Doubling street names?

[bulkyorled]

I found something the other day in Los Angeles that threw off my whole idea of not being able to have 2 streets with the same name. i.e. Main Street at the top of a city then Main Street at the bottom of the city, but no where in the mix do the streets connect. It's a bit hard to explain but if you look at San Pedro (which is part of Los Angeles) there's 1st Street and numbers down to 40th Street. But up at the top part of the Basin there is also 1st Street, in the same exact city. No where does 1st (or any of the other numbers) connect to the upper set of streets.
Its probably obvious that the streets in San Pedro are numbers from before  San Pedro was annexed by Los Angeles in 1909, but generally when LA has annexed a new area they deleted the old street names and replaced it with their own if they didn't already exist. Even now if a street goes through LA, then through another city, then comes back out in LA again (such as Colorado Blvd/St or San Fernando Rd/Blvd) its name stays the same even if it changes within another city.
Anyways, point of it all is Why? How?  I've never heard of this in another city.


And just to clarify I understand cities use street names twice but with a different suffix. Theres Alpine Street in Chinatown but theres an Alpine Way in Sunland. Or any of the major streets that have a "Place" suffix i.e. Figueroa Pl, Victory Pl, Foothill Pl  but not an exact replica... and obviously they're at complete opposite ends of the city but it bothers me and it shouldn't by most standards exist 

[US71]

The closest I've seen is there may be a "Main St" and a "Main St South" . I'm thinking I've seen it in Illinois, but cannot recall at the moment.

[usends]

...if you look at San Pedro (which is part of Los Angeles) there's 1st Street and numbers down to 40th Street. But up at the top part of the Basin there is also 1st Street, in the same exact city. No where does 1st (or any of the other numbers) connect to the upper set of streets.
Its probably obvious that the streets in San Pedro are numbers from before  San Pedro was annexed by Los Angeles in 1909, but generally when LA has annexed a new area they deleted the old street names and replaced it with their own if they didn't already exist...

Not familiar with the area, so what do you mean by "top part of the Basin"?  Are you referring to the 1st Street that runs through downtown L.A.?  I wonder if, as part of the terms of annexation, L.A. had to agree to let San Pedro keep its roadnames.

[Takumi]

There are two stretches of Elko Avenue in Colonial Heights separated by a large wooded area, and East and West Roslyn Roads are separated by a stretch of Southpark Boulevard at I-95. (It also has a Maple Avenue and a Maple Lane).

[1995hoo]

The District of Columbia is one of the cities that uses a "quadrant" system and so duplicates some street names in multiple quadrants (there are four D Streets, for example). In my mind that's kind of akin to "use street names twice but with a different suffix" because to me the quadrant designator (NW, NE, SW, SE) is akin to a "generational suffix" when you're referring to a person (e.g., the "III" part of "Robert Griffin III"–you know you're talking about Robert Griffin and "III" tells you which one, just as you know you're talking about D Street and "NW" tells you which one). I suppose it's a bit different from the OP's use of "suffix" to refer to a particular "class" of street, for lack of a better word for it.

DC also has "North Capitol Street," "South Capitol Street," and "East Capitol Street." They're not three different segments of a single street–they're three distinct streets that would meet if the US Capitol weren't occupying that spot. (The National Mall replaces West Capitol Street.) I've seen tourists get confused into thinking there's a "Capitol Street" with multiple segments, probably not helped by the fact that some sat-navs list it as "Capitol Street" and then add an "N," "S," or "E" prefix as though those words weren't an integral part of that particular street's name.

Arlington County, Virginia, is far more confusing to anyone who doesn't have their peculiar street-naming and address-assignment systems memorized. I don't entirely understand it, but from what I can gather, there is only ONE street name authorized per letter per "alphabet" ("alphabet" meaning you start with one-syllable names, then start again with two-syllable names, etc.). For example, "Buchanan" is the only street name authorized for the letter "B" in the three-syllable alphabet. That means they assign "Buchanan" to any north-south street when the second spot in the third alphabet is due up, regardless of whether there's another street elsewhere with the same name. So there are at least five different disconnected streets named "N Buchanan Street" and another five named "S Buchanan Street." (The "Buchanan" example comes readily to mind because about 20 years ago I liked this girl who lived on Buchanan Street but I forgot to confirm which segment and I wound up driving around like an idiot until I found a pay phone.) Arlington is one place where a sat-nav is a really useful device.

I know the "multiple alphabets" system is common (DC does it too), but off the top of my head Arlington is the only place I know of that allows only ONE name per letter of each alphabet even if it means duplicating street names. I'm sure someplace else probably does the same thing, I just can't think of one off the top of my head.

[mgk920]

Would the fact that in the eyes of the USPS, 'San Pedro, CA' is a completely separate city from 'Los Angeles, CA' be a factor here?  All of the San Fernando Valley section of the City of Los Angeles also uses city names other than 'Los Angeles, CA' for mailing and I have no doubt that there are at least a few duplicated street names in that area, too.

There are gobs and gobs of duplicated street names in the City of New York, NY, too - keeping in mind that in the eyes of the USPS, the City of New York is also gobs and gobs of completely separate cities.  Only Manhattan is 'New York, NY' to them.

Mike

[formulanone]

Royal Palm Boulevard in Broward County, Florida springs to mind. One was created in the 1960s. It's a fairly busy east-west thoroughfare that's about 12 miles in length in the north part of the county.

A little further south, in the Weston area, was Arvida Parkway, which was created in the mid-1980s. After Weston became incorporated in the late-1990s, someone came up with the idea to rename it Royal Palm Boulevard.

Some group of idiots never looked at a map, I suppose. I don't think there's a lot of confusion, but seriously...why not use Drive, Road, Parkway, Avenue, Street,  Trail, or Trafficway? Or name it for one of the hundreds of other trees that grow in our state?

[mgk920]

And . . .



. . . don't forget all of the 'Peachtrees' in Atlanta.



Mike

[bulkyorled]

The answers here are all great! A lot of good points brought up.

And no I don't mean streets with North or South on it, however the D Streets in DC (and others) make sense. There is North Broadway and North Spring St in LA so that I kind of get, or other segments that are cut off from the rest.
There's Broadway that comes out of Glendale (its Glendale's Broadway) and it runs about a quarter mile into Eagle Rock.

Would the fact that in the eyes of the USPS, 'San Pedro, CA' is a completely separate city from 'Los Angeles, CA' be a factor here?  All of the San Fernando Valley section of the City of Los Angeles also uses city names other than 'Los Angeles, CA' for mailing and I have no doubt that there are at least a few duplicated street names in that area, too.

No there are no doubled names in the valley versus the basin. Unless the suffix is changed. Yes it's true you can say North Hollywood, CA but you're alternatively able to use Los Angeles, CA as your address and still get your mail. If there were 2 streets with the same exact name and both people were putting Los Angeles as their address, the only difference would be that the numbers on the street aren't identical. Which is obviously the case for the San Pedro streets since they'd be a significant distance from the ones that go through Downtown.

That's really the only difference here is 1st Street that goes through downtown (and the other numbers) have different addresses.

I feel LA can be confusing that way. The double cities. Putting Van Nuys or Los Angeles will still get you your mail. Proof I have is that my cousin lives in Valley Village and they get mail for Valley Village or Los Angeles.

There are two stretches of Elko Avenue in Colonial Heights separated by a large wooded area

That doesn't count to me, since that's how a lot of minor streets are in LA. They have breaks in them, even a couple major streets do that because of buildings or otherwise in the way

[ftballfan]

In the zip code that serves Manistee, MI, there are two distinct pairs of 1st-6th Ave (City proper and Stronach) and 1st-6th St (City proper and Eastlake). Stronach and Eastlake are distinct communities, but they both share a zip code with Manistee. Then there's Division St in both Manistee and Eastlake, Main St in Manistee, Eastlake, and Stronach, Water St, Lincoln St, and Lake St in Manistee and Stronach, Nelson St in Oak Hill (part of the Manistee grid) and Eastlake, and Filer St in Manistee and Filer City (same situation as Stronach and Eastlake). Also, none of these streets align with each other.

[bulkyorled]

Royal Palm Boulevard in Broward County, Florida springs to mind. One was created in the 1960s. It's a fairly busy east-west thoroughfare that's about 12 miles in length in the north part of the county.

A little further south, in the Weston area, was Arvida Parkway, which was created in the mid-1980s. After Weston became incorporated in the late-1990s, someone came up with the idea to rename it Royal Palm Boulevard.

Some group of idiots never looked at a map, I suppose. I don't think there's a lot of confusion, but seriously...why not use Drive, Road, Parkway, Avenue, Street,  Trail, or Trafficway? Or name it for one of the hundreds of other trees that grow in our state?

Do they cross? If so that wouldn't make sense haha At least from my standpoint Royal Palm Blvd sounds kind of good, but I imagine the Palm names get dried out like Peachtree in GA or anything Beach here in CA. I hate when cities do that really. Burbank & Glendale, CA both have nearly identical street names on streets that don't cross into each others city. Even things that aren't so common, but naturally they seem to have copied each other.

Also, none of these streets align with each other.

But the thing of it is, is that Stronach, Eastlake and Manistee aren't one city. Right? Unless I looked it up wrong. If the communities are separate and not under one government then they all can have their own Main Street and have it contained within their city. The difference with what I'm saying is that there are two 1st Streets in the same city under the same government that are basically identical. Scratch what I said if I misunderstood though

Not familiar with the area, so what do you mean by "top part of the Basin"?  Are you referring to the 1st Street that runs through downtown L.A.?  I wonder if, as part of the terms of annexation, L.A. had to agree to let San Pedro keep its roadnames.

Yes that's correct, the 1st Street that runs through downtown. If LA let San Pedro keep their street names that would likely be very unique to them compared to the rest of LA. LA does it's own thing, so if another city has a street name and LA doesn't like it, when the street enters LA the name will change or the suffix will. It was 100 years ago San Pedro was annexed but that didn't stop them from changing the street names of other areas older or newer. Even just little things they'll change. Lima Street in Burbank goes into LA in Sun Valley for the smallest section ever, and they changed the name to Security Av. Warner Blvd doesn't technically enter Toluca Lake from Burbank, but LA signed the corner of the street as Warner Av. Obviously sometimes it makes sense since theres Olive Ave that turns into Barham Blvd but that's because there was already Olive in downtown. Broadway that leaves Glendale and goes into LA from one side then turns into Colorado Blvd doesn't follow the rule though. However on the other side when Broadway is at the end near San Fernando Rd, it turns into Brazil Street when it reenters LA, why they didnt call the other side Brazil is odd. I'm sure there are countless more they've changed but I'm just going by what's closest to me. 

So anyways, the fact they let San Pedro keep the street names baffles me because just plain and simple they've got doubles. Even if it is far away from the original 1st Street. There is a 1st Ave in West Adams district but it has AVENUE, not STREET. 

[xcellntbuy]

Royal Palm Boulevard in Broward County, Florida springs to mind. One was created in the 1960s. It's a fairly busy east-west thoroughfare that's about 12 miles in length in the north part of the county.

A little further south, in the Weston area, was Arvida Parkway, which was created in the mid-1980s. After Weston became incorporated in the late-1990s, someone came up with the idea to rename it Royal Palm Boulevard.

Some group of idiots never looked at a map, I suppose. I don't think there's a lot of confusion, but seriously...why not use Drive, Road, Parkway, Avenue, Street,  Trail, or Trafficway? Or name it for one of the hundreds of other trees that grow in our state?

We also have Inverarry Blvd and Inverarry Blvd. West in Lauderhill and all of other versions Inverarry something all in the same neighborhood.

[bulkyorled]

There use to be North Sherman Way, Sherman Way and South Sherman Way in the San Fernando Valley but when the area grew the street names were changed and now only the regular version survives

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

As a carpetbagger, I would have a hard time keeping North St. and North Blvd in Baton Rouge straight (east-west streets that parallel one another on opposite sides of Florida St/Blvd.)

[Occidental Tourist]

Some large city, perhaps in Texas, must have multiple "Frontage Road"s adjacent to different freeways.

[bulkyorled]

Come to find out more than just those numbered streets are screwy. Ive been in Venice twice this week and found a third broadway and another Main street and another Hill St. I can't help but be puzzled by it. Venice is about 120 years old. I like how their founder has a Boulevard named after him. I didn't know who Abbot Kinney was for a while.

Where did the term Frontage come from? Its not really in front of the road its beside it. I discovered them for myself a bit ago because there happened to be one in Palmdale CA and Rosamond CA but Ive rarely come across them elsewhere in my area

[Alps]

Strange one I saw today: A two-word road name with the first word on its own street name sign above the rest of the name.

[bulkyorled]

That's weird. The only thing I can think of that was close was a sign with an error haha Some signs will show a few side streets as 2 words and other 1 word. I cant think of which ones though

[sandwalk]

We've got two separate roads with the same name in Rockford.  One of them is an east-west road, the other a north-south road.  Even though they are both within the city limits, they are within different zip code areas.

* Fairview Avenue, Rockford, IL 61101
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=fairview+ave+rockford+il&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x880895bb3c0d2f29:0xddaf489f084d437c,Fairview+Ave,+Rockford,+IL+61101&gl=us&ei=eEzST4XxJ5P02wXbrKGlDw&oi=geocode_result&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA

* Fairview Avenue, Rockford, IL 61108
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Michael+Drive,+Rockford+IL&hl=en&ll=42.263098,-89.043331&spn=0.009687,0.013797&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=42.310334,56.513672&hnear=Michael+Dr,+Rockford,+Winnebago,+Illinois+61108&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A

[Duke87]

There are tons of streets in New York city which exist in two or more different pieces, but that's just a gap, not duplication. The addresses on different segments are naturally different (continuing as if the gap didn't exist - in many cases it originally didn't, construction of a freeway or large building created it).

There are a couple of actual duplications, though.

The Bronx has two different 3rd Avenues. One is the one everyone is familiar with which is typically spelled "Third". The other is in Edgewater Park. Since the addresses on "Third" Avenue start just shy of 2400, there are no numbers duplicated between the two. They are at no point ever in the same zipcode. And presumably if you live on the latter you list your address as being in "Edgewater Park, NY" rather than "Bronx, NY". Still, it's a duplication.

Even more obscurely, The Bronx also has two streets named "B Street". One is among a family of lettered streets in Classon Point. It's basically just an alley and isn't even honored with any street signs, but it's there. The other is in Pelham Bay with no other lettered streets to keep it company. The story there? There was a small development before the whole area became urban - what was originally A Street became part of Edison Avenue and what was originally C street became an extension of Hobart Avenue.
Again, though - different zip code, presumably the former has the option of identifying in "Harding Park" rather than "Bronx".