2 striking things:

1) how I-86 (the thick lower east—>west artery) is clearly aligned to keep it within the state (rather than ever crossing into northern PA) as a residue of its history as State Route 17

2) how the Erie Canal, once the most important inland transportation route in America, is NOT replicated by road traffic, instead two separate parts of its east—>west central tier alignment are branched off of south—>north arteries to serve the communities it catalyzed

Geography!