Most, if not all, of I-84 between the Connecticut River to the New York state line, is the Yankee Division Highway, yet nobody ever calls it that.
Actually the street name for that stretch of I-84 is
Yankee Expressway. IIRC, there are one or two ground-mounted BGS' along I-84 that read such.
When I'm on I-93 between Boston to Braintree, do I call it the Southeast Expressway? No.
Many Bay State drivers/commuters/reporters/etc. would disagree with you. The Southeast Expressway
(it's actually part of the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway network) name dates back to when the highway was first built in the late 50s; and for the first 12 years of its existence, the northern portion of it (north of MA 3A and now-MA 203/old MA 3)
had no route number associated with it. All of it became MA 3 in 1971 and it was later
planned (but not yet signed) in 1972-73 to be part of the defacto-I-95 when the Southwest Expressway was canned. It instead became an extension of I-93 in 1975 when I-95 was rerouted onto most of MA 128 when the Northeast Expressway extension was cancelled. The often-ignored rerouted US 1 designation was added in 1989-90.
So there you have it. Unlike Route 128; the Southeast Expressway is an example of a highway that went through several route number changes but most people wouldn't care what route number(s) it carried; they just called the highway by its name rather than the number(s).
I recall seeing a couple of Massachusetts state highway maps from the early 1970s that had the "Southeast Expressway" notation on Route 3 south of Briantree as well.
The
Universal Street Map Atlas for Eastern Massachusetts is one place where one can see the various pages of South Shore towns that MA 3 pass through and one will see
SOUTHEAST EXPRESSWAY labels (in Leroy-drafted font) as well. Typically, these maps were actually drafted years if not decades ago and only receive minor updates if a road or two are added.
Those of us Bay State
old timers probably remember the old
King's Castle Land (in Whitman, it closed circa 1994) commericals from the early 70s. At the end of the TV ad. (I could not find it on YouTube); the narrator would say,
"Take the Southeast Expressway to Route 3 to Route 18 and welcome to King's Castle Land. We're open everyday in Whitman.".
Another version of the commercial had
dubbed directions that read,
"Take Route 128 South to Route 3 South. Then take Route 3 South to Route 18 South."For those not in the Boston area, I-93 from Braintree to Boston is universally and without exception referred to as the Southeast Expressway (or more commonly, simply "the Expressway". In recent times (since 128 was removed), the remainder of I-93 to its end in Canton is occasionally referred to as the Southeast Expressway as well, but not as frequently.
Really? I have
never heard that stretch (Braintree to Canton) referred to as the Southeast Expressway. It's completely incorrect (the road runs east-west with a
very slight NE/SW orientation). Whoever stated such must be a newbie.
Also, on a different but related note, the town of Canton has recently posted small trailblazers pointing towards I-93, which originally read "To Route 93", but then the signs were edited to say "To Rt. 128"
Where abouts in Canton was this sign? If it was located along MA 138; using
TO RTE. 128 might be justified only because it's official terminus (at the I-95/93 interchange) is only located about a mile away from the I-93/MA 138 interchange.