Highway number vs. local name

[huskeroadgeek]

At least on the East Coast the name "Southern Cal" is frequently used in the newspapers; the Associated Press uses it as well. No doubt part of that is to avoid ambiguity as to the other USC located in Columbia, South Carolina (students and alumni there more often call it Carolina).

As a big college football fan who follows college football closely, I would say "Southern Cal" is used almost as often as USC to refer to the University of Southern California. I prefer USC, and just refer to the other USC as South Carolina. But I have heard too that USC doesn't like "Southern Cal" because they think it gives the false impression that they are part of the University of California system since the flagship Berkeley campus is often called "Cal". The University of Southern Mississippi has the same problem-they don't like being called "Southern Miss" because they don't like being compared with the University of Mississippi, which is often called "Ole Miss".

As far as acronyms for teams go-there was real difficulty with this at my college where there a lot of students from Tennessee and Texas who both referred to their state's major university as "UT". Unless you knew the context, if somebody said something about "UT" you had to ask which one they were talking about.

[SP Cook]

As to roads, in West Virginia, everybody uses the route number a "I-*" "US-*" or "Route *".  Named roads are reserved for rural county routes (no one uses WV's unique fractional CR system in everyday speach, only the DOT uses it for recordkeeping, as CR 5/52 would be called "Johnson's Hollow Road" or such) ; or for city streets. 

The exception would be the Appalachian Corridor system.  In WV lingo "corridor" means "non-interstate four lane road" (note that the WVDOT traffic conditions page now lists US 35, the only significant non-ARC rural four lane in the state, with all of the ARC roads under the heading "corridors").  Most people, particularly, people over 40, call all of the ARCs by their project name, despite almost no signage to reinforce this, as "US 19" is "Corridor L".

In Charleston, the shopping and residential area developed by the completion in the early 90s of Corridor G is called "Corridor G", as "he lives out Corridor G" or "the Applebee's on Corridor G or the one on Route 60?".  The four lane from the 1960s of the then undeveloped opposite shore of the Kanawha River, is still called "South Side Expessway" rather than its route number (US 60 and WV 61 at different points) or its street name (MacCorkle Ave), again without any signage. 

The WV Turnpike is always "West Virginia Turnpike" never "I-77". 

Despite naming every structure in the state for politicians, 85% of them for Byrd, no one calls any of them by those names, road or non-road. 

[agentsteel53]

The WV Turnpike is always "West Virginia Turnpike" never "I-77". 

that's a mouthful!  the Massachusetts Turnpike is very rarely called I-90.  It is, instead, referred to as "the Pike".

[hobsini2]

Well no one calls it the "Indiana East West Toll Road". It is always refered to as 80/90 or the Toll Road.

[MeanMeosh]

I've only been living in DFW for about 7 months now but on interstates and freeways its mostly the name. Ex: I-635 is LBJ Freeway, I-35E is Stemmons throughout Dallas and the suburbs, and in Fort Worth I-35w is the north or South Freeway. TX 121 has so many sections I'm not sure what they are all called locally because it could refer to the Sam Rayburn Tollway, the 121 from Lewisville to Grapevine, except maybe in Fort Worth its the Airport Freeway. I know theres posts on here somewhere else talking about how the "E" and "W" designation is rarely used for I-35 on tv news and radio, which is definitely true

As a long-time DFW-area resident and traveler, I can say that generally, you can use either the name or number and people will know what you're talking about.  For example, whether you use "635" or "LBJ", or "75" or "Central", you'll get your point across and locals will understand what you're asking/saying.  Sometimes you'll also hear them referred to by both name and number, especially in Fort Worth - for example, "North Loop 820" or "I-30 East Freeway".  Some notable exceptions:

- Airport Freeway is usually referred to by its number, either 121 or 183, because it covers parts of both highways.
- As you noted, 121 is usually just called "121" north of 183.  The Sam Rayburn Tollway name applies to the section between Grapevine Mills Mall and McKinney, but it's so new, not many people use it yet.
- There are two un-numbered tollways, the Dallas North Tollway and the President George Bush Turnpike.  The first is almost universally called only the "Tollway", while the latter is usually referred to as "PGBT" or "Bush Turnpike". 
- 114 is sometimes referred to by its name, the Carpenter Freeway, within Dallas, but is just "114" west of DFW Airport since it has no official name.  The multiplexed section with 121 through Grapevine is sometimes referred to as "The Funnel".
- SH-360 is referred to only as "360".  I think it's technically just "Watson Road" in Arlington.  A part of it is now the Angus G. Wynne Freeway, but nobody calls it that, and my guess is most folks in Arlington won't know what you're talking about if you do.
- I-20 is, simply, I-20, except for a small portion on the south side of Fort Worth, which is also referred to as "South Loop".  Some old timers still call it "South Loop 820", even though the multiplex disappeared years ago.
- I-30 between Dallas and Fort Worth is officially the Tom Landry Highway, but the name has not been universally adopted.  Most locals just call it I-30.  Some long time residents still call it the "DFW Turnpike", a throwback to when the road had tolls prior to 1978.
- US-80 through Mesquite to Terrell has no name, and is just "Highway 80".

Welcome to the Metroplex, by the way.

[sandwalk]

Well no one calls it the "Indiana East West Toll Road". It is always refered to as 80/90 or the Toll Road.

Very true.  However, the Ohio Turnpike is rarely ever called I-80/I-90 (or I-76), but rather "the Ohio Turnpike" or just "the Turnpike."

Also in the Cleveland area, State Route 176 is always called the Jennings Freeway (never the route number).

[bassoon1986]

- 114 is sometimes referred to by its name, the Carpenter Freeway, within Dallas, but is just "114" west of DFW Airport since it has no official name.  The multiplexed section with 121 through Grapevine is sometimes referred to as "The Funnel".


Aaaah, that makes a lot of sense. And its an awful funnel right now with all the construction.

What part of DFW are you from, MeanMeosh

[Michael in Philly]

Freeways in Milwaukee are referred to by number, but US/State routes are referred to by street names.

It's the same way in New York (city). Everyone uses names, not numbers. Also true in southwestern Connecticut of state highways (usually), but we refer to Interstate highways and some US highways by number (US 7 is exclusively "route 7", US 1 is either "route 1" or "the post road", but US 6 and US 202 never have their numbers spoken in Fairfield County).

Don't forget the expressways and parkways (their terms for freeways with some exceptions in the parkways  which for here are obvious as no route number is assigned).  Not only do they have names, they ave acronyms - actually abbreviations for freeway names (Brooklyn Queens Expressway = BQE, Cross Bronx Expressway = CBE, Franklyn D Roosevelt Drive = FDR, etc. (I don't believe all expressways are that way, any New Yorker chime in).

Chicago refers to expressways (their term for the freeways) by name where applicable.  notable exceptions are I-57 and I-80.  Also I-55 is mentioned.  I think they take the Stephenson as from the Tri-State into Downtown, but I'm not sure.

Several cities often look at endpoints as names - especially interchanges
Milwaukee: Marquette, Zoo, Stadium, Mitchell, Hale
Chicago, The Junction (on the Kennedy), The Circle
Boston: The split (I-93 and MA route 3) - someone confirm)

If an ex-north-Jerseyan who's been spending lots of time with maps since about 1970 and sometimes listens to traffic reports for fun counts as "a New Yorker," I've never heard "CBE."  BQE and LIE, yes.  Can't think off the top of my head of any other abbreviations (as opposed to acronyms, which - if you'll excuse a moment of pedantry - are pronounceable abbreviations like NATO or UNICEF) in the New York area that are used in conversation, or on traffic reports.  Incidentally, I-83 inside of the Baltimore Beltway is often called the JFX (Jones Falls eXpressway).  And outside, it's "the Harrisburg."

[TheHighwayMan3561]

In Duluth, US 53, MN 23, and MN 194 are referred to by their street names (Piedmont Ave/Miller Trunk Highway, Grand Ave, and Mesaba Ave respectively). I have never heard MN 61 referred to by its street names though. When someone says "London Road" (which is 61's street name) they usually refer to the section of London Road southwest of I-35 after the end of 61.

I-535 and US 2 are often referred to by the names of the bridges they cross as well.

[golden eagle]

At least on the East Coast the name "Southern Cal" is frequently used in the newspapers; the Associated Press uses it as well. No doubt part of that is to avoid ambiguity as to the other USC located in Columbia, South Carolina (students and alumni there more often call it Carolina).

The University of Southern Mississippi has the same problem-they don't like being called "Southern Miss" because they don't like being compared with the University of Mississippi, which is often called "Ole Miss".

As a grad of Southern Miss, I never really heard any complaints about it. Even the play-by-play announcer on the radio calls them Southern Miss. I usually refer to it as USM, as well as most folks on campus.

[Coelacanth]

I-535 and US 2 are often referred to by the names of the bridges they cross as well.

It's obvious why they would use the name of the US 2 bridge as much as possible.

[bugo]

OK 51 in Tulsa, the Broken Arrow Expressway, is almost universally referred to locally as "The BA."  It is rarely if ever referred to as OK 51 (or US 64 over the western section.)

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I-535 and US 2 are often referred to by the names of the bridges they cross as well.

It's obvious why they would use the name of the US 2 bridge as much as possible.

One step further, US 2 and WIS 35 are referred to by street name in Superior (Belknap St and Tower Ave respectively). I want to say US 53 is also referred to as East 2nd St, but I can't remember for sure.

[Quillz]

I'm always amazed how few people in SoCal seem to actually know "Topanga Cyn." is CA-27. I think it's because the two are entirely identical: CA-27 is exactly the length of Topanga Cyn. Blvd. and vice versa. It's not like, say, the nearby CA-23, where there is more than one distinct segment.

[vtk]

In the Columbus area, non-freeways are almost always referred to by their local name inside of I-270, and almost always by their route numbers outside of Franklin County.  The area inside Franklin County but outside I-270 is a kind of a transitional area.

The freeways are usually referred to by number, but in the Columbus area (out to the suburbs) names are also used:
Outerbelt: I-270 in its entirety
North Outerbelt: I-270 from Dublin to Westerville
East Outerbelt: I-270 from Westerville to Obetz
South Outerbelt: I-270 south of I-70 (there is some overlap with West Outerbelt and East Outerbelt)
West Outerbelt: I-270 from Grove City to Dublin
Innerbelt: Collectively, the 4 segments of Innerbelt described below
North Innerbelt: I-670 from OH 315 to I-71
East Innerbelt: I-71 from I-70 to I-670
South Innerbelt / The Split: I-70/71 overlap (from the East Split [interchange] to the West Split [interchange])
West Innerbelt: OH 315 from I-70 to I-670
North Freeway: I-71 north of the Innerbelt
East Freeway: I-70 east of the Innerbelt
South Freeway: I-71 south of the Innerbelt
West Freeway: I-70 west of the Innerbelt
Airport Freeway / Northeast Freeway: I-670 east of the Innerbelt
Northeast Expressway / New Albany Bypass: OH 161 east of I-270
Southeast Expressway: US 33 east of its easternmost junction with I-70
Olentangy Freeway: OH 315 from the Innerbelt to I-270
Frank-Refugee Expressway: OH 104 from just east of I-71 to just west of US 33

A highway number plus a direction usually means that direction on that highway, though businesses outside of I-270 may break this rule, either for brevity, or assuming most of their customers come from Columbus and therefore must actually drive in that direction.  To refer to one direction of a highway by name, the appropriate modifier is, for example, "northbound East Outerbelt".

[Chicagosuburban]

For the Chicago area it really depends. For example, IL-43 is always called Harlem Ave, IL-50 is always called Cicero Ave, IL-19 is always called Irving Park Rd....But IL-59, IL-53, IL-83, IL-25, and IL-31 are usually referred to by their numbers. For IL-64 and IL-38, it depends on where you are.

[TXtoNJ]

It also varies by highway in the Philadelphia area. On the one hand, you've got 95, 295, and 676. On the other hand, you've got City Ave and the Roosevelt (US 1), the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), the Blue Route and Northeast Extension (I-476), and the PA Turnpike (I-276). On other highways, it varies based on section - US 30 is Route 30 in Camden along Admiral Wilson Blvd, and the White Horse Pike the rest of the way to Atlantic City, while it's almost always Girard and Lancaster in Philadelphia proper, becoming Route 30 again in the Main Line towns.

[Michael in Philly]

It also varies by highway in the Philadelphia area. On the one hand, you've got 95, 295, and 676. On the other hand, you've got City Ave and the Roosevelt (US 1), the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), the Blue Route and Northeast Extension (I-476), and the PA Turnpike (I-276). On other highways, it varies based on section - US 30 is Route 30 in Camden along Admiral Wilson Blvd, and the White Horse Pike the rest of the way to Atlantic City, while it's almost always Girard and Lancaster in Philadelphia proper, becoming Route 30 again in the Main Line towns.

A quibble or two:  I'd call it Lancaster Avenue at least out to Wayne or so.  KYW traffic reports call 676 the Vine Expressway at least as often as they call it 676.

I heard a mention (again on KYW) of the "Whitman Expressway" the other day.  Not sure what they meant, but somewhere, I've seen an old street map that labels the piece of 76 south of the Passyunk/Oregon exit as the "Whitman Approach," a term that I assume carried all the way to the bridge.

[TXtoNJ]

It also varies by highway in the Philadelphia area. On the one hand, you've got 95, 295, and 676. On the other hand, you've got City Ave and the Roosevelt (US 1), the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), the Blue Route and Northeast Extension (I-476), and the PA Turnpike (I-276). On other highways, it varies based on section - US 30 is Route 30 in Camden along Admiral Wilson Blvd, and the White Horse Pike the rest of the way to Atlantic City, while it's almost always Girard and Lancaster in Philadelphia proper, becoming Route 30 again in the Main Line towns.

A quibble or two:  I'd call it Lancaster Avenue at least out to Wayne or so.  KYW traffic reports call 676 the Vine Expressway at least as often as they call it 676.

I heard a mention (again on KYW) of the "Whitman Expressway" the other day.  Not sure what they meant, but somewhere, I've seen an old street map that labels the piece of 76 south of the Passyunk/Oregon exit as the "Whitman Approach," a term that I assume carried all the way to the bridge.

Two possibilities - there is the Whitman Approach in New Jersey, stretching from Black Horse Pike (NJ 168) to 676. More likely is your suggestion, since the Schuylkill Expwy technically ends at the Passyunk/Oregon exit.

True on the Vine St Expwy, but at the same time, it's never called the "North-South Freeway" in Camden. It's 676 from the Ben Franklin to the Walt Whitman Bridge, then 76 to 295, then Route 42, then finally the AC Expressway

[TXtoNJ]

In Houston, there's an interesting distinction in that names are generally used in traffic reports, while there's a tendency, with exceptions, to use numbers in everyday conversation. So you'd hear on the radio about traffic jams on the North Freeway, the Eastex Freeway, the Baytown-East Freeway, the Southwest Freeway, and the Northwest Freeway, but you'd tell people to avoid 45 North, 59 North, I-10 East, 59 South, and 290. However, I-10 West is always the Katy Freeway, I-45 South is always the Gulf Freeway, I-610 is always the North, South, West or East Loop, Beltway 8 or the Sam Houston Tollway is always simply the Beltway, but the South Freeway is always simply 288, and the LaPorte Freeway is always simply 225. Tomball Parkway and 249 are interchangeable, with a greater tendency toward simply 249.

[Michael in Philly]

It also varies by highway in the Philadelphia area. On the one hand, you've got 95, 295, and 676. On the other hand, you've got City Ave and the Roosevelt (US 1), the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), the Blue Route and Northeast Extension (I-476), and the PA Turnpike (I-276). On other highways, it varies based on section - US 30 is Route 30 in Camden along Admiral Wilson Blvd, and the White Horse Pike the rest of the way to Atlantic City, while it's almost always Girard and Lancaster in Philadelphia proper, becoming Route 30 again in the Main Line towns.

A quibble or two:  I'd call it Lancaster Avenue at least out to Wayne or so.  KYW traffic reports call 676 the Vine Expressway at least as often as they call it 676.

I heard a mention (again on KYW) of the "Whitman Expressway" the other day.  Not sure what they meant, but somewhere, I've seen an old street map that labels the piece of 76 south of the Passyunk/Oregon exit as the "Whitman Approach," a term that I assume carried all the way to the bridge.

Two possibilities - there is the Whitman Approach in New Jersey, stretching from Black Horse Pike (NJ 168) to 676. More likely is your suggestion, since the Schuylkill Expwy technically ends at the Passyunk/Oregon exit.

True on the Vine St Expwy, but at the same time, it's never called the "North-South Freeway" in Camden. It's 676 from the Ben Franklin to the Walt Whitman Bridge, then 76 to 295, then Route 42, then finally the AC Expressway

Or the "42 Freeway."  I hear that all the time, actually.

[Lightning Strike]

As mentioned already, but NJ loves to keep its original names...
NJ 38 = Kaighns Ave
NJ 70 = Marlton Pike (for a good stretch)
US 30 outside of Camden =White Horse Pike
NJ 168 = Black Horse Pike even after it merges with NJ 42/US 40/US 322

Those are just a few to name, there are so many more though 

[Michael in Philly]

Well, there's a difference between a numbered highway that's also a local street - and I'm including as "local streets" non-limited-access highways that are now lined with strip malls and the like - and a freeway.  People won't have mailing addresses on freeways (except in places like Texas where the freeways are systematically paired with service roads that have businesses on them).  But they will on US 30 in suburban Philadelphia, for example, and the mailing addresses will be "x Lancaster Avenue."

And in a big city downtown, most people will be unaware of where the numbered highways are routed.  I know Pa. 3 ends at City Hall, but I'd need to think about which streets it uses to get there.  I'd suggest as a general rule of thumb that if the name of a road was well implanted in the locals' consciousness before a route number was assigned (or if the number is changed occasionally), the locals will continue to use it.

[Alps]

Most 5xx county routes in NJ are referred to by street name only. I'd throw NJ 63, 67, and 93, and possibly 5, into this category in Bergen County. NJ 7 in Essex County falls into the same category - even in Hudson, it's often just called Belleville Pike instead of Route 7. NJ 21 is McCarter Highway, NJ 28 is Westfield/North/South Ave., don't even think for a second anyone calls NJ 439 by number, etc. etc.

[pianocello]

For the Chicago area it really depends.

I listen to WGN traffic reports every morning and the only Interstate numbers I hear are 80, 80/94, 57, 355, and 55. They recently (past 2-3 years) switched from saying "the Stevenson" to "55", but I have no idea why.