Unconventional street suffix abbreviations on signs

[Pink Jazz]

I was wondering, does anyone have examples of unconventional street suffix abbreviations used on signs (street name or BGS)?

I know in Virginia Beach, Virginia when I lived there, the city typically abbreviated "Lane" as "LA" rather than the USPS standard "LN".  The few signs that had "LN" were probably contractor errors who were probably unaware of the city's convention.  However, I am not sure if that is still the case with the newest post-2009 MUTCD mixed case signage.

Does anyone have other examples?

[sammi]

"Lane" as "LA" rather than the USPS standard "LN".

Here the concession roads are sometimes suffixed Line, which gets the abbreviation "Ln", whereas Lane gets "La". That probably isn't the case in Va. Beach.

Toronto also abbreviates some suffixes differently. I think most streets are given two-letter abbreviations, even "Av" for Avenue, "Bl" for Boulevard, "Ci" for Circle, "Cr" for Crescent, and one even has "Pk" for Parkway.

[freebrickproductions]

Huntsville, AL uses Blv. for Boulevard on most of the street signs. There's also the occasional sign with Av. instead of Ave. for Avenue, but they aren't very common. The intersection of Clinton Avenue & Triana Boulevard has one such sign. (It also has a street sign with the Blvd. abbreviation, which is rather uncommon here)

[Pete from Boston]

FTWY. 

No, not a misspelled "FTFY," but the abbreviation the City of Boston has used for Hampstead Footway in Jamaica Plain, which is pretty much a set of stairs with a street sign. 

[bzakharin]

In my part of NJ, lanes are always abbreviated "la".

Not quite the same thing, but the New Jersey Railroad Avenue in Newark, NJ alternates between NJ Railroad and New Jersey RR on signs, although the former seems to be winning

[vtk]

Franklin County (OH) seems consistent in using Av instead of Ave, though there aren't a lot of intersections under county maintenance that have a road with such a name.

I think Av is common enough to not be called "unconventional" though.

[Pink Jazz]

I think Av is common enough to not be called "unconventional" though.

I don't consider "Av" to be unconventional, since I have seen it many places.

[1995hoo]

Outdated picture due to construction. I'll have to watch to see whether this sign is still there next time I go through there–some other nearby signs have been replaced. This is/was on northbound I-395 in Virginia at the "Turkeycock" HOV ramps between Edsall Road and Duke Street.

[Pink Jazz]

Outdated picture due to construction. I'll have to watch to see whether this sign is still there next time I go through there–some other nearby signs have been replaced. This is/was on northbound I-395 in Virginia at the "Turkeycock" HOV ramps between Edsall Road and Duke Street.

For Turnpike, I have seen both "Tpke" and "Tnpk".  "Tpke" seems to be more common overall, although "Tnpk" isn't too unusual.

[1995hoo]

Yup, but I've never seen "Trpk" except on that sign.

[Pete from Boston]

Almost exclusively "Tpk" and "Pike," with some Tpke, in my experience.  Never seen Tnpk, and never Trpk (which to me reads "terpk").

[1995hoo]

Almost exclusively "Tpk" and "Pike," with some Tpke, in my experience.  Never seen Tnpk, and never Trpk (which to me reads "terpk").

I've always found it very strange too and I have the same reaction you do. Incidentally, in nearby Annandale there are some street signs attached to traffic-signal mast arms that read "Little River Trnpk." At that point, why bother abbreviating at all?

BTW, I was culling through dashcam videos and found the sign shown above was still there last Tuesday afternoon. I've uploaded a picture just to show how much that spot has changed in three years due to the HO/T construction. The picture above was taken on September 22, 2011. The picture below obviously bears the date from last week, just over three years later.




There are two new signs (replacements for old ones due to the addition of a new exit-only lane on the right) a little further north that both use "Tnpk." I do not know whether they were made by VDOT or by Transurban, the company building the HO/T lanes.

[hbelkins]

Almost exclusively "Tpk" and "Pike," with some Tpke, in my experience.  Never seen Tnpk, and never Trpk (which to me reads "terpk").

[cjk374]

http://www.instantstreetview.com/2bka8iz1mgdc9z2lezp1z2u

How bout this for unconventional.   

[Alps]

(typically "Trfwy" for Trafficway)
I've seen "Py" for Parkway. Anyone?

[hbelkins]

http://www.instantstreetview.com/2bka8iz1mgdc9z2lezp1z2u

How bout this for unconventional.   

Leslie County, Ky., home of former UK and Cleveland Browns QB Tim Couch.

[empirestate]

I know in Virginia Beach, Virginia when I lived there, the city typically abbreviated "Lane" as "LA" rather than the USPS standard "LN".  The few signs that had "LN" were probably contractor errors who were probably unaware of the city's convention.  However, I am not sure if that is still the case with the newest post-2009 MUTCD mixed case signage.

"La" is the abbreviation I grew up with for "Lane" as well. It's still what looks most correct to me, even though I know "Ln" is "official".

Others I've seen are "Pky" for "Parkway" (can't think where, off hand) and "Avd" for "Avenida".

And, not a street suffix, but I could not get used to Wisconsin's use of "LT" for "Left", even though I believe it's MUTCD standard. (Apparently that's because "L" means "Lake", but how often does the context allow there to be confusion between the two?)

[1995hoo]

I remember seeing "Exwy" for "Expressway" in the Tampa area and thinking it looked very odd. I've usually seen "Expwy" and, much less often, "Expy," but I've never seen "Exwy" outside Florida.

[Big John]

http://www.instantstreetview.com/2bka8iz1mgdc9z2lezp1z2u

How bout this for unconventional.   

Leslie County, Ky., home of former UK and Cleveland Browns QB Tim Couch.

Or for a street:
Jaded locals still like to cover up or remove the "P"

[jeffandnicole]

http://goo.gl/maps/WzubK

NJ Turnpike uses Cnty to abbreviate County.

[Brandon]

I remember seeing "Exwy" for "Expressway" in the Tampa area and thinking it looked very odd. I've usually seen "Expwy" and, much less often, "Expy," but I've never seen "Exwy" outside Florida.

Never seen "Exwy", and rarely "Expwy".  It's typically (99% of the signage) "Expy" around Chicago.

[vtk]

Others I've seen are "Pky" for "Parkway" (can't think where, off hand) and "Avd" for "Avenida".

Census bureau's TIGER dataset uses Pky.  A lot of the cheaper maps you can buy are made from that data, so it wouldn't surprise me to see it there. 

When I visited southern California in '06 I saw Avd for Avenida, and I wondered why it couldn't just be Ave.  Little chance of confusion with Avenue, because that's usually a suffix while Avenida is a prefix, and besides they mean the same thing anyway.

[sammi]

I think if "Avenida" needs to be abbreviated it should probably be "Av" (e.g. "Av. Rizal Av(e).").

This isn't an abbreviation, just an unusual suffix. Near Bathurst and Steeles in Toronto, there is a small community the streets of which are suffixed "Hawkway". (The map says "Hawk Way", but the signs actually say "Hawkway".)

[Pete from Boston]

I remember seeing "Exwy" for "Expressway" in the Tampa area and thinking it looked very odd. I've usually seen "Expwy" and, much less often, "Expy," but I've never seen "Exwy" outside Florida.

Never seen "Exwy", and rarely "Expwy".  It's typically (99% of the signage) "Expy" around Chicago.

It's primarily Expwy around New York, I believe.  In Boston few highway names are signed so there's little to go on.  Never seen abbreviations for (Southern, Central, or the former Northern) "Artery" up here.

I think if "Avenida" needs to be abbreviated it should probably be "Av" (e.g. "Av. Rizal Av(e).").

We don't bilingualize in this way like Canada does.  Otherwise you'd have things like "Camino Real Road."

In Boston the street in honor of Lafayette is so named in French.  The English "Avenue" is therefore signed instead with the French word "Avenue," with the French abbreviation "Ave." (thus "Ave. de Lafayette").  Most people who live here a while figure out the translation. 

[vtk]

I think if "Avenida" needs to be abbreviated it should probably be "Av" (e.g. "Av. Rizal Av(e).").

It's one or the other, not both.  Avenida Queso and Cheese Avenue would be two completely different streets.