I'm curious: How far West do you have to go before you hear people refer to

[Redstone]

Interstate highways as "The" followed by the number?

I know that you can spot a Californian instantly by hearing them refer to "The 405," but where's the dividing line? Is this only a California usage, or do people in the Rockies or the Midwest do it as well?

(For those of you who have never been to the East Coast, we don't refer to highways that way. We just say "I-95" or "take 95 north," without the "the.")

Redstone

[Arugula Latte]

1. Our major Interstate is 5 (it goes down the west coast) and

people just say "I-5."

[Omphaloskepsis]

7. Ditto... Everybody calls it "I-5."

[Sanity Claws]

10. Washington state - no one uses "the"

It's I-5, 520, or 99. No one uses "the" in front of these heavily trafficked routes in Seattle.

[SOteric]

14. Unless it's followed by the word 'bridge.'

[Sanity Claws]

15. You're right!

I forgot. Everyone says the I-90 bridge or the 520 bridge. Everyone also says the freeway.

[Radio_Lady]

56. SOteric, I'm laughing out loud! At your LOUNGE THREAT LEVEL GRAPHIC! It's priceless!

Thank you, from me -- and the staff at the Olive Garden.

(Shit, somebody has to heat and serve their "awful" food! But we don't have to eat it!)

[Xipe Totec]

68. Well, in Houston it's I-10 but The 610 loop

Loops have 'The' in front. Regular roads do not.

[spindrifter]

69. Right. The only "the" reference is

to "the" I-5 corridor.

[Momgonepostal]

82. Exactly, I say I-5, or in come cases...

580, or 880, but don't think I have ever said The 880. In fact, I never hear that. And I'm a Californian, born and raised.

[auntAgonist]

2. In Canada

I can speak specifically of Ontario, we always said "the 401" "the 403" but yet, 11 was highway 11
and 8 was highway 8. :shrug:

here in MI it's I-94 etc.

:hi:

aA

[Rhythm]

54. and don't forget the QEW!

that one took me a bit to get used to.

[auntAgonist]

66. I'd love to forget the QEW!

I worry about my Dad when he travels from Niagara Falls to Waterloo periodically. He's 82 years old and that highway is a death trap for most people. He's not the best of drivers, by far not the worst though.

I won't travel that road unless I have to.

aA
:hi:

[likesmountains 52]

3. Can't say for sure, but in Colorado it's "take I-25 to 1-70 east....."but

if we refer to I-25 by its old name we say "take the Valley Highway to I-70..."

[crim son]

4. The STBE is from Eastern Canada/Boston and he

has always said "the 395" or "the 95".

[Redstone]

12. Nah, can't be. I have NEVER heard a New Englander say "The 395."

Unless it's a bit of California that's leaked into Maine, and no further.

Redstone

[crim son]

16. It may be a Canadianism... he didn't move to the U.S.

until he was thirteen.

[GenDem]

29. People from Buffalo use "The 90" , "The 190", and "The 290"

50 miles to the east in Rochester they just call them the number or they put route in front of the number. :shrug:

[Redstone]

36. But people in Buffalo eat "Beef on a Weck," so you have to cut them some slack, yes?

Redstone

[hedgehog]

42. It's not on "A " weck, it's just beef on weck.

[Redstone]

46. Oops. Thanks for the correction. I'll remember that, next time I'm up that way

and order one. Good to have advice like yours.

Redstone

[GenDem]

62. Nothing better than 'Beef on Weck'

Just wonder why that didn't take off like the chicken wing did. We have great local food. Friday fish fry's at all the VFW posts, the best pizza, beef on weck, and the invention of the chicken wing as sustenance.

[crim son]

38. Interesting, because a whole bunch of his relatives

are settled in Buffalo. Maybe he picked it up from them?

[GenDem]

60. Maybe it's a regional thing that comes from Canada....

and slipped down across the border. I do know that it didn't spread much further East.

I live in both the Rochester and Buffalo markets and hear the difference in the dialect when roads are being closed, or traffic problems are being reported as I flip from one market to the other.

[deucemagnet]

70. Don't forget that every highway in Buffalo also has another name,

such as, "the Youngman", "the Kensington", or "the Scajacqueda", just to further confuse the issue. :)

[GenDem]

77. Another point that I forgot

and yes, it does add to the confusion.

[Critters2]

5. Around here (Illinois/Iowa) it's just "80" or "35"

Occasionally "I-80" or "I-35" but never with "the" ahead of it.

[grasswire]

6. although...

...easterners DO say "the Beltway" or "the Washington Baltimore expressway." But then again, they don't say "the Route 50."

[AlCzervik]

8. i say--"take 5" and not I5 but i do say "I10" not "10" don't know why.

[Shakespeare]

9. I think it's mostly a southern Cali thing...

I just returned from a 3-year stint in the bay area <shudder> and noticed that they don't refer to the freeways there with the definite article, as we SoCal'ers do.

I know. We're weird. :-)

[sce56]

40. I would say it has more to do with the fact that we have so many in Los Angeles!

I-5, I-405, I-605, I-105, I-10, I-110,I-210, I-710 then the others that are not Interstate freeways like the 60 the 34 the 118 etc etc. In the bay area they have no where near the number we have, I would hate the drive from the 80 to the Golden gate since the 101 disappears through San Francisco then reappears just short of the bridge.

[martymar64]

64. The names of the LA freeways helps

"Take the Santa Monica east to the Harbor freeway North to then onto the Pasadena Freeway"

Any Angeleno could follow that. I would always get confused about the freeways further east like the 620, 710, etc.
It was always my goal to stay west of the 405. Preferably where the debris meets the sea.

[ellisonz]

67. No. As a born/raised Southern Californian...

Using the geographical names with "freeway" actually complicates it. Easier to say for example if one was going from Glendale to Long Beach to say take "the 134, to the 210, to the 605 (not 620). If one goes through the downtown interchanges it gets even more complicated...Anyone from out of town should have a map and should study it.

We're pretty much awesome because we spend on average 1/4 of our day driving anywhere from 40 to 80 mph with ease.

[martymar64]

80. I disagree, the names made it easier for me.

When I first moved there in 86, the Freeway numbers downright confused me, but I was able to key in on the names.

But on the other hand, numbers in most forms tend to confuse me, I think I'm numerically dyslexic if thats possible. I guess alot of it is how you lock things into your memory.

I miss LA,and all of the little things that make it unique despite the traffic:

The Sepulveda Pass

Chaka graffitti tags

El Coyote margaritas

Polish Dogs with Chili from Pinks

The courtyard at the Cat and Fiddle on Sunset

Harry Perry

Dennis Woodruff - actor

That ugly ass clown/ballerina sculpture on Main & Rose in Venice

Climbing Stony Point in Chatsworth

etc, etc

[SKKY]

11. In Louisville, we refer to the interstates as "The 64 East" or "The 65 South"

[Redstone]

20. So it's basically a west-of-the Missippippi thing, yes?

Redstone

[SKKY]

57. I suppose so.

[reyd reid reed]

13. I can't be sure since I've never been in

Nevada or Utah...but California's the only place I've heard that. We don't use it here -- not even the California transplants use it.

We use I-25 or I-70...or skip the 'I' entirely and just say 25 or 70. No 'the'. It's more economical that way. Spare. Elegant. Concise. None of which would apply to me at the moment.

:P

[Redstone]

24. Ah, but "elegant" ALWAYS applies to you.

Redstone

[reyd reid reed]

31. ...

:loveya:

[Breeze54]

17. I drive on 90 and 495 but

I avoid 24 and 128 like the plague! ;)

I noticed the I-90 in Ohio, it seems to me.

[KitchenWitch]

18. I am guessing it is merely a SoCal thing

In the following CA counties: LA, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, Ventura and San Diego.

[Redstone]

21. It's starting to look like you have the correct theory.

Redstone

[LibDemAlways]

28. Well the 101 is about 2 miles from my house, and

I live in Ventura County....so you may be right.

Some freeways are also commonly referred to by their names. "The Hollywood Freeway" and "The Santa Monica Freeway" are a couple of them.

[KitchenWitch]

32. I am too new here to know the names for the freeways

I know them by number.

By far, the worst one I have traveled here so far is Highway 22. What a flaming piece of shit that highway is (yes I live in Orange County).

[LibDemAlways]

53. The 22 (Garden Grove Fwy) is pretty bad, but then again Orange County is

so congested that they've built those toll roads to work around some of the problem. The one that runs between Costa Mesa and San Juan Capistrano is worth every penny. My brother lives near the 5 in Tustin and it's been greatly improved in recent years - at least through the Anaheim area. Once you head north toward LA, it's a nightmare, as I'm sure you've experienced. Built in the 1950's. Enormous numbers of big trucks. Still mostly three lanes with on-and-off ramps every mile. And it can't be widened without buying up many millions in real estate that borders it. Every time we head up the 5 and reach the City of Commerce near downtown my husband (an LA native) says the same thing: "This is just butt ugly."

[KitchenWitch]

78. Oh yeah, Commerce!

Ay yi yi!

[Book Lover]

34. Exactly correct

We in Northern California do not use "the" in front of highway numbers.

[barb162]

50. That's what I think.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. In both Oregon and Minnesota, It's "I-5" or "I-35W" or "I-494."

Mysteriously, however, Portlanders refer to the section of I-80 that runs through their city as "the Banfield."

[KitchenWitch]

22. Actually I always called I-35W, just 35W.

My son, when he was really little (before W was pResident) used to call it the W Freeway!

"Oh good, Mama, we are on the W Freeway!"

[Left Is Write]

27. Same here. I never added an I, ever.

[Left Is Write]

23. Everyone around here calls I-84 "The interstate." No number.

I call it "the freeway," which cracks me up. THE freeway. As in the ONE freeway.

In Minnesota, we never put a "the" in front of the number. Just 35 (or 35W or 35E) or 94 or what-have-you.

[Critters2]

39. When I lived near US 20, everyone called it "The Interstate"

even though it isn't an interstate. We'd say, "I'm taking the interstate to Dubuque" and everyone would know we really meant highway 20, cuz there wasn't an Interstate from there to Dubuque. I always wondered if non-locals were confused by that.

[AshevilleGuy]

25. We just say "26" or "40". I never heard anyone use "the". n/t

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Far as I know, it's a SoCal thing

that's trying to infiltrate and pollute NorCal speak through some great conspiracy. Some of the traffic reporters in the Bay Area say "the 280" or whatever. I can conclude only that they're transplants, since a real NorCaler knows one must never do anything that's in any way related to SoCal.*

I always wanna ask people who say it if they also drive on The Wilshire Boulevard. :P









*Except root for the Dodgers, which is not only perfectly acceptable, but makes a great deal of sense.

[Redstone]

35. So it IS just those damned SoCalers. You MUST check their spread north, lest they

infect all of us.

Keep fighting the good fight for the rest of us, OK?

Redstone

[KitchenWitch]

47. I took a drive on The Mulholland Drive last week!

:rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

48. Did you get there via

The Sunset Boulevard or The Ventura Boulevard? :shrug:

[KitchenWitch]

49. ROFL

The Sunset Boulevard, of course!

Did you know that I live fairly near The Jamboree Road?

[Oeditpus Rex]

51. I thought you lived pretty close to

Twice in one thread.

[KitchenWitch]

52. Yes I am close to

too!

[havocmom]

30. Around here, we just refer to the interstates as 'the pavement'

:evilgrin:

[Redstone]

33. In Philadelphia, that would be the "payment," and it would mean the sidewalk rather than

the street.

"I warshed my face and dried it with a tal, then I walked down the payment to the Accamee, to buy some bottles of wooder."

Redstone

[havocmom]

43. Sidewalk? Sidewalk? Vague recollection from previous life.

Sidewalks. I miss those.

[Redstone]

45. Where you live, you don't NEED sidewalks. There's so little traffic that it's save

to walk down the road, yes?

Redstone

[havocmom]

63. Actually, no

Been forced to hit the ditch 3 times. One time, I stayed there a couple hours as I thought my ankle was busted. The 90 Pound hound was just half grown but he tried to drag me home anyway.

I basically have given up walking, which has NOT helped my physical condition. In town, ground too uneven/very slick & muddy or dry and uneven with loose gravel. Outside of town, idiots in pickup trucks with not enough entertainment. Inside town, a few aggressive dogs running loose and illegal to fire a gun ;) Outside of town, dog might be mistaken for coyote or wolf and shot - yes, he IS clearly a Golden Retrieve, but as mentioned above, idiots in pickup trucks with not enough entertainment.

Got me a stationary bike. The dog is NOT amused.

Frankly, I miss the beach or the mountains. I was SAFE there :hi:

PS: broke another bone in my foot yesterday. I really need a safe place to WALK!

[hedgehog]

44. My children have been laughing at me for 20 years for saying tal!

In fact, I had to explain to someone in Syracus what I was talking about! You know, a tal, it's what you dry yourself off with!

[mike_c]

37. I'll be taking the 5 south in a week or so....

Gonna get a desert fix for spring break!

[madinmaryland]

41. Around DC you are either on the inner loop or outer loop

of the capital beltway. I-95/495.

[trackfan]

55. Using the "the" is more analytical - like the difference between

ancient and modern language. Cf. Latin to the Romance Languages or Homeric Greek to Attic, Koine or Modern Greek.

[LeftyMom]

58. It's a southern california thing

Up here we don't use the unneeded "the" when referring to a freeway. Up here I5 is I5. Down there it's "the 5."

[Gormy Cuss]

59. If you refer to I-80 as "the 80" in the Bay Area, they assume you're from L.A.

At least that's what all the natives tell me. What do I know -- I still have trouble calling them freeways rather than highways.

[malta blue]

61. My husband is from Southern California

and when he lived in the San Fran. area, he was regularly chastized for inserting "the" before the number. Is it a SoCal thing?
:shrug:

[Shine]

73. That's what I was saying, too. I'm on the CA central coast

and we don't use the "the" in front of hwy names.

:hi:

[SemperEadem]

65. not so much for the interstates, but for the means by which to

get from Jersey to Manhattan--the George, The Lincoln, the Holland; then there's the BQE, the Cross Bronx, The Verrazano...

interestingly, you'll get corrected if you call the interstates "freeways" in Jersey (tolls, I mean taxes, don'tcha know?)... or call the shore 'the beach'... however, there is a difference. A beach is free; the shore is taxed in the summer. Therein lies the difference.

[TOhioLiberal]

71. The only road here that is referred to with 'the'

is I80/90, also know as 'The Ohio Turnpike'. :silly:

[Shine]

72. What a fascinating observation, Redstone!

I'd never noticed that before.

Personally though, as a Californian, I don't refer to highways with a "the" in front of them. I do, however, notice it used more prevalently in southern CA.

Up here, on the central coast and in the Monterey/SF Bay area, we just use the numbers, themselves : "17", "1", "280", "101", "85"...etc...like that.

:hi:

[Redstone]

74. Yes, the conclusion seems to be that the "the" usage is a Southern California thing,

with maybe a few other pockets around the country.

I really thought it was an east/west usage dichotomy, but it does not appear to be such after all.

Redstone

[Shine]

75. Well, I'm sure you'll think of something else fascinating to notice.

:D

:hi:

[baldguy]

76. That designative construction is common in the eastern Great Lakes area.

I yoozhually take da Nindy east to da Tree-nindy nort to visit my brawder ind hiz fayhmally in Rotchester.

[grace0418]

79. In Chicago we say, for example, either 94 or The Edens. So I don't know which

camp that puts us in. Also, we have The Kennedy (90), The Dan Ryan (94 on the south side of the city, The Edens is north), The Eisenhower (290), The Bishop Ford (80? I think), and others that I'm probably forgetting.

[dysfunctional press]

81. 294, northwest tollway, eastwest tollway...

but usually it's just by the numbers...31, 20, 25, 58, 72, 68, 62, yadda yadda yadda...