>More surprising to me is that on the Atlantic coast there's small towns on either side of the border seemingly without a road connection to other adjacent town

>More surprising to me is that on the Atlantic coast there's small towns on either side of the border seemingly without a road connection to other adjacent towns in their respective countries This is also true of Newfoundland. There are many small fishng villages on "the Rock" with no road connections; the only link to the rest of the world is by sea. (This is also true of many small villages in Alaska, whether on the coast or not, but there this is less surprising.)