Q: Tell us about yourself.
A: I’m a geospatial geek from Finland. I do this kind of visualization for fun and as a freelancing work. You can read more about me from this GeoHipster interview: http://www.geohipster.com/2018/04/16/topi-tjukanov-in-finnish-basemaps-forest-is-white/
Q: Tell us the story behind your map (what inspired you to make it, what did you learn while making it, or any other aspects of the map or its creation you would like people to know).
A: I originally saw the Roads to Rome project from moovel Lab and was really inspired by that. I wanted to recreate that with my own tools. I had already done a few similar maps before this, but this one was custom made for the GeoHipster calendar submissions! While making the map I learned a lot more about Python. Basically before venturing into this, my Python skills were almost non-existent, but this was a great way to learn as I had a clear goal in mind. Writing the simple script for the API calls was a small step for mankind, but a big step for me. I wanted to keep the style really simple and clean so I didn’t want to add anything else than the routes and graticules on the final map.
Q: Tell us about the tools, data, etc., you used to make the map.
A: The data is from OpenStreetMap. Routing is done with the great GraphHopper open source routing engine. GPX routes were then stored into a single PostGIS table and visualized with QGIS. Graticules are from Natural Earth.
You can find a bit more info, links, and an animated version here: https://tjukanov.org/roadsofamerica/