Shields for Hillsborough County Route 581 in Tampa, Florida.

Current county highway shield in most states

A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. Route numbering can be determined by each county alone, by mutual agreement among counties, or by a statewide pattern. County highway shields are usually a yellow-on-blue pentagon (the MUTCD standard pattern), a black-on-white rectangle, or black text on a white rectangle (largely older signs). The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA of the United States Department of Transportation The majority of states have county highways, as they have unincorporated areas that are not part of any municipality. In Law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any Municipality. A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or Some states, like Virginia and North Carolina, have no county highways in most of their counties; the state government maintains all roads in unincorporated areas. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Others, like Connecticut, have no county routes because there is no government at the county level. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Alaska does not have counties; Louisiana's county equivalents are parishes, and, accordingly, have parish routes. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America The US state of Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes in the same way that 48 of the other states of the United States

In addition, any county-maintained road, whether or not it is given a signed number, can be called a county road. Depending on the state and county, these roads can be named after local geographic features, communities, or people and/or be assigned a name determined be a standardized grid reference; for example: “East 2000 Road” would be a north-south road running 20 blocks/miles/km east of the designated zero point. The grid plan or gridiron plan is a type of City plan in which Streets run at right angles to each other forming a grid. Many other systems are also used; some counties rather arbitrarily assign numbers to all maintained roads, but do not sign them at all or only sign them on standard street sign blades.

County roads and highways vary greatly in design standards, funding and regularity of maintenance. Some county highways in urban areas are freeways or expressways. An expressway is a Divided highway for high-speed traffic with at least partial Control of access. County roads that link communities or serve residential areas are often indistinguishable from state highways or residential streets. In rural areas, many county roads carry very little traffic; these roads are maintained less frequently. They may be in poor condition (if they are paved) or not paved at all. In remote areas, county roads are made of sand, gravel, or graded earth, seeing only occasional foot, equestrian, and four wheel drive traffic. Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4x4 ("four by four" is a four-wheeled Vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four Wheels to Some states, such as Wisconsin, use county highways in great numbers, linking major highways and cities or towns to each other.

An example of a Wisconsin county trunk highway shield

Another standard style of county highway shield used in some US states.

In Minnesota, some county roads are known as County state-aid highways. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers These roads are constructed and maintained by counties, but they are eligible for funding from the County State Aid Highway Fund. Differences in signage between CSAH routes and other county roads depends on the county. Some counties, such as Stearns County, delineate between the two by using the "standard" blue pentagon shield for CSAH routes and Minnesota's normal white square shield for other county routes. ^[1] Most county roads in Minnesota are designated with numbers, although a few in Dodge County utilize letters instead. It should be noted that the "County Road B, County Road C, etc etc" system used in Ramsey County is not a route system, but instead is Ramsey County's way of naming east-west section roads north of the St. Ramsey County is a County located in the US state of Minnesota, founded in 1849 As of 2000 the population was 511035 Paul city limits. A few roads that cross county borders are also signed with an "Intercounty" designation and a letter, but this system is not shown on most maps. ^[2]

In the United States, county highways are denoted in various ways, differing by state. In states like Wisconsin, county highways are marked with letters--in Wisconsin with 1 to 3 letter combinations (ie: C, CC, or CCC). Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Wisconsin's county highways are frequently and clearly marked at most intersections. In states like Illinois, county highways are marked either with a number (usually 1 or 2 digits) or with a single letter followed by a 1 or 2 digit number (ie: V-34, A-29). The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. These highways are usually marked at the beginning of the highway and marked occasionally throughout the route, but are not majorly relied on as geographic directions the way more major highways (state or federal and interstate) are. In New Jersey, there are two sets of county routes, the 500-series (500-599) which usually run through multiple counties, but are county-maintained, and the 600-series (600-799) which are usually contained within a single county. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. In New Jersey, county routes are usually signed just as well as state routes, including mile or half-mileposts, and appearances on BGS's (Big Green Signs) on freeways.

Canada

See also: List of Ontario County Numbered Roads. This is a list of County Numbered roads in Ontario These roads are found only in Southern and Southwestern Ontario (with the lone exception

In Canada, numbered county roads are only found in Ontario, where they are similar to American county highways. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Ontario county or regional roads are marked with trapezoid-shaped signs, usually (but not necessarily) with a white, green, or blue background, and normally identifying the county or region responsible for the road's maintenance, sometimes with the jurisdiction's coat of arms or corporate logo. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people A logo ( Greek el λογότυπος = el-Latn logotypos is a graphical element ( Ideogram, Symbol, Emblem, Icon, Sign) The county road network has been present for many years, but has only been signed with the flowerpot logos since the 1970s and early 1980s (depending on the area). This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Previously, the roads simply had road names, such as "Essex Road 42" or "Kent County Road 14", and so on, but had no shields to designate them. Many Ontario county roads are built to provincial highway standards, as thousands of kilometres of highways were downloaded from the province to counties and regional municipalities in 1997 and 1998, and most of the downloaded highways were rolled into the county road systems. See also Provincial highways in Ontario This is a list of current and former Provincial highways in the Canadian province of Ontario. A Regional Municipality (or Region) is a type of Canadian Municipal Government similar to and at the same municipal government level as In some situations, these in turn were downloaded from the region/county to the local municipalities. See: List of Ontario County Numbered Roads. This is a list of County Numbered roads in Ontario These roads are found only in Southern and Southwestern Ontario (with the lone exception

Not all jurisdictions in Ontario which maintain a county road system use the name "County Road" to designate them, however — depending on the type of census division which maintains them, they may also be designated as Regional Road, Municipal Road, Regional/County Highway or City Road. The term census division or Census Division is officially used for the Census divisions of Canada and the Census divisions of the United States. In the unincorporated districts of Northern Ontario, as there is no county level of government the province maintains a secondary highway system to serve the same function. In the Canadian province of Ontario, there are three different types of Census divisions: single-tier municipalities upper-tier municipalities (which can Territorial evolution Those areas which formed part of New France in the pays d'en haut, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River, See also List of provincial highways in Ontario The Ontario Ministry of Transportation maintains the system of provincial highways in the Canadian province

In addition to county roads, many townships also have concession roads and township roads, such as Colchester South Road 3, and Concession 8. In Upper and Lower Canada, concession roads were laid out by the colonial government through undeveloped land to define lots to be developed the name comes from a Colchester South Township was a former township located in Essex County, Ontario. These do not have shields (only names on signs and maps), aside from one exception: former Highway 620. It was downloaded to the Peterborough and Hastings County governments, and in one section, the highway was downloaded further to the township of Wollaston, and is now signed as "Wollaston Township 620", with a municipal sign similar to an Ontario Tertiary Highway. Peterborough County ( 2006 population 133080 is located in Ontario, Canada. Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. See also Provincial highways in Ontario This is a list of current and former Provincial highways in the Canadian province of Ontario. [1]

County/Regional roads in Ontario are styled by this basic "Flowerpot" design. This shield is of York Regional Road 8.

Niagara Regional Road 20 shield. While Niagara generally conforms to the standard Ontario "flowerpot" design, the shields are white-on-blue rather than the more traditional black-on-white and have rounded corners.

Essex County Road 22 Shield, a typical county road shield in Essex County, Ontario. Essex County is a County and Census division located in Southwestern Ontario and covers an area at the southernmost tip of Canada Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec

See also

• County routes in New Jersey
• County routes in New York
• County routes in California
• List of Michigan County-Designated Highways
• County Trunk Highways (Wisconsin)
• List of Ontario County Numbered Roads
• List of Winnipeg City Routes

References

1. ^ Froehlig, Adam. In the US state of New Jersey, county routes exist in all 21 counties and fall into two categories In the US state of New York, County routes exist in all 62 counties except those in the five boroughs of New York City. In the US state of California, County routes are controlled and maintained by the respective counties in which they reside Below is a list of many County-Designated Highways in Michigan County Trunk highways (also called County Highway, CTH, CR, or County Road) are a system of Highways maintained at the county level This is a list of County Numbered roads in Ontario These roads are found only in Southern and Southwestern Ontario (with the lone exception This is a list of all city routes in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Twin Cities Highways: Definitions and Acronyms. Retrieved on 2006-03-28. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.
2. ^ Riner, Steve (2003). County Highways and Jurisdictional Changes. The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Retrieved on 2006-08-18. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica.