Names vs. Numbers on highways

[huskeroadgeek]

In the vast majority of the US, rural highways are more known by their numbers than any name they might have. While many urban freeways have names, in most cases they are better known by their number. Conversely, highways that are surface streets in cities are usually better known by street names locally. Where are there exceptions to this-rural highways or urban freeways better known by their names instead of their numbers, or surface streets within cities better known by their number?

Some ones I know about:
Chicago is probably the most obvious exception to freeways being known by numbers-the "expressway" names Dan Ryan, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Stevenson, etc. are much better known locally than I-90, I-94, I-290, I-55 etc.

In Omaha, US 75 south of I-80/I-480 is named the Kennedy Freeway and US 75 N. of I-480 is named the North Freeway and those names are usually preferred over US 75.

In Springfield, Mo., the US 65 freeway is rarely referred to by its name of the Schoolcraft Freeway. Yet the US 60 freeway usually is referred to by its name of the James River Freeway.

In an example of a surface street known by its number instead of its name-in my hometown of Lincoln, NE 2 running along the south part of the city is officially called "Nebraska Highway" on street signs put up by the city, but is always called "Hwy 2" locally. In fact, many people likely wouldn't even be able to tell somebody where "Nebraska Highway" is. However, US 6 and US 34 on their surface streets through Lincoln are known by their street names instead of their numbers.

[golden eagle]

U.S. 23 through Gwinnett County, GA, is known as Buford Highway.

U.S. 61 through Memphis is Third Street, while U.S. 51 is Elvis Presley Blvd.

Here in Jackson, MS 25 is known as Lakeland Drive. Once it gets away from the urban areas, it begins to take on the MS 25 name. Had U.S. 51 kept its original alignment, it still would be known as State Street.

[TheStranger]

In the Bay Area, several freeways' names are still in popular usage (Bayshore Freeway and Central Freeway for 101, Eastshore Freeway for 80, Nimitz Freeway for 880, MacArthur Freeway for 580).  The Cypress Freeway appellation for the segment of 880 between 80 and 980 was mostly used when the structure actually was being rebuilt (and the original had been demolished due to Loma Prieta damage) but hasn't been used much since the 1997 reopening.

The numbered streets are almost always referred to by their names and not highway numbers (Route 82/El Camino Real, Route 238/Mission Boulevard).

In Sacramento, the Capital City Freeway name is used - but usually to refer to the standalone Business 80 (Route 51) segment.  The "WX Freeway" name is still used at times to refer to the segment of Business 80/US 50 that is concurrent with Route 99.

Route 160 ran down Freeport Boulevard and 15th/16th Streets until the early part of this decade, but I don't know if it was ever commonly identified as such.  Route 16 runs down Jackson Road and part of Folsom Boulevard, but rarely gets mentioned in traffic reports.

[oscar]

In the vast majority of the US, rural highways are more known by their numbers than any name they might have. While many urban freeways have names, in most cases they are better known by their number. Conversely, highways that are surface streets in cities are usually better known by street names locally. Where are there exceptions to this-rural highways or urban freeways better known by their names instead of their numbers, or surface streets within cities better known by their number?

In Alaska and Hawaii, highways are almost always called by name rather than number, except for Hawaii's Interstates, which until recently were mostly unnamed (and some of the names, like "Queen Liliuokalani Freeway," do not exactly roll off the tongue even for Hawaiians).  Indeed, until just before statehood Hawaii didn't have a widely-used route number system; when troops from the mainland kept getting lost on Oahu's unnumbered roads in the runup to World War II, a temporary numbering system had to be created for them.  Alaska has only twelve numbered routes, and has many significant, state-maintained highways without signed route numbers. 

One gets the sense that Alaska and Hawaii set up their route numbering systems largely to conform to lower-48 practices, and if left to their own devices would as soon do without signed route numbers.

[agentsteel53]

Yukon is just like Alaska in that the numbers seem to be an afterthought... in fact until the mid-80s, Yukon routes did not have numbers, just a unified "Northwest Highway System" shield.

[corco]

I-184 in Boise is almost universally referred to as "The Connector"- I imagine most Boiseans wouldn't even know what an I-184 was

I don't know if this is common practice since I'm not a Phoenician, but when I'm down there (roughly 1.5 times a year) I have a tendency to refer to the 60 as "the Superstition" and the 51 as "the Piestewa" while referring to all other highways by number- I have no idea how I slipped into that. I'm also not a Salt Laker, but I tend to call SR-154 "the Bangerter" while calling other routes by number. I think this may be a product of my formative years  in Chicago (my father is a religious "go by the name, not by the number" person)- if the route has a name I tend to eventually slip into calling it by name.

I can't off the top of my head think of a major highway in Colorado or Wyoming I refer to by name- although due to the lack of major roads and major towns in Wyoming you'll often hear people avoid names and numbers altogether and just say "the road to Cody" or "the road to Casper" or "since the road to Cody is bad, take the road up to Sheridan and then the road to Cody" or "the road through Meteetse to Cody is closed so take the road through Greybull" without being able to tell you the route number. This works because there's usually only one intelligent way to get from A to B- there can be confusion between I-25->I-80 or 287-I-25  (the debate is bitter on which way is faster, it's almost a perfect 50-50 split- I'd say displaced Coloradans tend to believe in the interstate route while native Wyomingites tend to believe in 287, while folks from other places fall on either side of the pot) when people call it "the road to Denver," but at least in Laramie it's connoted that you'd omit Denver and say "the road to Fort Collins" for 287 and "the road to Cheyenne" for I-80.

[US71]

In Springfield, Mo., the US 65 freeway is rarely referred to by its name of the Schoolcraft Freeway. Yet the US 60 freeway usually is referred to by its name of the James River Freeway.

James River Freeway actually begins as MO 360, so it's not all US 60, though  JRF seems to primarily refer to the US 60 portion.

[shoptb1]

In Ohio, people tend to refer to freeways & highways by the number instead of the name.  Ohioans refer to the highway by the number alone (instead of "The ..." or "I-..."), and will say something like "Take 670 west to 315 north and then 270 east to 23 north".   There is no distinction made between interstate, US, and state routes, but thanks to the exclusive (non-duplicity) numbering system, it's not necessary.  

[usends]

I can't off the top of my head think of a major highway in Colorado or Wyoming I refer to by name...

Some long-time Denverites still refer to I-25 south of downtown as "the Valley Highway" (which was its name prior to becoming a segment of the interstate).  US 36 between Denver and Boulder is commonly referred to as "the Turnpike" (because when it was first built it was a toll road).  Most people refer to US 6 west of downtown as "6th Avenue".  US 285 between I-25 and Santa Fe Dr (US 85) is usually just called "Hampden" (even though it's actually aligned with Jefferson through part of Englewood, few people are aware of that.  They think of 285 as "Hampden", wheras the actual Hampden Av. is referred to as "Old Hampden").  Even west of Santa Fe, some people still refer to US 285 as Hampden, but where it becomes a freeway, it seems people are more likely to refer to it by number.  I have some additional details at the bottom of this page: http://usends.com/Explore/Colorado/colloquialisms.html

[corco]

Some long-time Denverites still refer to I-25 south of downtown as "the Valley Highway" (which was its name prior to becoming a segment of the interstate).  US 36 between Denver and Boulder is commonly referred to as "the Turnpike" (because when it was first built it was a toll road).  Most people refer to US 6 west of downtown as "6th Avenue".  US 285 between I-25 and Santa Fe Dr (US 85) is usually just called "Hampden" (even though it's actually aligned with Jefferson through part of Englewood, few people are aware of that.  They think of 285 as "Hampden", wheras the actual Hampden Av. is referred to as "Old Hampden").  Even west of Santa Fe, some people still refer to US 285 as Hampden, but where it becomes a freeway, it seems people are more likely to refer to it by number.

That got my brain jogging sufficiently- yeah I hear it referred to it as the Turnpike too. Another one in that area would be SH-119, often called "The Diagonal"

[vdeane]

In New York, the Thruway is usually referred to by name rather than number.  I'm pretty sure that just about everything in NYC would be known by name rather than number as well.

[kurumi]

Calling the Merritt Parkway "the 15" is a faux pas in Fairfield County.

[Duke87]

I'm pretty sure that just about everything in NYC would be known by name rather than number as well.

With the suffix dropped in most cases. "The Cross Bronx", "The Gowanus", "The Cross Island", etc.
Some names get shortened further. The Hutchinson River Parkway is "The Hutch". The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is "The BQE". The Bronx River Parkway is "The BRP".

Calling the Merritt Parkway "the 15" is a faux pas in Fairfield County.

Heh. Can't say I've ever heard anyone do that. I daresay most of us aren't even aware that "the Parkway" has a number!

[iwishiwascanadian]

In the Tri-State Area (NY, CT, NJ) most highways/parkways are known by their names, but once you get out of Fairfield County most highways in Connecticut are known by their number.  I always found it weird that I switch between the two when driving from home to New York because most of the time I would follow 84 to 684 to the Hutch.  I suppose in NYC and in Westchester County most parkways don't have numbers so their is no alternative for them to be called. 

[shadyjay]

Just listen to a traffic report on WCBS-880 (NYC) and the only mention of a number you'll here is I-80 (NJ), I-287 (NJ), and (sometimes) I-95 (CT).  The rest is all names, as previously noted.

Similarly, in the Boston area, you'll hear traffic reporters and locals refer to the inner beltway as Route 128.  MassHighway eliminated most 128 signage from I-95's BGSs (and altogether on the I-93 portion), but old habits die hard.   (Route 128 is named the Yankee Division Highway).

[agentsteel53]

Similarly, in the Boston area, you'll hear traffic reporters and locals refer to the inner beltway as Route 128.  MassHighway eliminated most 128 signage from I-95's BGSs (and altogether on the I-93 portion), but old habits die hard.   (Route 128 is named the Yankee Division Highway).

you'll get references to the Southeast Expressway (MA, not US 3 heading out of Boston) and until recently it was inevitable that the Central Artery (I-93) was clogged.  Now it's the Big Dig that's backed up.

[Revive 755]

In the St. Louis area, I-170 used to be referred to on traffic reports by it's name (Inner Belt).  At least in casual conversation, MO 364 is usually referred to by name, such as "The Page Avenue Extension," "Page Extension" or sometimes just "Page Avenue," even though the Page Avenue designation technically ends at I-270.

The Illinois side of the St. Louis area generally seems to go by number over street names, such as "203" instead of "Nameoki Road" and "157" or "159" over whatever the local street names are.

[Bickendan]

LA freeways tend to go both ways, if memory serves.

Portland: The three that are primarily known by their names are the Sunset (US 26), the Banfield (I-84/US 30) and the Stadium (I-405). I-5 isn't referred by its names anymore (the Baldock, the Eastbank and the Minnesota), and I-205 (East Portland/Veterans Memorial) and OR 217 (Beaverton-Tigard) have never been called as such as far as I know.

[TheStranger]

LA freeways tend to go both ways, if memory serves.

I think it's more notable when a freeway in LA is never known by a name, only # - my guess is that it would apply to certain newer routes like the toll highways in Orange County (73, 241, 261), and shorter freeways like 23 and 133.

[iwishiwascanadian]

The only thing that is confusing to me about switching from name to number is the amount of confusion that is created by the change.  Some Interstates begin on one named route and then move to another and if it isn't signed correctly it could cause a problem.  I think it is easier to follow route numbers than named routes. 

[TheStranger]

The only thing that is confusing to me about switching from name to number is the amount of confusion that is created by the change.  Some Interstates begin on one named route and then move to another and if it isn't signed correctly it could cause a problem.  I think it is easier to follow route numbers than named routes. 

In the Bay Area, that isn't an issue (while the Eastshore name used to apply to both 80 and what is now 880, this hasn't been the case since the late 1960s).  The route names almost only correspond to one segment of one route and not multiple separate routes (i.e. all of the Eastshore is 80, all of the Bayshore is 580, all of the MacArthur is 580, and the Nimitz and 880 are the same thing in entirety).

In metro Los Angeles...the Santa Ana Freeway, Ventura Freeway, and Hollywood Freeway all are portions of US 101 AND another route.  The San Diego Freeway is both all of 405, plus 5 south of Irvine.  With that, I can see where the confusion comes up - one reason why the numbers have been used more in the Southland in recent years.

[agentsteel53]

I think the first freeway to go without a name in the LA area is the 605 - built in the mid-1960s, they didn't bother calling it the San Gabriel River Freeway, even though that was the most sensible name for it.

Most freeways were originally named for the towns they served, in one direction anyway.  

one exception was the Ramona Freeway: it was named after Ramona Boulevard, as opposed to the small town of Ramona, which is in the hills east of San Diego (nowhere near where the freeway goes).  This exception was renamed to the more logical San Bernardino Freeway in the early 60s.  Other somewhat geographically accurate names are the Foothill Freeway (210, which is named after Foothill Boulevard, which in turn is named after the fact that the road goes along the foothills of the San Gabriel range), and the Golden State Freeway (US-99 north of the East LA interchange which goes to the rest of the Golden State).

However, even this was found confusing as they were intuitive in one direction only - after all, why would one get on the Santa Monica Freeway if he wanted to drive from Culver City to downtown LA?  The driver was supposed to know that the freeway came from Santa Monica in his case.

also, given that there were some major name/number mismatches (the Hollywood and Ventura freeways, for example, which became 101, 134, and 170, with neither named route keeping its number through their interchange) California just gave up on the names.  

incidentally, a lot of freeways (especially outside of LA) were named after people ... you could not expect to find General MacArthur at the end of the MacArthur Freeway, or chief justice Earl Warren at the end of the Warren Freeway, and I have no idea who James Lick is, but maybe he licked you at a strategic point on US-101, which is why that and I-80 are so poorly signed these days in San Francisco.

average Californians still remember this sort of thing, and having all the old signs around certainly helps.  That said, the decommissioned surface street stretch of US-101 between La Jolla and Camp Pendleton is known universally as "the 101" - even though it hasn't been US-101 since the 1950s to 1960s when they built the new freeway in segments, and certainly not since 1966 when the route was truncated to Los Angeles.

[xcellntbuy]

A combination of names, numbers and colloquialisms are used in south Florida.  Here are a few examples:

"The 18-mile stretch," US 1 from Florida City to Key Largo will be heard very often.  It is the newer and newest sections of the Overseas Highway, while "US 1 down in the Keys at milemarker xx" is used on the extremely beautiful road between Key Largo and Key West.

"The Don Shula" as in the Don Shula Expressway, tolled FL 874, will be heard more than the state route number.  Same goes for the Snapper Creek Expressway (FL 878), "the Dolphin" Expressway (FL 836).

"Julia Tuttle" is the causeway between Miami and Miami Beach on Interstate 195.  "MacArthur" is the causeway further to the south, and east of the terminus of Interstate 395, connecting the two downtowns.

"The Palmetto," FL 826, will also be used instead of the state route number, and include directions like, "the east-west Palmetto" or "northbound" or "southbound."

"The Turnpike Extension" will be a reference to the 47-mile Homestead Extension of the Florida's Turnpike (hidden FL 821).

I-75, I-95 and I-595 are called by their route numbers.  "State Road 84" is never called anything but and to my knowledge never signed anywhere as "Everglades Blvd."

I-75 from Exit 19 (FL 869 and Interstate 595) is usually thought of and rolled into the "Alley," as in Alligator Alley, even though the toll road does not begin until west of Exit 26 for US 27.

US 27 is called by its route number.

"Krome Avenue" (FL 997) is never called by its route number.

"Kendall" (FL 94) or "Kendall Drive" is really North Kendall Drive, since it is the northern line of the suburb.  The road travels entirely east-west.

Most major east-west 6- and 8-lane highways are always called by name, "Commercial" (Blvd.), "Broward Blvd.," "Sample (Road)," and so on.  If the street is east of the main dividing highway on the street grid, "East" will be usually added as a reference.

"Atlantic" is a bit confusing since Atlantic Blvd. is a main east-west route in northern Broward County (the street grid divider for the Pompano Beach, Margate and cities west) and Atlantic Avenue in a main east-west route in Delray Beach in south Palm Beach County (and the street grid divider for Delray Beach and west into unincorporated Palm Beach County).

"South Dixie (Highway)" and "US 1" are often interchangeable in Miami-Dade County while "Federal" or "Federal Highway," is used for US 1 in Broward County are often heard interchangeably.

US 441 is well-signed but the name of the street is NW 7 Avenue in Miami-Dade County and State Road 7 in Broward County.  US 441 and street names will be often heard interchangeably.  "FL 7" as in State Road 7 is oddly signed in only one place in Broward County at Commercial Blvd. with no reference to US 441 on the overhead gantries.

[TheStranger]

average Californians still remember this sort of thing, and having all the old signs around certainly helps.  

And a few new signs:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raymondyue/4793004642/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pbo31/143595488/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_s_etc/3872045157/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raymondyue/4736821515/

I'm fascinated that the Eastshore and Nimitz names get as much use as they do in the Bay Area, since combined they have less signage for them than the Capital City Freeway name here in Sacramento!

[Bickendan]

I think the first freeway to go without a name in the LA area is the 605 - built in the mid-1960s, they didn't bother calling it the San Gabriel River Freeway, even though that was the most sensible name for it.

IIRC, there are signs along I-605 naming the freeway just that. I know the Thomas Guides call the freeway the San Gabriel River Freeway.