That happens around where I live as well. I used to work on a stretch of road called Pacific Hwy, but most people called it “Old 99”. The city where I live now has taken to posting both names on street signs at major intersections. You might see a street sign that says “21st Ave–Historical Name Webb Center Road” or similar.
Where I grew up freeways were referred to by name, not number, which can be confusing because I-5 could have been the Golden State Fwy, the Santa Ana Fwy, or the San Diego Fwy depending what stretch you were on. US101 was either the Hollywood Fwy or the Ventura Fwy, etc.
It may seem counter intuitive but both reporters might have been correct, but were referring to different locations…
There actually are two Launch sites… there is the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) (owned and operated by NASA) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) (owned and operated by the US Air Force).
Both are distinct, neighboring, and often confused facilities on Florida’s Space Coast. KSC is on Merritt Island, while the Cape is a neighboring geographic peninsula. Both are used for launches, with NASA running KSC and the Air Force managing the nearby Space Force Station.
Not every “native” refers to freeways by their names, versus the numbers . . .
My sister-in-law was born and raised in Southern California and she refers to freeways by their numbers, not the names
What I personally find confounding is when a particular freeway is labeled as north or south, and then a few miles down the road, the same freeway is labeled west or east
I call roads, streets whatever by their names, my son calls them by their numbers… However, a few roads are just easier by number due to the name changing umpteen times…
Back years ago Nashville kept changing the way a road ran (before GPS) one road downtown Nashville ran both ways, then they changed it to only run one way (N), then one way (S) then back both ways, this went on for a few years, we were like WTH???
31E runs from Nashville into KY, between those 2 (Nashville and TN/KY state line) it changes names 8 or 9 times… about 50 miles, In total, the route stretches 190.9 miles from Nashville to Louisville, KY… Us natives mainly just call it Gallatin Pk/Rd, in part of Nashville it is called Gallatin Pike, in parts of Gallatin it is called Nashville Pike…
The younger generations, and those of a more progressive mindset, do tend to refer to numbered roads, expressways, etc, by the assigned number rather than the given name.
It has absolutely NOTING to do with being young or progressive. I’ve been using numbers for roads LONG before you were born. For me (and other people I know who do this) - it’s a numbers/math thing. Everyone I know who does this are fellow engineers who love to work with numbers. I find it easier to remember a number then a name and most math-oriented people I know are the same.
That is funny you say that, cause generally I agree, I am absolutely terrible with names, but I can (well used to before speed dial lol) remember phone numbers quite well, I still remember a lot of the engine specs and stuff like that, math was the ONLY thing I was ever halfway decent at in school… But for the life of me, road numbers confuse the heck out of me, I am still better with road names… I still get 31W mixed up with 31E (2 totally different roads) and i grew up around and driving on both all my life… Maybe that is why I don’t like to travel, numbers confuse me and I can’t remember names to safe my life at times…
BTW my daughter who is 12 years younger than my son uses road names…
If you drove in upstate NY, you–like everyone else–would be confused when encountering US Route 9. In addition to “regular” Route 9, there are also Routes 9-W, 9-A, and 9-D.
At one point we had/ maybe still have 7 different McGavock’s (road, street, pike whatever) in the greater Nashville area… and non connected to another one…
Wife wants to travel by vehicle once we are able, I’d be OK with her sending me post cards…
When I was stationed at Ft Campbell - there was Rt 41. Rt 41A, 41B and Rt 41-Alternate.
The most confusing street names I ever encountered was in Atlanta. There’s Peach Tree Ave, Peach Tree St, Peach Tree blvd…and MANY more. Very very confusing for someone unfamiliar with the area.
Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, we always referred to the highways by the numbers. None of the highways had names passing through the city… I-75, I-70 and Rt-35.
Travelling by car to Detroit, I was always annoyed when listening to the radio getting traffic reports of a traffic tie-up on the Fisher (I-75) or the Chrysler freeway (still I-75!), the Reuther Fwy (I-696) or a breakdown on the northbound Lodge (I-10). This is information relevant only to residents. Visitors would be map reading (remember maps!?) which would either not post the name or it would be too small to read.
Given the shirt below, I always though they were confusing on purpose to fill the food pantries!
