Talk:California/State Highway Relations

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Unlettered, numeric-only county routes

@Stevea: I believe the solitary CR 66 in San Bernardino County is intended to be part of the California statewide scheme, but the County successfully petitioned Caltrans for its numbering to be 66, so network=US:CA:CR would make sense for this route. The Lake County examples seem to be numbered directly the county, however, so they should probably be network=US:CA:Lake. --clay_c (talk) 20:55, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

OK, these are definitely "edges which might need some final feathering," so I appreciate your input. It isn't clear (from the sign) that CR 66 belongs to the statewide scheme (no "zone letter"), even as it is "blue pentagonal," but you are making it clear (from the actual history) that Caltrans got involved and "answered the petition" so that it better fits into network=US:CA:CR. The Lake County examples are what I'll call "wobblers" (they could go either way, as they ARE "blue pentagonal"). However, I'll accept both CR 66 as you do and change the wiki to reflect that the numbered, blue pentagonal Lake County numbered routes (with no zone letter) be tagged network=US:CA:Lake. Wider input on these topics is welcome here. Stevea (talk) 21:06, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
Are the Lake County routes actually signed? I have a hunch the blue pentagonal shields for this county are a fiction invented by Wikipedians.
In either case, the existence of county-signed routes alongside state-coordinated county routes with identical shields is not unique here. Michigan has a similar state-coordinated county route system to California, right down to the alphanumeric codes with lettered zones. Despite this, Roscommon County posts its own routes with the same blue pentagonal shields. And of course, every county except Bergen in New Jersey uses the same blue pentagon as the state-coordinated routes 500-599. --clay_c (talk) 21:24, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
I think the last time I drove in Lake County was the mid-1990s, and I don't recall seeing blue pentagonal signage, even if I was driving on one of these roads. I think the crucial distinction here (both in California and Michigan, where I've lived over a half-century and where I was born, respectively) is that you make of "state-coordinated county routes." For THOSE, (like CR 66 in California: even though it isn't part of the "zone letter" scheme, it IS coordinated with Caltrans, thanks to the petition), they go into the network=US:CA:CR category. For simple numbered routes at an individual county-level — importantly, NOT state-coordinated — they best seem to get network=US:CA:<county>. And we all sleep well at night. Still welcome here are comments by those who might have seen blue pentagonal signage in Lake County! Stevea (talk) 21:31, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

Mendocino County

The sign for a Mendocino County route is a white-on-green rectangle, not a black-on-white rectangle:

  • Usal Road (CR 431) [1][2][3]
  • Mountain House Road (CR 111) [4]

This happens to be similar to the signage in several rural Ohio counties. That said, this article seems to be correct that the county route numbers are usually just posted in the corner of D3-1 street name signs.

 – Minh Nguyễn 💬 02:55, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

OK, that SFGate article is a good reference, certainly later / more-recent than my hazy, early 2000s recollection of what might have been a "post mileage" sign (I'm not sure what these are called in "county land" rather than Caltrans-parlance), those "every once in a while, small, quite short, 'technical' looking signs" which have a route name (like CR 431, though I'm not saying that's exactly what they read, my memory being, you know, hazy) plus the mileage along that route. I'm pretty sure those exist, I'm pretty sure they are black-on-white (and even look like Caltrans "post mile" signage, even though they are not). But to read in reputable press that there really are white-on-green rectanglular signage with 431 to denote Usal Road, well, yeah, that sounds about right, even if I couldn't quite remember that color scheme exactly. And yeah, seeing the linked photo of the bullet-hole-ridden sign on Usal and the 111 on Mountain House Road (I've never seen that personally) are excellent. Thanks for the references and confirmation that there really are such signs, and in the particular color scheme as they presently exist. I have changed the Page text (from black-on-white to white-on-green). Stevea (talk) 03:37, 1 August 2022 (UTC)
Yes, those paddle-shaped signs are known as postmile markers even along county roads, because the counties also follow the postmile numbering system. More generally across the country, these and mile markers are known as location reference markers. – Minh Nguyễn 💬 21:29, 1 August 2022 (UTC)