Non-Parkways except for the old

[D-Dey65]

Is it just me, or do 9 out of 10 senior citizens incorrectly describe all limited-access highways as parkways, even if they're not parkways? I've often heard this description used by everyone from my mother to lost old people I meet on the street driving around who call the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway, Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, and all roads used by I-95 as parkways.

[jeffandnicole]

Is it just me, or do 9 out of 10 senior citizens incorrectly describe all limited-access highways as parkways, even if they're not parkways? I've often heard this description used by everyone from my mother to lost old people I meet on the street driving around who call the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway, Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, and all roads used by I-95 as parkways.

Terms like Parkway, Highway, Freeway, etc can sometimes be used interchangeably.  Especially something like "Parkway", as different states have different meanings.  In NY, for example, trucks are prohibited from the Parkways.  In NJ, the Garden State Parkway permits trucks south of Interchange 105.  In Philadelphia, the Ben Franklin Parkway is a surface street with traffic lights, allows all modes of vehicles to use it from bicycles to cars to tractor-trailers.

[Max Rockatansky]

I seem to recall my Grand Parents in Michigan calling all freeways by the term "expressway."    The term seemed to be common lexicon for a Freeway when I lived in Connecticut.  Out in California the Expressway terminology general refers to a road with limited access and a Parkway is generally an older design Freeway like CA 110.

[Brandon]

Is it just me, or do 9 out of 10 senior citizens incorrectly describe all limited-access highways as parkways, even if they're not parkways? I've often heard this description used by everyone from my mother to lost old people I meet on the street driving around who call the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway, Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, and all roads used by I-95 as parkways.

Just you or your area.  Here, they use "highway", "freeway", or "expressway", or even just "interstate".

[froggie]

^ Yeah...sounds to me like a region-specific thing to the NYC/Long Island area.

[SP Cook]

We have probably had a thread or two on this before, but, yeah, it is a regional thing.  I've never heard anybody of any age around here call any type of road a "parkway" except for roads actually named * Parkway.  Which can vary semi-locally from things like Kentucky's might as well be an interstate ex-toll roads system to the NPS's scenic Blue Ridge Parkway to several surface streets around in various WV towns of no particular park like nature.

[bzakharin]

Don't the parkways in NY all have "Parkway" in their name as well? Would a road in NY that forbids trucks but doesn't have "Parkway" in its name ever be called a parkway?

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

Don't the parkways in NY all have "Parkway" in their name as well? Would a road in NY that forbids trucks but doesn't have "Parkway" in its name ever be called a parkway?

The FDR Drive is considered a parkway by all accounts, but doesn't have "Parkway" in its name. I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head–really all divided highways prohibiting trucks are considered parkways.

[D-Dey65]

^ Yeah...sounds to me like a region-specific thing to the NYC/Long Island area.

Maybe, but even in Florida I hear the same thing. 

[jp the roadgeek]

In the tri-state area (all of NJ, NYC, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Fairfield and New Haven County, CT), a parkway refers to a limited access expressway, usually only 4  lanes, that prohibits commercial vehicles.  Outside of that, it can refer to any usually  tree-lined thoroughfare that is often 4 lanes and sometimes divided (Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly, Perring Parkway and Northern Parkway in the Baltimore area) .

[sparker]

Curiously, the two CA state-maintained facilities labeled "parkways" -- the Arroyo Seco (CA 110) in metro L.A. and the Guadalupe Parkway (CA 87) up here in San Jose, couldn't be more different.  CA 87 is a full-fledged metro freeway (albeit with a nasty curve at its north end just south of US 101), while the Arroyo Seco started off life as a parkway, was re-labeled the Pasadena Freeway 13 years later when the 4-Level downtown interchange was completed, and reverted to a parkway (it always had a commercial truck ban) 50-odd years later.  But it is in a urban gully adjacent to a linear park -- so it's closer to the NY/Moses model than any other CA highway. It might be an interesting exercise to determine how many locals still refer to CA 110 as the "Pasadena Freeway"; 50+ years of a specific nomenclature might well be difficult to cognitively erase. 

[jeffandnicole]

In the tri-state area (all of NJ, NYC, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Fairfield and New Haven County, CT), a parkway refers to a limited access expressway, usually only 4  lanes, that prohibits commercial vehicles.  Outside of that, it can refer to any usually  tree-lined thoroughfare that is often 4 lanes and sometimes divided (Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly, Perring Parkway and Northern Parkway in the Baltimore area) .

All of New Jersey???

I literally mentioned in the very first response NJ's Garden State Parkway, which meets nothing of the criteria you mentioned. It allows trucks below Exit 105, allows the other commercial vehicles its entire length, and is up to 15 lanes wide.

[froggie]

^ Yeah...sounds to me like a region-specific thing to the NYC/Long Island area.

Maybe, but even in Florida I hear the same thing. 

Probably because you have a large number of retirees from the NYC region in Florida.

[hbelkins]

I referred to the limited-access interstates in NYC as "freeways" once upon a time on MTR, and that incited Racist Randy into near-apoplexy.

[cpzilliacus]

I referred to the limited-access interstates in NYC as "freeways" once upon a time on MTR, and that incited Racist Randy into near-apoplexy.

I believe most roads with "expressway" as part of the name in states like New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland have a functional classification of freeway.

Then there are parkways several Virginia counties that are really expressways, such as:

VA-150 (Chippenham Parkway)
VA-286 (Fairfax County Parkway)
VA-289 (Franconia-Springfield Parkway)
VA-294 (Prince William Parkway)

Then there are freeways that are called parkways in Virginia, including:

I-66 between I-495 and the Rosslyn Tunnel (Custis Memorial Parkway - though all of the signs with the name were removed long ago)
VA-76 (Powhite Parkway)
VA-895 (Pocahontas Parkway)

[jwolfer]

There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule on the type name of roads any more.. devolopers and cities pick what sounds nice... Or something hat was appropriate long ago but no longer

In Jacksonville MLK Pkwy(US1 and Alt1) started life as 20th Street Expressway(east west portion) and Haines St Expressway( north south portion)... West of i95 it's an urban expressway east of i95 it's an urban/industrial freeway. Interesting aside the service roads are still Haines St, so businesses did not have to change addresses.

In Orlando there are the "Trails"..most (in) famous is Orange Blossom Trail is US441 in Orange County.. it's 4-6 lanes through urban Orlando, old hotels with prostitutes and meth heads walking around( where my office is located... Lots of stories and interesting patients) and in the not to distant past 4 lane rural highway through orange groves



Z981

[Beltway]

Then there are parkways several Virginia counties that are really expressways, such as:
VA-150 (Chippenham Parkway)
VA-286 (Fairfax County Parkway)
VA-289 (Franconia-Springfield Parkway)
VA-294 (Prince William Parkway)

Agree except VA-150 Chippenham Parkway.  North of Forest Hill Avenue it can be categorized as a 4-lane expressway. 

The 11 mile section between I-95 and VA-76 is a 6-lane freeway built nearly to Interstate standards.  The 8-foot right shoulders and narrow clear roadsides are the one feature that would (or at least should) prevent an Interstate designation, and upgrading would require acquiring additional strips of right-of-way.   This section in conjunction with segments of VA-76 and I-195 form a western intermediate freeway bypass of Richmond, and in conjunction with VA-895 and a segment of I-295 also form a southern intermediate freeway bypass of Richmond.

[dgolub]

I've definitely heard the same thing.  It's probably because there was a time when the only controlled-access highways on Long Island were parkways.  The Long Island Expressway (I-495) and the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (NY 135) were built later.

[Mr. Matté]

In the tri-state area (all of NJ, NYC, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Fairfield and New Haven County, CT), a parkway refers to a limited access expressway, usually only 4  lanes, that prohibits commercial vehicles.  Outside of that, it can refer to any usually  tree-lined thoroughfare that is often 4 lanes and sometimes divided (Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly, Perring Parkway and Northern Parkway in the Baltimore area) .

All of New Jersey???

I literally mentioned in the very first response NJ's Garden State Parkway, which meets nothing of the criteria you mentioned. It allows trucks below Exit 105, allows the other commercial vehicles its entire length, and is up to 15 lanes wide.

And on the other end, there's some "Parkways" that are really no different than normal streets or avenues, here's two adjacent examples in Piscataway: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5365818,-74.4977055,217m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US

[1995hoo]

How about the Pittsburgh area? I used to go up there on business fairly often and I recall the traffic reporters referring to I-376 and I-279 (I believe the latter number has now been changed–I haven't been to Pittsburgh since 2011) as the "Parkway East" and "Parkway West." I don't know whether that's due to the road having an unposted or historical name or due to a regionalism of the sort being discussed here.

At the opposite extreme, there's a residential street a few miles from where I live with the grandiose name of "The Parkway."

[roadfro]

Las Vegas has a couple examples of parkways, none of which conform to the more traditional definitions used in the northeast:

*Summerlin Pkwy - functional classification of freeway (no truck restrictions)
*Maryland Pkwy - major section-line arterial roadway
*Fox Glen Pkwy - residential street

[bzakharin]

In the tri-state area (all of NJ, NYC, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Fairfield and New Haven County, CT), a parkway refers to a limited access expressway, usually only 4  lanes, that prohibits commercial vehicles.  Outside of that, it can refer to any usually  tree-lined thoroughfare that is often 4 lanes and sometimes divided (Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly, Perring Parkway and Northern Parkway in the Baltimore area) .

All of New Jersey???

I literally mentioned in the very first response NJ's Garden State Parkway, which meets nothing of the criteria you mentioned. It allows trucks below Exit 105, allows the other commercial vehicles its entire length, and is up to 15 lanes wide.

And on the other end, there's some "Parkways" that are really no different than normal streets or avenues, here's two adjacent examples in Piscataway: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5365818,-74.4977055,217m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US

There's also the Rahway River Parkway which is a park (or is it greenway?) and not a road. As you see, some local roads around the park have "parkway" as suffix as well.

[coldshoulder]

Why is it?
That we drive on a parkway.
But park on a driveway.

[1995hoo]

Why is it?
That we drive on a parkway.
But park on a driveway.

I drive on my driveway. It's the way in and out of the garage.

[mrcmc888]

Everything here in Tennessee is a "highway" regardless of the actual name.  Official names for limited access roads tend to interchangeably use highway, freeway and parkway, but there are also surface roads, especially around the Smokies, that are called parkways.