# What do you call your freeway? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765 "2010-03-25T16:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/21 "2010-03-25T17:38:04Z")
NJian 'til I was 40 something. Usually just the #, sometimes Route #, E.G. “Take 22 to 287 then get on 80, or if you want to go the scenic way take Route 206.” If you were a local it was just the number, not a local and route usually got added, 22 vs Route 18 for me. But it was always “The 1&9”. “Route 1” and just “9” when they split. CMC fnord! Oh and I95 is “The Turnpike”! ---
**Author:** ![Azile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@Azile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azile)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/22 "2010-03-25T17:43:49Z")
Nine times out of ten it’s just “101” or “Highway 101” (or just “the freeway” if I’m not giving directions). 5 is “I-5”. And sometimes when I’m driving them they get called other things, too… ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/23 "2010-03-25T17:50:09Z")
AFAIK using “the (route number)” is an LA-ism. Though your use of the word “freeway” is itself also telling, betraying you as likely not native to the Northeast, because the roads around here are rarely if ever free – either of traffic or from tolls. Most of the time around here we don’t even refer to roads by a number but a NAME, often an acronym of letters. Few say “495” for “the LIE” (Long Island Expressway"), or “278” for “the BQE” (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). I’m not even sure what the interstate number is for the Grand Central/Northern State Parkway (it changes name when it crosses the city line into Nassau County on Long Island), or the Saw Mill, Hutchinson or Bronx River Parkways, or the Garden State (Parkway). Similarly the Cross Bronx Expressway is officially a stretch of I-95 but only the road signs refer to it that way. (And the NJ Turnpike is NOT the same as I-95, though many people think of it like that; I-95 is toll-free and parallel to the Turnpike for a lot of its length). New Jersey has more numbery road names though; I remember living in Parsippany for a few years and talking about “taking 80 to 46 East”. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/24 "2010-03-25T17:50:21Z")
> [@Juliana](#): > > Just numbers: for example, “We’re taking 220 to 55.” Here too. “275 to 96 to 24 South to the first exit. Meet you at Big Boy.” ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/25 "2010-03-25T18:02:59Z")
We call I-64 just plain “64.” We address the other smaller 2-lane highways the same way, even though they now have names as well as numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/26 "2010-03-25T18:16:16Z")
Southeast PA (Philly Metro area, which includes South Jersey and Delaware): “Take 95 north to the Blue Route. Take that to the Northeast extension and follow to Route 80 West.” So, we mix in formal AND informal names for highways with numbers, too. We do not add “the” before numeric identifier. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/27 "2010-03-25T18:33:38Z")
I call it the Valley Highway, or just The Valley. That’s the really old name for the stretch of I25 that goes around (once; today I guess it’s more through) Denver. When I lived in California we mostly didn’t use the numbers. You took the Santa Monica to the Harbor and the Harbor to the Hollywood. Or whatever. (I think we did call one of them “the 101” come to think of it.) ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/28 "2010-03-25T18:47:47Z")
> [@wmulax93](#): > > I refer to freeways here in AZ as “the \_\_\_”; the 60, the 202, the 10, the 17. A lot of us long-timers call I-17 the Black Canyon. Used to be the name when it was a local road. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/29 "2010-03-25T18:52:50Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > It was odd to me moving from WA where we called our freeways “I-whatever” (I-5, I-90, etc) to Chicago where all of the expressways (not freeways, had to get used to that too) have their own names (Dan Ryan, Edens, Bishop Ford, Eisenhower.) Sometimes people call them by number but usually not. I refuse to embrace the name Bishop Ford Freeway. It will always be the Calumet Expressway to me. Besides, the term “freeway” in the midwest is just wrong - they’re expressways, dammit. Now get off my lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/30 "2010-03-25T18:55:20Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > _Southern_ Californians refer to freeways that way. The rest of us are normal, just like you. Of course, in Southern California we also mess with visitors by using the NAMES: The 5 can be called The San Diego and the Golden State The 101 (binary 5 in Silicon Valley) is the the Hollywood and The Ventura The 10 is the Santa Monica, but can also be the San Bernadino after you leave downtown LA The 710 is the Long Beach When I moved to LA, I finally gave up and got an apartment near my office rather than try to figure out what they radio guys were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/31 "2010-03-25T18:58:42Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > When I moved to LA, I finally gave up and got an apartment near my office rather than try to figure out what they radio guys were talking about. Thinking outside the box! One way to beat the system. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/32 "2010-03-25T18:59:46Z")
Seems to split pretty evenly around here from what I can tell. About 1/2 the people I know say “290” and the other 1/2 say “[the Ike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Expressway)” Don’t recall too many people saying “I-290” but I’m sure it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/33 "2010-03-25T18:59:59Z")
I use the # if there is a number, but if it’s a name, it gets a “the”. So I say: 79 66 The GW (the George Washington Parkway) 495 376 East I don’t use “Freeway”, though. It’s an interstate, highway, or parkway. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/34 "2010-03-25T19:02:27Z")
By the numbers…so we have 71, 70, 670, 315, and 270. 270 is frequently referred to as “the outerbelt.” ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/35 "2010-03-25T19:05:13Z")
Our motorway is the M42. (UK) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/36 "2010-03-25T19:12:25Z")
Here in Toronto, it’s known as “the Evil Death Highway of Doom”, also “King’s Highway No. 401”, and formerly “the McDonald-Cartier Freeway”, and even sometimes these days “the Highway of Heroes”. But everyone calls it “the 401”. In Ontario, we tend to put “the” in front of freeway numbers, or say “Highway \”. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/37 "2010-03-25T19:16:03Z")
Most people here just use the number. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/38 "2010-03-25T19:22:29Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > It was odd to me moving from WA where we called our freeways “I-whatever” (I-5, I-90, etc) to Chicago where all of the expressways (not freeways, had to get used to that too) have their own names (Dan Ryan, Edens, Bishop Ford, Eisenhower.) Sometimes people call them by number but usually not. Yeah, the general nomenclature in Chicago is: - The name (nearly all big highways are named) - Just the number for the few stretches that aren’t named (“57” for I-57, “55” for the section of I-55 southwest of the part that’s called the Stevenson). As you note, it’s uncommon to refer to a named road by its number. - The few major highways which aren’t Interstates are usually known by “Route #”, as in “Route 83”, “Route 53”, etc…unless they have a specific name (e.g., Lake Shore Drive). - “Expressway” or “Tollway”, never “Freeway” The Toll Authority assigned new names to several of the tollways a few years back (the East-West Tollway, a.k.a. I-88, became the Reagan Tollway, for example), but adoption of those new names has been slow (despite the fact that traffic reporters use them all the time). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/39 "2010-03-25T19:24:56Z")
DC suburbanite here. The only “the” is “The Capital Beltway” or just “The Beltway” (or “The Inner Loop” or “The Outer Loop” to designate the direction). It’s actually got an interstate number (495 in places, 95 in others) but I sure can never remember which. The road that goes north/south from “The Beltway” is simply “95” or occasionally “I-95”. I can always tell when a movie/TV scene set here was written by a left-coaster, when they refer to “the 95”. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/40 "2010-03-25T19:52:38Z")
Around here it’s almost exclusively by number and direction only. If I were giving directions to Hershey from here, for instance, I would say the following: take 81 north to 581 east to 83 north to 422 north. There are a few exceptions. Take the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Nobody around here calls it that, it’s simply The Turnpike. Route 11 is locally called Carlisle Pike, or just The Pike. That is to be differentiated from 34, called Holly Pike after Mt. Holly Springs. If you came here and asked the average person for local directions you’d be hopelessly lost. Trust me on this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765.md?page=3)