Do you live in/know of a city or Metropolitan area where a road or street term is exclusive to said area, but rarely (if ever) used elsewhere?
Two that popped into my mind from my former stomping grounds that are pretty much exclusive:
- Service Drives (Metro Detroit) -- This is pretty much Detroit-exclusive jargon for the "frontage roads" which parallel the freeways.
- Devilstrip (Akron, OH) -- This is Akron-ese for the "tree lawns" or the swath of grass between the sidewalk and roadway along city streets. Akron even has common signage which reads NO PARKING ON DEVILSTRIP.
Others?
In Memphis, the suffix "Cove" is used 99% of the time for a cul-de-sac. I haven't heard of this occurring anywhere else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stravenue
Quote from: Brooks on May 11, 2018, 06:47:59 PM
In Memphis, the suffix "Cove" is used 99% of the time for a cul-de-sac. I haven't heard of this occurring anywhere else.
It's used in northwest Arkansas also.
Here's a neighborhood (https://goo.gl/maps/pP8bUMjUVu12) with consecutive cul-de-sacs labeled Cove, Circle, and Court.
Is Trafficway used anywhere outside of the Kansas City area?
Neutral Ground - New Orleans for median.
Quote from: froggie on May 11, 2018, 07:24:27 PM
Is Trafficway used anywhere outside of the Kansas City area?
There has already been a thread about unique generics. I'd like this thread to be about how people actually
refer to a feature or type of road. Nobody in their right mind in KC has ever said, for example, "Is it better to take the avenue or the trafficway this time of day?"
Quote from: kphoger on May 11, 2018, 07:27:46 PM
Quote from: froggie on May 11, 2018, 07:24:27 PM
Is Trafficway used anywhere outside of the Kansas City area?
There has already been a thread about unique generics. I'd like this thread to be about how people actually refer to a feature or type of road.
You'll have to take that up with the OP then.
A 4-lane thoroughfare called "Boulevard" in Richmond, VA.
That is it, just the one word.
Boulevard (usually referred to as "the Boulevard" although the street name does not include a definite article) is a historic street in the near West End of Richmond, Virginia, providing access to Byrd Park. It serves as the border between the Carytown/Museum District to the west and the Fan district to the east.
^^ There is also a "Boulevard" in Atlanta.
Bridge—Tunnel
Is it used in names anywhere else in the U.S. than the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area?
Chesapeake Bay Bridge—Tunnel
Hampton Roads Bridge—Tunnel
Monitor—Merrimac Memorial Bridge—Tunnel
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 12:45:41 AM
Bridge–Tunnel
Is it used in names anywhere else in the U.S. than the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area?
Of course not, because those are the only three bridge-tunnels in the US.
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 01:48:54 AM
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 12:45:41 AM
Bridge—Tunnel
Is it used in names anywhere else in the U.S. than the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area?
Of course not, because those are the only three bridge-tunnels in the US.
That wouldn't stop someone else from using the term on a facility where a bridge and tunnel were in close proximity, such as the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge.
What about Upper Wacker Drive and Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago? It's about the only street to have these two designations that I know of.
Quote from: Big John on May 12, 2018, 12:39:28 AM
^^ There is also a "Boulevard" in Atlanta.
... and West Hartford, CT. If you travel east on it, it turns into West Boulevard in Hartford, CT. What a country!
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 07:11:58 AM
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 01:48:54 AM
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 12:45:41 AM
Bridge—Tunnel
Is it used in names anywhere else in the U.S. than the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area?
Of course not, because those are the only three bridge-tunnels in the US.
That wouldn't stop someone else from using the term on a facility where a bridge and tunnel were in close proximity, such as the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge.
The bridge-tunnel in Montreal underscores your point, though of course its name uses the French equivalent (Pont-Tunnel Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine).
Regarding "Cove," I know of one cul-de-sac in Annandale, Virginia, that uses that (Quiet Cove, off Annandale Road near Medford Drive).
Quote from: 1995hoo on May 12, 2018, 07:59:48 AM
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 07:11:58 AM
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 01:48:54 AM
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 12:45:41 AM
Bridge—Tunnel
Is it used in names anywhere else in the U.S. than the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area?
Of course not, because those are the only three bridge-tunnels in the US.
That wouldn't stop someone else from using the term on a facility where a bridge and tunnel were in close proximity, such as the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge.
The bridge-tunnel in Montreal underscores your point, though of course its name uses the French equivalent (Pont-Tunnel Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine).
The English name is Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel. It crosses the Saint Lawrence River, the bridge to a natural island, and then 1/4 mile later a tunnel from the natural island to the other side of the river.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/39981936.jpg
The I-264 Downtown Tunnel and Berkley Bridge complex has some similarity to this with the tunnel and bridge in close proximity and anchored to natural land masses. It was even called the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bridge-Tunnel when originally built in 1952.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Downtown-Tunnel%20postcard-1952.jpg
Perimeter(I-285)- Means Beltway around Atlanta.
Not a city, but a state ... New York's insistence on calling it "guiderail" when the rest of the world calls it "guardrail."
Quote from: hbelkins on May 12, 2018, 03:07:32 PM
Not a city, but a state ... New York's insistence on calling it "guiderail" when the rest of the world calls it "guardrail."
That term may date back to the days of cable guardrail, like before the 1960s.
I was talking to a PennDOT engineer in 1972 and he referred to guard rail as "guard fence". That is probably a more technically accurate term for cable guardrail, and PA still had lots of it back then.
The Kansas City area (or perhaps most of Western Missouri) says the names of highways backwards. In most places, you would say Hwy 50 or Hwy 71, etc. However, over in Kansas City, they say 50 Hwy and 71 Hwy.
In regards to a street just called Boulevard (as mentioned above), my hometown of Mexico, MO, also has a main arterial called Boulevard.
iPad Pro
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, the advance signage for interstates is something like "Route I-70" . I've never seen that used anywhere else. IMO, it's redundant, and it should either be I-70 or Route 70 (preferably I-70).
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 06:41:33 PM
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, the advance signage for interstates is something like "Route I-70" . I've never seen that used anywhere else. IMO, it's redundant, and it should either be I-70 or Route 70 (preferably I-70).
As someone who lives right next to I-70 in the St. Louis area, I am not sure what you are talking about. Can you please show me an example of this or tell me where you saw this?
iPad Pro
Quote from: m2tbone on May 12, 2018, 06:47:30 PM
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 06:41:33 PM
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, the advance signage for interstates is something like "Route I-70" . I've never seen that used anywhere else. IMO, it's redundant, and it should either be I-70 or Route 70 (preferably I-70).
As someone who lives right next to I-70 in the St. Louis area, I am not sure what you are talking about. Can you please show me an example of this or tell me where you saw this?
I-170 south, approaching I-70 (https://goo.gl/maps/ByVzaHMQvLt)
I-270 west, approaching I-170 (https://goo.gl/maps/E9GkL7jW3iB2)
I-270 south, approaching I-44 (https://goo.gl/maps/NaoZWx8ZHJ42)
I-55 south, approaching I-255/270 (https://goo.gl/maps/uRiB6NMMfqK2)
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 06:58:28 PM
Quote from: m2tbone on May 12, 2018, 06:47:30 PM
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 06:41:33 PM
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, the advance signage for interstates is something like "Route I-70" . I've never seen that used anywhere else. IMO, it's redundant, and it should either be I-70 or Route 70 (preferably I-70).
As someone who lives right next to I-70 in the St. Louis area, I am not sure what you are talking about. Can you please show me an example of this or tell me where you saw this?
I-170 south, approaching I-70 (https://goo.gl/maps/ByVzaHMQvLt)
I-270 west, approaching I-170 (https://goo.gl/maps/E9GkL7jW3iB2)
I-270 south, approaching I-44 (https://goo.gl/maps/NaoZWx8ZHJ42)
I-55 south, approaching I-255/270 (https://goo.gl/maps/uRiB6NMMfqK2)
Thank you for the examples. I've never noticed that before.
iPad Pro
El Paso's use of "Gateway" for freeway service roads is probably unique. I assume that even though the rest of Texas can't decide on what to call them, the terms are all used elsewhere with the same meaning.
There are some streets in the East Bay Area called "hills," most notably in the Hiller Highlands of Oakland, but also in other places.
I'm not sure if this counts, but the greater Philadelphia has "gaper delay" for what would otherwise be called "rubbernecking".
Quote from: bzakharin on May 14, 2018, 03:17:14 PM
I'm not sure if this counts, but the greater Philadelphia has "gaper delay" for what would otherwise be called "rubbernecking".
Similarly, the term "gawker slowdown" for this activity seems to be unique to the Twin Cities sphere of influence.
Close, but Chicago uses Gaper's Block.
Quote from: Brandon on May 11, 2018, 07:25:47 PM
Neutral Ground - New Orleans for median.
I remember that from "K-Ville" and hear it on "NCIS: NOLA" as well.
I love how WSDOT must call the I-90 and SR 520 bridges as "Floating Bridges", instead of just bridges. And they waffle between "Hood Canal Bridge" and "Hood Canal Floating Bridge".
Quote from: m2tbone on May 12, 2018, 06:27:22 PM
The Kansas City area (or perhaps most of Western Missouri) says the names of highways backwards. In most places, you would say Hwy 50 or Hwy 71, etc. However, over in Kansas City, they say 50 Hwy and 71 Hwy.
Yes, this is true elsewhere in western Missouri. It's especially true of the lettered routes. Branson's strip is called "76 Highway" by the locals. Everyone in southwestern Missouri I've heard refer to lettered routes has said their names as "BB Highway" or whatever.
I'm curious to know if there are regions other than southern Illinois that called paved roads "_____ Blacktop". For example, if you refer to the paved road going to Anywheretown, you would refer to it as "Anywheretown Blacktop"–even if that's not actually its signed name.
Oklahoma City has to my knowledge the only two roads called "Diagonal". The Tinker Diagonal is I-40 with its service roads, and then there's a smaller street called "Linwood Diagonal" just northwest of midtown.
Quote from: hbelkins on May 12, 2018, 03:07:32 PM
Not a city, but a state ... New York's insistence on calling it "guiderail" when the rest of the world calls it "guardrail."
Connecticut also calls it "guide rail".
Quote from: roadman on June 18, 2018, 10:03:26 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on May 12, 2018, 03:07:32 PM
Not a city, but a state ... New York's insistence on calling it "guiderail" when the rest of the world calls it "guardrail."
Connecticut also calls it "guide rail".
As does PennDOT.
Quote from: hbelkins on May 12, 2018, 03:07:32 PM
Not a city, but a state ... New York's insistence on calling it "guiderail" when the rest of the world calls it "guardrail."
And WisDOT calls it Beam Guard.
Quote from: JMoses24 on June 18, 2018, 05:19:36 AM
Oklahoma City has to my knowledge the only two roads called "Diagonal". The Tinker Diagonal is I-40 with its service roads, and then there's a smaller street called "Linwood Diagonal" just northwest of midtown.
There's an example of that usage in the Kansas City metro area, the Turner Diagonal portion of K-32.
---
Not exclusive to a single city, but the usage of "Trail" for arterial highway seems to be strongly local to both Calgary and Edmonton.
Quote from: kphoger on May 15, 2018, 01:03:39 PM
I'm curious to know if there are regions other than southern Illinois that called paved roads "_____ Blacktop". For example, if you refer to the paved road going to Anywheretown, you would refer to it as "Anywheretown Blacktop"–even if that's not actually its signed name.
I've heard it in central Illinois, too (rural areas surrounding Springfield and Peoria). Makes giving/receiving directions with locals super difficult.
Quote from: pianocello on June 18, 2018, 06:52:55 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 15, 2018, 01:03:39 PM
I'm curious to know if there are regions other than southern Illinois that called paved roads "_____ Blacktop". For example, if you refer to the paved road going to Anywheretown, you would refer to it as "Anywheretown Blacktop"–even if that's not actually its signed name.
I've heard it in central Illinois, too (rural areas surrounding Springfield and Peoria). Makes giving/receiving directions with locals super difficult.
My dad grew up in Seneca, IL and he would refer to certain roads in that area as the ___ blacktop. Seneca is getting quite far north in Illinois.
When I lived in Omaha, they had a lot of Plazas which were nothing more than streets. And Nebraska City has its corsos.
Quote from: Beltway on May 12, 2018, 03:13:30 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on May 12, 2018, 03:07:32 PM
Not a city, but a state ... New York's insistence on calling it "guiderail" when the rest of the world calls it "guardrail."
That term may date back to the days of cable guardrail, like before the 1960s.
I was talking to a PennDOT engineer in 1972 and he referred to guard rail as "guard fence". That is probably a more technically accurate term for cable guardrail, and PA still had lots of it back then.
Per FHWA
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/countermeasures/faqs/qa_bttabr.cfm#brrs9
Quote
WHAT IS "GUARDRAIL?" OUR AGENCY ONLY USES "GUIDERAIL."
A. These terms are synonymous. A few states are required by judicial interpretation to refer to steel beam barriers as "guiderail" because the barriers are not seen as devices that can guard motorists from all injuries. Rather, the steel beam system can only "guide" the car and its occupants. (In Europe, "guard fence" and "road restraint systems" are the common names for roadside barriers.)
Given the amount of deflection that most guiderail systems have that does seem more appropriate.
Quote from: cbeach40 on June 19, 2018, 01:27:11 PM
Per FHWA
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/countermeasures/faqs/qa_bttabr.cfm#brrs9
Quote
WHAT IS "GUARDRAIL?" OUR AGENCY ONLY USES "GUIDERAIL."
A. These terms are synonymous. A few states are required by judicial interpretation to refer to steel beam barriers as "guiderail" because the barriers are not seen as devices that can guard motorists from all injuries. Rather, the steel beam system can only "guide" the car and its occupants. (In Europe, "guard fence" and "road restraint systems" are the common names for roadside barriers.)
Given the amount of deflection that most guiderail systems have that does seem more appropriate.
The word "guard" doesn't mean that it can guard motorists from all injuries. Any "guard" process tries to protect something as much as possible, it doesn't mean that it is foolproof.
The general purpose of guardrail is to protect vehicles from a much worse outcome than hitting the guardrail, such as hitting a bridge pier, going down a 50+ foot embankment, hitting a roadside sign standard, crossing a narrow median on a 4-lane highway, etc.
I'm not aware of anywhere else, other than here in Wisconsin, where they are often colloquially referred to as 'stop and go lights'.
Mike
Quote from: Henry on May 12, 2018, 07:23:18 AM
What about Upper Wacker Drive and Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago? It's about the only street to have these two designations that I know of.
There are "Upper" and "Lower" numbered streets in Dakota County MN, south and east of St. Paul. The "Upper" numbered streets are south of the unprefixed and "Lower" streets, since south is the direction of increasing street numbers. Because Washington County, east and north of Dakota, has a street naming system that is coordinated with Dakota County, it's possible there may be numbered streets there that follow this pattern. I also found Upper and Lower Afton Road in Washington County; notably, Upper was north of Lower although this is south of I-94 where numbered streets increase going south.
Hamilton, Ontario uses the term "Upper" in front of street names that are on top of the Niagara Escarpment to correspond with their "lower" companion. It was certainly something unusual I noticed in streets in that city. The normal Wellington Street on the lower level and an Upper Wellington Street on the upper. I don't believe any of the pairs actually meet each other however due to the steepness of the escarpment and roadways that went down it at angles, last as I recall.
Quote from: Big John on May 12, 2018, 12:39:28 AM
^^ There is also a "Boulevard" in Atlanta.
There's also a minor street named "Boulevard" in Bellingham, Washington.
Quote from: TEG24601 on May 14, 2018, 07:11:13 PM
Quote from: Brandon on May 11, 2018, 07:25:47 PM
Neutral Ground - New Orleans for median.
I remember that from "K-Ville" and hear it on "NCIS: NOLA" as well.
I love how WSDOT must call the I-90 and SR 520 bridges as "Floating Bridges", instead of just bridges. And they waffle between "Hood Canal Bridge" and "Hood Canal Floating Bridge".
That's to distinguish them from the old versions of the same bridge that are no longer floating ;)
I am thinking of Upper and Lower Burton in Floyd County, KY, too.
How about the Cleveland area practice to almost never sign (or mention in conversations) road suffixes on blades or other road signs? Is this done anywhere else?
Quote from: bzakharin on June 21, 2018, 12:16:19 PM
How about the Cleveland area practice to almost never sign (or mention in conversations) road suffixes on blades or other road signs? Is this done anywhere else?
I think Phoenix and San Francisco do this as well. Albuquerque used to leave the suffixes off as well, but they seem to be moving away from that (though many old signs are still up).
Quote from: bzakharin on June 21, 2018, 12:16:19 PM
How about the Cleveland area practice to almost never sign (or mention in conversations) road suffixes on blades or other road signs? Is this done anywhere else?
Metro Detroit is the same way. You'll see the suffix on the bgs, but not on the blade.
The Highway 101/80 split referring to James Lick Freeway and Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco.
The Maze in Oakland referring to Highways 80/580/880 in Oakland near Bay Bridge Toll Plaza.
Quote from: bing101 on June 22, 2018, 03:29:48 PM
The Highway 101/80 split referring to James Lick Freeway and Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco.
The Maze in Oakland referring to Highways 80/580/880 in Oakland near Bay Bridge Toll Plaza.
"Split" is used many other places. For example, here in Indy we have the "North Split" and "South Split", between I-70 & I-65 in the central core of the city.
As for the "McArthur Maze" in Oakland, it sure has gotten a LOT more complicated than back in 1938 when it first opened. Better lives up to it's name these days, though I'm sure for the time it did seem like one to motorists of that era.
Quote from: bing101 on June 22, 2018, 03:29:48 PM
The Highway 101/80 split referring to James Lick Freeway and Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco.
Is there someplace else that highways 101 and 80 meet?
Quote from: kkt on June 22, 2018, 06:19:39 PM
Quote from: bing101 on June 22, 2018, 03:29:48 PM
The Highway 101/80 split referring to James Lick Freeway and Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco.
Is there someplace else that highways 101 and 80 meet?
From a database I have, SC 80 and SC 101 in Greer, and KY 80 and KY 101 in unincorporated Warren County.
Quote from: 1 on June 22, 2018, 06:40:08 PM
Quote from: kkt on June 22, 2018, 06:19:39 PM
Quote from: bing101 on June 22, 2018, 03:29:48 PM
The Highway 101/80 split referring to James Lick Freeway and Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco.
Is there someplace else that highways 101 and 80 meet?
From a database I have, SC 80 and SC 101 in Greer, and KY 80 and KY 101 in unincorporated Warren County.
:clap: :-D
Is SC 80-SC 101 called The Split?
Here in the DC area, it's been the norm for as long as I can remember to refer to the Beltway's two carriageways as the Inner Loop (clockwise–the side that's closer to the District, hence "inside" the circle) and the Outer Loop (anticlockwise and the "outside" part of the circle). If there were a second beltway constructed, it'd be called the Outer Beltway. I believe the Inner Loop/Outer Loop terminology originated with radio traffic reporters.
When I lived in the Raleigh—Durham area during law school, I found they do precisely the opposite: "Outer Loop" referred to what is now I-540 (and I guess NC-540), while they use "Inner Beltline" and "Outer Beltline" to refer to the two carriageways. That threw me a bit when I first heard it because I knew there was only one Beltline.
I have no idea which convention is used in other cities with beltways,* although it's probably fair to suggest that "the Beltway" itself is identified with DC in ways that are somewhat unique.
*Edited to add: I'm not referring to using "INNER" and "OUTER" as a "direction" on BGSs here. I remember when that was introduced in Raleigh in the 1990s, but it doesn't really address "Inner/Outer Loop" versus "Inner/Outer [road name]."
The Baltimore Beltway (I-695) is intermittently signed as "Inner Loop" and "Outer Loop" with regular directional signs in other places.
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 23, 2018, 10:00:38 AM
Here in the DC area, it's been the norm for as long as I can remember to refer to the Beltway's two carriageways as the Inner Loop (clockwise–the side that's closer to the District, hence "inside" the circle) and the Outer Loop (anticlockwise and the "outside" part of the circle). If there were a second beltway constructed, it'd be called the Outer Beltway. I believe the Inner Loop/Outer Loop terminology originated with radio traffic reporters.
Not sure when it started. When I lived "inside the Beltway" in the early 1970s the inner/outer loop terms were not in use yet.
Quote from: bzakharin on June 23, 2018, 09:38:50 PM
The Baltimore Beltway (I-695) is intermittently signed as "Inner Loop" and "Outer Loop" with regular directional signs in other places.
As is the "Hampton Roads Beltway" along I-64 and I-664.....both practices were borrowed from the Capital Beltway.
Quote from: 1 on June 22, 2018, 06:40:08 PM
Quote from: kkt on June 22, 2018, 06:19:39 PM
Quote from: bing101 on June 22, 2018, 03:29:48 PM
The Highway 101/80 split referring to James Lick Freeway and Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco.
Is there someplace else that highways 101 and 80 meet?
From a database I have, SC 80 and SC 101 in Greer, and KY 80 and KY 101 in unincorporated Warren County.
Let's not forget the I-94/I-57 interchange here in Chicago as well. For the morning rush, it's "The Merge". In the afternoon, it's "The Split".
Quote from: bzakharin on June 21, 2018, 12:16:19 PM
How about the Cleveland area practice to almost never sign (or mention in conversations) road suffixes on blades or other road signs? Is this done anywhere else?
There are some Ohio counties that omit the suffix for roads that are "XYZ Road" but will include the suffix otherwise. I've never figured out why this is the case, other than "it's a road, duh" but it can make for nice looking blades.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180624/069153e51c61a67170ccf9bce2aa04fa.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180624/6865cb90b7c44c4d8c8a97e7b36f3556.jpg)
The Transportation Corridor Agencies (http://thetollroads.com/) (TCA) Toll Roads of Orange County, California (parts of CA-73 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_73) and CA-133 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_133) plus all of CA-241 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_241) and CA-261 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_261)) are formally known as corridors (though I have seen signs that simply say Toll Road).
I have not heard of a completed road being called a corridor elsewhere.
This being Southern California, on KNX-1070 traffic reports, they are referred to as "the 73," "the 241" and so on, with no mention of "toll" or "toll road."
Quote from: froggie on June 24, 2018, 08:50:11 AM
Quote from: bzakharin on June 23, 2018, 09:38:50 PM
The Baltimore Beltway (I-695) is intermittently signed as "Inner Loop" and "Outer Loop" with regular directional signs in other places.
As is the "Hampton Roads Beltway" along I-64 and I-664.....both practices were borrowed from the Capital Beltway.
And the road that snakes around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is signed as the Capital Beltway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Beltway_(Harrisburg)) too.
Only in L.A. do you have "sigalerts", referring to a sudden unplanned lane closure usually due to accident or emergency construction (like sinkhole). The word comes from the name of a traffic reporter who was named Sigmund (I believe) and has nothing to do with signals.
L.A. is also unique that they refer to the lanes of a freeway by number, the #1 lane being the left most lane (in any direction), the #2 lane the next lane to the right and so on. It is a really good system to keep track of the multiple lanes, especially because many of the freeways tend to have 5 lanes or more.
(In places where there are only 2 or 3 lanes per direction, it's much more common to refer to the lanes as left, center, and right.)
Quote from: mrsman on September 03, 2018, 10:04:16 PM
L.A. is also unique that they refer to the lanes of a freeway by number, the #1 lane being the left most lane (in any direction), the #2 lane the next lane to the right and so on. It is a really good system to keep track of the multiple lanes, especially because many of the freeways tend to have 5 lanes or more.
(In places where there are only 2 or 3 lanes per direction, it's much more common to refer to the lanes as left, center, and right.)
Who refers to them by number ... the state DOT or local DOT?
Plenty of places around the country have freeways with 8 or 10 lanes or more.
My convention with 4 lanes is left inner, left outer, right inner, and right outer.
For me when it's 4 lanes it's left, left center, right center, right.
Quote from: mrsman on September 03, 2018, 10:04:16 PM
Only in L.A. do you have "sigalerts", referring to a sudden unplanned lane closure usually due to accident or emergency construction (like sinkhole). The word comes from the name of a traffic reporter who was named Sigmund (I believe) and has nothing to do with signals.
L.A. is also unique that they refer to the lanes of a freeway by number, the #1 lane being the left most lane (in any direction), the #2 lane the next lane to the right and so on. It is a really good system to keep track of the multiple lanes, especially because many of the freeways tend to have 5 lanes or more.
(In places where there are only 2 or 3 lanes per direction, it's much more common to refer to the lanes as left, center, and right.)
LA also refers to interstates as "The x." I was reminded of this as I was reading ROADS by Larry McMurtry and he did the same. Larry referred to "the 35" and "the 70." He's a Texan, but I wonder if he picked up that habit while he was in Hollywood when his books were adapted for the screen.
Quote from: Big John on May 12, 2018, 12:39:28 AM
^^ There is also a "Boulevard" in Atlanta.
If you mention that in Philly, people will assume you're talking about Roosevelt Boulevard.
Quote from: Brooks on May 11, 2018, 06:47:59 PM
In Memphis, the suffix "Cove" is used 99% of the time for a cul-de-sac. I haven't heard of this occurring anywhere else.
It's also found in East Tennessee, although only in neighborhoods.
I know of one street in Northern Virginia with a "Cove" suffix (Quiet Cove in Annandale, and it is indeed a cul-de-sac).
The use of "Innerbelt" and "Outerbelt" freeways in Ohio
I-485 around Charlotte is sometimes called the "Outerbelt," though I don't ever recall I-277 being called the "Innerbelt."
Quote from: jon daly on September 04, 2018, 06:27:56 AM
Quote from: mrsman on September 03, 2018, 10:04:16 PM
Only in L.A. do you have "sigalerts", referring to a sudden unplanned lane closure usually due to accident or emergency construction (like sinkhole). The word comes from the name of a traffic reporter who was named Sigmund (I believe) and has nothing to do with signals.
L.A. is also unique that they refer to the lanes of a freeway by number, the #1 lane being the left most lane (in any direction), the #2 lane the next lane to the right and so on. It is a really good system to keep track of the multiple lanes, especially because many of the freeways tend to have 5 lanes or more.
(In places where there are only 2 or 3 lanes per direction, it's much more common to refer to the lanes as left, center, and right.)
LA also refers to interstates as "The x." I was reminded of this as I was reading ROADS by Larry McMurtry and he did the same. Larry referred to "the 35" and "the 70." He's a Texan, but I wonder if he picked up that habit while he was in Hollywood when his books were adapted for the screen.
Stephen King seems to call all expressways "turnpikes."
Aren't I-95 and I-495 known as inner and outer belts respectively in the Boston area?
Quote from: bzakharin on September 06, 2018, 03:02:10 PM
Aren't I-95 and I-495 known as inner and outer belts respectively in the Boston area?
No. I-95 is called 128, and I-495 is just called 495.
Denver likes to have two "descriptors" on streets. For example, the 6th Avenue Freeway and Monaco Street Parkway. In Denver's street grid, the streets located on the same east/west or north/south axis all tend to share the same name throughout the metro area, but in the example of 6th Ave above, the freeway portion is west of I-25 (toward Lakewood & Golden). There are also frontage roads along much of it's length, which are sometimes referred to as "6th Ave Frontage Rd" or "6th Ave Service Rd".
In the case of Monaco, there is a certain stretch where it has a very wide grassy tree-lined median (same with other streets in some of the nicer parts of east Denver) which earns it the "Parkway" moniker. Hell, there's also a 6th Ave Pkwy.
Quote from: Mark68 on September 06, 2018, 03:18:16 PM
In Denver's street grid, the streets located on the same east/west or north/south axis all tend to share the same name throughout the metro area
Philadelphia does this too. It's not 100%, though. Also this doesn't extend beyond the city limits (and not even into Northeast Philly) in most cases. A few numbered streets continue outside the city, such as 12th Street and Front Street (it's in place of 1st Street). 2nd Street is odd because it becomes New 2nd Street when it leaves Philly.
Quote from: m2tbone on May 12, 2018, 06:27:22 PM
The Kansas City area (or perhaps most of Western Missouri) says the names of highways backwards. In most places, you would say Hwy 50 or Hwy 71, etc. However, over in Kansas City, they say 50 Hwy and 71 Hwy.
In regards to a street just called Boulevard (as mentioned above), my hometown of Mexico, MO, also has a main arterial called Boulevard.
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They say it that way at least as far east as Knob Noster.
Nexus 5X
Quote from: US 89 on May 12, 2018, 06:41:33 PM
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, the advance signage for interstates is something like "Route I-70" . I've never seen that used anywhere else. IMO, it's redundant, and it should either be I-70 or Route 70 (preferably I-70).
This is the case all over Missouri.
Nexus 5X
Quote from: TEG24601 on May 14, 2018, 07:11:13 PM
Quote from: Brandon on May 11, 2018, 07:25:47 PM
Neutral Ground - New Orleans for median.
I remember that from "K-Ville" and hear it on "NCIS: NOLA" as well.
I love how WSDOT must call the I-90 and SR 520 bridges as "Floating Bridges", instead of just bridges. And they waffle between "Hood Canal Bridge" and "Hood Canal Floating Bridge".
Why do they have to refer to them that way?
Nexus 5X
Quote from: JMoses24 on June 18, 2018, 05:19:36 AM
Oklahoma City has to my knowledge the only two roads called "Diagonal". The Tinker Diagonal is I-40 with its service roads, and then there's a smaller street called "Linwood Diagonal" just northwest of midtown.
Somebody might have already mentioned it, but there is a Turner Diagonal in Kansas City, Kansas.
Nexus 5X
In Tulsa, everybody refers to any freeway as "The Highway" and rarely by its route number.
Nexus 5X
Quote from: Beltway on September 03, 2018, 11:19:32 PM
Quote from: mrsman on September 03, 2018, 10:04:16 PM
L.A. is also unique that they refer to the lanes of a freeway by number, the #1 lane being the left most lane (in any direction), the #2 lane the next lane to the right and so on. It is a really good system to keep track of the multiple lanes, especially because many of the freeways tend to have 5 lanes or more.
(In places where there are only 2 or 3 lanes per direction, it's much more common to refer to the lanes as left, center, and right.)
Who refers to them by number ... the state DOT or local DOT?
Plenty of places around the country have freeways with 8 or 10 lanes or more.
My convention with 4 lanes is left inner, left outer, right inner, and right outer.
I believe radio traffic reporters are the most common users of the numbered lane system. But since they made it common, I believe that others have used it also. I don't think the DOTs have used it in any official literature though.
Quote from: cpzilliacus on June 25, 2018, 01:31:40 PM
I have not heard of a completed road being called a corridor elsewhere.
West Virginia. "Corridor" can have several interrelated meanings in WV:
- Most people call the Appalachian Corridors by their project letters, despite there being virtually no signage (the project letter is in the mile posts if you know how to read them). As "Take Corridor L, it is faster than going through Charleston."
- In Charleston, in addition to the above use as referring to the entire road, "Corridor G" specifically to the shopping and residential area located on the edge of Charleston, opened up to development by the road. As "I'm shopping at the Wal-Mart on Corridor G", or "Mary moved to an apartment on Corridor G." This is a specific 1 1/2 mile area built just after the road was finished, and not any other place along the 80 mile long road, and used in the same way any other neighborhood or suburb name would be.
- Even among WV DOH workers, "Corridor" simply means "4 lane road with at grade intersections". As "I-73/74 is actually a corridor." Or "US 35 will be built to the corridor standard.".
AFAIK, none of these practices cross the state line, even into nearby Kentucky or Ohio. I have never heard US 23 called "Corridor B" in Kentucky by anyone but posters here.
Quote from: bugo on September 08, 2018, 05:58:27 AM
Quote from: TEG24601 on May 14, 2018, 07:11:13 PM
Quote from: Brandon on May 11, 2018, 07:25:47 PM
Neutral Ground - New Orleans for median.
I remember that from "K-Ville" and hear it on "NCIS: NOLA" as well.
I love how WSDOT must call the I-90 and SR 520 bridges as "Floating Bridges", instead of just bridges. And they waffle between "Hood Canal Bridge" and "Hood Canal Floating Bridge".
Why do they have to refer to them that way?
Nexus 5X
The bridges are floating pontoon bridges, so of course they are special enough to advertise.
The tradition of naming the bridges as floaters is likely a holdover from the first bridge, which was simply named the Lake Washington Floating Bridge (but is now the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge). As the second and third lake bridges were discussed and built, they were referred to as the "2nd Lake Washington Floating Bridge" and so on until they received proper names of their own (Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially the Albert D. Rosellini Bridge; and the WB I-90 floating bridge, officially the Homer Hadley Memorial Bridge).
the local folks of Charleston SC refer to exits along I-26 as "The xxx". Example: on traffic reports, one might hear of an accident on "26 East at The 209".
Exit numbers also carry some meaning when describing where something is. Since the only two interstates in CHS have very different exit numbers, one might hear "its right off the 213A" which is I-26. One may also hear "take the 16A" which is I-526.