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Quote from: WikipediaA road number is often assigned to a stretch of public roadway. The number chosen is often dependent on the type of road, with numbers differentiating between interstates, motorways, arterial thoroughfares, two-lane roads, and so forth.

That's a summary from Wikipedia about road numbering. But what do they mean, and why should I use them in my MD? That's a question I want to work out

1. What do they mean

Let's see what kind of routes there are. I'm listing them up with some examples:

- Intercountry/Interstate Routes

Intercountry or interstate routes go through one or more countries/states. These are main routes and very often they connect one major city with another. Like the E19, which connects Amsterdam with Paris, via The Hauge, Rotterdam, Breda, Antwerp, Brussels, Mons, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Compiègne.
There's a system in the E-routes: Numbers that end with 0 go east-west and numbers that end with 5 go north-south. The rest are connection routes.

- Highways/Motorways/Freeways

A highway is a main route in a country/state. The term "Highway" can mean different things in other countries. In most European countries, a highway must have 3 things: 4 lanes or more, a medianand a shoulder/emergency lane. Apperantly, in the US there are many two-lane roads classified as "Highway".
Highways with low numbers are often long, main routes. Highways with long numbers are often short. This is usefull for services like the radio, which says where the traffic is stuck.

- Prime Roads

What if a road is not classified as a highway, but still it's a important route? Then it's classified as a prime route. Even here's the rule: routes with low numbers are often long, main routes. Routes with long numbers are often short.
In the UK, some parts of the prime routes are classified as a highway. Like the A3 changes into the A3(M).

- Secondary Roads
Roads that deserve to be numbered, but are not important enough for a prime road classification, are secondary roads. Examples: Departement routes (France) Landstrasse(Germany) Kriesstrasse(Germany) and B-routes (UK)

- Other Routes

If you want to fill this list with more kinds of roads, please comment.


2. Why should I use them in my MD

Road numbers give you a clear view of your whole road based transportation network. You can see quickly the most important connections in your region. It gives you also some coördination.

How to mention them to the public?

This can be done in two ways:
- On a map
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg58.imageshack.us%2Fimg58%2F1738%2Fkapishmappb7.jpg&hash=f067dbdd31b5461e58a49e8910d1f16948ebe8dc)

- Or on pictures
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg102.imageshack.us%2Fimg102%2F7263%2Fcentralzonecloseme0.jpg&hash=d3d0aebe93b28a2e450f9e20873edbd2b0c7d5e6)
This is WAAAAAY TOO BIG!

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg528.imageshack.us%2Fimg528%2F8227%2Fcentralzonekx5.jpg&hash=97295bdebbe90e36553a2a8491e681d55ff6c195)
That's better

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg83.imageshack.us%2Fimg83%2F727%2Finterchange0002gf5.jpg&hash=55e998e429982e8e672786aa2221246f6ca88a45)
This is also acceptable

If you have something to say about this, please comment!

Best,
Maarten

I'll contribute to this thread with information about Belgian road numbering.

E-ROADS
Highways
For the global need for more West-European corporation, especially directly after the second world war, a new category of road numbering came to existance. The Declaration on the Construction of Main International Traffic Arteries, spreaded a network of E-roads over the map of Western Europe. In Belgium, in the middle of this network, the European convention traced 9 E-roads. They don't mean much administratively, but for the signposting of motorways they have a prominent place.

The Belgian highwaynetwork is 1747 kilometers (1085 mile) long. It has the second-tightest network in the world (the Netherlands are first). Belgium has 57,2 km (35 mile) of highway per 1000 km² (400 mile²?) of land.

E-road     Connects
E3        (Lissabon) – Lille – Ghent – Antwerp – Venlo – (Stockholm)
E5         (London) – Calais – Ostend – Brussels – Liège – Aken – (Ankara)
E9         (Amsterdam) – Maastricht – Liège – Arlon – Luxemburg – (Genua)
E10       (Groningen) – Breda – Antwerp – Brussels – Mons – Valenciennes – (Paris)
E39       Hasselt – Maastricht – Aken
E40       Brussels – Namur – Luxemburg
E41       Liège – Namur – Mons

In fact, it took awhile until roadnumbers were actually given on signposting of new highways. It seemed to be unnecessary. Most road numbers were placed on signposting systematically for the first time after the new driving code was enacted in 1975.

A-ROADS
A-numbers first appeared near the end of Sixties. They were fixed in 1974, using sequential numbering. Numbers were, starting at 1, given to existent and planned highways.

R-ROADS
Ringways
R-numbering was also enacted in 1974. It were about 10 numbers, used for highways with a traffic-diverting function around an agglomeration (highway ringway). In 1985, at the same time as the renumbering for N-roads, R-numbers were also given to non-highways that circled smaller cities.

R-number          Connects
R0         Brussels Ringway
R1         Antwerp Inner Ringway
R2         Antwerp Outer Ringway
R3         Charleroi Outer Ringway
R4         Ghent Ringway
R5         Mons Ringway
R6         Mechlen Ringway
R7         Liège Ringway
R8         Kortrijk Ringway
R9         Charleroi Inner Ringway

N-Roads
Avenues
The numbering on N-roads in 1985 was needed after the spectacular expansion of the network. During the beginning of the Sixties people had, together with the 1- and 2-number roads, granted 3-number roads  to non-numbered roads, both existent as new ones. After awhile, chaos reigned as old, small, roads that had little importance still had low, one- or twonumbered numbers, while brand new avenues had a stupid three numbered number. Because of that, the administration numbered N-roads according to their importante.

* N1-N9: One numbered N-roads that go from Brussels to all corners of the corners.
* N10-N90: Two numbered N-roads, ending in a 0, are connections between capitals of provinces.
* N11-N99: and N100-N999: Other two numbered N-roads and threenumbered N-roads use a regional system, with the first number to indicate the province.

Number     Province
N1x - N1xx       Anvers / Antwerp
N2x - N2xx       Brabant
N3x - N3xx       Flandre occidentale / West-Vlaanderen
N4x - N4xx       Flandre orientale / Oost-Vlaanderen
N5x - N5xx       Hainaut / Henegouwen
N6x - N6xx       Liège / Luik
N7x - N7xx       Limbourg / Limburg
N8x - N8xx       Luxembourg / Luxemburg
N9x - N9xx      Namur / Namen

There's ofcourse also the B-Roads (provincial roads, similar to the French D-roads) and the T-Roads (mostly unpaved roads, Touristic roads)

Phew, that was quite a translation job; but it was fun  :)

Source: Wegen-Routes.be

In the US, interstate highways that end in an even number are east/west, ane if they end in an odd number they are north/south, but it's not set in stone - Interstate 81 goes mostly east/west through much of Southwest Virginia, but it is north/south for most of its length.

Interstate highways (or, more commonly just interstates) have lower numbers in the west and south, and higher in the north and east.

3-digit interstates are a spur of a main 2- or 1-digit interstate.  If the first digit is even, the highway goes around a city; if it is even, then it goes into or through it.  The last two digits are the same as the interstate it is linked to. Example:  Interstate 581 is a north-south highway (last digit is odd) that goes straight into the city of Roanoke (first digit is odd) and is linked to Interstate 81 (last two digits)

Interstate highways are always at least 4 lanes; they have no at-grade intersections, always of/on ramps; they always have a paved shoulder; they usually have guardrails on the sides; pedestrians are not allowed; and the curves and slopes are usually rather smooth and must not be too steep.  Speed limits are high, varying from 55 to 65 mph in Virginia, and up to 70 in North Carolina.  Sometimes, though, the speed limit is lower - a "safety corridor" along Interstate 81 in Roanoke County, VA has a speed limit of 50 mph, and very high fines for violations.  Also, on interstate 40 in North Carolina, there is a curve going down a mountain that allows cars to drive at 55 miles an hour, but trucks must drive at 35 miles an hour.

I don't know if there is a system of numbering for US routes or state routes. US routes usually have a gravel or dirt shoulder if they are 4-lane, but they may be 2-lane, in which case they lack a shoulder. Sometimes they have a paved shoulder and exit ramps and possibly more than 4 lanes, sometimes they are just an avenue through a city with stoplights and at-grade intersections... State routes are rarely more than 4 lanes. State and US routes have looser standards than interstates.

Well, I guess I should explain the German road system here as well. ;)

The Autobahn (abbreviated with A or officially BAB for "Bundesautobahn") is the highest category, maintained by the Federal Republic of Germany. There are no at-grade intersections, and the minimum speed is 60 km/h (37 mi/h). For cars and motorcycles, there is no speed limit, but only a suggested speed of 130 km/h (80 mi/h). However, local speed limits can be applied, only half of all German autobahns at most are unrestricted. For trucks, there's an electronic toll system that was built a few years ago. As a rule of thumb, Autobahns with a one digit number cross the whole country (odd numbers in north-south direction, even numbers in east-west direction), autobahns with two digits serve as inter-regional connections, and autobahns with three digits are usually short stubs in urban areas, or autobahns that were started once, but never got finished.

The next category is the Bundesstraße ("federal road", abbreviated with B), also maintained by the federal government. They can be equipped like autobahns (two lanes per direction, median, no at-grade intersections) and are sometimes called "yellow autobahn", since the signs are yellow instead of blue - but a large number of them are simply roads with one lane per direction. The typical speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mi/h) or even unrestricted on "yellow autobahns", but it can be restricted to 70 km/h (43 mi/h) or even lower, i. e. on curvy stretches. Instead of the yellow signs, "Kraftfahrstraße" (see below) signs are common, though.

The third category is the Landstraße ("state road", abbreviated with L), maintained by the individual federal states. The speed limits are the same as on the Bundesstraße: 100 km/h outside of towns, 50 km/h (31 mi/h) in developed areas.

The fourth category is the Kreisstraße ("county road", abbreviated with K), maintained by the individual "Landkreis" (county or district, usually a larger city with the surrounding villages). The speed limits are the same as above.

Both Bundesstraße and Landstraße (sometimes even Kreisstraße and inner-city roads, but with the regular 50 km/h speed limit, if not stated otherwise) can be designated as "Kraftfahrstraße", which means that they are intended for vehicles that have to go at least 60 km/h, like on autobahns. If they are equipped like autobahns, there's a suggested speed of 130 km/h, and a speed limit of 100 km/h otherwise. At-grade intersections are possible. The main difference to "yellow autobahns" is that the latter ones can be used by slower vehicles, like tractors, as well.

In California, we have 4 different types: the first two being the aforementioned Interstates and the older US Highways (marked with a black on white shield, these are mostly still intact only in very remote areas and are mainly two- or four- lane undivided roads).

Then we have county highways, which in California are marked with a blue pentagonal shield with gold letters. These have a letter-number combination, the letter depending on what part of the state they are located in. These are usually relatively short, major roards in rural areas, and are often roads which were once classified as another type of highway but no longer are. For example, County Highway S1 in San Diego County is most of the rural portions of the former US Highway 80. It is a 2-lane undivided road.

Then we have the California state highways. In a nod to California's history (the Gold Rush miner's spades in particular), these are marked by a green shield shaped like a rounded triangle (meant to represent a round-nosed shovel) with white lettering.

These are a strange beast; some are simply a designation laid on a 4- or 6- lane major street in a city, some are a full divided highway (in some cases, 10-12 lanes), some are two-lane rural roads. Some are all three, at different portions of their existence. Most extend for long distances - over 40 miles at least on average - and the state has recently decommissioned those which were not a divided highway AND existed only within the city limits of one or two cities.

One example of the strange existence of California state highways is Highway 78, which runs from the coast in Oceanside to the Arizona border, about 140 miles east. For its westernmost 15-20 miles it is a 6-8 lane divided highway, and has interchanges with Interstates 5 and 15. Shortly after crossing 15, it becomes a 4-6 lane urban street for about 5 miles, then becomes a 2-4 lane mountain road for about 70-80 miles (including three stints as the "main street" through different small towns and an 8-mile section where it is double-numbered with Highway 79), before converting back to a divided highway for a few miles, then back to a 2-lane rural highway for another 40-50 miles before reaching Arizona.

There is no coherent numbering system for the California highways, although there seems to have been an effort made to make the evens go east-west and the odds go north-south; however, the numbers were not placed in a particular pattern, and some of the old US Highways were converted keeping their numbers intact (Highway 91 for example). Some of the highways, though, run diagonal or curve, so coherent numbering may not have been possible. (For example, Highway 94 runs parallel to Highways 52 and 54, and is between them.) As a result of decommisioning, reuse of numbers, and conversion of some to Interstates, not all of the numbers are in use, though they were originally numbered sequentially (the State legislature renumbered all state highways in 1964, and at that time all numbers from 1-255 were either in existence or were unbuilt but planned).

We don't have any county or city roads in Virginia - they are all state-maintained, even the ruralest of rural dirt or gravel roads, and only the paved ones with lines down the middle have a black sqare sign with a white circle where the number is in black lettering; the minor ones (much more numerous) have a small white rectangular sign with black lettering and stripe around the edge. 

Forest service roads are maintained by the, uh, forest service, and they help firefighters get to where a campfire may have gotten out of hand or whatever. They are never paved with asphalt or cement, always located where state-maintained roads are less numerous, and if I remember properly they have brown wooden signs with white engraved lettering.

Wow. This is quite a thread idea Maarten!

I figure I'll chime in with an illustrated explanation of US and Virginia State Highways for you foreigners.  ;)

Interstates have been mentioned, so I'll leave those out.

That brings us to US highways:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi188.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fz194%2Fdeathtopumpkins%2FUS-17.jpg&hash=bb33c3102d8e731a1b6ced58b85c649b09a8154d)
US-17, one of the major ones around here.
US highways were mostly built in the first half of the 20th century, and later ones generally follow the north-south=odd numbers and east-west=even numbers scheme, but sometimes there are the odd numbers left from the earlier system. Take for example, US-17, shown above. It follows the east coast from Winchester, VA, down to just south of Tampa, FL, east of US-1 for most of it's route, which leads me to the earlier numbering system. Originally, routes were numbered chronologically be order built, which is why there are actually somtimes higher digits as you go west (101, the Pacific Coast Highway, or just the PCH, is the farthest west, and 1, the Boston Post Road, which follows the same route it has for almost 300 years, is the farthest east), and the numbers were just left the same when switching to a sequential system.
A thing of note with US Highways: Most interstates were, at one time US Highways, and were upgraded after President Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act on June 29th, 1956 (hmm... 37 years to the day before I was born...), often replacing the existing ROW or being constructed on parallel routes, which is thought to have "killed" famous US Highways such as Route 66. Some of the new interstates took the original route's number, and some got their own.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi188.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fz194%2Fdeathtopumpkins%2FUS-169.jpg&hash=2057da36502d176f461401af6a90776d23f6395b)
3 Digit US Highways I believe also follow the chronological numbering scheme for the most part, but I also find some that seem to almost follow the interstate patterns, such as US-258, which is a double-ended spur off of US-58, and runs from Hampton, VA, to Jacksonville, NC, meeting US-58 in Franklin, VA. US-158, on the other hand, never intersects US-58, and it actually closely parallels it from the Outer Banks in North Carolina to Winston-Salem, NC. The problems with either of these fitting into the interstate numbering scheme is that, for example, US-258 only intersects US-58 once, and even digit 3-digit interstates (3di's) are supposed to be bypasses, etc., not spurs.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi188.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fz194%2Fdeathtopumpkins%2FVA-7.jpg&hash=0ad54e5691aa21d9dd546bdbcbe5d9ca35b9c87c)
Virginia State Highways are basically what nerdly_dood perfectly explains while I type this post.

I'll delve into local routes (because, contrary to what nerdly_dood said below, they do exist, at least in the eastern part of the state, where I live) tomorrow, I need to get some sleep right now.

TO BE CONTINUED: Watch for an edit tomorrow...

Picture sources: The 3RR graphics exchange here @ SC4D (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2713.0); www.routemarkers.com (http://www.routemarkers.com/); all edited in MS Paint and Picture Manager.

EDIT: If any of this information is wrong, my apologies and please inform me what so I can fix it.

*nod* Like the US and Interstate highways, California has some "spur routes" as well. They were numbered in the 300s, with the ending being the root route number.

The two I've been on - 330 and 371 - are both odd in that, as a result of later renumberings and rerouting, neither of them connects to its root route anymore. Old 71 was a semi-circular route, and when part of it ended up becoming part of I-15, the remaining portion was renumbered to 371. Somewhere since then, part of 371 was renumbered to become part of 79, and the result is that 371 is about 20 miles long and only connects to 74 and 79 - not 71. And at one point, the eastern end of 30 was rerouted - instead of turning north and uphill to meet up with Highway 18 near Big Bear, it was moved to turn south to meet I-10 in Redlands. The old section became 330. Just last year, when construction was completed connecting highway 30's western end to the east end of I-210, 30 was renumbered to 210, and no longer exists (but 330 does).

And unlike someone's previous statement about state highways being limited to a certain size, in California there is very little (if any) difference between the construction of Interstate and some State highways, other than the route number sign used. However, there are also many State highways which are not built up to Interstate sizes or standards - some are mere city streets or 2-lane mountain roads. Some of our highway network predated the Interstate system and was constructed as US and/or State highways and then renumbered; for example I-710 was originally CA-7, parts of I-5 were originally US-99 or US-101, part of I-210 was originally CA-30, and so on. There is currently a movement to have CA-99 (originally part of US-99) renumbered as an Interstate, and to have CA-58 added to the western end of I-40. Some highways are also constructed as State highways, with the intent of being renumbered as Interstate spurs, and are given suitable numbers so that the numbers do not need to be changed, only the color of the signs. There is a section of highway in San Diego (just south of I-8) which is officially CA-15, extending fromt he official southern end of I-15, and there is also a CA-905 which is intended to become I-905.

In the Great Renumbering of 1964, the state made a distinct effort to avoid the previous practice of placing multiple highway numbers on the same road. This was often done because the original numbering system had been designed to provide a marked route between specific pairs of cities, but the routes often ran somewhat parallel. For example, when passing over the mountains between Riverside and Palm Springs, US-60 and US-66 followed the same roadway for a couple dozen miles. When the routes were renumbered, 60 was shortened so that it "ended" where it joined with 66 (on the highway that became I-10). The lack of double-numbering was seen to be a better option than continuing the number to its logical conclusion, so many highways now end at another highway, rather than at any sort of "destination". There are a few examples of double numbering that still exist, but usually where two highways share a road for a relatively short distance near the middle of both routes (like CA-60/I-215 in Riverside, I-215/CA-74 in Perris, CA-78/CA-79 in Julian-Santa Ysabel, and I-15/CA-79 in Temecula - in all four cases the shared sections are less than ten miles long and both highways continue for at least 20 miles beyond both ends).

Oh, P.S. - 3 digit interstates with even starting numbers are meant to be bypasses. Ones with odd starting numbers can be spurs. (Such as I-710 in Long Beach, CA).

German Autobahn numbering: Observations from a Dutchy to his Eastern neigbour's system.

For a Dutchy, I know a quite surprising bit about German Autobahns.

1:  Even numbers always go in an East-West route, while odd numbers always go North-South.
Most notable exception og this rule being the A15, and to a lesser extent, the A17

2: The most notable observation of the German BAB numbering however is it's zoning.

During the re-numbering phase in the early 1970s, zones were created from which all 2-digit and 3-digit Autobahns would get it's starting number.

1. Berlin (extended after the reunification to most of the former GDR/DDR)
And, from North to South:
2. Bremen/Hamburg/Kiel
3. Osnabrück/Hannover
4. Northern Ruhr Area/Kassel
5. Southern Ruhr Area/Köln/Bonn
6. Saarbrücken/Frankfurt
7. Nürnberg/Hof
8. Stuttgart/Black Forest
9. München

This leaves the 1-digit numbers free for the "magistralen", the long main routes through the country:
A1. Puttgarden - Saarbrücken interrupted
A2. Oberhausen - Berlin (outer ring)
A3. Emmerich (Dutch Border) - Passau (Austrian Border)
A4. Aachen (Dutch Border) - Görlitz (Polish Border) interrupted
A5. Kirchheim - Basel (Swiss Border)
A6. Saarbrücken (French Border) - Waidhhaus (Czech border) interrupted
A7. Flensburg (Danish Border) - Füssen (Austrian Border) interruptedlongest Autobahn
A8. Perl (Luxemburg border) - Bad Reichenhall (Austrian border) interrupted
A9. Berlin (outer ring) - München (inner ring)

Although the intention was to have these "magistralen" uninterrupted, two of the interruptions have been given up, both for ecological reasons:
A4. Interruption between Wenden (Olpe Süd) and Kirchheim
A8. Interruption between Pirmasens and Karlsruhe
Side note: the A8 interruption at München is now covered by the A99 ring road.
Side note 2: a good deal of the A8 is still in it's original livery, meaning no hard shoulders / emergency lanes and steep hills (up to 8%)
at one of these narrow hills, a stunt team recently performed some youtubery between  Hohenstadt and Mühlhausen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piIpz1tewEg):

All other interruptions should be closed by 2020

(going to have some breakfast, new post very soon)

In South Africa we have national, provincial and municipal roads (i.e. the N1, R21 or M4). :) Each road is the functional responsibility of either the national, provincial or municipal / metropolitan / local sphere of government and they pay for its upkeep.

Pretty much the same here. In California the state is responsible for the upkeep on all marked highways (except the county highways, which are handled by the county). However, funding for the upkeep on the Interstates is partially reimbursed by the federal government. The state pays the whole amount for the state ones.

The local covernment (either city or county) is responsible for all roads which are not numbered highways (your run of the mill named streets and such).

There are a few oddball "streets" which are built to highway standards, at least for short distances, in San Diego and a couple other cities. One example of this (if you look on Google Earth) is along Friars Road between I-15 and CA-163, where most of the street is actually a "highway" (with overpasses and ramps and a divider wall) but has no highway number. It is considered a city street and the city does themaintenance, but (except for the lack of a route sign) it *looks* like a highway. There are a few other examples around San Diego, but Friars is probably the longest.

QuoteE3        (Lissabon) – Lille – Ghent – Antwerp – Venlo – (Stockholm)
E5         (London) – Calais – Ostend – Brussels – Liège – Aken – (Ankara)

if i'm correct the E3 you speak of is the E17 and the E5 is the E40

In England, the national system is broken up into a number of corridors, broken up by the numbered primary roads:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbrd.co.uk%2Froadsfaq%2Fimg%2Fazones.gif&hash=96ad5d56db3167fdfedd11f900914b2b037a8ee1)
So, say a road began in the '5' zone, it would have be 'A5406', or 'B5503'. If a road crosses zones, then it's number is derived from the zone furthest anticlockwise. So, if A road starts in Cornwall (3) and continues to '1' through '4' and '6', it would be the A3XX (Substitute XX for the number, it just starts with 3).

Motorways, on the other hand, use their own numbering systems.
The principle is the same, however the motorway placements are different:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbrd.co.uk%2Findepth%2Froadnumbers%2Fimg%2Ft_mzone.gif&hash=7a857e080580367b5ca081dc7c251a30af306d22)
You may have noticed that Wales has become part of zone 5. This creates a headache as the M4 is in Wales, but is still called the M4. Crazy world, eh?

Look here for more:
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/roadnumbers/allpurpose.shtml (http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/roadnumbers/allpurpose.shtml) - A and B Roads
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/roadnumbers/motorways.shtml (http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/roadnumbers/motorways.shtml) - Motorways

I think I'll mention Ontario before Hal gets here.  :P

Ontario Highways;

First there is our Primary Highways (King's Highways).
For those who don't have them, they are main highways, that have higher traffic.
The number range starts at 1 and goes to 199.
The higher number ones aren't as important as the lower ones.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F7%2F72%2FOntario_11.png%2F50px-Ontario_11.png&hash=baf17643cdae1dbf42af102dc4c7931439aab406)

The the freeway ones. Like the US's Interstate System.
The number range is 400 - 499.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F5%2F5f%2FOntario_400.png%2F44px-Ontario_400.png&hash=8c08c8be4122893d2f32b524a67561b7a1c55faa)

The the secondary highways.
Those are the smaller less traffic route.
As of 1997 all of these highways are in Northern Ontario and all of the ones in Southern Ontario goes to the county, as County Roads.
The number range is 500-699.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2Fe%2Fe1%2FOntario_Highway_600.png%2F100px-&hash=a7145a55460404a01bc9c4f7add916fc755106fe)

County Roads are highways that are like Secondary Highways but they are in Southern Ontario and form part of the county's there are.
There are no specific number range for these roads.
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The last of them are the Tertiary roads.
The large ones (That are in Northern Ontario) are the 800 series.
And the smaller little road ones (That are mostly in Southern Ontario) are 7,000 seies.
Most of the expressways that aren't up the freeway standards get a 7,000 designation, even if it forms part of another major highway.
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Click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_in_Ontario) for the list of roads in Ontario.

-un1

But un1, the 400 series numbers only go up to 417 (the highway in Ottawa).... so far

:) Mass

P.S. isn't highway 11 Yonge Street?

Quote from: MassHelper on October 29, 2008, 04:46:32 AM
But un1, the 400 series numbers only go up to 417 (the highway in Ottawa).... so far
P.S. isn't highway 11 Yonge Street?

It goes up to 417 so far. But that isn't the top number, there is no Highway 199 yet (or so I think).
Also, Young Street is Highway 11 but, Highway 11 starts at the interchange of the 400 and 11, then continmues to Rainy River, still as Young Street. So it still is highway 11 north of Barrie and North of North Bay it is part of the Trans Canada.

-un1

What about the 427 Un1 and Masshelper?  :P  Besides, more routes are planned, so it will go higher.

Getting back on topic,

I've always envisioned a proper route labeling for my road system, but due to the sheer amount and complexity of the networks, I haven't incorporated them into my region yet.  Another problem is that the RHW does not show up in transport view.  &mmm
-The only highway I've properly labeled is "GTR 1" which is a inter-regional multi-highway that serves as a major route in the GTR.  It was easy to label, so I did it!

If anyone has suggestions about how I should plan my labeling, please, by all means, let me know!

Best,
-Haljackey

Quote from: Haljackey on October 29, 2008, 12:49:29 PM
Another problem is that the RHW does not show up in transport view.  &mmm

Never been a fan of the default region transport view anyway.  Custom maps are so much more fun. :P

Here in Oregon, we have a rather weird/confusing numbering setup.  There's actually two separate systems--the externally posted route numbers (either Interstates, US Highways, or Oregon State Highways), and the internal ODOT system, which, by and large, aren't really correlated or coherent.  Until 2002, we had a bunch of "hidden" routes (at least a good 50 or so), that had numbers in the internal ODOT system, but not publicly-known numbers.  They decided to make the "hidden" routes have public numbers in correspondence with their internal numbers in 2002, except when the internal number was already taken (namely in the 200s--those numbers were being used for pre-2002 secondary routes).  (Those were changed to begin with "5".)

For the most part, the state highways here follow the standard US odd=North-South, even=East-West setup, with the lower north-south highways in the eastern part of the state, and the lower east-west in the northwest corner.  Some of the post-2002 secondary routes however, don't follow the standard odd/even setup, which is rather annoying. :D

I've got a numbering system in my MD as well, which, until recently, was completely designed to use numbers not taken in Oregon.  I've written a bit about it in my most recent update (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=1555.msg192875#msg192875).  Shameless plug, I know. :D

-Alex (Tarkus)

Quote from: un1 on October 29, 2008, 12:28:58 PM
It goes up to 417 so far. But that isn't the top number, there is no Highway 199 yet (or so I think).
Also, Young Street is Highway 11 but, Highway 11 starts at the interchange of the 400 and 11, then continmues to Rainy River, still as Young Street. So it still is highway 11 north of Barrie and North of North Bay it is part of the Trans Canada.

-un1

To further add, those country road signs are also found in Sudbury, and there used a regional road numbering system. Also, the highest 400 series number is actually Highway 451, although its only used internally as that road is more formally known as the Queen Elizabeth Way, or QEW. One other timbit - right now only one secondary highway actually intersects with a 400 series highway - although that will change as highway 400 is further expanded north into Sudbury, and also when highway 11 gets renamed to highway 411 sometime in the next 5-10 years.

Quote from: Haljackey on October 29, 2008, 12:49:29 PM
Getting back on topic,

I've always envisioned a proper route labeling for my road system, but due to the sheer amount and complexity of the networks, I haven't incorporated them into my region yet.  Another problem is that the RHW does not show up in transport view.  &mmm
-The only highway I've properly labeled is "GTR 1" which is a inter-regional multi-highway that serves as a major route in the GTR.  It was easy to label, so I did it!

If anyone has suggestions about how I should plan my labeling, please, by all means, let me know!

Best,
-Haljackey

How about the System that's used in Germany, or something like it? It looks easy to use.

Well, I'm coming a bit late, but here comes the little description of French road system:

-Highways: a highway ("autoroute") is a 2x2 minimum separated lanes with no crossings and wich use is not permited to pedestrians and bikes. minimum speed is 60km/h and max speed is 130km/h. They are build by the state but most of them are maintained by private corporation and thus are not free, except urban highways around the big cities. To be noted: for this reason, there is NO highways in the Britanny region because historically no road toll can be applied there. Highways are prioritary, which means when you enter on a highways you have to let those wich are already on pass first... They are called A### (see below for the numbering concept). Many of them (the first build) have quite the same path than a National Road (see below)

-"Freeways": a freeway ("Route pour automobiles" ou "Voie rapide") is logically a sort of free highway. Any road with separated lanes (ie with a median) and no crossings is considered a freeway and is unallowed to peds and bikes. Freeways are prioritary. Max speed limit is 110km/h. There is no freeways naming system, they could be Natinal roads or Departemental roads.

-National Roads ("Routes Nationales"): these are the historical great road network. Before highways where build (ie before 1960/1965) this was the only state-wide system. There is no size or quality obligation, a National road could be anything between a 4x4 highway-like ultra-new freeway to a one lane road lost in the rurals wich last maintainance occured in 1979 ;-) . the only
criteria to be a National Road: be maintained by the state. Except in urban areas, max speed limit on roads is 90km/h. There are numbered N###. The first numbers where given in clockwise order around Paris: the N1 go right north from Paris to Lille splitting at a moment giving birth to N2, th N3 starts just a mile or so at the right of N1 and go N-W.... N7 starts south of Paris and go to the famous Côte d'Azur, 800km south from here... N13 start at the west of Paris near LaDéfense and go to deauville, etc... other number where attributed in order of road importance and after that to fit the best in this system. As said before, highways where first built according to that, so A1 goes north to Lille, A13 goes west to Deauville, etc...

-Departemental roads ("routes departementales"): there is no strict difference between a national and a departemental road except that at the moment when the system was established, the authorities have stated that this road was not sufficiently important to be maintained by the state, thus they are maintained by the departement. Things could have changed since then, so some departemental roads are now big freeways ;-)   they are numbered D### and once more, the number is function of local (departemental) importance.

-Communal roads ("routes communales"): essentialy rural roads maintained by local municipality... they are only fond in small rural towns

A word on European Roads: they have been mentioned earlier in this topic, but nor road are actually build to be a E##, instead each road of importance in EU have been labelled E## by the European Comission. Thus, a A## could be a E##, as could also a N## be one.... but french peoples aren't "europtimists"
When I lived in Bruxelles, Belgium, everybody designed the higways by their E## and it was actually very hard to find what the original (belgian) number was... in France, most people tend to ignore the E## of their favourite quotidian highway. Nobody use anything else than the A## and quite everybody is convinced that E## are only added to the signs to help international truckers finding their way... (does somebody know if they indeed have any other useness?)  ;-)

Directional indications are on green and white (for local indications) pannels for roads (departemental, national and freeways) and on blue pannels for highways.

I am sorry, I have no illustrating pics just now but if somebody is interested, tell me and I would find some online and edit this post with some linkies.

Hope I have been clear enough... our system is not that simple since the weight of history is here more pregnant than logic and efficiency....frenchs are like that lol

A last note, for a little oddity: the parisian peripherique (= ring) though being a separated way from 2x2 to 5x5 is not considered a highway nor a freeway. Its max speed limit is 80km/h and it is not a proritary road... ie when you enter the ring, they MUST let you pass!!! (go ahead tourist friends, don't be affraid... force the passage, you're on your right!! lol)

In Indiana, you can usually get an idea of where you are within the state with the state highway numbers.  As done with US highways, Indiana state routes increase from east to west and from north to south.  I have found no Indiana state highway that bears the number of a US highway going through the state -- if you are on Route 12 you are on US 12, and if you are on Route 14 you are on Indiana 14. 

At one-mile intervals on state and US highways, the state places a little milepost indicating the distance to the southern or western terminus of the highway, or when the highway leaves the state.  Since some of the US highway system supplanted the state system, these signposts are not always reliable.  Indiana 43 used to run from Crawfordsville to Michigan City.  From Reynolds northward, it was supplanted by US 421.  From West Lafayette southward, it was supplanted by US 231.  The mileposts indicate the distance to Crawfordsville.  Conversely, Indiana 55 used to run from Crawfordsville to Business Route 6, now on Gary's southern border.  The state decommissioned the stretch south of Wingate, and distances on the mileposts go to Wingate.

Beneath the state level, Indiana likes to number its county roads in most of the flat counties and some of the hilly counties.  An east-west highway (or line on the map) is designated 00, 0 N/S or Division;  roads to the north or south get a number that indicates the distance to the division;  300 North is three miles north of Division.  A north-south highway is designated 00, 0 E/W or Meridian.  600 East is six miles east of Meridian.  Since most of Indiana's farmland was surveyed and sold in sections (squares 1/4 mile on a side), most county highways' numbers are some multiple of 25.  Diagonal roads get named.  Older state routes are usually referred to "Old X";  like Old 27

These are fantastic everybody. I've begun to number the roads and highways in my cities according to the information presented here. Thanks for your work.

Geoff

Never noticed this topic before. I didn't see a completely accurate description on US (a.k.a. Federal) Highways, so I wanted to elaborate. Much like Interstates, odd-numbered US Highways run south-north while even-numbered routes run west-east. Opposite of Interstates, however, the smaller numbered odd US routes are in the east and get larger to the west, and the smaller numbered even routes are in the north and get larger to the south. There are exceptions to the rule: much of US Route 6 runs parallel and south of US Route 20, for example. The three-digit description earlier is pretty accurate. These are for the most part "spur" routes, although they may not ever intersect with the parent route.

I also wanted to bring up Ohio State Routes, since I grew up there and have since learned more about how they got their numbering. They began numbering the routes in 1924. The major routes (ones that ran across the state) were given the lowest numbers. Next, they "batched" or "grouped." There is no real pattern with the grouping, but simply a batch of highways in a particular area were given a series of numbers. For example, in Northeast Ohio, you will find 43, 44, 45 and 46; then 82, 83 (the original route), 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88. After they mapped out the state with these, they moved on to 3-digit routes: (again in the northeast) 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169 and 170; and then 303, 304, 305, 306 and 307; and finally 528, 531, 532 and 534. Once the US Highways were designated in 1926, where they "overtook" a state route, the state dropped its designation in favor of the new US Route designation. Some of these dropped numbers were reincarnated elsewhere. And as for north-south or east-west distinction, there is none that I'm aware of on Ohio state routes.

I've lived in Illinois for 10 years now, and have no idea as to the rhyme or reason for the numberings here. I see no patterns or correlation among routes.

Pennsylvania utilizes spur routes. I don't fully understand the pattern (if any) with the parent routes, but many of these parents have lots of spur routes in the same area. For example, where I lived in the western part of the state, you'll find State Routes 8, 108, 208 and 308; 18, 318, 418, 518, 618 and 718; 58, 158, 258 and 358; 51, 151, 351 and 551 (the ones in green can all be found in Mercer County, and some don't even go beyond the county limits!). You'll also find 3-digit routes that appear to have no parent.

Oh, by the way, I've found a map of the dutch 'Rijkswegenplan' of 1932 (planning where all the routes should be placed):
[Linkie! (http://www.autosnelwegen.nl/asw/pics/gs/gs0401.jpg)] (picture is protected agains deeplinking). Compare this picture to the current setup [Linkie (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=nl&geocode=&q=the+netherlands&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.089956,105.556641&ie=UTF8&ll=52.148659,5.495911&spn=1.198271,3.298645&z=9)] Spot the differences  ;D

Best,
Maarten