[PW] number of roads in the USA

[Nichael Cramer]

etatem at juno.com wrote:
>I was asked today how many roads (surface roads and highways) there 
>are in the United States.  Could anyone help me with a source that 
>would have this information?
>Thanks for any help you can give me.
>Emma Kelly

Hi Emma

As other folks have pointed out an _exact_ answer here is almost 
certainly impossible.

But, assuming that the original questioner was serious about getting an answer,
and that a reasonable _estimate_ is useful an answer --and that they 
are willing
to do a little digging-- here's one approach:

Given that:
-- It is important to each US state to be able to state how many 
roads (and the amount
of mileage) that they support (for example for reason of taxation and 
access to federal
support).
-- The Department of Transportation for each state has a website.
-- Each state regularly publishes an annual report.

... it should be possible to get a reasonable --if approximate-- 
answer to their question.

For example, the following took me about 30sec (googled to find state Depts of
Transportation; randomly selected Illinois; went to the general 
information page;
found the most recent annual report; looked at the reports "Fast 
Facts" section).

There I found the following lines:

Miles of Highways and Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,131
Highway Structures Greater than 20 feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
. . . . 26,548

Again, the patron needs to decide if this is sufficient information 
to answer their
"real" question, but it at least gives an approach.

(Also, it wouldn't surprise me that the a similar "grand total" 
listing is given
on the US Department of Transportation website.)

Hope this is of some help,
Nichael
--
Nichael Cramer
Guilford VT
nichael at sover.net
http://www.sover.net/~nichael/