Highway number or highway name? Which does your region use?

[deathtopumpkins]

We generally just say things like "Take 17 up to Goosley," 17 being US-17 or George Washington Mem. Hwy., and Goosley being Goosley Rd., VA-238. But there are also cases where a road is better known by its name, not route number. Examples being US-258, just called "Mercury [Blvd.];" and VA-169, just called "Fox Hill [Rd.]." Not really any rhyme or reason, some roads are just better known for their name or number.

Though since here on the peninsula we only have one interstate, I-64 (though there's I-664 too, but it doesn't go anywhere important so we never have to refer to it in conversation), we often just call it "the interstate" or even just "the highway," though sometimes it does get referred to as I-64.

[mightyace]

Here in Tennessee, the interstate are generally referred to as "I" number.

As for the surface roads, in Nashville, they are always referred to by street.  i.e. Franklin Road not US 31, Old Hickory Blvd. not TN 254.

Outside Nashville, the important roads sometimes get referred to by number.  i.e. US 31 south of Nashville

But, mostly they get referred to by name, especially to Tennessee's secondary highways.

[UptownRoadGeek]

in NOLA its like this...

I-10: "The I-10" 90% of the time
U.S. 61: "Airline" or "Airline Hwy" even though its officially Airline Dr.
U.S. 90 Bus: On the westbank it's either "Westbank Expy" or "the westbank (usually by Westbankers)" and on the eastbank its usually simply referred to as either the "Riverbound" or "Lakebound Expy" depending on what direction you're heading even though its officially the Pontchartrain Expy.
U.S. 90: Takes on the name of whatever street it travels until it crosses the Huey P.
The Earhart is the Earhart, I don't even know what number it is.
I-610: "610"

[Revive 755]

Around St. Louis, freeways were referred to by number.  The exception was I-170, which seemed to be referred to by number if there was a problem on it, or as the Inner Belt if it was being used as a reference for a perpendicular road.  I don't know if the Page Avenue Extension/MO 364 goes by name or number.  Non-freeways go by the street name if it differs from the number or letter.

Omaha seems to use numbers for freeways except for US 75 south of I-80; I think that one more commonly goes by its name of the Kennedy Freeway.  The US 75 freeway north of I-480 may also go by its name.

[CityBoy1986]

U.S. 61: "Airline" or "Airline Hwy" even though its officially Airline Dr.

Well, it _was_ Airline Highway for many, many years.

In Mississippi, most people call the interstates "I-XX" and U.S. and state highways "Highway XX" or just "XX."  County roads have either names or numbers depending on the county, but I am not sure what people call those with numbers since the counties I have lived in use names.

[Darkchylde]

In New Orleans's suburbs, it can vary. Mandeville goes by the number, while Covington and Slidell may go by both, and most Southshore suburbs go by the name with the exception of the Interstate. New Orleans goes almost exclusively by street name, with Interstate 10 being "The Interstate" and the others going by number. "Take Elysian Fields up to the Interstate, over to Chef Highway..."

[mediaguru]

Here in Tennessee, the interstate are generally referred to as "I" number.

As for the surface roads, in Nashville, they are always referred to by street.  i.e. Franklin Road not US 31, Old Hickory Blvd. not TN 254.

Outside Nashville, the important roads sometimes get referred to by number.  i.e. US 31 south of Nashville

But, mostly they get referred to by name, especially to Tennessee's secondary highways.

I often hear locals in East Tennessee who refer to state and US routes by their number plus the word "highway" at the end of the name.  In Chattanooga, for example, one might say, "Take the second exit on 153 Highway."  That convention was a new one for me when I moved into the area a few years ago.  Also, most people tend to give you strange looks if you happen to substitute "US" or "SR" for the more familiar word "highway."

[TheStranger]

Sacramento traffic reports use "Capital City Freeway" for the standalone (hidden Route 51/former I-80, US 40, US 99E) segment from I-80 to Route 99, but numbers for just about everything else, though I-80 is always referred to as going across the "top of the town" (through Natomas).

In the Bay Area, I can think of a few commonly used names:

the Bayshore Freeway (US 101 from I-80 to San Jose)
the Eastshore Freeway (I-80 and sometimes I-580 in the East bay)
the Macarthur Freeway (I-580 from I-80 to Route 238)
the Nimitz Freeway and Cypress Freeway (all of I-880; for the latter, specifically the original and replacement structures between I-980 and I-80 that, under the original alignment, once abutted Cypress Street)

The Junipero Serra Freeway is I-280 from Route 1 in SF (where the JSF continues for about one more mile to 19th Avenue) to San Jose, but that name is rarely mentioned on the news or on reports. 

[ComputerGuy]

We ususally use numbers for freeway and mixed for regular

[bugo]

In Oklahoma City the Lake Hefner Parkway (SH-74), the Northwest Expressway (SH-3), and the Broadway Extension (US 77) are referred to by name. The section of I-40 through Downtown is known either as I-40 or "the Crosstown". Everything else is referred to by number exclusively.

I think Tulsa uses names more often than number, but I'm not sure...

I-44 is usually called I-44.  Skelly Drive usually refers to the frontage roads along I-44.  OK 51 east of downtown is called either the Broken Arrow Expressway or "BA".  US 169 is "169".  US 75 is usually referred to by its number, as is I-244.  The downtown loop is either referred to as the "IDL" for "Inner Dispersal Loop" or by number, I-244 for the N and W legs and US 75 for the S and E legs.  64/412 west is called the Keystone Expressway or the Sand Springs Expressway.  OK 11 near the airport is "Highway 11."  Turnpikes are usually referred to by name.  LL Tisdale Parkway is "Tisdale."

[tdindy88]

Indiana in general I believe just uses the number with either I, US, or SR coming before. The only major highways that are refered to by name are the Borman Exwy (NW Indiana), Sam Jones Exwy (Indianapolis), and Lloyd Exwy(Evansville). And in the case of the Borman and Lloyd both highways carry multiple numbers so refering to them by name is just easier.

[roadfro]

Most state highways in Nevada have names, but the use of the name versus the number is somewhat mixed.

• For state routes on urban arterials, the street name is always used (most urban state routes are not consistently signed, thus most people are unaware they are state highways).
• For other state routes, each has a name assigned to it.  Some of these names are in common use, such as Mt. Rose Highway (SR 431), Geiger Grade (SR 341), Lamoille Highway (SR 227), Kyle Canyon Rd (SR 157). Other highways may just be referred to as "SR ##" or "Highway ##", i.e.: SR 140 (Denio-Adel, OR Road), SR 208 (Topaz-Yerington Road), SR 722 (Carroll Summit Road, old US 50), etc.
  
• Rural US highways are generally referred to by number, even though some have internal, signed or colloquial names (US 50 "The Loneliest Road in America", US 6 "Grand Army of the Republic Highway", US 93 "Great Basin Highway", US 95 "Veterans' Memorial Highway", etc.).
• Urban freeways are referred to by number.  The exception is I-215/CC-215, which is often referred to as simply "the Beltway".

Speaking of freeways, California's vernacular for freeways has been adapted to how Nevadans refer to their freeway numbers.  In Reno and northern Nevada, one might say "take 80 to 395".  In southern Nevada and the Vegas area, 'the' is often appended before the number, as in "take the 15 to the 95".

[SSOWorld]

Well, all of Wisconsin uses numbers, but many in Milwaukee refer to I-894 as the "Bypass".  and there are those in Madison that refer to the handful of US Routes going around the city as the Beltline

Chicago doesn't go by number: Edens, Kennedy, Ryan, Skyway, Tri-State, etc.  The only one to get recognition for it's number is I-57.

[BigMattFromTexas]

U.S 67/277 -- Houston Harte Expressway