Numbered Highway "Titles"

[papaT10932]

Something to consider: Why does colloquial speech throughout the U.S. give different titles to numbered highways?

For example, in New Jersey, the word "route" is always said before any number when referring to a highway no matter what type (interstate, U.S., state, or county) I.e. Route 80, Route 206, Route 15, Route 517.

In Florida, I often hear state highways referred as "State Road" or "SR". For example, SR 54.

Michiganders refer to their state higways as "M" highways. I.e. "M-28" Ferderal roads usually include the title of "U.S." I.e. US-2.

In California, major road numbers follow the article "the". I.e. "The 5" or "The 101"

Any thoughts on this? Do any other areas of the country refer to their highways in a different way other than what I've mentioned? Which ones work? I personally hate how Jerseyans use "route" for everything. It makes it confusing. OR does any of this matter?

[Scott5114]

In OK it's "I-" for Interstates, "Highway" for everything else.

Believe it or not this created a giant fiasco on Wikipedia a few years back...people got temporarily blocked, even.

[roadfro]

It is an interesting question, as some areas of the country seem to follow certain conventions. To me, the only thing that matters is that the number of the highway is conveyed. They can call everything "route" or "highway" if they want, as long as I can tell which number they're referring to. That's one reason why I'm not a fan of route number duplication within a state.


California seems to have two conventions. SoCal uses the article and number ("The 5"), while NoCal seems to just use the number ("5").  Nevadans follow this California convention by similar geographic region, at least for freeways:
*In southern Nevada (Las Vegas area), it is common to refer to freeway numbers with the article (this is especially true for "the 215", which is both I-215 and County Route 215).
*In northern Nevada (Reno/Carson City area), it is common to hear just the number for the freeway (moreso for US 395 than I-80).
However, hearing terms like "I-80" and "US 95" is also common.

Outside of urban centers of Nevada, people usually refer to the highways by their proper classification, i.e. "State Route 375" or "US 93". An exception is with US 50, which is often referred to as "Highway 50". This is particularly true in Carson City, where they make the distinction of "Highway 50 East" (heading towards Dayton and Fallon) and "Highway 50 West" (heading towards Lake Tahoe).

[Duke87]

Another issue is the pronunciation of "route". Is it Root or Rowt? There doesn't seem to be a consensus on that around here.

Although, the convention of titles is generally such:

- Interstates are mostly referred to by just the number locally, but usually as "I-{#}" when more than an hour or so away from home (e.g., here it's "95", but in Rhode Island or Maryland it's "I-95")
- US and State Highways are referred to as "Route {#}" if it's one single digit route ("Route 9"), but just the number if it's multiple digits ("22") or multiple routes ("1 and 9" or "1-9").
- County Routes are usually referred to as "County Route {#}" ("County Route 21"), but it's not unheard of for people who are not quite local to use "{county name} county {#}" ("Dutchess County 21" if you're from Stamford).
- In urban/suburban areas, if the road or highway in question has a common name, that takes precedence in most cases ("The Deegan" or "The Major Deegan", not "87"; "Long Ridge Road", not "104") but not all ("287", not "The Cross Westchester").
- In exurban/rural areas the number generally takes precedence regardless ("172", not "Pound Ridge Road")
- Special case: US 1 in Connecticut and Westchester County may interchangeably be referred to as "Route 1" or "The Post Road".

[agentsteel53]

I pronounce "route" to rhyme with "out", as opposed to Bobby Troup, and Massachusetts, where I grew up.  Mass almost universally precedes any road with "route", regardless of classification.  

The 95 beltway around Boston is still called "route 128" in the vernacular, which is still its state highway number from before it was realized that 95 would never be built through downtown and that was just about the only place to put the interstate designation.  Officially, 95 and 128 are frequently co-signed, but 128-only signage is fairly uncommon, while 95-only signage isn't hard to find.

Massachusetts never, ever prefaces a road with "the", preferring to leave off any indicator when "route" is not used.  

[papaT10932]

Another issue is the pronunciation of "route". Is it Root or Rowt? There doesn't seem to be a consensus on that around here.

In New Jersey, which as I said, always refers to all highways as "route X", it is absolutely, positively, without a doubt pronounced "root." If you say "rowt", you will most likely be told ta-fuhghettaboutit, ehh!! 

[corco]

When I was younger and we lived in Illinois and referred to highway numbers, it was "Route 38." I'm not sure how interstates go since in suburban Chicago the freeways were almost universally referred to by name.

My parents are both from Columbus and when we're around there they just refer to all highways by number (161, 315, 70, 62)

Idaho seems to be mixed...you never hear "Route 55" but you'll hear a mix of "Highway 55" and "55." US-95 is almost always referred to as "95" and I-84 is always referred to as "84"

Puget Sound area Washington seemed to have a mix...you'd hear either "16" or "SR 16" for one or two digit routes. Notably, I-405 was frequently referred to as "the 405," (while I-5 was "I-5") and so was "the 520"

Wyoming is sort of an odd case- interstates are always preceded by I- so I-80 or I-25. US routes are usually just called by their number so "287." The state highway system tends to be mostly supporting level routes that nobody ever mentions by number anyway (take the road to Albany, you'd say, not "take WYO 11 south"). However, the main roads are usually numbered as a branch off the US Highway system, so those ones tend to inherit the US type pronunciation, so "120, 130."

That said, when referring to the few important non US branch highways (all of which are two digit),  you'll frequently hear the WYO prefix- it's generally "WYO 34" as opposed to just "34"

Actually, I think that goes to a broader thing in Wyoming...three digit routes are too much of a mouthful so the prefix is just omitted, but two digit routes aren't long enough so they add a prefix

[xonhulu]

Puget Sound area Washington seemed to have a mix...you'd hear either "16" or "SR 16" for one or two digit routes. Notably, I-405 was frequently referred to as "the 405," (while I-5 was "I-5") and so was "the 520"

Just across the Columbia River, everyone I know in Oregon says "highway" for all routes except interstates, which are usually "I-."  On the Portland news, though, a couple of the freeways are referred to by their names:  the Banfield (I-84) and the Sunset (US 26W).  They used to also refer to the Baldock freeway (I-5 south) the same way when I was a kid, but now it's just I-5.  What's interesting is that they refer to Oregon numbered routes as "highway whatever,"  but they refer to Washington state highways as "SR-number."

[Scott5114]

And amusingly, they're all wrong. In Oregon DOT parlance, "highway" refers to the internal inventory designations. The signed designations are "routes"!

[Bryant5493]

In writing, I write, for example, "I-85," "S.R. 85," or "U.S. 41." But in speaking, I say "85," "Highway 85," "41," or "Highway 41"; "19/41" when the two routes (roots ) are cosigned. Lots of folks just refer to Georgia State Routes as "Georgia-Highway Number."


Be well,

Bryant

[Riverside Frwy]

I sometimes say "the 5" or "the 405" when I'm just talking to regular people.When I'm talking road geek, I always say "I-5" or "US 101" so they know what I'm talking about.For state routes, I always say "the 91" when talking regular, and I say "California 91" when with road geeks.Specifically because on this forum and talking to fellow road geeks, I'm not just talking to people from California, so I can't just say "State Route" as saying "State route 15" could mean anything from any state.

EDIT:I say pronounce route as "root".Saying "rowt" just seems awkward.

[Mergingtraffic]

I pronounce "route" to rhyme with "out", as opposed to Bobby Troup, and Massachusetts, where I grew up.  Mass almost universally precedes any road with "route", regardless of classification. 

The 95 beltway around Boston is still called "route 128" in the vernacular, which is still its state highway number from before it was realized that 95 would never be built through downtown and that was just about the only place to put the interstate designation.  Officially, 95 and 128 are frequently co-signed, but 128-only signage is fairly uncommon, while 95-only signage isn't hard to find.

Massachusetts never, ever prefaces a road with "the", preferring to leave off any indicator when "route" is not used. 

When I first moved to Braintree, MA, I was talking with somebody on how to get to Milton from the Taunton area.  I mentioned take Route 24 to I-95.  The person said there is no 95...it's 128.  I said 95 & 128.  She replied that I didn't know what I was talking about...that it was 128.

Of course, I replied and insisted that it was I-95.  Not knowing that Bostonians refer to it as 128.  This woman actually did not know it was also signed as I-95.

[joseph1723]

In Ontario I usually hear 400 series highways referred to by just the highway number such as "400" or following the article "the" such as "the 401". I've rarely have heard them referred to as highways before such as "highway 407" before.

For the other highways I hear them referred to as "highway XX" or just by the highway number before.

I usually refer to most Ontario highways as either Highway XX or when I'm in a road forum usually ON XX to prevent confusion. 

[luokou]

Coming from Portland, I've always referred to route numbers as the number by itself, e.g. "5", "26", "205", "84" "217", etc. Though, if i'm referring to an interstate route, I'll switch up between the number itself or preceding it with an I-(n). If the route has a commonly known name, that usually takes precedence at least with established residents.

I've always found it interesting how 3 digit route numbers are pronounced rather universally, at least as far as the US is concerned... "One-oh-one," "Three-Ninety-five", "Seven-Thirty," "Two-Ten," etc. One quirk I have is to pronounce the full cardinal direction a split route carries: 99W(est), 80N(orth), 42S(outh), 35E(ast) and so on. When coming across a 4 or 5 digit route, how would you pronounce it?

After moving down to SoCal a few years ago, I've resisted adding "The" in front of any route number. It just sounds funny to me. XD

[xonhulu]

One quirk I have is to pronounce the full cardinal direction a split route carries: 99W(est), 80N(orth), 42S(outh), 35E(ast) and so on. When coming across a 4 or 5 digit route, how would you pronounce it?

At least you acknowledge the suffix:  most people refer to both 99W and 99E as "99."

[Bickendan]

And 42S(outh) is technically wrong, though completely understandable, since it's to the south of mainline OR 42. It's actually 42S(pur).

Oregon comments have been made already, so no need to rehash them. However, on the root/rowt: route is a French word, so root is the correct pronunciation, not that we Americans give too much credence to those silly French... What makes things confusing is the word 'router', particularly the computer network variety, which draws its definition from route. 

[Duke87]

When coming across a 4 or 5 digit route, how would you pronounce it?

4 digits would get pronounced like a year. "twelve-oh-six", "thirty-one-eighty-two", "two-thousand-six", etc.
5 digits would getpronounced like a zip code. "three five seven six two", "four oh nine eight one", "one four six seven six:, etc.
Where on earth is there a signed five digit route, anyway?

[Bickendan]

I've seen them (on Google maps). Can't remember where. Portugal or Spain, maybe?

[xonhulu]

And 42S(outh) is technically wrong, though completely understandable, since it's to the south of mainline OR 42. It's actually 42S(pur).

It really should just have another number, as it's pretty long for a spur route.  However, it can't use its Highway #244, as there's already an OR 244 (near La Grande), so it would have to be OR 544.  That's actually o.k., as there are both OR 540 and OR 542 in the same county, so it would fit in.

Oregon comments have been made already, so no need to rehash them. However, on the root/rowt: route is a French word, so root is the correct pronunciation, not that we Americans give too much credence to those silly French... What makes things confusing is the word 'router', particularly the computer network variety, which draws its definition from route. 

IMO, it should be pronounced "rowt," though, just to distinguish it from the word "root."  We adopted a lot of words from the French that have had their pronunciations altered, like "garbage"  (note the difference in pronunciation from "camoflage," borrowed later so we still say it the French way).

[Scott5114]

I find that pronouncing "35W" as "35 west" causes confusion. People can interpret it as meaning "take 35 westbound". I always pronounce it "35-W", and if any further clarification were needed I'd likely resort to the phonetic alphabet ("35-Whiskey" vs. "35-Echo", "80-November", "42-Sierra").

[SP Cook]

West Virginia:

All roads other than interstates are "route", which rhymes with "root", regardless of state, US or other status.  Interstates are "I - ".  Three number roads are always one number, two number, such as 220 would be "two-twenty". 

However most of the Appalachian Development highway system is refered to by its project number as "Corridor G", despite almost no signage to call it that.  As the state has moved beyond the Corridor system the word "corridor" now means "not full interstate standard four lane" as "the new Route 35 is a being built as a corridor". 

[UptownRoadGeek]

In NOLA, I-10 is usually either "the I-10" or "the interstate" while the other interstates are "310", "510", and "610".  U.S. highways usually go by a names like "Airline Hwy", "Jeff Hwy", "Chef Hwy" or the streetname.  The exception is U.S. 11 which is known as "highway 11". Also, the Pontchartrain Expwy portion of U.S. 90 B is usually just referred to as "The Riverbound or Lakebound Expressway" depending on what direction you're traveling.  State highways either go by the streetname, "Highway ##" or "LA ##".

It could be different for the rest of the state.  I know on the northshore I hear "I-10", "1-12", etc.

[roadfro]

The "rowt"/"root" pronunciation of 'route' debate is interesting as well. I find myself varying between the two.

For most usage of the word, I usually pronounce it as "root":
* "Let's take the scenic 'root'."
* "The U.S. numbered 'root' system."

However, if I'm using the term to talk specifically about state highways, I always use "rowt":
* "Many of Nevada's state 'rowts' are two-lane highways."
* "State 'Rowt' 159."

Weird, I know. I'm not sure how I developed the distinction...

[signalman]

In New Jersey, at least North Jersey we use route for all highways; interstate, US, and state.  Other times just a number is used for all highways.  I guess it depends on who's speaking.

I tend to find myself using just numbers when people ask me directions.  "Yes, of course I know how to get there...take 80 west to 15 north to 94 north."  or  "Oh yeah, that's down on 46."  When I'm speaking roadgeek I'd identify the highway with it's proper designation (I, US, or whatever state).

Also, for the record I pronounce route "root".  The only time I use or hear the "rowt" pronunciation is when speaking with USPS or UPS workers and their daily traveled routes to drop off/pick up their packages.  The "rowt" being the areas they traverse, not the routes (roads) they actuallt travel on.  If speaking of the actual roads I'd say and expect to hear "root".

[vdeane]

In upstate NY we use "Route X", which actually works even with our duplication as the duplicated routes are often in different parts of the state (exception: I-90/NY 90, but just about everyone knows I-90 as the Thruway so it's not an issue).  Local roads are usually referred to by name, not number, and I don't think county routes are known anywhere, even when they're signed.