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Freeway names used in conversation but not signed (anymore)

Started by DTComposer, October 14, 2016, 02:50:45 PM

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jp the roadgeek

Quote from: The Nature Boy on October 24, 2016, 12:13:53 PM
Quote from: vdeane on October 23, 2016, 05:45:45 PM
Quote from: SignBridge on October 22, 2016, 10:13:35 PM
And in neighboring Connecticut the Connecticut Turnpike abolished their tolls about 30 years ago. Nowadays it's only signed as I-95 and I think that's what most people call it.

Also the Merritt Parkway is signed as Ct-15, but I believe it is still widely known as the Merritt Parkway. 
The Merritt Parkway is still signed in its own right too.

It's not just signed, it's also indicated on the welcome sign at the state border.

And some even mistakenly refer to the Wilbur Cross Parkway (very rare to see trailblazer signs for it) as the Merritt.  No one ever uses the term Wilbur Cross Highway anymore either.  The town of Berlin used to label the Berlin Turnpike as Wilbur Cross Hwy on its street blades but has since changed over.  The actual official highway sections are just known by their route numbers (Route 15 from the Berlin Turnpike to East Hartford, and I-84 from East Hartford to Sturbridge). 
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)


SignBridge

Where does the Merritt Pkwy. become the Wilbur Cross Pkwy? Is it at the I-95 Connector near Milford? Also I don't quite follow re: Berlin. Is the official name of the road Berlin Tpk. or Wilbur Cross Hwy?

cl94

Quote from: SignBridge on October 27, 2016, 04:56:24 PM
Where does the Merritt Pkwy. become the Wilbur Cross Pkwy? Is it at the I-95 Connector near Milford? Also I don't quite follow re: Berlin. Is the official name of the road Berlin Tpk. or Wilbur Cross Hwy?

Yes. To both.
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Pete from Boston

Not at the Housatonic?  Splitting hairs, sure, but that's where the sign is.

lepidopteran

In/near Cincinnati, State Route 562 is an (almost) E-W freeway that basically connects I-71 and I-75, with two intermediate local interchanges.

This road is known as the "Norwood Lateral Parkway", and have heard it identified as such on traffic reports (sans Pkwy).  But other than listing Norwood as a control city, I can't seem to find any signs identifying it as such.

bing101

Quote from: TheStranger on October 14, 2016, 03:36:10 PM
Quote from: DTComposer on October 14, 2016, 02:50:45 PM
This is a variant on some of the freeway name threads, and if it has been discussed previously, my apologies:

In the Bay Area, there are a number of freeway names used in conversation, on news/traffic reports, etc. that are not (to the best of my knowledge) signed anywhere in the field. Most often I hear the Nimitz Freeway (I-880), Bayshore Freeway (US-101), as well as the Eastshore Freeway (I-80), MacArthur Freeway (I-580) and Junipero Serra Freeway (I-280). And as far back as I can remember (late '70s), I don't think those names ever were signed (an exception being the non-Caltrans "Junipero Serra - the World's Most Beautiful Freeway" sign that used to be on I-280 northbound somewhere around Los Altos Hills).
Bayshore Freeway used to be signed off of I-280 at the Alemany Boulevard exit (in an advanced exits sign) but was recently changed to "JUNCTION US 101" about four months ago.

The Bayshore Freeway name used to be signed off of 480/Embarcadero Freeway as well.  (In SF, the Bayshore Freeway and the honorary James Lick name overlap, with Bayshore being much more familiar, having existed in the city since the late 1930s via the still-present Bayshore Boulevard)

MacArthur Freeway is signed off of I-80/I-580 westbound in Berkeley, and off of I-980.  I THINK the MacArthur name may also be signed near Castro Valley though am not sure about this.

Central Freeway is a pretty commonly used name (due to the decade or so of discussion over the fate of the western segment past Van Ness) but has never been signed in the field as far as I know.

Presidio Parkway, the new name for the reconstructed Doyle Drive portion of US 101 in the Presidio, I don't know if that name has been used much in traffic reports yet and it certainly isn't signed. 

---

In Sacramento, the portion of US 50/Route 99/(former Business 80) in downtown and midtown Sacramento has been called the WX Freeway for years even though I don't think that name has ever been signed.

In Sacramento WX freeway is also called western Half of Cap City freeway and the name Capital City Freeway also included CA-51.  The name Capital City Freeway gets used a lot more by Sacramento area Newscasts to mean the west end of US-50.

TheStranger

While I was driving in Sacramento today, I had the radio on to the classic rock station from Stockton, 104.1, and a traffic report mentioned "the Crosstown".

It took me a second to realize they were referring to the short Route 4 freeway that connects I-5 with Route 99 through downtown Stockton...I'm not sure that has ever been a signed name, though it has been known by that moniker for a while.
Chris Sampang

coatimundi

Quote from: TheStranger on October 28, 2016, 11:53:21 PM
It took me a second to realize they were referring to the short Route 4 freeway that connects I-5 with Route 99 through downtown Stockton...I'm not sure that has ever been a signed name, though it has been known by that moniker for a while.

The western extension project uses the name, since it's not going to be SR 4. The "Big Fix" project also uses the name: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist10/environmental/projects/sr4bigfix/index.htm
I know I've seen city signs in Downtown Stockton that reference it too. Since the ramps are all named city streets, it's hard to really tell.

But isn't the official name "Oft J. Lofthus Freeway"? Not sure why that hasn't caught on...

Roadgeekteen

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lepidopteran

Are there any signs referring to I-695 (and part of I-395?) in DC as the "Southeast-Southwest Freeway"?  I hear it on traffic reports all the time.

lordsutch

Quote from: Tom958 on October 24, 2016, 11:17:38 PM
Stone Mountain Freeway.

I'm pretty sure 285 isn't officially signed as the Perimeter either (BGSes call it the Bypass), but everyone calls it that, including GDOT. Similarly, 75/85 isn't signed as the Downtown Connector, and GA 13 isn't signed as the Buford Spring Connector.

In Memphis, the east-west leg of TN 385 from I-240 to I-69 is still referred to by many as Nonconnah Parkway, even though officially it was renamed Bill Morris Parkway (and signed as such) not long after it opened. There's also the US 51 connector (unsigned TN 300, although the designation is pretty commonly seen on maps, even TDOT's), which occasionally gets a shout-out in traffic reports as the "101 connector" since apparently that was the FAP number it was assigned during construction.

It wouldn't surprise me if lots of people in Orlando still refer to FL 528 as the Bee Line rather than the "Beachline" (ugh).

jlwm

I-10 East in and around Houston is often called the Baytown-East Freeway by the media despite never being signed that. Addresses on the feeder roads are listed as just East Freeway until you get to Baytown. Once you start leaving Baytown and start going toward Wallisville, it's signed as I-10.

1995hoo

Quote from: lepidopteran on April 23, 2017, 10:39:20 PM
Are there any signs referring to I-695 (and part of I-395?) in DC as the "Southeast-Southwest Freeway"?  I hear it on traffic reports all the time.

I can't tell you where, but I am positive I have seen a sign (note the singular!) with that name somewhere in the District. It may well have been somewhere along the end of the RFK Stadium Access Road, but I'm drawing a blank as to the location. I've definitely never seen it on a BGS.

BTW, I know some people who will distinguish between the "Southeast—Southwest Freeway" and the "Southwest—Southeast Freeway." The difference? Which direction you're going.
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Eth

Quote from: lordsutch on April 24, 2017, 01:05:01 AM
Quote from: Tom958 on October 24, 2016, 11:17:38 PM
Stone Mountain Freeway.

I'm pretty sure 285 isn't officially signed as the Perimeter either (BGSes call it the Bypass), but everyone calls it that, including GDOT. Similarly, 75/85 isn't signed as the Downtown Connector, and GA 13 isn't signed as the Buford Spring Connector.

The Stone Mountain Freeway is still signed in at least one place, at its eastbound beginning:



How did "Buford-Spring Connector" get started, anyway? I don't remember ever hearing that up until just a couple years ago and figured it was just something the local traffic reporters made up. (I think it was previously referred to as part of Buford Hwy.)

SignBridge

Lepidopteran and 1995hoo, wasn't I-395 from the Pentagon south called the "Shirley Highway" at one time, maybe back in the 1960's?

1995hoo

Quote from: SignBridge on April 24, 2017, 07:32:47 PM
Lepidopteran and 1995hoo, wasn't I-395 from the Pentagon south called the "Shirley Highway" at one time, maybe back in the 1960's?

Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway. It's still the formal name down as far as Exit 161, but it's not signed and it's rare you hear that name used anymore.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

RobbieL2415

I believe CT 15 from the Berlin Tpke and I-84 from CT 15 to the MA state line is no longer signed as the Wilbur Cross Highway.  Some seasoned locals still call it that.

The Whitehead Highway in Hartford (signed as Capitol Area on I-91) also keeps its namesake among the locals

I know more freeway names that are not used in conversation than those that are.  Here's some now:

Outer Circumferential Beltway/Blue Star Memorial Highway: I-495 (MA)
Christopher Columbus Highway: I-91
Grand Army of the Republic Highway: US-6 (entire length?)
Boston Post Road: US-1 (parts of NY, CT, RI and MA)


TravelingBethelite

#92
Quote from: Pete from Boston on October 28, 2016, 12:33:18 PM
Not at the Housatonic?  Splitting hairs, sure, but that's where the sign is.

I'm almost positive it's at the Housatonic. The Exit 38 interchange on I-95 for the Milford Parkway, which spits out onto the Merritt just east of the Housatonic is signed with the destinations of "Merritt and W. Cross Pkwys". Proof: https://goo.gl/maps/cT2fzi9Q7s92

EDIT: It also bears mentioning that at the CT 9 interchange, nowhere is it mentioned that the Exit is for the Berlin Turnpike, though that is what the road is at that point. Another question: where do the names Wilbur Cross Park/Highway and Berlin Turnpike "[con/di]verge"?
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jp the roadgeek

Quote from: RobbieL2415 on April 24, 2017, 08:18:46 PM
I believe CT 15 from the Berlin Tpke and I-84 from CT 15 to the MA state line is no longer signed as the Wilbur Cross Highway.  Some seasoned locals still call it that.

The Whitehead Highway in Hartford (signed as Capitol Area on I-91) also keeps its namesake among the locals

I know more freeway names that are not used in conversation than those that are.  Here's some now:

Outer Circumferential Beltway/Blue Star Memorial Highway: I-495 (MA)
Christopher Columbus Highway: I-91
Grand Army of the Republic Highway: US-6 (entire length?)
Boston Post Road: US-1 (parts of NY, CT, RI and MA)

One you'll never hear but it's signed:  I-84 west of Hartford as the Yankee Expressway.

The Christopher Columbus portion of I-91 is only from CT 9 to CT 3 in Rocky Hill and Wethersfield.

One more you never hear except in Southwick, MA:  CT/MA/NH 10 as the College Highway (because it connects New Haven and Hanover, the homes of Yale and Dartmouth).  Nowadays it's mostly known by local names (i.e Queen St, Waterville Rd, Hopmeadow St).
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)



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