"BY-PASS" vs. "BYPASS"

[hbelkins]

Does anyone here know why "BY-PASS" (with the hyphen) is used for route marker banners instead of "BYPASS" (without the banner)?

In normal English language usage, the word is very rarely seen with the hyphen. "Dick Cheney had triple-bypass heart surgery" or "The state is building a new bypass to route through traffic away from downtown."

Why, then, do road signs use the hyphen?

[Quillz]

I would imagine just convention. That's how it was spelled in the earliest days of highway signage, and I guess no reason to change it up. Though "bypass" does make for a simpler aesthetic.

[Big John]

Because MUTCD calls for that way for standard sign M4-2.  Don't know why they do it thaat way.

[1995hoo]

Anyone know what the etymology of the word "bypass" is? I wonder if that might provide a clue as to the hyphen. I'm remembering how some British writers traditionally wrote "to-day" or "to-morrow" (example: I seem to recall that in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when Peter wants to withdraw the camp across the river, Aslan says the White Witch "will not attempt an attack to-day"). I read somewhere that once upon a time it was actually two words, "to day," that first got joined by a hyphen and later became one word, I guess sort of similar to how some people now spell "e-mail" without the hyphen.

My gut feeling, which may be totally wrong, is that the term "by-pass" was intended to emphasize that you were "passing by," rather than "passing through," and then over time when the term "business route" became standard for the latter, maybe there was less need for the emphasizing hyphen because people understood the "business"/"bypass" distinction (well, except for the Bing Maps people who think "BL" for "business loop" and "BR" for "business route" stand for "boulevard" and "branch," respectively!).

[Mapmikey]

The Virginia CTB started using by-pass in 1930 and the word bypass started in 1931.  Used interchangeably and probably a function of either the person typing up the minutes or the commissioner who wrote the entry on their notes...

[wanderer2575]

I would imagine just convention. That's how it was spelled in the earliest days of highway signage, and I guess no reason to change it up.

Similarly, I always think it a little quaint when I see the words "hi-way" and "to-day" on signs in old pictures and old television shows, but that used to be the norm.

[hbelkins]

Because MUTCD calls for that way for standard sign M4-2.  Don't know why they do it thaat way.

That's what I'm asking. Why does the MUTCD call for that?

[DaBigE]

All I know is that it's a sticking point in our office. My boss believes it should be hyphenated "because that's the way he's always done it" and because it's that way in the MUTCD. Dictionaries be damned. Sometimes we wonder if he gets paid by the hyphen (bypass is not the only word he does this with).

[Quillz]

Anyone know what the etymology of the word "bypass" is? I wonder if that might provide a clue as to the hyphen. I'm remembering how some British writers traditionally wrote "to-day" or "to-morrow" (example: I seem to recall that in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when Peter wants to withdraw the camp across the river, Aslan says the White Witch "will not attempt an attack to-day"). I read somewhere that once upon a time it was actually two words, "to day," that first got joined by a hyphen and later became one word, I guess sort of similar to how some people now spell "e-mail" without the hyphen.

My gut feeling, which may be totally wrong, is that the term "by-pass" was intended to emphasize that you were "passing by," rather than "passing through," and then over time when the term "business route" became standard for the latter, maybe there was less need for the emphasizing hyphen because people understood the "business"/"bypass" distinction (well, except for the Bing Maps people who think "BL" for "business loop" and "BR" for "business route" stand for "boulevard" and "branch," respectively!).

Many words that were once hyphenated in the past are now more commonly not hyphenated. It seems to be a product of language. Many compound works invented by Shakespeare, such as "doghouse," used to be commonly spelled as "dog-house." Email is another good example.

[theline]

It may be BY-PASS to the MUTCD, but not everyone goes along with it: https://goo.gl/maps/XASAyqdXYxx

I'm sure I've seen other banners without the hyphen, but the exact locations elude me.

[jakeroot]

It may be BY-PASS to the MUTCD, but not everyone goes along with it: https://goo.gl/maps/XASAyqdXYxx

I'm sure I've seen other banners without the hyphen, but the exact locations elude me.

It took me three and a half hours to find the word "Bypass".

I'm pretty sure Hawaii has used "Bypass" without the banner hyphen, but I can't find any evidence.

[Jim]

New Hampshire has this one without a hyphen on I-95.  Or at least they did as of December 26, 2003, when this was taken.

[A.J. Bertin]

H.B. - I'm glad you posted this topic because that hyphen has always bothered me too when I've seen it.

This reminds me of how some highways (particularly U.S. highways) have a distinction between the "truck" route and the "business" route going around or through (respectively) a city of any significant size. I think I've seen this quite a bit in Kentucky and Tennessee, actually. In those instances, it almost seems like there's a gap in the regular (mainline) route... like that route just stops and you can only choose between the truck (or bypass) option and the business route. In those cases, I would love to see assemblies that just have the shield on top and maybe the words "Truck Route" in parentheses underneath the shield. I don't like the term "bypass" being used in those instances either because it almost makes it sound like it's a bypass of the mainline route... not a bypass of the city. Maybe the words "city bypass" in parentheses under the shield would make some sense.

[hbelkins]

H.B. - I'm glad you posted this topic because that hyphen has always bothered me too when I've seen it.

This reminds me of how some highways (particularly U.S. highways) have a distinction between the "truck" route and the "business" route going around or through (respectively) a city of any significant size. I think I've seen this quite a bit in Kentucky and Tennessee, actually. In those instances, it almost seems like there's a gap in the regular (mainline) route... like that route just stops and you can only choose between the truck (or bypass) option and the business route. In those cases, I would love to see assemblies that just have the shield on top and maybe the words "Truck Route" in parentheses underneath the shield. I don't like the term "bypass" being used in those instances either because it almost makes it sound like it's a bypass of the mainline route... not a bypass of the city. Maybe the words "city bypass" in parentheses under the shield would make some sense.

Kentucky is inconsistent when it comes to signing bypass and business routes.

I'm old enough to remember when North Carolina signed both whenever a route split. The mainline came to an end, and you had a choice of taking the business or bypass route.

However, Kentucky only catalogs one or the other -- you either have the mainline and a bypass route, or the mainline and a business route. (Sometimes signs indicate otherwise, however.) Use US 127 as an example. If you are traveling south from Frankfort, the mainline US 127 turns off the four-lane into downtown Lawrenceburg. The through movement (straight) is signed as BY-PASS 127. Go farther south to Harrodsburg, and the through movement remains mainline US 127 and the bypass, which is signed as such, requires a left turn. Then go on to Danville, and the through route continues straight as the bypass and the mainline regular route turns left and goes through town.

The next split is in Jamestown, Ky., where mainline US 127 follows the new bypass and the old route through town is signed BUSINESS 127. The same is done in Albany, where the new bypass carries the mainline and the business route follows the old route through town.

You could chalk this up to a difference in highway districts (Lawrenceburg, Harrodsburg and Danville are in District 7, while Jamestown and Albany are in District 8). But that doesn't explain US 27 in Nicholasville, where the bypass is the mainline and the old route through town is signed as the business route; or US 68 in Paris, where the same thing happens, and both of those are in District 7.

[Mapmikey]

I'm old enough to remember when North Carolina signed both whenever a route split. The mainline came to an end, and you had a choice of taking the business or bypass route.

I am also old enough to remember this in NC.

It turns out that when they stopped posting the bypasses with the actual bypass banner, they also put in route change documents internally to renumber US 1 Bypass as US 1 for example.

There are also AASHTO minutes that have granted approval to bypasses provided they do not sign with the bypass banner.

[hbelkins]

An aside about how Kentucky catalogs the routes -- routes signed as bypass are internally called "nnB." Business routes are "nnX" which no doubt led to the signage of US 31EX in Mt. Washington instead of Business US 31E.

[theline]

It may be BY-PASS to the MUTCD, but not everyone goes along with it: https://goo.gl/maps/XASAyqdXYxx

I'm sure I've seen other banners without the hyphen, but the exact locations elude me.

It took me three and a half hours to find the word "Bypass".

I'm pretty sure Hawaii has used "Bypass" without the banner hyphen, but I can't find any evidence.

I'm sorry that I made that tough on you, jakeroot, as well as any others that had trouble. It's the best I could do with GSV. The BYPASS banner is very small, for some reason.

In fact, the banner is erroneous. This exit has for decades been the mainline US 31, so the shield should be unbannered. The other South Bend ITR exit is properly signed as BUSINESS US 31. A long time ago, the BYPASS banner was appropriate here. I suppose that the banner may have been retained for the benefit of travelers to Notre Dame, who might otherwise exit here, several miles from campus.

[jakeroot]

It may be BY-PASS to the MUTCD, but not everyone goes along with it: https://goo.gl/maps/XASAyqdXYxx

I'm sure I've seen other banners without the hyphen, but the exact locations elude me.

It took me three and a half hours to find the word "Bypass".

I'm pretty sure Hawaii has used "Bypass" without the banner hyphen, but I can't find any evidence.

I'm sorry that I made that tough on you, jakeroot, as well as any others that had trouble. It's the best I could do with GSV. The BYPASS banner is very small, for some reason.

Haha it's cool mate. It didn't really take me that long (notice the time I replied to you, versus the time you posted). It's certainly a smaller banner than I would prefer, but it works (minus the fact that its now erroneous, per your response that I clipped).

[bassoon1986]

Louisiana uses the hyphen. For some reason I thought our bypass examples were one word. Here are a few pictures. Old signs and new ones.

I-20/I-220 in Bossier City


I-49/US 71/US167 in Alexandria


I-10/I-210 in Lake Charles
(This used to say Lake Charles Loop)


LA-1 in Natchitoches




iPhone

[Scott5114]

Is there any state that regularly posts banners that just say "BYP"? That seems like it would be enough to do the trick.

I want to say the official standards say "ALTERNATE" but "ALT" is common, too...

[hbelkins]

Is there any state that regularly posts banners that just say "BYP"? That seems like it would be enough to do the trick.

If there were, we'd have a certain forum member who could legitimately say that certain roads "byp." And I guess other roads would "pyb."

[Rothman]

Is there any state that regularly posts banners that just say "BYP"? That seems like it would be enough to do the trick.

If there were, we'd have a certain forum member who could legitimately say that certain roads "byp." And I guess other roads would "pyb."

Beat me to it.

[Eth]

It may be BY-PASS to the MUTCD, but not everyone goes along with it: https://goo.gl/maps/XASAyqdXYxx

I'm sure I've seen other banners without the hyphen, but the exact locations elude me.

Georgia seems to buck this trend in general. There aren't that many signed BYPASS routes in the state, but I can't recall any of them using hyphens. Here's an example for I-285:

[DaBigE]

WisDOT is inconsistent... the official sign plate for a route marker assembly shows it hyphenated (even going as far as to dimension the hyphen specially), however, the overhead guide signs are un-hyphenated.

[GaryV]

I can't think of a sign in MI that says bypass, with or without the hyphen.

Incidentally, dictionary.com and other online sources give the hyphen as an alternate spelling, but note that it was the original usage.