A “pike” (short for “turnpike”) meant a road connecting two inhabited areas. “Springfield Pike” was the road that you took if you wanted to go to Springfield. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, particularly, all such roads used to be called “pikes.”
Sinjin, I’ve seen those signs. It’s quite confusing for those of us from out of the area who don’t know the difference between the San Diego Freeway and the Santa Ana Freeway.
twickster, I saw a highway named for a postal carrier near Valdez, Alaska. Yeah, only a highway: no interstates here. Before anyone jumps in, interstates exist here on paper because they’re for funding purposes only. Our highways don’t connect to the other states’ freeways nor do they meet the federal standards for interstates.