Oldmanwheeler

I volunteered for a project and I’m starting to think I’m in way over my head so I’m hoping some of you can help me figure some things out. The Lincoln Highway Association just completed a five year project to create a CD map using DeLorme’s Street Atlas USA. They color coded the various routes to differentiate between the original 1913 route and the revised 1928 route. The 1913’s original route is blue and the 1928 route is red. They follow the same basic route but as new paved roads began appearing in the 20’s many sections of the original 1913 route were relocated to the newer paved roads. Dash lines are used to indicate a section of the route that now crosses private property and is not accessible where as a dotted line over water shows the location of bridges that no longer exist. So my task is to take the information on this CD Map and retrace these routes and make them extremely accurate. Fortunately, members of the LHA will use a GPS and drive the routes to verify accuracy.

Oh by the way, for those who may not be familiar with the Lincoln Highway, it was the first coast to coast road across the United States. The Lincoln Highway is the second longest man made structure in the world second only to the Great Wall of China. The Lincoln Highway Association’s primary purpose is to promote this historical byway as it winds its way from New York to San Francisco.

Now finally I can get to the issues I’ve found so far. In an effort to determine the best software for this project I did a test using DeLorme’s routing features in their Street Atlas USA, Garmin's MapSource, Garmin's Bobcat and RouteBuddy and in each case the auto routing feature continuously relocated my routes. When I turn off auto routing then all I get is a straight line that does not follow the road, same thing if I switch to a topo map. When I try Shaping, the auto route feature continues to play havoc with everything and I just end up with a maze.

Is there another program available, that does not cost a fortune, that will let me make create these GPS maps? the ideal scenario would be a program that allowed me to set waypoints at each intersection and adjust, or for a lack of a better term, auto-route the line between point A and point B so that it follows the road.

When I finally finish re-creating every variation of the Lincoln Highway I will have mapped a total of 5,869 miles. So any suggestions or recommendations anyone might have is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help.