Outdoorsmen, hikers and campers know how to read the signs of nature to find their way through the forest. They can devise a compass with a stick, wristwatch and sunshine. They look for lichen on tree trunks. They know how to find the North Star.
What about us urban explorers? The sun has a hard time passing through buildings. The few trees we find bear more graffiti than anything. And there is so much ambient light pollution that seeing the North Star from anywhere but the Adler Planetarium is nigh on impossible.
There are, however, navigational clues. You only need to know what they are, where to find them and how to interpret them.
Most of our streets and avenues have names that tell us whether they go north/south or east/west. Take Randolph Street. If you look at the street signs, you will see that you are on East Randolph or West Randolph. Obviously, this street does not go north and south. Michigan Avenue, on the other hand, is a north/south road and is marked as such.
Also, as a general rule, numbered streets run east/west–at least in Chicago.
Now that you know you are traveling north or south (or east or west) how can you discover which way you are headed? Search for an address, a number, on a house or building.
The U.S. Postal Service has a standard numbering system: even numbers on the north and west sides of the streets and odd numbers on the east and south sides of streets.
So, if you are traveling on a north/south road and the even-numbered addresses are on your right, you are headed south. Likewise, if you are driving on an east/west road and the even numbers are on your right, you are going west.
What can you do to find your way once you leave your urban grid? All is not lost, and you won’t be either if you learn these skills.
The Interstate Highway System is designated in an understandable and consistent way. All north/south interstates have odd numbers. For example, I-55 is a north/south highway. It begins in New Orleans and continues north to its terminus at Lake Shore Drive.
All east/west interstates have even numbers. For example, I-80 begins in San Francisco on the west and ends in New York on the east.
There is a directional hint in the preceding two paragraphs. We said that north/south interstates start in the south and east/west interstates start in the west. And that is how the mile markers and exits are numbered. They start at zero (0) at their southern and western points and the digits go up as the roads heads east and north.
You have probably noticed that there are no mile markers (or exits) with numbers in the thousands. That is because the numbering system resets to zero at every state border.
This makes figuring out the distance to your next exit easy. If you are headed for Springfield on I-55, you will see the numbers on the mile markers going down. Now, let’s say you are just south of Bloomington and passing exit 145 (at mile marker 145), and you know that the exit you want on the south side of Springfield is 90, you can calculate that you have 55 miles to go. Better check your fuel gauge to see whether you have enough to make it.
Even holdouts such as Pennsylvania and its historic turnpike are switching to exit numbers that coincide with the mile makers. During the changeover, which is under way, Pennsylvania is still posting the exit numbers in its consecutive numbering sequence as well. Meanwhile, New Jersey is sticking with its consecutive numbered-exit plan until there is funding to change all the signs.
Like the interstates, most major U.S. highways follow the system of odd numbers designating north/south highways and even numbers designating east/west highways, though they may not strictly adhere to the mile numbering system.
“Aha,” you may be thinking, “I’ve caught you in a error. The Dan Ryan, Kennedy and Edens are all north/south highways, and they have even numbers–90 and 94!” Nice try, but we still claim correctitude. I-90 and I-94 go from west to east from Portland, Ore. to Boston, and Billings, Mont., and Detroit, respectively. They just curve around our lake instead of bridging it.
Need a few more clues for intrepid travelers? Look for digital satellite dishes, which point south or southwest. In the winter, look for snow and ice melting, which usually happens on the north side of the street sooner than on the south. If you can’t see any buildings, you probably are looking out over Lake Michigan which, from the Chicago area, is on the east. If the smell of cheese is getting stronger, you are probably headed north.
