# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/81 "2010-03-26T05:55:18Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > You are clearly living in the wrong half of California. Hey, our beaches might be cold but we can walk to them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/82 "2010-03-26T05:57:33Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > 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”! Yeah, but we don’t say “Eye-Ninety-Five,” we just say “Ninety-Five” or “The Turnpike”, which is also confusing because, traveling South, the Turnpike ceases to be 95 when it crosses 195 in Trenton; then it’s just “The Turnpike”. If you want to continue taking 95 South from the Turnpike, you have to exit at 7A, take 195 West for about seven miles, then 295 North for another 7 miles, where 295 ends and miraculously becomes 95 down by Quakerbridge. The signs actually say “End 295” “Begin 95 South”. It’s weird. I know someone who needed to take 95 to get to Yardley, PA, but got lost because he was told that the Turnpike was 95 and stayed on it until he reached the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Talk about an upset customer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/83 "2010-03-26T06:26:00Z")
Where I live, there’s really only one freeway and it’s called I-90. They are currently building a freeway that’s been proposed for over 60 years and I expect will be finished about 10 years after automobiles become obsolete. It’s currently referred to as the “North-South Freeway” but I think it will eventually be called by its numeric name. Non-interstate highways are simply referred to as “Highway 2”, “Highway 395”, or “Highway 195”. However, in same cases they are called their street names when they are within urbanized areas. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/84 "2010-03-26T07:38:04Z")
I’ve always called those big stretches of road highways. I grew up for the most part in Utah. Also, in the Salt Lake valley there’s Bangerter Highway which is a highway on the west side. I’m sure it has some sort of designation, but if you ask anyone how to get to Bangerter Highway everyone knows where it is. In Oregon I’ve never heard anyone refer to the coastal highway as anything but Highway 101. OK “funny” story moment. I was on a trip from Salt Lake to San Bernardino, and was passing through Las Vegas. It was late and dark, and we stopped somewhere in the middle of Vegas for poop break and such. I had completely lost my sense of direction when we stopped, so I asked the convenience store clerk how to get back onto I-15. He had an accent but spoke English OK. He showed me what onramp to take, it was close. Closer than I remember, but whatever. We were past Henderson and closing in on Boulder City when I realized that Henderson was NOT on our way to San Bernardino! It was just our luck, I had pulled off the highway somewhere in [this area](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=las+vegas&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Las+Vegas,+Clark,+Nevada&gl=us&ei=31-sS8HVJYHusgPVxZHeDA&ved=0CBsQ8gEwAA&ll=36.170585,-115.146503&spn=0.098666,0.10025&t=h&z=13). Yea. You see the problem there? I’d been on I-515 because the clerk thought I’d said ‘five-fifteen’ not 'I-fifteen". :smack: :smack::smack::smack: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/85 "2010-03-26T11:38:35Z")
In my neck of the woods, it’s common to hear “I-96” or just “96”. It’s actually redundant to say this is Michigan, as I-96 is one of the few one-state Interstates. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/86 "2010-03-26T12:19:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > In my neck of the woods, it’s common to hear “I-96” or just “96”. It’s actually redundant to say this is Michigan, as I-96 is one of the few one-state Interstates. I’d think there are scores of one-state interstate highways when you consider all the auxiliary interstates that serve big cities. Down around Buffalo-Niagara alone there’s three; 190, 290 and 990. . ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/87 "2010-03-26T12:49:32Z")
True, but I-96 and I believe I-4 are the only ones \< 3 digits to be limited to 1 state (excluding Hawaii’s of course). For the truly nerdy, you can see the [Interstate Guide.](http://www.interstate-guide.com/main.html). 190 and 290 are not unique, but 990 appears to be. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/88 "2010-03-26T13:26:11Z")
I-87 goes from Canada to Albany and it’s called the Northway. I-87 continues from Albany and goes to NYC and is called the Thruway. Yes, this confuses the piss out of people. It even confuses me after all these years, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/89 "2010-03-26T14:36:14Z")
Bangkok has three different toll-paying highway systems; English-language signs refer to them separately as just “Expressway”, “Tollway” and “Motorway.” The Expressway is a fairly complex system but the different branches don’t have special names or numbers; one just says “Take the Expressway to (e.g.) Khlong Toey.” Thais often use the same word (meaning Expressway) for any of these 3 systems. Highways outside Bangkok have numbers, but I’ve never heard anyone refer to them by number except foreigners. The language just works differently. We live on an 18-mile long rural road, and most of the people we know live in one of the villages along that road, so it would seem convenient for the road to have a _name_. But none of the people I’ve asked have a name for the road, even though they’ve lived there all their lives: “We just say we’re going to such-and-such village.” ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/90 "2010-03-26T17:46:53Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Northern CA, just use the numbers. 99, 32, 149. I-5 can be called that or just 5. Also, 5 is the only one that really qualifies to get the I in front very often. Sometimes 80. But you would never say I-880 or I-280. > > Even on the Central Coast where I grew up nobody called it _the_ 101. Not adding a “the” before the number sounds weird. “I take 99 to 32 to 5.” I don’t know, maybe it’s just me and my Southern California brainwashing. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/91 "2010-03-26T18:03:46Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I-87 goes from Canada to Albany and it’s called the Northway. I-87 continues from Albany and goes to NYC and is called the Thruway. > > Yes, this confuses the piss out of people. It even confuses me after all these years, sometimes. Not to mention that I-90 W is _also_ the Thruway, but not I-90 E. It never confused me much, but I’m good with roads, maps, and directions. The summer after my sophomore year in college in that area, I had a job with an asbestos monitoring company, where I had to do a LOT of driving. I was told a tale of a guy they hired a year earlier who was from out of state. He had a job to do his first day after training in Ticonderoga, so he had to get on I-87 N. Well, as you can guess from the story, he got on I-87 S by mistake, drove all the way down to Monroe before he finally realized he went the wrong way, and then because he was going fast to make up for lost time, got a speeding ticket for doing almost 120…in a company car, no less. He then went straight home and didn’t even bother going to the job site. The boss said he came in the next day, returned the car and keys, said “I quit” and just left. Since the car was registered in the company’s name, they got notice of the speeding ticket as well and put 2 and 2 together. 😃 As for my current neck of the woods (northern VT,) we mostly just call it “the interstate,” since there’s just one. Though it’s common to hear both “89” or “I-89.” I say it’s like a 50/30/20 split. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/92 "2010-03-26T18:18:50Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Hence the lyrics from the Arrogant Worms’ _Horizon_: > > One day on the parking lot they call the 401/ > My car became the meat within a Buick/Honda bun… > > Incidentally, the numbers of the highways are pronounced “four oh one”, not “four zero one” or even “four hundred one”. Similarly, “four oh three”, “four oh four”, etc, four highways up to the 409, and then “four sixteen”, “four seventeen”, for later ones. > > In Ontario, _names_ of highways are preceded by “the”: the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW). We also use the abbreviations, as **mnewmosyne** noted. > > I tend to use “the” with numbers of freeways only. Otherwise, I say “Highway 12”, “Regoinal Road 23”, County Road 29", and so on. I have some friends who use “the” with the numbers of roads of any description, but this jars me a little. > > I remember my parents saying things like “the Lakefield Highway” for the road leading north from Peterborough to Lakefield, but I spoke of it as “Highway 28”. (Now it’s Peterborough County Road 2 **9** , as for as the interseaction with Old Highway 134, which has been renumbered to be Highway 28, reflecting changed patterns of ownership and responsibility. Thanks, Ministry of Transportation!) I was going to post the same thing…oh well, a day late and a dollar short… I will point out 2 addenda to this though. “The Queen Elizabeth Way” is frequently shortened to “the QE”, and occasionally to “the Q” (although I think I’ve only heard one radio traffic reporter doing it…and my GPS (“Turn right on qew.”)) There is one exception (I can think of) to the 400-series of highways which is the 400 which is always referred to as “the four hundred” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/93 "2010-03-26T18:30:03Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Not to mention that I-90 W is _also_ the Thruway, but not I-90 E. It never confused me much, but I’m good with roads, maps, and directions. Oh, yeah, I forgot about that one. I rarely take I90. I am NOT very good with directions, and this has always given me trouble. Thank goodness for a) maps and b) the river. I always know the river is east of me as long as I don’t go crossing it, and so I always can think "Ok, I need to go back into downtown Albany, so I need to take the Eastbound ramp), blabbity blah. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/94 "2010-03-26T18:39:40Z")
Southern NH/Northeast MA - The pike (I-90, Mass Turnpike) 93 95 or 128 depending on where you are. North of where 95 leaves 128, and the same for the southern departure would be called 95, inside of this it would be called 128. Rt 1 (I think this is to get it to be 2 syllables, but we generally include _Route_, but not _Interstate_ in any mention of the roads) Rt 3 (same), but in Southern NH, north of exit 5 in Nashua, this becomes the Everett Turnpike, called “The turnpike” locally. Rt 2 (same) Those are the big ones, but around Worcester, you get 190 & 290 as well. You could get someone calling any of the numbered roads I-xxx, but that woudn’t happen most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/95 "2010-03-26T19:10:47Z")
In Houston, we sometimes call the I-10 and I-45 just that, but we also have nicknames that are used all the time: I-610: the loop I-10 east of downtown: east freeway I-10 west of downtown: Katy freeway I-45 north of downtown: north freeway (not a popular nickname) I-45 south of downtown: gulf freeway I-45 in a small portion of downtown: Pierce elevated (no clue why they bother with this) Also, there’s state highway 59, which is sometimes 59; south of downtown it’s the southwest freeway, north of downtown it’s the northeast freeway (another name lacking popularity. And there’s the beltway. Got that? ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/96 "2010-03-26T19:27:02Z")
In Ottawa, we call them Highways. But often just refer to it as I.E. 401, or take the 401 east. We call scenic leisure roads, parkways and laneways, drive ways. It’s messed up ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/97 "2010-03-26T19:35:16Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > True, but I-96 and I believe I-4 are the only ones \< 3 digits to be limited to 1 state (excluding Hawaii’s of course).. There’s at least a dozen, I would think; I’ve done a lot of driving in the States. I know Texas has at least two Interstates that never leave Texas, I-37 and I-45. New York has I-87 and I-88, and I-17 connects Phoenix to Flagstaff. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/98 "2010-03-26T22:18:50Z")
> [@vandal](#): > > Not adding a “the” before the number sounds weird. > > “I take 99 to 32 to 5.” > > I don’t know, maybe it’s just me and my Southern California brainwashing. Keep in mind, these are the people who would challenge you to an honor duel for daring to call their transit system “The BART” instead of just “BART.” Couple other points - Interstate 5 can easily be either “the 5” or “I-5”, but less typically “The I-5.” That’s just sort of repetitive. And the San Diego Freeway is not the 5, but rather the 405. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/99 "2010-03-26T23:18:03Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Suddenly, I can’t think of the name of the 105 Fwy. Is it the Artesia? No, that’s the 91 (which I believe is the Riverside Fwy east of a certain point). Hmm. Well, I’ll be on it shortly, so I’m sure it’ll come to me. Officially the Glenn Anderson Freeway, but I don’t think anyone calls it that. If it’s called anything other than the 105, it’s the Century. ---
**Author:** ![tetranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@tetranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tetranz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765/100 "2010-03-28T01:26:11Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Southern NH/Northeast MA - > > Rt 3 (same), but in Southern NH, north of exit 5 in Nashua, this becomes the Everett Turnpike, called “The turnpike” locally. I think the Everett Turnpike starts at the border with MA near exit 1. I don’t think anything special happens at exit 5. Something I am sure about is that the turnpike and route 3 are only the same until exit 7. They become separate roads as you leave Nashua north of exit 7. Most locals seem to be totally unaware of that and routinely refer to the turnpike as “route 3” as it goes though Merrimack and Bedford. Route 3 is the road parallel to it, i.e, Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack and South River Road in Bedford. Some people call that the “old route 3” but that’s wrong, it’s the only route 3. I know several visitors who have been confused trying to read the signs and follow a local person’s verbal directions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-freeway/533765.md?page=6)