I don't know if there's an existing thread for this, but I've wondered what you refer to the limited-access highways in your area, Interstate or otherwise.
In Chicago, as well as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Atlanta, they use the term "Expressway." On the West Coast, as well as in Michigan, Texas and the Carolinas, it's called a "Freeway." However, there may be some exceptions to this, like the Bishop Ford Freeway that runs south of the Windy City.
So which term do you prefer?
Some states, like California, actually legally define "freeway" and "expressway," so the terms are not always interchangeable.
Quote from: Quillz on January 25, 2011, 02:31:10 PM
Some states, like California, actually legally define "freeway" and "expressway," so the terms are not always interchangeable.
I'm well aware of that, but I was just pointing out that what's called a freeway in one part of the country is an expressway in another, as cited by the examples above.
Well, I would generally call any limited-access highway a "freeway," because in the states that do have legal differences between the two, an expressway tends to be a typical arterial street, but with far fewer intersections and longer green lights. (At least that's some work in the Bay Area.)
I grew up (in the New Jersey suburbs of New York) saying "Expressway" - to me, "Freeway" was how Californians said "Expressway." And I could swear I read, decades ago so I can't give a source, that a freeway was by definition toll-free. It was only on discovering road forums in the last year or two that I learned (1) that the MUTCD says they mean different things, (2) that a freeway can be a toll road, and (3) that people in parts of the country where local usage agrees with the MUTCD, and also Dutch people, can be very dogmatic in insisting we Northeasterners are wrong!
I now use the terms more or less interchangeably, although I need to be some distance from New York to say freeway.
PennDOT seems to as well - there are "Expressway Ends" signs northbound on US 1 near Kennett Square and "Freeway Ends" signs eastbound on US 30 east of Lancaster, and I can't see any difference in the roads themselves. And as far as I'm concerned, the MUTCD (which most people have never heard of and which I haven't looked at in years) has no authority over the language used by non-specialists in non-specialist contexts.
The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.
Quote from: Quillz on January 25, 2011, 02:55:47 PM
The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.
I don't know if you're right or wrong, but that's not what I've heard. I was under the impression that the word was deliberately devised to distinguish from an ordinary highway a special type which was "free" of the usual encumbrances like opposing traffic, stop signs and signals.
As for what what folks say around here (Mississippi), mostly "interstate", although the word "freeway" is also used. I don't know of any road anywhere in the state with the word "freeway" in its official name, and only a few rare cases of "highway". I've never heard "expressway" used in reference to any road in the state, officially or unofficially, except as an adjective.
I always thought of freeways and expressways as meaning the same thing: limited-access highways of interstate quality. It came as a shock to me to hear that some use the term "expressway" to refer to routes that have traffic lights on them.
In Kentucky, the term "limited access" has always meant roads with intersections only at grade-separated interchanges. Others use that term differently.
As I mentioned elsewhere, last year I posted on m.t.r. a question about interstates in NYC and I used the term "freeways." That idiot Randy Hersh was quick to jump all over me and say that in NYC they are not freeways, they are expressways.
Here in PA, most people call them expressway or highway, very few use freeway - that sounds like a California-ism to me!
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2011, 03:15:33 PM
I always thought of freeways and expressways as meaning the same thing: limited-access highways of interstate quality. It came as a shock to me to hear that some use the term "expressway" to refer to routes that have traffic lights on them.
I call anything with a traffic light an "arterial" or a "boulevard". Expressways should never have the main line of traffic come to a stop. There may be at-grade intersections, which is what differentiates them from freeways, but the side street should give way unconditionally to the mainline.
I grew up in the Philadelphia area, yet I use the term freeway and expressway interchangeably.
Quote from: berberry on January 25, 2011, 03:13:26 PM
Quote from: Quillz on January 25, 2011, 02:55:47 PM
The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.
I don't know if you're right or wrong, but that's not what I've heard. I was under the impression that the word was deliberately devised to distinguish from an ordinary highway a special type which was "free" of the usual encumbrances like opposing traffic, stop signs and signals.
Well, yes, that's what I was getting at. The "free" referred to freedom of movement, not free of cost. This is why freeways can be tolled. I don't believe "tollway" is official terminology, but I could be wrong.
I learned that part of my vocabulary while I was a pup in Chicago, so "Expressway" is the term I naturally think of.
That said, I tend to think of either term as referring to an urban limited access roadway. A rural freeway/expressway is just a highway or "the interstate." It feels weird to me to think of I-80 in Wyoming or I-84 in southern Idaho as a "freeway"
I can't recall either being used much here in TN. Many of the limited access roads that are not interstates are "Parkways" and a few that are. And, that's not in the NY-NJ-MD sense as our "Parkways" allow all traffic. In fact, Saturn Parkway was built originally for trucks to get to/from GM's former Saturn plan in Spring Hill. And, not all Parkways are Freeways. i.e. Sam Ridley Parkway and Lee Victory Parkway in the Smyrna area and Old Fort Parkway in Murfreesboro are mostly or completely arterials.
In Nashville,
I-440 - Four-forty Parkway
US 31E - Ellington Parkway
TN 155 - Briley Parkway - small part is arterial
TN 386 - Vietnam Veterans Parkway
TN 386 - Saturn Parkway
In colloquial usage, I tend to use Expressway and Freeway interchangeably.
It seems to me from reading this board that Freeway means fully controlled access. (i.e. at exit/entrance ramps only) An Expressway may have at-grade intersections and traffic lights, but a limited number.
Outside of the roadgeek/transportation professional community, I've never heard a Minnesotan use the word expressway.
All Interstates are referred to as "the freeway". Dual carriageway roads with intersections are "highways" if they carry a number.
In the Twin Cities we have several routes which transition from fully limited-access to having signalized intersections. (TH 36 in Maplewood; US 169 in Edina/Bloomington and again in Brooklyn Park, for example). These are signed with "FREEWAY ENDS" signs, so I think most locals are conditioned to think that no intersections = freeway and intersections = highway.
Quote from: corco on January 25, 2011, 03:24:26 PM
I learned that part of my vocabulary while I was a pup in Chicago, so "Expressway" is the term I naturally think of.
Always good to hear from a fellow Windy City native!
When I moved to California after high school, I adapted to the "freeway" custom rather quickly (even though it took me quite a while to get used to it), so I too have used these terms interchangeably.
Wisconsin - Freeways for the full limited access, Expressway for the partial limited access (some at-grade intersections). Refer to them as roads - that covers em all :P
Quote from: berberry on January 25, 2011, 03:13:26 PMQuote from: Quillz on January 25, 2011, 02:55:47 PMThe "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.
I don't know if you're right or wrong, but that's not what I've heard. I was under the impression that the word was deliberately devised to distinguish from an ordinary highway a special type which was "free" of the usual encumbrances like opposing traffic, stop signs and signals.
In practice this is a distinction without a difference. The term
freeway itself was invented in 1930 by Edward M. Bassett, an American urban planner, long before the first American long-distance toll motor highway (the Pennsylvania Turnpike) opened. Obviously a freeway is "free" of many things that inhibit fast rapid movement, but considering the context in which the term emerged--being proposed by a planner at the start of a decade in which the first access-control statutes started to appear--I think the key part of the definition involves freedom from frontage access.
When the built entity (technical object) is under discussion, the definitions that are most relevant are the standard AASHTO ones, which specify that a freeway is a special type of expressway with full control of access and entry and exit only at interchanges which provide for gradual change of speed. The AASHTO definition does not correspond perfectly with the various definitions of a freeway in state access-control statutes. In California, for example, a freeway (legal entity) is any corridor (whether built or not) where legal provision has been made for full control of access. In the early 1940's it was not uncommon for the term to be used in relation to improved through routes with some level intersections. During World War II the California Highway Commission issued "freeway declarations" covering hundreds of miles of road (later integrated into the present California freeway network) although construction was not immediately in prospect.
I use the terms based on how they are legally defined in Nebraska-a "freeway" being 4(or more) lanes with full controlled access and an "expressway" being 4 lane with partial controlled access. Even though I know most other states don't use these distinctions, I always think in this way, even if a particular road has a name that doesn't follow that description.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2011, 03:15:33 PM
I always thought of freeways and expressways as meaning the same thing: limited-access highways of interstate quality. It came as a shock to me to hear that some use the term "expressway" to refer to routes that have traffic lights on them.
In Kentucky, the term "limited access" has always meant roads with intersections only at grade-separated interchanges. Others use that term differently.
As I mentioned elsewhere, last year I posted on m.t.r. a question about interstates in NYC and I used the term "freeways." That idiot Randy Hersh was quick to jump all over me and say that in NYC they are not freeways, they are expressways.
what's m.t.r.?
Quote from: Michael in Philly on January 25, 2011, 04:18:59 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2011, 03:15:33 PM
I always thought of freeways and expressways as meaning the same thing: limited-access highways of interstate quality. It came as a shock to me to hear that some use the term "expressway" to refer to routes that have traffic lights on them.
In Kentucky, the term "limited access" has always meant roads with intersections only at grade-separated interchanges. Others use that term differently.
As I mentioned elsewhere, last year I posted on m.t.r. a question about interstates in NYC and I used the term "freeways." That idiot Randy Hersh was quick to jump all over me and say that in NYC they are not freeways, they are expressways.
what's m.t.r.?
misc.transport.road
Over here expressways are generally limited access although side roads are tolerated. Junctions are mainly grade separated expect where provision was made but not implemented such as this (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.523977,-1.991401&spn=0.012768,0.051756&z=15) roundabout where the median widens to allow an underpass to be built. As I write this the underpass is in the process of being built nearly 40 years after the road first opened.
The main difference between expressways and full blown freeways in this country, and in much of Europe, is the signs are green whereas freeways have blue signs. This is less noticeable in North America as green signs are used throughout.
When talking with non-roadgeeks, I tend to just say "freeway", because that's what most people in Columbus call a grade-separated limited-access highway, and I really don't travel much.
Aside from that, I use the "legal" definition for the area, or just call everything a "highway".
I don't use either one...it'll be either interstate or highway. :spin:
In Quebec most people just call them highways. And they call non-restricted highways "routes".
On signs and maps, they're called Expressways.
I live in Connecticut so we're swayed by the New Yorker way of using Expressway/Parkway...but only in New York. Here, we don't use the names for our Interstates so most of the time I refer to Interstates as "the Highway" or by I-84/91/95. But the Merritt Parkway is always the Parkway or the Merritt. We do use the names for our bridges though.
In my experience, "Expressway" is purely a name suffix, not a conversational term. When not talking about a specific one, we say "highway", never "expressway".
Although, I will admit: I have taken to using the term "freeway" in conversation despite it being strange for Connecticut/New York, simply because it is more technically correct and less ambiguous than "highway".
I guess in Indianapolis most people call them highways. I would say I hear Expressway and Freeway used about equally.
Quote from: Henry on January 25, 2011, 04:25:26 PM
misc.transport.road
The Usenet newsgroup -- the original Internet highway forum.
I use the terms depending on what area of the country I am referring to, such as "expressway" here in Pennsylvania or "freeway" when I was in California last year. Pittsburgh has the Parkways, which are limited-access, but the Penn-Lincoln was planned to be a NYC-like parkway and even Robert Moses helped in it's original design so that's how it became named as such. I-279 is called the "Parkway North" just to fit in with the other two cardinals, and if/when 43 is built into the city, it will be named the Parkway South.
In PennDOT's MUTCD, limited-access routes are referred to as "expressway." However, the notice of the end of such limited-access alignments vary between "EXPRESSWAY ENDS (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bradford,+PA&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.38984,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bradford,+McKean,+Pennsylvania&ll=41.992679,-78.621254&spn=0.003708,0.013733&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.992506,-78.621298&panoid=qbm1m2aAbWeaIrLKukbwSA&cbp=12,55.31,,0,2.1)" such as on US 219 in Bradford to "FREEWAY ENDS (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Highspire,+PA&aq=&sll=41.992511,-78.621286&sspn=0.00374,0.013733&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Highspire,+Dauphin,+Pennsylvania&ll=40.224697,-76.76774&spn=0.007684,0.027466&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.224667,-76.767847&panoid=SBX_wuNEjXbb2wsKKkRR_A&cbp=12,267.78,,0,1.98)" on PA 283 in Highspire.
Quote from: mightyace on January 25, 2011, 03:29:17 PM
I can't recall either being used much here in TN. Many of the limited access roads that are not interstates are "Parkways" and a few that are. And, that's not in the NY-NJ-MD sense as our "Parkways" allow all traffic. In fact, Saturn Parkway was built originally for trucks to get to/from GM's former Saturn plan in Spring Hill. And, not all Parkways are Freeways. i.e. Sam Ridley Parkway and Lee Victory Parkway in the Smyrna area and Old Fort Parkway in Murfreesboro are mostly or completely arterials.
Kentucky used the term "parkway" to refer to its formerly toll routes, the only exception being the first toll road, the Kentucky Turnpike.
In my personal use, a "freeway" is an Interstate-style facility, while an "expressway" is a divided highway with little to no frontage access. There can be stoplights on an expressway, but any more than one every half-mile or so drops it down to just a boulevard. MO-13 is an expressway between Clinton and Springfield. Once it hits Springfield, it gets a bit iffy. Glenstone is definitely not an expressway.
Quote from: PAHighways on January 25, 2011, 09:13:39 PM
I use the terms depending on what area of the country I am referring to, such as "expressway" here in Pennsylvania or "freeway" when I was in California last year. Pittsburgh has the Parkways, which are limited-access, but the Penn-Lincoln was planned to be a NYC-like parkway and even Robert Moses helped in it's original design so that's how it became named as such. I-279 is called the "Parkway North" just to fit in with the other two cardinals, and if/when 43 is built into the city, it will be named the Parkway South.
In PennDOT's MUTCD, limited-access routes are referred to as "expressway." However, the notice of the end of such limited-access alignments vary between "EXPRESSWAY ENDS (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bradford,+PA&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.38984,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bradford,+McKean,+Pennsylvania&ll=41.992679,-78.621254&spn=0.003708,0.013733&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.992506,-78.621298&panoid=qbm1m2aAbWeaIrLKukbwSA&cbp=12,55.31,,0,2.1)" such as on US 219 in Bradford to "FREEWAY ENDS (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Highspire,+PA&aq=&sll=41.992511,-78.621286&sspn=0.00374,0.013733&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Highspire,+Dauphin,+Pennsylvania&ll=40.224697,-76.76774&spn=0.007684,0.027466&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.224667,-76.767847&panoid=SBX_wuNEjXbb2wsKKkRR_A&cbp=12,267.78,,0,1.98)" on PA 283 in Highspire.
The end of US 422's expressway in Indiana County reads "Freeway Ends", while US 220's temporary expressway end near Jersey Shore read's "Expressway Ends" - you could call this a lack of consistency.
My personal use of the terms "freeway" and "expressway" tends to follow the definitions of the MUTCD, AASHTO Green Book, et. al., in that there is a definite distinction between a freeway and an expressway in terms of interchanges and control of access.
Nevada in general also follows this distinction. We have freeways, but no expressways (although portions of CC-215 are definitely expressway-grade in their current form).
In my area the freeways are officially designated as "Expressways" and are usually referred to as the _______ expressway or the I-##. Recently, locals have started referring to the suburban section of the I-10 as the "Freeway".
I grew up in Metro Detroit, so I interchangebly use both "freeway" and "expressway".
Here in Canada, we use "autoroute" in Quebec. Ontario seem to have a mix of using freeway and expressways (Chedoke Expressway aka Hwy 403, McDonald-Cartier Freeway aka Hwy 401) as well as parkways (Don Valley parkway). Calgary and Edmonton use the terms "trail" and "drive" for freeways, expressways, boulevards like Glenmore trail and Whitemud drive.
People in this part of Virginia usually say "highway", "interstate" (although some people also use "interstate" to refer to VA 288 for some reason), or "expressway". However, they usually understand what you mean if you say "freeway". I've been to California enough that I usually refer to freeway-type roads as freeways, and I've never confused anyone with it.
Quote from: Henry on January 25, 2011, 04:25:26 PM
Quote from: Michael in Philly on January 25, 2011, 04:18:59 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2011, 03:15:33 PM
I always thought of freeways and expressways as meaning the same thing: limited-access highways of interstate quality. It came as a shock to me to hear that some use the term "expressway" to refer to routes that have traffic lights on them.
In Kentucky, the term "limited access" has always meant roads with intersections only at grade-separated interchanges. Others use that term differently.
As I mentioned elsewhere, last year I posted on m.t.r. a question about interstates in NYC and I used the term "freeways." That idiot Randy Hersh was quick to jump all over me and say that in NYC they are not freeways, they are expressways.
what's m.t.r.?
misc.transport.road
a.k.a. eMpTyR :P
Newsgroups such as this are like this forum, but they can get way out of hand since there is no moderating taking place. There are a few "questionable" people that post there and constantly flame other users. (as in H.B.'s comment above)
Quote from: Master son on February 01, 2011, 01:48:22 PM
Newsgroups such as this are like this forum, but they can get way out of hand since there is no moderating taking place. There are a few "questionable" people that post there and constantly flame other users. (as in H.B.'s comment above)
Are you saying that it's questionable that Randy is a "people?"
I'd have to agree with that assertion! :-D
To echo Truvelo's comments, in the UK we have only really got one legally defined term for a controlled access road created under the provisions of the Special Roads Act 1949: Motorway.
Everything else is merely an "all-purpose road".
We never use the word "freeway" in the UK.
However, we are pretty slap-dash with all the other suffices as route naming is down to the whims of whichever highway authority official is in charge of it - here are some examples of how inconsistent we are:
The New Town of Runcorn has an Expressway network, which was planned as an access-controlled system (although as it is all-purpose pedestrians and cyclists are legally permitted to use it), but was not finished. Therefore a single-carriageway road with roundabouts is included in the system (the Daresbury Expressway).
The A5103 near Manchester is called the Princess Parkway (it changes to Princess Road when it hits a set of traffic signals). It has access-control including a prohibition of pedestrians, cyclists, and horse-drawn vehicles.
The M32, however, is referred to as the Bristol Parkway. It's a motorway with full access-control.
Unless the road is referred to specifically as an Expressway or Parkway in its name, people will often just say "the dual carriageway" or "the motorway". Often people will call all-purpose dual carriageways with grade seperation "motorways" (for example, the A56 Haslingden Bypass gets called this because it links directly into the M66).
st. louis simply refers then freeways as "highways" and arterials "routes"
In Phoenix, we have the Hohokam Expressway (Arizona 143), a short highway that connects I-10 and Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) to the east end of Phoenix Sky Harbor, the big airport here. The only real difference between the "expressway" and the other numbered freeways (I-10, I-17, US 60 and so forth) is that the 143 is two lanes in each direction, rather than three or more. As far as I'm concerned, the 143 is just a narrower freeway.
I don't know if I've ever heard any MD/VA natives refer to the roads as "freeways." I hear "interstate" and "highway" used frequently.
Honestly, when I think of "expressway," I think of roads that are highways below interstate standards, or just barely make it to interstate standards. I never think of I-95 in Baltimore as an expressway, but the JFX (Jones Falls Expressway - I-83) comes to mind, and indeed it does have that windy section at the end. I-70 through Cumberland, MD, which was grandfathered into the interstate system, certainly is not up to regulations.
MD Route 43 is considered an "expressway" although much of it is full of traffic lights and (ugh) businesses. It is an express way around other congestion in the area. The Lynchburg Expressway falls into this category, too. Plenty of limited access sections, and then weird sections with traffic lights and super slow speeds.
Something that also comes to mind for similar roads is the term "bypass" - highways that completely bypass the nearby city. While many of the time these roads hold the same qualities as expressways, they are NEVER labeled as such.
Quote from: Laura Bianca on February 10, 2011, 10:47:10 PM
Honestly, when I think of "expressway," I think of roads that are highways below interstate standards, or just barely make it to interstate standards. I never think of I-95 in Baltimore as an expressway, but the JFX (Jones Falls Expressway - I-83) comes to mind, and indeed it does have that windy section at the end. I-68 through Cumberland, MD, which was grandfathered into the interstate system, certainly is not up to regulations.
Fixed that for you! I-70 enters Pennsylvania at Hancock, which is midway between Cumberland and Hagerstown, but I-68 does enter Cumberland.
Only a few routes are labeled "expressways" around here. Everytime I hear the word freeway, I think of California.
I have actually found a road called "freeway" in the United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, the rather impressive sounding Kingsmark Freeway, in Bradford (West Yorkshire), looks like this:
Oh dear. (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=kingsmark+freeway&hl=en&safe=vss&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Kingsmark+Fwy,+Oakenshaw,+Bradford+BD12+7HW,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.754712,-1.745271&spn=0,0.019248&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.754712,-1.745271&panoid=LT5KOOKrDkeKUGMSuSj5_Q&cbp=12,241.57,,0,-3.23)
We have a similar abuse of nomenclature in Hutchinson, Kansas. (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ken+Kennedy+Freeway,+Hutchinson,+KS&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ken+Kennedy+Fwy,+Hutchinson,+Reno,+Kansas&ll=38.072019,-97.894213&spn=0.002179,0.004823&z=18&layer=c&cbll=38.07226,-97.89465&panoid=io7V1G0R6cuCOfCCTzdXvg&cbp=12,261.61,,0,16.51) To be fair, however, K-61 northeast of town is being upgraded to an expressway with interchanges at major crossings.
Quote from: Henry on February 11, 2011, 10:33:24 AM
Quote from: Laura Bianca on February 10, 2011, 10:47:10 PM
Honestly, when I think of "expressway," I think of roads that are highways below interstate standards, or just barely make it to interstate standards. I never think of I-95 in Baltimore as an expressway, but the JFX (Jones Falls Expressway - I-83) comes to mind, and indeed it does have that windy section at the end. I-68 through Cumberland, MD, which was grandfathered into the interstate system, certainly is not up to regulations.
Fixed that for you! I-70 enters Pennsylvania at Hancock, which is midway between Cumberland and Hagerstown, but I-68 does enter Cumberland.
Haha! Thank you, m'dear, for embarrasingly enough I made that post whilst I was half asleep. I'm impressed that the rest of it makes sense! (Well, other than the random Virginia reference...)
I actually recently drove on I-68 not too long ago (back in December for the SWPA meet) in the snow...
But yes. I still hold true to the Expressway/Bypass thing. Even when the Bypass is up to interstate standards (such as US 29 outside Lynchburg, VA) the locals still call it "the bypass" so as not to confuse it with Lynchburg Expressway (which is now Business US 29.)
a better question would be "Highway" or "Route". Being born in Wisconsin, i use Hwy up there but living in Chicagoland, i use Rte here. For example. IL 83 and WI 83 is the same road near Antioch IL. I always refer to it as Route 83 regardless of the state. But, US 45 also runs in the area and i always refer to that as Highway 45.
as to the original question, unless talking about a specific name, ie the Stevenson Expy., i use freeway more than expressway because there are tollways here.
Quote from: hobsini2 on February 17, 2011, 12:14:05 PM
a better question would be "Highway" or "Route". Being born in Wisconsin, i use Hwy up there but living in Chicagoland, i use Rte here. For example. IL 83 and WI 83 is the same road near Antioch IL. I always refer to it as Route 83 regardless of the state. But, US 45 also runs in the area and i always refer to that as Highway 45.
as to the original question, unless talking about a specific name, ie the Stevenson Expy., i use freeway more than expressway because there are tollways here.
!! See, I'm not the only person who thought freeway meant toll-free.
I roughly assumed so but did not strongly believe that.
Quote from: hobsini2 on February 17, 2011, 12:14:05 PM
a better question would be "Highway" or "Route". Being born in Wisconsin, i use Hwy up there but living in Chicagoland, i use Rte here. For example. IL 83 and WI 83 is the same road near Antioch IL. I always refer to it as Route 83 regardless of the state. But, US 45 also runs in the area and i always refer to that as Highway 45.
as to the original question, unless talking about a specific name, ie the Stevenson Expy., i use freeway more than expressway because there are tollways here.
Here in Oregon, there is a definite difference between 'Highway' and 'Route' per definition. The external, signed system are 'Routes', and the internal system that ODOT uses are 'Highways'.
To add to the confusion, the signed routes often are called highways because of their names (OR 18 - Salmon River Highway; OR 47 - Tualatin Valley Highway and Nehalem Highway; OR 8 - Gales Creek Rd, Tualatin Valley Highway and SW Canyon Rd), and the interstates themselves are referred to as highways outside of the urban areas, not freeways (I-5 Pacific Highway, I-84 Columbia River Highway; Old Oregon Trail [Highway]), while from Salem to Portland, I-5 is the Baldock Freeway, the Eastbank Freeway and the Minnesota Freeway (with a personal preference to calling it N Minnesota Ave, for the surface street it largely replaced); I-84 the Banfield Freeway (Expressway occasionally creeping in); I-205 the East Portland Freeway or War Veterans Memorial Highway; I-405 the Stadium Freeway.
The freeway portion of US 26 is simply the Sunset Highway, which is just a continuation of the non-freeway portion to the west. OR 217 is the Beaverton-Tigard Freeway. I-105 (and OR 126) in Eugene-Springfield is the Eugene-Springfield Freeway, while OR 569 (virtually all freeway for its length) is Beltline Road.
TLDR version: In Oregon, Freeways or Expressways? Highways. Highways or Routes (system descriptors)? Routes.