Sober Thought highways
Sober Thought and its constituent provinces maintain a series of International Democratic Union, national and provincial highways for the purposes of transport and communications.
The role of motorways is much reduced in Sober Thought compared to many real world and NationStates nations. Especially rugged or isolated provinces rely more heavily on water transportation and air transportation, mainly through the state-operated Community corporations of STaqua and CommunitAir. Similarly, overland bulk goods and commuters rely much more on rail travel, mainly through STferro or municipal public transit.
Nomenclature
Like the RL American Interstates, odd numbered national highways run approximately north-south, even numbered ones east-west. Numbers ascend from the west and south, starting at 10 and potentially ending at 99. They bear the prefix "C-" for "Community." Single digit numbers are reserved for islands. The entire country is blanketed by this theoretical grid, although obviously some roads do not follow paths strictly in accordance with the four cardinal points of the compass.
One and two digit national highways must separate with a physical barrier the two directions of traffic, and control access through interchanges. Such freeways -- free in flow, not necessarily in tolls -- are much like the U.S. I-, the British M- and Ontario 400 series of highways. Where they coincide with routes sanctioned as part of the IDU transportation network, they bear the additional designation of "I-" for "International."
However, unlike the United States model, three digit highways indicate not urban bypasses or urban spurs but secondary or tributary highways. They largely follow the French model in which one digit indicates to the nearest ten the closest north-south freeway, another the closest east-west freeway, and the third a unique digit identifying that specific road. They bear the prefix "P-" for "Provincial."
Important highways
Starting in the northwest near the frontier with, the C-11 parallels the border part way until reaching the Bay of Roses. It roughly follows an old furtrading route, passing through the francophone founded municipalities of Pontloue in Cholmestay and Lesbaies in Pastbeshchye. The C-15 links the bustling financial capital of Zalevfyerma with the not-so-bustling political capital of Lareine in these same two provinces, before it terminates at the sea.
The roughly similar C-21 links the provincial capital Lareine with the Jarvet's urban agglomeration of Kolashek-Saint-Visage-Osseux. Again, a quick glance at the names betrays its origin as a fur trading and exploration route for early French settlers.
Looking eastward from these northern provinces, the slighly irregular C-90 links Zalfyerma and the more standard C-84 links Nordentor with Georgetown. The C-76 follows the meandering coast of Pastbeshchye until it joins the C-29 which follows the coasts of Central Province and Hochelaga.
The C-65 joins Georgetown with Kolashek, where it splits into three major routes going into Central Province. The former is the most populous jurisdiction in all of Sober Thought, and consequently it is laced with about a quarter of the C highways which give good connections in all directions.
With fewer major cities, neighbouring Hochelaga has half the number of federal highways but relies more heavily on three-digit provincial highways. The latter often take their numbers from federal highways which don't exist but whose positions in the grid are known. This illustrates the flexibility and modular planning which the highway system can accommodate.
In mainland Braunekuste, the southerly coastal route of the C-25 becomes the easterly coastal route of the C-10, passing through Hochelaga and Central Province before it disappears. The bilingual province has several important if short sections of both north-south and east-west highways creating a provincial and interprovincial web.
On the islands, a somewhat different procedure is followed. Bristle Island is encircled by a pair of national highways, known as C-1 travelling on the east coast from Drewburgh to Paidrig and C-5 on the west coast. Theoretically, the C-3 could be built through the centre of the province, but given its rugged nature, this is unlikely any time soon. The C-6 links Drewburgh with the minor cities of the former province of South Island. All other roads on the island are local ones using the P prefix. Tiny Potato Island calls its ring road the C-7 and its diametrical road the C-8.
