New Travels and Stats Discussion

[ntallyn]

Several trips since I've posted:

An April business trip to Virginia Beach added some mileage on US 60 and 460, as well as VA 165, 166, 168, 170, 194, 225, 279, and 337.
A bicycling event in Hilton Head allowed adding a little more of US 278, US 278 Bus (Hilton Head), and SC 46.
Another business trip to Virginia Beach added some US 13, 58, 460, 460 Alt (Norfolk), VA 166, 168, 337, 406, and 407.
While on that trip (Memorial Day weekend), I collected the final Maryland counties I needed. In this process, I gained mileage on (MD) I-70 (yes, the parking lot), I-95, I-97, I-695, I-795, US 13, 40, 50, 301, MD 2, 4, 5, 7, 16, 140, 213, 231, 234, 236, 272, 290, 304, 313, 404, 543, 662, and 665, and (VA) US 13, 58, 360, 13 Bus (3 of them), 17 Bus (Gloucester), VA 3, 14, 33, 105, 168, 179, 194, 198, 200, 201, 205, and 247.
Then a road trip with the grandson to Washington DC (AutoTrain northbound) got a few miles: (VA) I-64, I-95, US 13, 60, 360, VA 5, 27, 30, 110, 132, 143, 205, 206, 218, 233, 244, 402; (NC) I-40, I-587, I-795, US 17, 76, 117, 17 Bus (Wilmington), NC 132, 140, 417; (SC and GA) none, somehow. The most interesting part of this trip was the Carnivorous Plant Garden in Wilmington NC.
And finally, a family reunion near Park City UT gave me the opportunity for US 40, 89, 189, UT 68, 71, 85, 111, 152, 171, 172, 173, 186, 190, 201, 202, 209, 210, 224, 248, and 266. I missed the Brighton loop of UT 190 (though signage outside metro Salt Lake City is very minimal).

I have a trip to Toronto coming up in a couple of weeks, but won't have a car, so I only expect to get some subway mileage. Then back to back work weekends in Tampa, so most of those miles will be the routes I take to/from there.

[Jim]

Arrived in Prescott, ON, for a couple nights, and have to observe that having previously driven the 401 and the 416, the TM-mappable opportunities near here are pathetic.  Once I finish up the little stub of ON 16 (only did it from the exit from customs to Highway 2 so far) that might be it for me on the Ontario side.  I'm the better part of an hour to anything else that would be new to me.  I wish they'd have some sort of official classification of old Highway 2 that we could add.

Fortunately I got some usany and usaus miles on the way up and will get a different batch on the way home.

[IMGoph]

I only have three more state highways in CA, 45, 82, and 113. 45 and 113 are N/S routes in the northern Central Valley, probably not that interesting, and skipped so far because I'm usually going across the Central Valley, not up and down it. But I'm likely to do another trip from SoCal up to Canada this summer, and will get those out of the way (and may clinch US-89 too). CA-82 is more of a problem, because it's a really long urban street that looks like it has a few hundred traffic lights on it. But if that's all that's between me and clinching California, I'll probably suck it up and force myself to do it.

What I've learned is that obsessing about clinching roads sometimes helps you discover interesting places, but it also drags you into a lot of boring places. Having clinched most of California, I feel relieved that I can now choose to go places based purely on whether they're nice places to go.

CA82 (aka El Camino Real) from SF to SJ is a really interesting road, the old main street of Silicon Valley. It's a lot more than a bunch of traffic lights, trust me! You'll find some of the best hole-in-the-wall food in the area, no matter what cuisine you're looking for. Have fun with it!

[Jim]

Back from a short trip to the Prescott, Ontario, area.  I picked up just over 150 new TM miles.  All in New York and in the usany system, except a mile and a half of Ontario 16 (plus the bit of US 11 that's concurrent with NY 68 in Canton).  I added miles on NY 3, NY 12, NY 26 (ok, only about 1/3 of a mile), and NY 37.  I only have one gap left on NY 12, but it's a tough one, south of the I-81 junction to Clayton. I got my first ever miles on NY 58, NY 68 (clinched), NY 184 (clinched), and NY 812 (big winner with 57 miles).  Of the 450 or so miles traveled overall, only a couple short trips on the 401, sections of NY5/8/12/I-790 in Utica, and the Thruway from Utica to Fultonville were freeways.

[clong]

The last 2 weeks have provided opportunities to pickup mileage in parts of Alabama I don't frequently visit.

I was able to finish US29, US31, US43, US84, and US331 within Alabama.
I also completed AL9, AL245 and AL259. Picked up mileage on AL10, AL41, AL55, and AL185 as well.

For AL US Highways, I'm down to 100 miles remaining, all within Mobile and Washington counties, on US45, US90, and US98.

[oscar]

Earlier this month, I completed a relatively short road trip to southern Missouri, via the Extra Miler Club annual meeting in Lansing MI.

I re-clinched US 78 (had been missing segments in TN and AR), US 412 (recent relocation in AR), and US 14 (recent relocation in MN). Also clinched MO 72, MO 291, MO 350, MN 251, and MN 257, as well as several US business routes in AR and MO.

Mostly, this trip was about county clinching. I finished off all the counties in the lower 48 I had not revisited since I completed all the U.S. counties in 2010, ending with Johnson County MO (county seat Warrensburg, "Home of Man's Best Friend") near Kansas City. I'm still missing one in Hawaii, and about half of Alaska's. Most of these are difficult and/or expensive to visit, with no highways. Re-visiting them is not a high priority for me, and I might end up settling for re-clinching the lower 48.

[cl94]

I'm just finishing up a trip to the Big Island of Hawai'i. Wonderful place, wonderful people, wonderful food, and I was even able to do it without breaking the bank. This trip got me to my 49th state. 3 new airports (LAX, KOA, SEA), 1 new airline (Alaska). Also got to my 30th state high point in the form of Mauna Kea.

In terms of roads, I clinched every signed route on the Big Island, whether it be state highway or county, plus every NPS road. I lucked out with Chain of Craters Road, as it closed when I was at the far end due to an earthquake swarn. While I was told to evacuate just as I was beginning the walk to Holei Sea Arch, I clinched the road. Might be a couple of minor tweaks we need to discuss due to mileposts on the ground (notably the east end of HI 2000), but I need to search for more evidence to see if there's anything I'm missing.

[vdeane]

On Monday, I got back from a big trip to/from the Michigan City Roadmeet.  The Thursday before the meet, I drove down the Thruway to I-290.  Took I-190 and re-clinched a piece of NY 324 around exit 20, since I drove it EB and TM only recognizes the WB direction here.  Then it was into Canada onto ON 405 and the QEW and then new mileage for ON 403 and ON 401.  I did a quick clinch of the Highbury Avenue freeway before clinching ON 402 and re-entering the US with what must have been the most thorough questioning I've ever had, including the CBP officer pawing through my bags before they let me go on.  I was surprised, given that driving through Canada to get from upstate NY to Michigan is the most normal thing ever (apparently it's only normal for people who had previously visited Michigan???
 The anti-travel bias from CBP will never cease to amaze me, given that processing travelers is literally what they do), and I didn't even get any grief from customs when I clinched US 11 back in May, which I thought for sure was going to at least raise an eyebrow.  I thought maybe she had recently transferred from the Mexican border and wasn't used to handling traffic from Canada, but from talking to people at lunch the next day, it appears the Blue Water Bridge is just like that.  That evening, I took a loop down I-94 to get pictures of the flag signs approaching the border.  I was going to use to clinch BL 69 as well, only to discover that BL 94/69 was closed in downtown Port Huron for some event and nobody bothered to inform Google.  Epic fail.  Still, better to find out then than on Friday morning when I had planned to clinch both.

Friday was less driving, just heading down I-94 to Michigan City after a morning spent exploring the Port Huron Lightship and some nearby sites.  I did briefly jog up to Battle Creek for a clinch of I-194.  On the meet day, I took US 421, US 20, IN 212, and US 12 to Redamack's, to fill in a couple clinch gaps the meet tour would have left me with.

Sunday was the big clinching day.  I took I-94 west to I-65, and turned around twice so I could clinch both the signed and TM-recognized routes before continuing west on I-90.  Turned around at the end of the Skyway to fill in a clinch gap on I-94 before continuing east on I-80/90 and later I-80 along.  Took I-71 south to I-76, headed east to Akron, and took I-277 to I-77 north.  Meandered through local streets to I-90 west, then turned around to get a clinch of I-490 and took OH 10 and US 422 back to I-90 and I-71 south to my hotel, clinching I-71 in the process.

Monday I finished clinching the Ohio Turnpike (I already had the I-76 part) and diverted for a clinch of OH 711 before heading north on OH 11.  Looped north to get the miles north of I-90, then it was I-90 east back home.

[Jim]

It's not easy for me to get substantial new TM miles on trips between upstate NY and SW Florida, but my late July trip added a stop in Pensacola to see a friend's son pitch for the Blue Wahoos AA baseball team before heading home.  This gave me a chance for a good chunk of new Florida mileage to get there and Alabama on the ride home.

Overall, I added over 600 miles.  By region: 360 in Florida (putting me over 50% overall in the state), 228 in Alabama, 20 in Georgia, 14 in Maryland, 8 in Tennessee. 

By system:

usai: 199 miles.  101 of them being I-65 south of Montgomery, and the northernmost 80 miles of I-59, and the 18 miles I was previously missing of I-459.

usaus: 264 miles.  101 miles of US 27, 54 miles of US 41 (some concurrent with US 27), 45 miles of US 319, 40 miles of US 29, 18 miles of US 90, my first 14 miles of US 331, 4 miles of US 129, 2 miles of US 11, 1 mile of US 31, 1 mile of US 80, 1 mile of US 82, almost 1 mile of US 98, about a half mile of US 221

usausb: 6 miles, mostly US 90 Alt in Pensacola, and small bits of US 27 Alt in Perry and US 98 Bus in Pensacola.

usafl: 116 miles.  my first 19 miles of FL 77, 27 miles of FL 20, the northernmost 14 miles of FL 589, my first 13 miles of FL 292, my first 9 miles of FL 52, my first 5 miles of FL 289, my first 5 miles (and all) of FL 300, my first 4 miles of FL 291, my first 3 miles (and all) of FL 690, my first 2 miles of FL 61, about 2 miles of FL 121, my last 2 needed miles of FL 326, a mile and a half of FL 40, my first mile and a half of FL 750, my first mile (and all) of FL 196, my first mile of FL 72, about a mile of FL 44, about a mile of FL 758, my first small segments of FL 25 (all of it), FL 295, and FL 752.  First travels on 14 routes, new clinches of 5.

usamd: 13 miles, 11 of them MD 7, and bits of MD 24 and MD 924 (first).

usatn: 6 miles, first bits of TN 163 and TN 308.

usava: about 1/3 of a mile, my first travels on VA 140.

usaal: 35 miles.  My first 15 miles (and all) of AL 113, my first 6 miles of AL 145, my first 4 miles of AL 182, my first 3 miles of AL 180, my first mile and a half (and all) of AL 161, my first 4 miles of AL 59, About a mile of AL 14.

[LilianaUwU]

I ended up going to Saguenay last weekend and added quite a few routes, as well as quite a few miles.

New routes: A-70, QC 170, QC 172, QC 372, QC 381

Added mileage on: A-73, QC 175

In total, I added approximately 150 miles.

[oscar]

After attending a road meet in western Maryland, I kept heading west into West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana to clinch or re-clinch several routes there.

WV: US 33 (rerouted west of Spencer) and US 35 (short extension of south end)

OH: US 23 (short reroute in Columbus)

IN:  I-65 (short extension of north end), I-69 (gap in northern I-69 just filled south of Indianapolis), and IN 267 (new clinch)

The Interstate route segments bring me back to 100% of usai. We'll see how long that lasts.

[michih]

I have clinched my first larger region now: Baden-Württemberg with more than 9,000 miles I traveled the last five sections yesterday, which were under construction earlier this year. Of course, I also clinched the deubwl system now.
I'm already at 93.57% for Bavaria with its almost 14,000 miles, the largest German region. I'll try to clinch 99.x% this winter but there is also some long-term construction and I will likely only be able to reach 100% in 2024.

I have clinched my second larger region now: Bavaria (online after next site update). The region has a total of 13,964 miles. Of course, I've also clinched the Bavarian state roads system deubyst. The last section was u/c for years. I couldn't clinch it by walking since a bridge was replaced in the previous project phase. The road is not yet open for through traffic but for drivers with a "good reason" (DE: Anlieger). Well, I had a good reason today I've also clinched the three small states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen and thus clinched 5 out of 16 German states. I don't plan to clinch another state but just try to increase the coverage. Six states are still under 50%. I might go for 50% here

I traveled a lot through Germany* during the pandemic and have clinched 77.25% of the German federal road system deub now, and I have over 50% in all states (only RP is below 60%). The total clinch rate was 67.79% at the end of 2021. 58.95% at the end of 2020, 41.85% 2019, 35.4% 2018, 29.3% 2017, and 24.0% at the end of 2016.

I had traveled 78.49% of the German federal roads system deub (almost 23k miles) at the end of 2022 and 94.53% at the end of 2023. Some weekend-trips and a nine-day-trip next to last week brought me to 97.90% now. The remaining routes are mainly in the center of Germany but there are also some remote sections which were mainly closed due to construction when I've been there for the last time. One bridge replacement is scheduled to be completed in Mid 2027. So, no hurry to clinch the other routes short term.

Lowest overall number, lowest in EUR, lowest in NA?

Just going for the lowest overall number here; not going to attempt to break it down by continent.

Including only systems in the HB (whether devel systems are included or not), it's 1386.
Adding in systems commented out of systems.csv fills in 56 missing numbers, bringing us up to 1928.

The end of game for Europe is 1185 with routes in DEU-BW (I've traveled long ago) and ENG. Only KY and LA have a 1186 route in HB so far and I don't expect anything new for Europe.

With North Macedonia Regional Roads and Upper Austria Landesstraßen 2. Ordnung, the lowest missing overall number is 1478 now (for Europe: 1323). I have a new goals now

The above mentioned nine-day-trip also brought me to Austria where I could travel some "missing number" routes. I'm down at 21 missing number now (0-1322).

I'll be back on the road in three weeks. TM-related goals: Decrease the missing number count by 6. Get first mileage in the missing European regions of France (Corsica) and Italy (Sardinia + Sicily). Clinch itaa system (I'm at 81% of the 4626 miles). Get as much mileage as possible

[cl94]

Last weekend, I made a trip to Yosemite National Park. Despite getting a flat tire at the north end of CA 59, it was a very good trip with a lot of great hiking and scenery. Oh, and roads. Lots of roads:

New full clinches:
CA 59
CA 99 Business in both Madera and Lodi
Wawona Road
Big Oak Flat Road/ Southside Drive/ Northside Drive

New mileage:
CA 33 (CA 180-152)
CA 41 (north of CA 49)
CA 140 (east of CA 99)
CA 145 (CA 180-99)
CA 152 (CA 33-59)
CA 180 (west of CA 145)

Total % in California is up to 56.27%, with 121 clinched routes. Slowly chipping away at the San Joaquin Valley.

[Markkos1992]

I am a bit late on this, but I finally completed my Michigan City Meet trip summary.

I still have four more trip summaries to complete.

NY Trip 8/3/2024

The purpose of this trip was to attend the Celebration of Life for Mark Sinsabuagh's recently deceased wife.

I started the morning by taking US 22 WB/US 322 WB to US 11 NB/US 15 NB to PA 147 NB to I-180 WB to PA 405 NB to US 220 NB to PA 87 NB in Dushore.  I took PA 87 NB (really heading east though) to PA 187 NB where I then realized that I had a conundrum due to part of PA 187 being closed so that an embankment could be fixed.  I was able to sight clinch both sides of the closure though it required me to take quadrant routes to Laceyville and backtrack to PA 187 via US 6 and Waylusing-New Albany Road before turning around for good at the north end of the closure area.  I clinched PA 187 by taking it north into NY also clinching NY 282 when I turned onto NY 17C WB north of Nichols.

I took NY 17C west to Waverly where I briefly turned south on NY 34 to turn around once I reentered PA on PA 199.  I then continued north on NY 34 clinching it after passing through Ithaca, a brief concurrency with NY 34B, and Auburn once I got to NY 104.  I turned onto NY 104 EB so I did not continue north onto CR 34 into Hannibal even though the signage tempted me to.  I continued east on NY 104 through Oswego (stopping at a Stewart's that I was surprised to see this far west) all the way to NY 69 in Mexico (oddly enough my mom went into the actual country of Mexico last week while visiting my sister in south Texas).   I then took NY 69 east to Rome with a loop in Parish to clinch NY 69A and clinching NY 183 along the way. I clinched NY 69 when I reached the west end of the NY 46/NY 49 concurrency on the west side of Rome.  From there, I took NY 49 to Utica and then took NY 5 EB to NY 51 SB in Ilion to get to the celebration of life.

After leaving the celebration of life, I took some county routes over to NY 171 and clinched it by heading north to Frankfort before heading back to NY 51 SB in Ilion.  I took NY 51 SB all the way to NY 8 clinching the route, and then took NY 8 south to NY 17.  At this point, the rain really picked up and I did not get a true break from it again until I got to Carbondale, PA.  I took NY 17 WB (and I-86 WB) to I-81 SB and then picked up PA 171 once entering PA ultimately clinching it by taking it all the way to US 6 BUS in Carbondale.  I then took US 6 BUS EB to US 6 EB and took PA 296 NB in Waymart to PA 247 (though I did not turn around until I got back to PA 171 in Forest City).  I ended up back on PA 296 SB and clinched it by taking it to PA 191 in Lake Ariel, turning around again, and then turning south onto PA 196 clinching that route when I finally got to the odd PA 611/PA 940 intersection at its southern terminus in Mount Pocono (with even this odd sign as well).  I stopped at a Wawa on PA 940 before heading west to I-380 SB and went back to Harrisburg via I-80 WB and I-81 SB.

Clinched:  PA 187, NY 282, NY 34, NY 69, NY 69A, NY 183, NY 51, NY 171, PA 171, PA 296, PA 196

New Mileage: NY 17C, NY 96, NY 13, NY 34B, NY 38, NY 104, NY 3, US 11 (NY), NY 5, US 20 (NY), NY 80, NY 23, NY 8, NY 10, NY 17, PA 247

Quad State Road Meet (8/17/2024)

On August 17th, myself, oscar, Duke87, and others attended the Quad State Road Meet that included mileage on the meet in VA, WV, MD, and PA.  The meet itself included lunch at Buddylou's in Hancock, MD, a renewing of vows by Mr. and Mrs. MDRoads at a nearby bridge over the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (where Rainey was more into her Charlie Brown phase of throwing rocks than being a flower girl), and stops at the I-68 Sideling Hill Rest Area, the Mason-Dixon line stone at the south end of PA 26 at the MD/PA line, the Hancock toll house, the ongoing construction of the US 522 Berkeley Springs Bypass, and what Google Maps refers to as The Farnham Colossi along CR 13 (Winchester Grade Road).  Many of the others went to spend time at Berkeley Springs State Park in Downtown Berkeley Springs once the meet ended, but myself and a few others decided to pass on that.  I was a bit tired so I just took I-70 EB to MD 63 NB (with a Sheetz stop at US 40) to PA 163 EB (reclinch) to US 11 NB to I-81 NB back to Harrisburg.

Before the meet, however, I took US 15 SB to I-270 SB to I-495 Outer to VA 7 WB to view the completed six-lane widening along VA 7 west of VA 267 towards VA 193 in Fairfax County.  I continued west on VA 7 all the way to Winchester where I looped around a bit via I-81, US 522, SR 642, SR 847, VA 37 (reclinching in both directions), and US 11 (even finding circle 11 shields just north of I-81 Exit 317 after a reclinch of SR 1620).  I then took VA 7 WB from I-81 Exit 315 into Downtown Winchester to pick up US 522 NB taking it all the way to Hancock for the meet itself as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

PA Trip 8-24-2024

I started the morning by taking I-81 SB to PA 114 EB to US 11 SB so I could stop at a Sheetz before getting on the PA Turnpike.  It was actually my first ever stop at the Sheetz at the US 11/PA 114 intersection.  I took US 11 SB from there to I-76 WB and stayed on I-76 WB all the way to PA 18 (Exit 13) by the Beaver River Bridge construction as there were a couple minor realignments west of Somerset (Exit 110) that I felt necessitated a reclinch.  Thankfully my drive was mostly peaceful despite the cost.  Once on PA 18 SB, I quickly turned onto PA 551 NB before taking I-376 EB to PA 18 NB through Rochester to close the PA 18 gap I had since the Rochester-Monaca Bridge over the Ohio River had reopened.  I then took the Veterans Memorial Bridge to PA 51 NB turning around west of I-376 while trying to get gas.  After a GetGo gas stop, I took PA 51 SB to I-376 WB back to PA 551 NB.  I stayed on PA 551 NB all the way to Mount Jackson well I detoured briefly to OH so that I could clinch PA 317 and OH 630 by taking it to OH 170 back.  Once back at PA 551, I continued north on PA 551 clinching the route once I got to PA 208.  I then took PA 208 EB to PA 18 SB and went south to New Castle and took PA 168 NB to PA 388 (so I have a 388 photo now) and turned around there even though PA 168 continues north of PA 388. I backtracked to PA 18 in New Castle except this time I took US 422 BUS (and briefly US 224) back west to I-376 WB and then exited I-376 at Exit 9 onto Mitchell Rd (which I really think should be an extended PA 158) making a Sheetz stop before taking PA 18 NB to PA 158 NB to Mercer ultimately picking up US 62 NB.

The section of US 62 south of Sandy Lake was still closed so I prioritized clinching PA 965 once I got to Jackson Center and picked back up US 62 NB once PA 965 ended to PA 8.  Clinching PA 965 was actually very significant as I have now clinched all of the PA 9XX routes.  I took PA 8 SB to Old PA 8 SB and then picked up PA 308 SB taking it all the way south to Butler to clinch and then took US 422 EB to Indiana, PA, from there mainly to drive the new alignment that bypasses the Margaret Road intersection to the north on a new very high bridge.  Honestly, I felt like I was on a whole new US 422 even though I was easily able to see the new alignment on past trips through the area before it opened.  Once east of Indiana, I decided to reclinch PA 553 by taking it east to US 219.  Then it was just the usual US 219 SB to US 22 EB to I-99 NB to US 322 EB back to Harrisburg with heavier traffic than normal due to students moving in at Penn State.  Even the two-lane section of US 322 moved mostly fine, but we did stop at one point, and I was confused why because there are still no traffic signals along that section. 

Clinched: PA 551, PA 317, OH 630, PA 158, PA 965, PA 308

New Mileage: PA 18, PA 168, PA 351, PA 108, US 62 (PA)

Reclinched due to realignments: I-70 (PA), I-76 (PA), US 422 (PA-west)

Labor Day Trip 9-2-2024

As photos were posted from the Quad State Meet, I found out about WV 243.   I was not convinced that I would move forward with this trip due to the Southern 500 the night before, but I moved forward with it.

I started by taking I-81 SB to the area so I could clinch the new WV 243 and loop around to check signage.   As I stated in the WV 243 thread, the route is only signed as such on I-81 and its Exit 8 offramps for now.  All other references are either CR 32 or CR 81/8.  (and I did clinch CR 37 west of CR 30 while looping around)  Once done, I stopped at the Sheetz at US 11 at the east end of the new WV 243, and then took US 11 NB all the way to US 40 EB in Hagerstown, MD.  I stopped in Falling Waters, WV, to chase this waterfall, which I passed in both directions while trying to find it, but I felt that TLC was laughing at me as I felt that the waterfall was not anywhere near as impressive as I expected. 

I took US 40 EB to MD 64 EB, which turns into PA 997 at the PA line.  I took PA 997 NB to PA 16 EB to Jacks Mountain Rd to drive through a covered bridge to get to PA 116 EB.  I took PA 116 EB to Gettysburg, and then took US 30 EB to York where I stopped at Cheddar's for lunch even though Kyle Busch was one position short of free tenders.  After lunch, I just took US 30 WB to PA 181 to I-83 NB (at the new Exit 22 onramp) back to Harrisburg.