropped their state name from interstate shields ?
Being from Kentucky, pretty bummed out we don't have unique signs apart from 4 digit circles.
Also Alaska's 98 could be something interesting, like is it connected to a Canadian road?
Just saw this was released. I already know this is a goldmine, let's watch it. THANKS
This is amazing and must have taken a lot of time to make. Thank you so much!!
CO has the best one
Kansas has the best one.
7:55 the USVI are east because they drive on the wrong side of the road
If you see a three-digit circle highway sign (a circle, not an oval), are you guaranteed to be in Virginia? Or do places like Mississippi, Puerto Rico, etc. also have these three-digit roads?
Iowa's pre-2014 3 digit shields are circles, and a lot of those signs still exist. Not sure on PR, but I think all the other circle states expand to ovals for 3 digits
Also Virginia's 3 digit secondary roads are all above 600 or something, but I'll talk about that in the secondary highway episode
Took a while to find this video all three videos have different naming systems
4 digit state highways founded in Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas just look ugly and are confusing
I agree and they are hard to remember. Three digits are bad enough. Four digits give me a break. Texas has those farm to market roads with the states boundaries as a shield.
back road gps united States do you have any info, I have found back roads for Canada?
I've seen wyoming use white squares on interstate signs
Who pulls out NE 71 and NE2 for and example?
Oregon and Virginia look kind of similar.
guys, I want to buy a geoguessr pro, but maybe it sounds a little bit stupid, but Im afraid of scammers. Can I do something wrong(for example enter unnecessary info about my card) and lose all my money? Especially Im afraid to enter MM/YY CVC of my card.
Did u forget Hawaii?