AARoads Forum

National Boards => General Highway Talk => Topic started by: jt4 on March 30, 2022, 05:31:58 PM

Title: Inconsistent road names
Post by: jt4 on March 30, 2022, 05:31:58 PM
Is it common to find road names that are inconsistently spelled throughout their route? One example from my area is Socialville-Foster(s) Rd in Warren County, Ohio -

The ends of the road are marked as Foster (no s):
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3185499,-84.3510367,3a,22.6y,39.39h,83.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOPBk0bk85puhZdh6OqRmew!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3185499,-84.3510367,3a,22.6y,39.39h,83.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOPBk0bk85puhZdh6OqRmew!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3204834,-84.2534684,3a,90y,264.57h,78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sILoT9oL9iT0Xj7KtshPZNA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3204834,-84.2534684,3a,90y,264.57h,78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sILoT9oL9iT0Xj7KtshPZNA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)

The intersections along the road appear to mark it as Fosters:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3194323,-84.3315955,3a,36.5y,218.48h,88.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snfXdIZjwQ7v0SR0hZFEFWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3194323,-84.3315955,3a,36.5y,218.48h,88.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snfXdIZjwQ7v0SR0hZFEFWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3226998,-84.3125172,3a,75y,11.65h,79.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5eKHYxKbS7F2Cv6oTG2qHA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3226998,-84.3125172,3a,75y,11.65h,79.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5eKHYxKbS7F2Cv6oTG2qHA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)

Warren County marks the road as Fosters on their GIS site, but the auditor's website acknowledges the spelling as Foster for the vast majority of parcels on the road.

Apple and Google mark the road as Fosters, while Bing and Mapquest use Foster.

It appears the name refers to the unincorporated town of Foster, which used to be called Foster's Crossing, and although Wikipedia prefers Fosters as the name of the town, it's marked as Foster on Google Maps.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180313042457/http://www.co.warren.oh.us/genealogy/genealogy/placenames.htm (https://web.archive.org/web/20180313042457/http://www.co.warren.oh.us/genealogy/genealogy/placenames.htm)

Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: tigerwings on March 30, 2022, 05:46:37 PM
Gibraltar/Gibralter Road in Flat Rock, MI

Spelling varies on cross street signs.

Years ago a news story said that Gibraltar was the county spelling, Gibralter was the city of Flat Rock spelling.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: skluth on March 30, 2022, 06:05:24 PM
St Louis has a difficult time deciding if it's Morgan Ford Rd (https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5816012,-90.267125,3a,40.2y,319.36h,96.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2ju6XGOhs3dGEk2jc_oD5A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en) or Morganford Rd (https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6008786,-90.2617053,3a,75y,80.41h,77.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skwjRNMtlDd7D4yYm15UTnw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en). I know there are other examples in the area, but I lived close to this street on a few occasions and it always annoyed me.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: NWI_Irish96 on March 30, 2022, 06:17:41 PM
Some of the signs for Holman Ln in Jeffersonville, IN, have an 's' added to the end.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: webny99 on March 30, 2022, 09:05:51 PM
The thread title made me think of this incident with Phil[l]ips Rd in Webster, NY a few years ago:

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/01/23/phillips-road-sign-webster-mistake/22232375/
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: KCRoadFan on March 30, 2022, 10:02:42 PM
When I traveled US 1 on Street View from Maine to Key West, FL, I noticed the on the section on the south side of Jacksonville - which is called Philips Highway - some signs spelled it with one L, and others used two L's (Phillips). I believe the one-L spelling is the official one, but I'll need to have someone from the area verify that.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: US 89 on March 30, 2022, 10:20:42 PM
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=28379
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: LilianaUwU on March 30, 2022, 10:54:45 PM
A street in my hometown alternates between "Chemin du Gros-Cap" and "Chemin de Gros-Cap" on street name blades, even in blades from the same batch.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: TheHighwayMan3561 on March 30, 2022, 11:12:12 PM
A road in my old hometown is bladed as all three of "Jackson Ave", "Jackson Road", and "Jackson St" on its 1.5 mile length.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Occidental Tourist on March 31, 2022, 01:54:55 AM
Baseline Street, Base Line Street, Baseline Road, Base Line Road, Baseline Avenue, and just plain Base Line, all the names used for one mostly contiguous street in the San Gabriel, Pomona, and San Bernardino Valleys in Southern California.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: hotdogPi on March 31, 2022, 07:26:07 AM
Waverly Rd./Waverley Rd. in North Andover, MA.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Rothman on March 31, 2022, 09:25:02 AM
Quote from: 1 on March 31, 2022, 07:26:07 AM
Waverly Rd./Waverley Rd. in North Andover, MA.
There an interesting Allendale/Alandale Avenue between Albany and Schenectady.  However, the inconsistency is intentional.  The name changes at the municipality border between Colonie and Niskayuna.

It causes an intersection where each of the four legs has a different name (Central Ave, State St, Allendale Ave and Alandale Ave) due the boundary running right through it.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: WillWeaverRVA on March 31, 2022, 09:54:32 AM
US 250 in Goochland County and a small portion of Louisa County is "Broad Street Road", named because it is an extension of West Broad Street in Richmond (the segment of US 250 in Henrico County changed from Broad Street Road to West Broad Street in the early 1990s). However, Louisa spells it "Broadstreet Road".
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Bitmapped on March 31, 2022, 09:18:28 PM
In Morgantown, WV, there's a lot of inconsistency between whether CR 857 is Greenbag Road or Green Bag Road. The road was originally built by the Green Bag Cement Company to access its loading dock on the Monongahela River, so the two-word version seems like it should be correct but Greenbag is more commonly used.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Flint1979 on March 31, 2022, 09:31:03 PM
Quote from: tigerwings on March 30, 2022, 05:46:37 PM
Gibraltar/Gibralter Road in Flat Rock, MI

Spelling varies on cross street signs.

Years ago a news story said that Gibraltar was the county spelling, Gibralter was the city of Flat Rock spelling.
I have never seen it spelled any other way than Gibraltar.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: epzik8 on March 31, 2022, 10:28:39 PM
Robin Hood/Robinhood Road in Havre de Grace, Maryland, as well as Old Robin Hood/Old Robinhood Road which runs into nearby Aberdeen. The "Old" road exists in two disconnected segments due to I-95's construction in the 1960s. At its west end at Gilbert Road, the blade says "Old Robinhood", while along its entire eastern segment it is rendered as Old Robin Hood. The "new" road is spelled as Robin Hood throughout, including at its traffic signal at US 40. Google Maps spells both as Robinhood.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: US 89 on March 31, 2022, 11:36:12 PM
There is an incredible amount of inconsistency over whether the name of the road carrying FA 1406 in North Salt Lake, UT (https://goo.gl/maps/uqnAyPV6XAJzzdwW8) is spelled Eagle Ridge Dr or Eagleridge Dr. Signage used to be 100% in favor of the one-word spelling, but new signs anywhere along the road are pretty much a 50/50 split. Online maps generally favor the two-word spelling, but may in fact label different portions of the road with different spellings. Even the Google Maps link above gets directions from "Eagle Ridge Dr" to "S Eagleridge Dr". Apple Maps switches that and only puts the two-word spelling on the northernmost part instead.

Even the county's property search map is inconsistent. The basemap spells the whole road as one word, but in general, addresses along the road follow what Apple Maps has. Naturally, there are exceptions - for example, "252 SOUTH EAGLERIDGE DR" is right next to "242 SOUTH EAGLE RIDGE DR".
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: zachary_amaryllis on April 01, 2022, 12:48:29 AM
Quote from: Rothman on March 31, 2022, 09:25:02 AM
Quote from: 1 on March 31, 2022, 07:26:07 AM
Waverly Rd./Waverley Rd. in North Andover, MA.
There an interesting Allendale/Alandale Avenue between Albany and Schenectady.  However, the inconsistency is intentional.  The name changes at the municipality border between Colonie and Niskayuna.

It causes an intersection where each of the four legs has a different name (Central Ave, State St, Allendale Ave and Alandale Ave) due the boundary running right through it.

We have an intersection in fort collins like this:
NW: Jefferson
SE: Riverside
NE: Lincoln
SW: Mountain

There's also a Center, and a Centre, avenue that run into each other. It's not a sign blooper, they are 2 distinct streets.
Center extends into the CSU campus.
Centre, refers to a semi-built industrial/commercial park.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Dirt Roads on April 01, 2022, 12:04:42 PM
My hometown of Scott Depot, West Virginia has an strange one, involving four different spellings. 

At various times, CR-29 has been labeled as either "Rock Step Road", "Rock Stepp Road" or "Rocky Step Road" (and a combination thereof).  In West Virginia, the official WVDOH signage is a rectangular green sign with a white circle, roadname and short arrow at each end of the road (thus, only two such signs for this road).  When I was growing up, both ends had older signs from the 1940's that said "Rock Step Road".  By the late 1970's, the one on the Scott Depot end was replaced saying "Rock Stepp Road" with the older sign still at the other end.  The last time I looked, both ends had been changed to "Rocky Step Road" just like the locals call it.  When E911 came to Putnam County back in the late 1990s, the official addresses became "Rocky Step Road" and that version looks like it will finally stick.

The road is named after the creek it runs alongside at the southern end of the road.  Officially, the creek is named "Rockstep Run", further complicating the issue.  Locals have always called it "Up Rocky Step".  The local story frequently told in the hardware store was that the folks that lived "Up Rocky Step" couldn't say Rock Step correctly. 

One of my earliest memory was the intersection of Rock Step and Teays Valley Road had one of the famous "Ferguson Governor"-stenciled school bus stop shelters.  Milton Ferguson ran for governor in 1956.  I had a classmate that lived on the other side of the creek at that intersection and he and his neighbors continued to use that old bus stop until at least 1976.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: dgolub on April 02, 2022, 08:22:07 AM
Here on Long Island, Suffolk CR 16 has been signed as both Horse Block Road and Horseblock Road, although the trend seems to be toward the latter in recent years.  Broad Hollow Road (NY 110) has gotten signed as Broadhollow Road (Ugh!) in certain place.  Then, over in the New Jersey, US 1/US 9 has been signed as Tonnelle Avenue, Tonnele Avenue, and I think even Tonelle Avenue in certain places.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: mgk920 on April 03, 2022, 02:38:32 AM
In the north Chicagoland suburbs in Illinois, on one side of Lake-Cook Rd (the border between Cook County and Lake County is Sanders Rd and on the other side is Saunders Rd.

Mike
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: zachary_amaryllis on April 03, 2022, 02:04:09 PM
Also in my area:

North lemay, is sometimes known as 9th street, or lindenmeier road, depending on where you are, and who you ask. People who have lived here a long time tend to call it Lindenmeier. I say, to hell with all of that and just call it CR 13. And the designations overlap.

The GSV is an old one, what's missing is the new bridge that would normally be seen at this point just to the east of this intersection. The new bridge carries the 'official' north Lemay over the tracks and Vine Drive. But, as of last night, the signage at this intersection is the same.

https://goo.gl/maps/7545WACSAENp7zYj8 (https://goo.gl/maps/7545WACSAENp7zYj8)
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Dirt Roads on April 03, 2022, 08:28:49 PM
One in Orange County, North Carolina that several folks here at AARoads have commented on in recent years is "Old Number 10", which parallels I-85 between Hillsborough and Durham.  Newer signs are posted as "Old NC 10" and "Old NC Route 10".  Most of the street addresses are now listed as "Old NC 10", but there is one section in the Strayhorn Hills development that has addresses of "Old State Highway 10" and another section with Durham addresses that are sometimes listed the same way, or alternatively a "Old NC State Highway 10".  The far east end of the road changes to "Old Hillsborough Road".  Locals still refer to the entire road as "Old Number 10".

It's curious to me about the addresses along this road, and its big brother US-70.  The address numbers along Old Number 10 increase eastward from Hillsborough into the Durham zip code, whereas the numbers increase westward along US-70 from Durham into the Hillsborough zip code.  Except that the address numbers on the US-70 Bypass section start at Churton Street (NC-86) and increase eastward up to the intersection with US-70 Business. 

Which, of course reminds me that the road posted as US-70 Business is shown as "Highway 70A" or "Hwy 70A" along the eastern section from Churton Street, including the section that is concurrent with NC-86.  Is your head spinning yet?  :spin:
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: MATraveler128 on April 03, 2022, 10:00:07 PM
There's two inconsistent names in Southeast Pennsylvania that I'm familiar with.

Sacketts Ford Rd is spelled Sackettsford Rd

Sugar Bottom Rd is spelled Sugarbottom Rd

Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: ftballfan on April 04, 2022, 08:19:31 PM
Just south of Disney World: https://www.google.com/maps/@28.3325968,-81.5765689,3a,53y,274.72h,94.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZ5cmKe4I_xmLAMIqi1DOPw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en
The sign blade has the cross street as Griffen Rd (GSV November 2021) while most if not all maps I've seen have it as Griffin Rd. To make matters more confusing, older GSV images have the sign blade as Griffin Rd and GSV in December 2021 has a Griffin Rd sign blade at its other end.
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: roadman65 on April 05, 2022, 07:38:50 AM
St. George's or St. George Avenue on NJ 27 and NJ 35 in New Jersey. The funny thing is where NJ 27 straddles the Linden- Roselle border, the City of Linden signs their street blade as E. St. George Ave. while the Borough of Roselle across the street signs their blades as St. Georges Ave.

In common talk people from the area refer to the roadway as Saint George Avenue or colloquially as " Saint George."
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: achilles765 on April 17, 2022, 01:43:09 AM
Here in Houston we have Dallas and Pierce Streets downtown, but the exit sign on IH 45 lists them as "Dallas Ave Pierce Ave"...and something similar happens on IH 69 heading northbound: Elgin Ave/Tuam Ave (they're also streets). 

Then we have the confusion between N Post Oak Lane, Post Oak Blvd; N Post Oak RD, South Post Oak Lane, and South Post Oak Road: none of which connect or intersect to each other.

Then there are the streets that have multiple, disconnected sections often in very different areas of town: multiple Ella Blvds, TC Jester Blvds
Title: Re: Inconsistent road names
Post by: Flint1979 on April 17, 2022, 08:43:39 AM
Quote from: achilles765 on April 17, 2022, 01:43:09 AM
Here in Houston we have Dallas and Pierce Streets downtown, but the exit sign on IH 45 lists them as "Dallas Ave Pierce Ave"...and something similar happens on IH 69 heading northbound: Elgin Ave/Tuam Ave (they're also streets). 

Then we have the confusion between N Post Oak Lane, Post Oak Blvd; N Post Oak RD, South Post Oak Lane, and South Post Oak Road: none of which connect or intersect to each other.

Then there are the streets that have multiple, disconnected sections often in very different areas of town: multiple Ella Blvds, TC Jester Blvds
We have that here in Saginaw with Congress Avenue. Some of the signs say Congress St and some say Congress Ave. Congress Avenue is the correct sign. Here's one example of it being called Congress Street. https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4307411,-83.9865951,3a,15y,351.36h,92.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8xLI0JeTuLLSsTZt6tSBJw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192