AARoads Forum

National Boards => General Highway Talk => Topic started by: bugo on May 11, 2013, 01:08:01 PM

Title: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: bugo on May 11, 2013, 01:08:01 PM
I have dubbed Arkansas 314 and a short stretch of Arkansas 7 the "Plainview Bypass."  There's a Barney Fife in Plainview, so when I go from Mena to Conway I take 314 to avoid his wrath.  The bypass might be quicker, as one does not have to slow down for Plainview.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: CNGL-Leudimin on May 11, 2013, 01:50:21 PM
The "Sanvicentedemontaltodrome" (Literally "The way to Sant Vicenç de Montalt", which in turn is a 6,000 inhabitant town located some 25 miles Northeast of Barcelona) is the nickname I gave to Spanish A-2, or to N-II in places where the expressway doesn't exist. The reason is that N-II goes through that municipality I visited a couple years ago and was subject of a long-run trolling on another forum. Some time ago they widened the part which is multiplexed with Z-40 Zaragoza beltway to  a 2+3+3+2 lanes superhighway, and I call it the "Supersanvicentedemontaltodrome". Curiously, at some point it goes just North of some street I renamed after something that happened back in 2008 and explains why I have the MN I-35 shield as avatar :sombrero:.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: jp the roadgeek on May 11, 2013, 02:04:53 PM
DE 896/DE 2/MD 279:  The Delaware Toll Plaza go-round.
CT 68 to CT 63: The Waterbury by-pass.
CT 72/CT 9 N/CT 175/US 5 CT 15: Hartford by-pass
CT 2: AC Expressway North (akin to what the AC Expressway used to be for Phillyites: a route to the casinos).
DE 141: The Wilmington beltway.
PA 611/NJ & NY 94: The NYC northwest by-pass
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: 1995hoo on May 11, 2013, 02:56:27 PM
In college we referred to the segment of NC-12 on Ocracoke as "the dragstrip" because we'd take the ferry from Cedar Island and then bomb down Ocracoke as fast as possible to beat the traffic to the Hatteras ferry.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Brandon on May 11, 2013, 10:09:46 PM
Personal nicknames?  That leaves quite a potentially large variety there.

* I-55 at IL-126 (Exit 261): The Big Curve - it's where I-55 permanently changes from a north-south to more of an east-west orientation.

* I-290 between I-355 and I-90 (Exits 1 to 7): Bear Alley - Cook County Sheriff's Police and Illinois State Police seem to love patrolling this short corridor.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: andy3175 on May 11, 2013, 11:20:15 PM
For me, passing the California SR 39 interchange along southbound Interstate 5 is "piercing the Orange curtain" (as it lies near the LA-Orange County). Driving Interstate 5 in either direction through San Clemente for me is the "San Clemente Slalom Course" due to the hills and valleys and generally curving, widening course it takes through that city.

Regards,
Andy
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Duke87 on May 11, 2013, 11:43:18 PM
I had dubbed this overpass (https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.053507,-73.525132&spn=0.004126,0.007735&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.053746,-73.52491&panoid=AYMWYiStcGreQqwaqxHCcQ&cbp=12,341.61,,0,-4.49) on Stamford, CT's east side where I-95 flies high over the Amtrak/Metro-North NEC tracks and a couple streets at the same time as the "East Side Viaduct".

In the grander scheme of things it's not that impressive a structure but when I was young I lived not too far away and I saw it a lot, so it stuck out in my mind. And hey, from the perspective of a pint-sized little kid, it appeared to be very high up (though really, the maximum clearance under it is maybe 40 feet).

There was one particular spot (https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.055855,-73.527292&spn=0.002063,0.003868&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=41.055855,-73.527292&panoid=QoyIFcqKLSiHW6K7CzSUZA&cbp=12,185.23,,0,-3.87) where there was a very dramatic "looming" effect because you could see it over the roofs of several buildings in front of it. But today, the large apartment buildings to the left, which were not there when I was a kid, have destroyed this effect by blocking the view.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: OCGuy81 on May 11, 2013, 11:52:06 PM
I often add an F-bomb prior to saying The 91.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Takumi on May 12, 2013, 12:05:13 AM
I call the segment of US 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk The World's Most Depressing Stretch of US 460.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: roadman65 on May 12, 2013, 02:12:36 AM
The southern segment of Apopka-Vineland Road in Orange County, FL as Church Row as there are many different denominations  of churches along that part including a large Mormon Temple.

Orange Blossom Trail from the Florida Turnpike to FL 417 is Furniture Store Alley as there are many furniture stores located in that stretch also in Orange County, FL.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: DandyDan on May 12, 2013, 06:07:31 AM
Any road which got bypassed by a freeway (most often a US route bypassed by an interstate) gets called the Scenic Route by me.  Whenever I drive from Omaha to Lincoln, it's pretty much a certainty I take I-80 one way and US 6 the other, so thus, US 6 is the Scenic Route, not that there's actual scenery on it, other than a bizarrely misplaced lighthouse.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: roadman65 on May 12, 2013, 10:37:32 AM
US 46 in New Jersey I would say is known as the Diner Highway for the amount of diners that are along its route whether in Dover, Parsippany, Wayne, or Little Ferry some of the best eating establishments are along this one state US highway.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Henry on May 13, 2013, 11:11:51 AM
Although I-57 in Chicago does not carry an expressway name like the others do, I often call it the South Side Expressway, mainly because it exists in that part of the city.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: kphoger on May 13, 2013, 11:29:44 AM
I often think of rural roads in terms of what town they go to.  For example, when I lived in the area, I referred to this road (http://goo.gl/maps/Rpf9z) as Sims—Johnsonville Road.  I heard one local refer to it as Sims Crossroad.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: kennyshark on May 13, 2013, 01:17:25 PM
Here's a totally skewed one.  The first time I ever traveled on the stretch of U.S. 12 that goes from Michigan Avenue to I-94 near Willow Run, MI I could picture The Three Stooges rolling down that highway in a bed at runaway speed (it looked somewhat deserted and very dated at the time).  I eventually referred to that stretch as the "Moe Howard Freeway." 

Years later, I worked for an air cargo carrier based at Willow Run Airport, and my nickname for that part of U.S. 12 caught on with some of my just-as-skewed coworkers.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: vtk on May 13, 2013, 01:47:52 PM
Before 2002,a route in Columbus along Grandview Ave, US 33, and Neil Ave was "the Grandview hop".  The purpose was to close the gap between parts of I-670.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: 74/171FAN on May 13, 2013, 02:10:09 PM
Quote from: Takumi on May 12, 2013, 12:05:13 AM
I call the segment of US 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk The World's Most Depressing Stretch of US 460.
I feel like that is what many of my friends consider US 460 between Petersburg and Roanoke.  I find it ok to drive every once in a while to/from home and Blacksburg, but I will get bored very quickly if I take that route more than once a month.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: kphoger on May 13, 2013, 02:39:32 PM
I once dubbed I-35 in Iowa the "Pothole Memorial Highway".  Conditions have improved since then.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: sdmichael on May 13, 2013, 04:54:37 PM
Alex Nitzman coined the term "San Clemente Slalom" for the stretch of I-5 through that city. It is a good name and I make sure everyone I travel with knows that name.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: agentsteel53 on May 13, 2013, 06:00:26 PM
Quote from: sdmichael on May 13, 2013, 04:54:37 PM
Alex Nitzman coined the term "San Clemente Slalom" for the stretch of I-5 through that city. It is a good name and I make sure everyone I travel with knows that name.

given that the undulation is not solely in the horizontal plane, I call it the roller coaster.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: sdmichael on May 13, 2013, 06:22:06 PM
More a slalom course on a motorcycle when you're having to dodge cars... or so I've been lead to believe.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Alps on May 13, 2013, 08:03:16 PM
US 130 is officially the Jersey Girls State Highway. My friend and I are probably the only two people to call it that, so it sorta counts.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: wphiii on May 14, 2013, 12:35:41 AM
Bigelow Blvd in Pittsburgh "the Slingshot," due to its ability to connect the upper East End to I-376 East and vice versa.

16th St NW in DC "the Georgia Ave Bypass."

PA 160 "the Windmill Highway"
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Tarkus on May 14, 2013, 02:46:21 AM
I like to call OR-99W through Tigard "The Red Sea".  The name comes from the fact that the road is often a sea of brakelights/taillights and traffic signals that turn red at inopportune times, though sometimes, it miraculously "parts".
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Laura on May 14, 2013, 07:55:26 AM
Mike and I nicknamed the 28th/29th street pair in Baltimore City (which begin at I-83 exit 7A) as "I-183". It actually has a useful end at MD 45 in the middle of the city. Beyond this, the routes to 33rd street we call the "Charles Village/Waverly Bypass". 29th street becomes 2 way and changes to Exeter Hall Street. Make a left onto Loch Raven Rd and voila! 33rd street, which goes over to MD 147. Cut through the gold course and Take Erdman to get to US 1, US 40, and I-895.

These roads altogether are the best central east side route through the city. Now we just need a collective name for them...
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: 1995hoo on May 30, 2013, 08:58:27 PM
I was just looking at some pictures of New York and a picture of the Marine Parkway Bridge prompted me to think of this thread. When we were kids, my brother and I always called it the "Marino." I have no idea why, although I recall our dentist was named Dr. Marino so maybe we thought the name sounded similar. I was probably in my 20s before I actually started thinking of it by its real name.

My cousin James, on the other hand, had trouble pronouncing the letter "r" when we were little kids. He called it the "Bidge to Beezy Point"!
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: DSS5 on June 09, 2013, 04:16:49 PM
I don't really have any, but I like to emphasize the "park" part of Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem because you don't go anywhere during rush hour, especially near the mall and hospital.
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Ga293 on June 10, 2013, 06:36:00 AM
US 27 through downtown Rome, GA is officially named "Turner McCall Blvd."; I call it Turner McCrawl because it takes forever to get across town.

Interstate 27 is the Lubbock Lasso.

Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: Doctor Whom on June 10, 2013, 10:41:04 AM
Quote from: wphiii on May 14, 2013, 12:35:41 AM16th St NW in DC "the Georgia Ave Bypass."
When I was growing up, my father called it "Church Row."
Title: Re: Nicknames you have given roads
Post by: jfs1988 on June 16, 2013, 07:23:03 PM
If Caltrans & ADOT ever upgrade U.S. 95 to expressway or freeway standards, it should be named the Colorado River Freeway. The route through Arizona, California, & the southern part of Nevada parallels the river & connects cities that wouldn't even exist without the river.