There's one more important signifier at the Irish border - just a few feet past the change in road surface is a speed limit sign in KPH, as opposed to the MPH signs used in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
(Side note - Ireland was the first "foreign" country I visited as a child and the use of kilometres instead of miles blew my mind! I think it was the first time I became aware of such a concept.)
I consider interesting the many "State Line" roads and others without such conspicuous names that run right along the border. Presumably one entity is going to be chosen to maintain the pavement, though I imagine each entity is responsible for signage on its own side. (An exception, there is a Quebec style "Maximum 50" [kph] sign on the south side of Canusa Ave, which was mentioned earlier in the week, several feet into the US).
But for more complicated roads there is the matter of traffic lights. And intersection or interchange upgrade. One jurisdiction has to manage that infrastructure, which is definitely going to require design and construction work taking place well outside its border. State Line Ave north of downtown Texarkana is a proper major stroad, with left turning lanes, complicated signalization, pork chops, slip lanes, etc etc. All that got negotiated and built somehow between Texas and Arkansas.
The pavement will always change when crossing jurisdictional boundaries unless the roadway jurisdiction (like a state route passing across county lines) supersedes the local jurisdiction. Why pay for roadway resurfacing for another county’s road?
About a decade ago, History Channel had a series called "How the States Got Their Shapes", which was a fun look at how some of the borders were decided.
A phenomenon I wanted to mention before this series ends -- how different state borders are viewed depending on where you live. My friends in the east think nothing of bouncing from state to state in the course of commutes or quick trips or the like. But I live in the Bay Area, where it's more than three hours to Nevada and about five hours to Oregon.
Another Californian here. I worked at a company where people commuted from Massachusetts (I think) to Nashua NH, and when they decided to close the Nashua office and they had to work in MA, I was astonished to learn it made a difference for their taxes.
I grew up in Connecticut where state hopping was common, but now I’m in California as well. The only times I cross state borders from here involve a planned vacation.
Near the end of my block, my street exits my city and enters unincorporated county land and the clearest demarcation is definitely the change in road surface. Over the years, which side was smoother has varied based on which entity has more recently resurfaced roads in the area.
One other boundary curiosity for you: Carter Lake, Iowa.
It sits on the western edge of Iowa, along the Missouri River. In the 1800s, the path of the river shifted to where Carter Lake is now on the Nebraska side of the river. A legal battle between the two states ensued as to who owned the land - going all the way to the Supreme Court.
Residents later tried to secede from Iowa, but were told that Omaha didn't want them.
Today, if you fly into the Omaha airport and drive into downtown, you drive through Carter Lake, Iowa first, which has created confusion for travelers.
This has been a fun series, Paul! Before this, I was unaware of 'the Slash'.
When I was in 2nd grade, we moved from Long Island to New Jersey. That meant taking the Lincoln Tunnel to get to my grandparents' house in Brooklyn. I can recall being excited as we drove past the NY/NJ border line painted on the tunnel wall.
A few notes: river boundaries tend to be defined as the "middle of the river", which is inherently difficult to measure/ mark precisely. One notable exception is that where the Potomac River is the boundary between Maryland and Virginia/ West Virginia, the entire river is considered part of Maryland -- the actual boundary is the southern/ western shore. (Islands in the river are wholly in Maryland.)
Where the Pennsylvania-New Jersey boundary is the Delaware River, the established agreement is that the islands are alternately assigned to be entirely in one state or the other. Treasure Island Scout Camp was owned by the Philadelphia Council; most facilities were on the island named Treasure Island, which was in New Jersey, but they also used the adjacent Marshall Island, which was in Pennsylvania. At one point they had what I was told was the only privately-owned inter-state suspension bridge, a foot bridge that connected the two islands. Facilities on each island were subject to different regulations based on the island's state and county.
Boundaries specifically marked by pavement changes are pretty common in the US -- as road maintenance is a state or local responsibility, there's no effort to make pavement borders seamless.
Reminds me of the El Paso border problems with Cuidad Juarez. For a 100 years, the Rio Grande river was the border between Texas and Mexico. But the river route kept changing and Americans suddenly found themselves living in Mexico and vice versa. In 1964, LBJ settled the border as a permanent "line" with Mexico and ended the dispute. I learned all about this at the Chamizal national memorial visitor center in El Paso. Highly recommended.
The boundary between Arkansas and Tennessee/Mississippi is based on the position of the MIssissippi River at one particular point in time, and if you zoom in on a map, you'll see plenty of places where subsequent changes in the route of the river have left small chunks of one state on the "wrong" side of the current river.
I hope someone has mentioned Carowinds, the amusement park that straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina border. As a child, only experiencing borders from a car as we drove past a sign, the act of walking around and across a border was novel.
Can say the same thing when I drive on the Northern State Parkway from Nassau County and enter Queens County, where the road then becomes the Grand Central Parkway. If I do the drive at night it's noticeable when the street lights change (sodium vapor lamps on the Nassau County side but LED lights in Queens. Also the difference in pavement (one side is a little smoother than the other and one side has more reflective paint for the lane markers).
There's one more important signifier at the Irish border - just a few feet past the change in road surface is a speed limit sign in KPH, as opposed to the MPH signs used in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
(Side note - Ireland was the first "foreign" country I visited as a child and the use of kilometres instead of miles blew my mind! I think it was the first time I became aware of such a concept.)
I consider interesting the many "State Line" roads and others without such conspicuous names that run right along the border. Presumably one entity is going to be chosen to maintain the pavement, though I imagine each entity is responsible for signage on its own side. (An exception, there is a Quebec style "Maximum 50" [kph] sign on the south side of Canusa Ave, which was mentioned earlier in the week, several feet into the US).
But for more complicated roads there is the matter of traffic lights. And intersection or interchange upgrade. One jurisdiction has to manage that infrastructure, which is definitely going to require design and construction work taking place well outside its border. State Line Ave north of downtown Texarkana is a proper major stroad, with left turning lanes, complicated signalization, pork chops, slip lanes, etc etc. All that got negotiated and built somehow between Texas and Arkansas.
It'd be fun to set up a net on the Slash and have an international game of badminton or volleyball.
The pavement will always change when crossing jurisdictional boundaries unless the roadway jurisdiction (like a state route passing across county lines) supersedes the local jurisdiction. Why pay for roadway resurfacing for another county’s road?
Now I’m curious if one needs a passport to cross the border inside the Haskell Free Library.
Go to their website (linked in today's text) and find out!
Our street is partly in the next town and it has a spot similar to Ireland / Northern Ireland where the pavement looks different.
About a decade ago, History Channel had a series called "How the States Got Their Shapes", which was a fun look at how some of the borders were decided.
there's a book with that title too - it's interesting
A phenomenon I wanted to mention before this series ends -- how different state borders are viewed depending on where you live. My friends in the east think nothing of bouncing from state to state in the course of commutes or quick trips or the like. But I live in the Bay Area, where it's more than three hours to Nevada and about five hours to Oregon.
Another Californian here. I worked at a company where people commuted from Massachusetts (I think) to Nashua NH, and when they decided to close the Nashua office and they had to work in MA, I was astonished to learn it made a difference for their taxes.
I grew up in Connecticut where state hopping was common, but now I’m in California as well. The only times I cross state borders from here involve a planned vacation.
Great point!
Near the end of my block, my street exits my city and enters unincorporated county land and the clearest demarcation is definitely the change in road surface. Over the years, which side was smoother has varied based on which entity has more recently resurfaced roads in the area.
One other boundary curiosity for you: Carter Lake, Iowa.
It sits on the western edge of Iowa, along the Missouri River. In the 1800s, the path of the river shifted to where Carter Lake is now on the Nebraska side of the river. A legal battle between the two states ensued as to who owned the land - going all the way to the Supreme Court.
Residents later tried to secede from Iowa, but were told that Omaha didn't want them.
Today, if you fly into the Omaha airport and drive into downtown, you drive through Carter Lake, Iowa first, which has created confusion for travelers.
Great stuff. Maybe I missed and my apologies, but who manages "The Slash"? US or Canada or joint effort?
The International Boundary Commission. https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/
This has been a fun series, Paul! Before this, I was unaware of 'the Slash'.
When I was in 2nd grade, we moved from Long Island to New Jersey. That meant taking the Lincoln Tunnel to get to my grandparents' house in Brooklyn. I can recall being excited as we drove past the NY/NJ border line painted on the tunnel wall.
Meant to add...nice to see Mary make an appearance. I hope she's well.
A few notes: river boundaries tend to be defined as the "middle of the river", which is inherently difficult to measure/ mark precisely. One notable exception is that where the Potomac River is the boundary between Maryland and Virginia/ West Virginia, the entire river is considered part of Maryland -- the actual boundary is the southern/ western shore. (Islands in the river are wholly in Maryland.)
Where the Pennsylvania-New Jersey boundary is the Delaware River, the established agreement is that the islands are alternately assigned to be entirely in one state or the other. Treasure Island Scout Camp was owned by the Philadelphia Council; most facilities were on the island named Treasure Island, which was in New Jersey, but they also used the adjacent Marshall Island, which was in Pennsylvania. At one point they had what I was told was the only privately-owned inter-state suspension bridge, a foot bridge that connected the two islands. Facilities on each island were subject to different regulations based on the island's state and county.
Boundaries specifically marked by pavement changes are pretty common in the US -- as road maintenance is a state or local responsibility, there's no effort to make pavement borders seamless.
Reminds me of the El Paso border problems with Cuidad Juarez. For a 100 years, the Rio Grande river was the border between Texas and Mexico. But the river route kept changing and Americans suddenly found themselves living in Mexico and vice versa. In 1964, LBJ settled the border as a permanent "line" with Mexico and ended the dispute. I learned all about this at the Chamizal national memorial visitor center in El Paso. Highly recommended.
The boundary between Arkansas and Tennessee/Mississippi is based on the position of the MIssissippi River at one particular point in time, and if you zoom in on a map, you'll see plenty of places where subsequent changes in the route of the river have left small chunks of one state on the "wrong" side of the current river.
Even better is when the boundary is to the thalweg of the river!
I hope someone has mentioned Carowinds, the amusement park that straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina border. As a child, only experiencing borders from a car as we drove past a sign, the act of walking around and across a border was novel.
It's not uncommon to see the pavement change at the county lines on the secondary roads where I live.
Can say the same thing when I drive on the Northern State Parkway from Nassau County and enter Queens County, where the road then becomes the Grand Central Parkway. If I do the drive at night it's noticeable when the street lights change (sodium vapor lamps on the Nassau County side but LED lights in Queens. Also the difference in pavement (one side is a little smoother than the other and one side has more reflective paint for the lane markers).