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[vdeane]

Around Albany, we do use "interstate" for the interstate system, but this brings with it the problem of calling NY 787 "Interstate 787" despite the at-grades.  And then there's "Alternate Route 7".

[kalvado]

Around Albany, we do use "interstate" for the interstate system, but this brings with it the problem of calling NY 787 "Interstate 787" despite the at-grades.  And then there's "Alternate Route 7".

DOn't forget Northway and Thruway.  And I had people giving me directions to interstate 85 in Albany.
For local one-time driving taking a penalty of non-highway routing isn't that bad. And people tend to smarten up and find a good, if not the best, road for their daily, and even weekly, trips anyway. So I don't think confusion on road type is that bad in general, but having an intersection of 81 and 81 is a bad idea.

[roadman65]

I've always thought of Business Loops as something most common in the West, and to a certain extent, the South. Also, MI (a Midwestern state) has Business Loops, but none of the states bordering it do.

Michigan also decommissions US routes like the western states do with none around it does. Although one can argue Ohio as it decommissioned both US 21 and US 25, but nonetheless it has a big gap between it and the west with many states that don’t decommission routes.

[Rothman]

Around Albany, we do use "interstate" for the interstate system, but this brings with it the problem of calling NY 787 "Interstate 787" despite the at-grades.  And then there's "Alternate Route 7".

Alt 7...

[webny99]

At least in NY, it seems like the parts of NY that are north of NJ differentiate interstates from state and US routes, while the parts north of PA don't.  Rochester in particular talks about "Route 390", "Route 490", "Route 590", and "the Thruway" instead of I-390/NY 390, I-490, I-590/NY 590, and I-90.

I actually don't hear "route" that often; it's usually just the number with no descriptor, such as "I hit traffic on 590" or "Take 104 west". To your point, there's almost never a distinction made between the interstate and state route portions of 390 and 590. And I certainly agree that I-90 is always "the Thruway".

[vdeane]

^ And to expand on what kalvado said earlier, here where people say "i-90" they mean free 90.  Not the Thruway.  That's separate.  Similarly, I-87 and the Northway are used somewhat interchangeably (but not completely... Northway is more common for NB, I-87 for SB), with the Thruway portion being separate (part of why I-87 and I-90 each having three sets of exit numbers doesn't confuse locals... nobody thinks of them as continuous routes).  I can't say I've ever heard "I-85", though.

I have heard "route" around Rochester, but come to think of it, mainly among people who are boomers or older.  Maybe it's generational.  Or maybe it's because most of my living family is boomers.  Hard to say.  But just the number certainly is common too.