RoadLog

November 22, 2004 9:34 PM

So you've zoomed in on your house and admired your city skyline. Now get back down to earth, and take a virtual drive of every inch of Washington state's public highway system. [+]
posted by PrinceValium (11 comments total)

Most states' departments of transportation take photologs of all their state highways for maintenance and survey purposes. New York's, for example, is archived in the state library for public inspection. But Washington seems to be the only state that archives its pictures online.

Yes, I know, the interface is horrid. A quick tutorial: Click on a region in the state map in the top left. Then select a route number from the pull-down box. Click "Show Highway Log," then click a blue link to start at a particular section of the highway. Then click the left and right arrows to advance through each frame.
posted by PrinceValium at 9:38 PM on November 22, 2004

Every mile of Washington's shorelines are here.
posted by crasspastor at 9:51 PM on November 22, 2004

If you just want a quick overview of the highways, change that 1 to a 10 or 100 (or any other number).
posted by thebabelfish at 9:52 PM on November 22, 2004

... and here's California's, with an even worse interface.
posted by PrinceValium at 9:53 PM on November 22, 2004

Cool. This is kind of like the walkthrough of Oslo that was posted a while ago.
posted by borkingchikapa at 11:04 PM on November 22, 2004

California Highway Photolog: Worst. Interface. Ever.

Almost as much fun as being stuck in traffic on the real 101.
posted by rooftop secrets at 11:41 PM on November 22, 2004

Cool! Movies would be even more fun, and postpone the RSI ...
posted by carter at 6:36 AM on November 23, 2004

very cool
posted by pyramid termite at 7:04 AM on November 23, 2004

Great post. Washington really shines from its highways.
posted by tomharpel at 7:48 AM on November 23, 2004

This is so cool! I couldn't see the house I grew up in with Keyhole - my area wasn't magnified enough. However, I found a picture of an aerial viewmy house here.

Thanks crasspastor!
posted by Keurigirl at 10:39 AM on November 23, 2004

I just showed someone I was chatting with her closest intersection. .sort of a yikes but also a groovy thing.
posted by Danf at 3:51 PM on November 23, 2004