Most pretensious highway designations

[SidS1045]

It was not solely signed as Avenue of the Americas at any time I can remember.

As I recall, the old black-on-yellow "camelback" street signs only showed Avenue of the Americas (much to the dismay of tourists who had the misfortune to ask locals for directions, since New Yorkers have always called it Sixth Avenue).  When those signs disappeared their replacements showed both "6 Av" and "Avenue of the Americas."

[formulanone]

Not sure if it's still there with the recent roundabout constructed at WV 705 & US 119, but the right turn lane coming off WV 705 was the:

Neil E. Bolyard "Tippy" Buck Turning Lane

Holy shit. Which lane did he get?

Damn...at that rate, every man woman and child will get a dedicated piece of road.

[1995hoo]

Not sure if it's still there with the recent roundabout constructed at WV 705 & US 119, but the right turn lane coming off WV 705 was the:

Neil E. Bolyard "Tippy" Buck Turning Lane

Holy shit. Which lane did he get?

Damn...at that rate, every man woman and child will get a dedicated piece of road.

About 10 years ago I asked the Virginia DOT to post an additional "SPEED LIMIT 65" sign near Shirlington in the I-395 HOV lanes on the basis that the existing 65-mph sign near the Pentagon was posted on a curve, somewhat behind a light pole, and adjacent to an onramp merge lane, such that many drivers seemed not to see it. They posted the sign within a few weeks. My father said I should get to name the sign because I requested it. I jokingly told my then-girlfriend (now wife) that I was going to ask VDOT to name the sign for Ronald Reagan (this because Ms1995hoo feels too many things are named for him).

[hbelkins]

I jokingly told my then-girlfriend (now wife) that I was going to ask VDOT to name the sign for Ronald Reagan (this because Ms1995hoo feels too many things are named for him).

Has she ever been to West Virginia?

If I'm not mistaken, there is a Robert C. Byrd Highway that is part of the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System.

[NE2]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a Robert C. Byrd Highway that is part of the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System.

holy crap

[DSS5]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a Robert C. Byrd Highway that is part of the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System.

You should come to Winston-Salem. Where you can send your kids to high school at R.J. Reynolds High School (also home of the stately Reynolds Auditorium) and then college at the Reynolda Campus of Wake Forest University, both of which are just off of Reynolda Road. While at Wake Forest, they'll spend a lot of time studying in the Reynolds Library. You can visit the art gallery at the Reynolda House, go shopping at Reynolda Village, take a stroll through the Reynolda Gardens, or play golf at Reynolds Park. If you want to leave town you can catch a commuter flight from the Smith-Reynolds airport. Be careful not to get Reynolda Road, Reynolds Boulevard, and Reynolds Park Road confused with each other.

[sammi]

^ Is it Reynolda or Reynolds?

[DSS5]

^ Is it Reynolda or Reynolds?

The famous tobacco mogul is R.J. Reynolds, but "Reynolda" is common for a lot of places because a very large portion of what is now northern Winston-Salem used to be his estate, Reynolda Manor.

EDIT: Though I neglected to mention that we also have Hanes Mill Road, Hanes Middle School, Hanes Park, Hanes Mall, Hanesbrand Theatre, and Camp Hanes

[hbelkins]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a Robert C. Byrd Highway that is part of the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System.

holy crap

But is there an Eisenhower Interstate System sign in close proximity to that?

[formulanone]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a Robert C. Byrd Highway that is part of the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System.

You should come to Winston-Salem. Where you can send your kids to high school at R.J. Reynolds High School (also home of the stately Reynolds Auditorium) and then college at the Reynolda Campus of Wake Forest University, both of which are just off of Reynolda Road. While at Wake Forest, they'll spend a lot of time studying in the Reynolds Library. You can visit the art gallery at the Reynolda House, go shopping at Reynolda Village, take a stroll through the Reynolda Gardens, or play golf at Reynolds Park. If you want to leave town you can catch a commuter flight from the Smith-Reynolds airport. Be careful not to get Reynolda Road, Reynolds Boulevard, and Reynolds Park Road confused with each other.

That's only because they couldn't rename the local drag "Camel Smoothway", with Camel Traffic Lights (available in soft-pack or box).

[bzakharin]

Any "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr" street.  Call it "King Street" and be done with it.

I've noticed that streets named for African American civil rights leaders are often named using the person's full name, and not just their last name.  I also think "President Clinton Avenue" in LR should be "Clinton Avenue".

King Street does not scream MLK to me (MLK Street would be fine, though. I mean we have JFK blvd, and I think everyone knows what MLK stands for). Neither does Clinton for Bill (No abbreviation would work for me, but just "Bill Clinton" is ok. Bush is the hardest. You need at least the first, last, and middle initial to tell which Bush we're talking about.

[Alps]

Any "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr" street.  Call it "King Street" and be done with it.

I've noticed that streets named for African American civil rights leaders are often named using the person's full name, and not just their last name.  I also think "President Clinton Avenue" in LR should be "Clinton Avenue".

King Street does not scream MLK to me (MLK Street would be fine, though. I mean we have JFK blvd, and I think everyone knows what MLK stands for). Neither does Clinton for Bill (No abbreviation would work for me, but just "Bill Clinton" is ok. Bush is the hardest. You need at least the first, last, and middle initial to tell which Bush we're talking about.

Charleston, SC has had a King Street for a lot longer than MLK was either famous or dead. I'd argue only the following are unambiguous in terms of 99% of street names:
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Kennedy
Ambiguous, but presidential nonetheless: Adams, Roosevelt
Too recent to have a large sample size: Nixon, Reagan

[Kacie Jane]

Charleston, SC has had a King Street for a lot longer than MLK was either famous or dead.

King Street in Seattle (and the eponymous train station) predates MLK.  Martin Luther King Way east of downtown (I believe formerly known as Empire Way) is I think usually signed with all of his names (with the Jr but without the Dr), I think the BGSs on I-5 abbreviate it to M L King Way.

ETA: http://goo.gl/maps/2ts92 -- typical MLK Way signage

[DSS5]

Charleston, SC has had a King Street for a lot longer than MLK was either famous or dead.

Same with Boone, NC calling it's main road King Street.

[theline]

Charleston, SC has had a King Street for a lot longer than MLK was either famous or dead.

King Street in Seattle (and the eponymous train station) predates MLK.  Martin Luther King Way east of downtown (I believe formerly known as Empire Way) is I think usually signed with all of his names (with the Jr but without the Dr), I think the BGSs on I-5 abbreviate it to M L King Way.

ETA: http://goo.gl/maps/2ts92 -- typical MLK Way signage

Presumably, King Street was named for King County. Of course, King County long predates MLK, though it has been offically "renamed" for Dr. King. In a convoluted way, King Street can be thought as named for MLK.

So says Wikipedia:

The county was named after William Rufus King who was Vice-President when the Washington Territory was created. In 1986 a motion was introduced by Ron Sims (a black Democrat from Seattle), and Bruce Laing (a white Republican from suburban Renton) to change the namesake to Martin Luther King, Jr. No public votes or hearings were taken on the change.

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council passed Council Motion 6461 five votes to four setting forth the historical basis for the renaming of King County in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Because only the state can charter counties, this change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5332 into law.

[Kacie Jane]

This I know, and have posted about on these boards before.  While I don't know the specific history, I think we can safely assume that King Street was named for King County/William Rufus King.  But I'd have trouble making the leap that since King County was "renamed", that automatically means King Street was too.

[DSS5]

I tried to find the history of King Street in Boone. I was only able to dig up that it was known as Boone Trail in the 1920s but was definitely referred to as King Street by 1949.

[theline]

This I know, and have posted about on these boards before.

Oh, that's where I heard about it! Thanks, Kacie.

I'd have trouble making the leap that since King County was "renamed", that automatically means King Street was too.

That's what I meant when I said my reasoning was "convoluted." 

[Mdcastle]

The King's Highway?

[SteveG1988]

Harding Highway (US40 in NJ and supposedly NJ48)

Very corrupt president, let's just leave it at that, no flame wars 90 years after the fact or compring him to later administrations.

You could joke that it is named after Tonya Harding

[Brandon]

But is there an Eisenhower Interstate System sign in close proximity to that?

Not to my knowledge.

[sandiaman]

I 65  in  central  Alabama  is  the  Hank  Williams Lost Highway( named  for one  of  his  songs, The Lost Highway").

[jbnv]

Tennessee's Sen. Albert Gore Sr. Highway System. (Yes, I know this is the father of the Gore most of us are familiar with. Still sounds pretentious.)

Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge. I'm all for honoring our military, but seriously, nobody in south Louisiana is going to call it that; we all call it "the basin bridge."

An arterial road in Broussard, LA, is named Albertson Parkway. As in the supermarket chain, which has a store right where its namesake street meets US 90. I wonder if they paid for naming rights.