Comments on: All 26 Million Road Segments in Continental United States

By: Nathan Yau

Nathan Yau — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:33:00 +0000

@ikeM: nothing like some great context to add more meaning.

By: ikeM

ikeM — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:14:00 +0000

Absolutely beautiful and brilliant. Thanks for sharing these.

@Ryan – The dense area you see in central California is not along the I-5, but rather CA 99 – which parallels the railroad mainline and is home to some of the oldest cities in California. I-5 was built miles away from almost all of these population centers on purpose, since it’s primary goal was to connect LA and SF as quickly a possible.

By: Kirk Kittell

Kirk Kittell — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:21:00 +0000

“Roads all of a sudden go dense somewhere around North Dakota. Is that really what it’s like? Does farming suddenly stop and urban life begins in these areas?”

Actually, I think that’s slightly wrong: farming basically stops on the left side of the line, not on the right. West of that line, the land is comprised of open range. East of the line, there are still a number of predominantly rural states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, etc. — that have a dense character in the map. Like Gary mentioned in ND, we had the same section roads in Illinois, so the density of roads doesn’t match the population density.

As @aleska noted, the topography of the Rocky Mountains isn’t appropriate for crops. Farther west: deserts, more mountains, etc.

By: Nathan Yau

Nathan Yau — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:23:00 +0000

@aleska: i was hoping someone would pick up on that :)

By: aleska

aleska — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:21:00 +0000

If you look at a topographical map, it appears that this observed line is consistent with an increase in elevation. Launch something like MS Map Point, view the US as a Terrain Map, and the picture is strikingly similar to the one above.
Makes sense that foothills and mountains make for fewer roads.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:56:00 +0000

Wow! That’s interesting. It looks like I-5 in California gave rise to sprawl (or at least roads).

By: Gary Niemeier

Gary Niemeier — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:51:00 +0000

As a farmer from North Dakota, my guess is that what you’re seeing is actually the exact opposite: farmland in my state is divided into “sections,” which are 1 x 1 mile squares of 640 acres, and “quarters.” There’s almost always a road at each section, and sometimes roads that bisect the section into quarters. This ensured access to each farmer’s field back in the days when homesteaders only had a quarter or two of land. Now, farms are much bigger, but most of the roads remain.

By: Hadley

Hadley — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:28:00 +0000

It would be neat to see this displayed as a google map so that you could zoom around a bit more freely.