usatr: United States select tourist routes

[si404]

I also think we need to have a detailed discussion about what counts/does not count as "signed", especially when signs are sporadic or follow multiple alignments, as well as "what counts as a sign?" For several of these auto trails, the main markings are paint or stone/concrete, not standard metal signs, and these nonstandard markings are clearly intended to serve as reassurance/directional assemblies in a way that EMMs or blade shields are not. This is especially relevant for the Lincoln Highway, because there are a crapton of painted shields and concrete markers along the route that people use for wayfinding, but other notable tourist/historic routes in the US are marked primarily with paint. Before the US Route system, paint and concrete markers were the original shields and were used as shields are used today, so I would argue that they should be grandfathered in, as some of the auto trail associations have been trying to maintain some semblance of historical accuracy with their signage.

I've definitely counted painted signs (eg on telegraph poles), wherever I found them, but the concrete posts are usually useless for wayfinding (pretty small, especially the 'L' bit painted on, and many of them blending into the background, if not actually hidden in foliage or behind something) and so I've often not considered them as valid signage to extend a route/create a new route when drafting. Places where they make a big deal of them tend to count - not least because they tend to have bigger L signs pointing out the little post.

[Markkos1992]

More PA Updates in regard to the National Road and Lincoln Hwy.  These updates include the WV portion that splits off of US 40 by the WV/PA Line.  (https://github.com/TravelMapping/HighwayData/pull/7329)

[neroute2]

National Road in IL:

Lockport Street in Plainfield west to Wallin Drive

135th Street-Heggs Road-111th Street-Harvey Road (apparent gap in signage due to this split being closed, but Treasure Drive is the obvious connection)

Benton Street all the way across Aurora, with westbound detouring to Downer Place west of State Street

Kaneville Road-Keslinger Road-Schrader Road west from Geneva

zigzag thru Creston on Woodlawn-Cederholm-Main-North-Ridge-Cederholm-West

Lincoln Highway-Lincoln Avenue in Rochelle

There is a split between Ashton and Franklin Grove, with the alternate staying on IL 38 and the original using Brown-Main-Richardson-Track.

Elm-Lahman-Franklin-Gap thru Franklin Grove

Palmyra Road from Dixon to Sterling

IL 84-16th-15th-4th-10th ending at the windmill? in Fulton

[mapcat]

I-70 would be a mistake, per the sign above. The PDF guide has the route off I-70, but with a break where it leaves the old alignment. Sadly there's no Streetview where the gap would be, so we can't check the bodge I did to avoid a gap (a touring route shouldn't have to only stick to the old route and then disappear - it should be a followable route - cf the signed twists crossing I-70 further west at Old Washington).

I drove everything east of Columbus in Ohio today, both TM's current routing and the one suggested by ODOT, and the only signs between Fairview and OH 513 were for the Guernsey County tour route. Westbound, they followed Waymore-Whitely-Logan-Pisgah-Bridgewater, the same route Si drafted. Other than Bridgewater, the roads themselves are crap (gravel that may have been asphalt 30 years ago), which doesn't necessarily justify a gap, but if they have never actually been part of the National Road, it seems unnecessary to include them. The route through Old Washington is (poorly) signed on OH 285. Also, there's no signage at all (either type) on Dewey or Manila west of Cambridge.

[neroute2]

IA Lincoln Highway:
Signs east of Lisbon do not seem to have been updated (as of September 2023) for the realignment of US 30 Bus. Do you have any sources showing the backtrack on Kirkwood? If not, I'd recommend using as much of the old alignment as possible via Adams and Old Lincoln to Charles.

Everything else looks perfect

[Duke87]

MD National Road:

Eastbound uses Mulberry and westbound uses Locust in Hagerstown. Neither direction uses Potomac.

Eastbound in Frederick uses East Street, while MD 144 east continues to Franklin. But westbound is the same. So should the overlap be broken or not?

Here I've kept the overlaps along Mulberry (with US40Alt) and Patrick (with MD144) as concurrent with those routes, but this can be changed. Both existing routes are not well mapped.

So the Frederick situation is a nice hot mess. Officially, only Patrick Street is part of the state highway system as MD 144. But Patrick becomes one way westbound west of East Street, so where's MD 144 eastbound? Officially currently, nowhere, but formerly it used South St to Franklin St before those were downloaded to local maintenance. At least one or two signs or MD 144 east along this alignment remain in place. So, by the principle of "there are no one way routes, if a route officially only follows a one-way street there must be an implied one-way pair", MD 144 is mapped as though what used to be officially its eastbound routing was not dumped.

The National Road being run through the area using a slightly different one-way pairing makes properly mapping this impossible since whether the two are concurrent between East St and Franklin St depends on which direction you are traveling.

But I do think leaving it as is as the least bad solution.


Over in Hagerstown, I see no reason not to map it as signed, but yes this requires adjusting US40AltHag and US40's files to create waypoints in the right place. I can appreciate Si did not want to mess with other people's stuff but as this is mine I'll go ahead and do it.

EDIT: https://github.com/TravelMapping/HighwayData/pull/7332
Also made a few adjustments in Baltimore to accommodate

[neroute2]

Ohio River Scenic Byway in Illinois:

Market Street in Metropolis

Ohio River Scenic Byway in Indiana:
Randolph Avenue in Clarksville, then jog on Harrison Avenue to Clark Boulevard



The Lincoln Heritage Trail is signed in at least Illinois and Indiana. I can try to figure out the details if you'd like.

[neroute2]

At Lima it probably comes in on North (the route in the 1920 Automobile Blue Book jogs south on Dewey to High, but that's been cut off) and then uses Main-McKibben and then north on West into 65 to 115 to rejoin the main route.

It doesn't use Elizabeth or Grand at all; this needs to be fixed.

[Markkos1992]

I could use a point where the National Rd leaves MD 27 on the north side of I-70.  I am not 100% sure whether I clinched the short section between MD 27 and MD 808.

[Duke87]

I could use a point where the National Rd leaves MD 27 on the north side of I-70.  I am not 100% sure whether I clinched the short section between MD 27 and MD 808.

Added, tidied up a few other bits in that area too

[mapcat]

In Indiana, ORSB and LCTrl both have a point in Clarksville that is probably in the wrong spot. BroStaWay_E should mark the turn at Randolph Ave instead of North Clark Blvd.

[neroute2]

Looking thru all the All-American Roads for possible additions:
A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway: not covered by existing systems on an old alignment at St. Augustine Beach
Acadia All-American Road: all covered
Alaska Marine Highway: lol
Beartooth Highway: all covered
Blue Ridge Parkway: already in usanp
Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway: all covered
Chinook Scenic Byway: all covered
Colonial Parkway: already in usanp
Creole Nature Trail: not covered by existing systems on a piece west of Oak Grove
Door County Coastal Byway: all covered
Flaming Gorge - Green River Basin Scenic Byway: all covered
Florida Keys Scenic Highway: all covered
George Washington Memorial Parkway: already in usanp
Great River Road: mapped
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway: not covered by existing systems on some branches, which are at least partially signed
Hells Canyon Scenic Byway: not covered by existing systems on NF 39
Historic Columbia River Highway: already in usaush and usaus
Historic National Road: mapped
Historic Route 66: already in usaush
International Selkirk Loop: mapped
Lakes to Locks Passage: not covered by existing systems on a piece south of Rouses Point and former NY 314 (unsigned branch?)
Las Vegas Strip: not covered by existing systems; may be unsigned
Lincoln Highway Scenic & History Byway: Nebraska needs to be checked if any of this is signed
Natchez Trace Parkway: already in usanp
Newfound Gap Road Byway: all covered
North Shore Scenic Drive: all covered
Northwest Passage Scenic Byway: all covered
Pacific Coast Scenic Byway - Oregon: all covered
Red Rock Scenic Byway: all covered
Route 1 - Big Sur Coast Highway: all covered
Route 1 - San Luis Obispo North Coast Byway: all covered
San Juan Skyway: all covered
Scenic Byway 12: all covered
Selma to Montgomery March Byway: not covered by existing systems in Montgomery; it is signed
Seward Highway: all covered
Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow Road: all covered
Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway: mapped
Woodward Avenue (M-1) - Automotive Heritage Trail: not covered by existing systems in downtown Detroit

None of these jump out at me as must-haves.

[neroute2]

Lincoln Highway in Nebraska:

At least one Lincoln Highway sign in Fremont
Signs on the route between North Platte and Gothenburg, which can be seen on https://lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/

[neroute2]

Something to keep an eye on: LCT in Ohio
https://www.weirtondailytimes.com/news/local-news/2023/06/fort-receives-auto-tour-signs-for-lewis-clark-trail/

[neroute2]

LCT in West Point KY

It seems to simply use US 31W Bus thru town (south end).