Is using the names for the Chicago-area Interstates dying out? (legally, authority)

[Steve&Adam]

Originally Posted by Rhino4401

I was totally mystified by WBBM traffic reports when I moved here! "The circle??" Might as well have been a foreign language. Only tuned in when trip involved LSD or O'Hare. I eventually figured out Ike, Edens, Ryan, but bec of GPS & marrying a local, my knowledge is no longer tested. Now I enjoy the quirky regionalism--the world is getting so homogenized, I appreciate vestiges of separate cultures--without the anxiety about getting where I need to go.

On the other side of the coin, I was disappointed years ago (20+ already?) when the CTA abandoned the traditional names for its subway and "L" lines in favor of plain-vanilla generic color names. Red, blue, brown, yellow... What are we now, Boston? Boring! I understand why they made the change, but I've never liked it.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by Steve&Adam

On the other side of the coin, I was disappointed years ago (20+ already?) when the CTA abandoned the traditional names for its subway and "L" lines in favor of plain-vanilla generic color names. Red, blue, brown, yellow... What are we now, Boston? Boring! I understand why they made the change, but I've never liked it.

As someone who grew up with the colors here, I understand why that kind of change might be irritating, but when there are a lot of lines, I think short names that are easy to envision do make it easier, especially when you're talking about stations in and around the Loop that have multiple lines running through them, and transferring there from one line to another.

Of course, that doesn't mean colors were absolutely the only solution. Numbers could get confusing with the numbered street grid, letters would also be pretty generic, but what about... the planets? Isn't there a parking garage in the Loop that labels its floors with the planets? How about fruits, or animals?

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by SkylarkPhotoBooth

The Tri-State Tollway is a particularly silly name, since it is entirely contained in one state.

I think the only reason it has that name, is to reference that truckers can use that to drive between Wisconsin and Indiana on the outskirts of Chicago. Never mind that many truckers driving between southern Wisconsin and central Illinois(to where it ends/starts in Normal, IL), use I-39 instead!

Originally Posted by Rhino4401

I was totally mystified by WBBM traffic reports when I moved here! "The circle??" Might as well have been a foreign language. Only tuned in when trip involved LSD or O'Hare. I eventually figured out Ike, Edens, Ryan, but bec of GPS & marrying a local, my knowledge is no longer tested. Now I enjoy the quirky regionalism--the world is getting so homogenized, I appreciate vestiges of separate cultures--without the anxiety about getting where I need to go.

Can totally understand how someone who recently moved to Chicago, would be confused at first. I heard local lingo that's always used, when it came to Atlanta area expressways whenever I was listening to traffic reports on the radio down there.

One last note: I think I-57 is the only expressway within Chicago's city limits that doesn't have an official name of some sort(usually being named for some politician), or a nickname of any sort. Not sure why, but that's oddly the case to this day!

[SkylarkPhotoBooth]

Dude, I've been living and driving in Chicago for well over a decade, and I still don't know exactly what "The Circle" is. I hear it mentioned on radio traffic reports constantly, but never hear anyone use the term in real life. I have a vague sense that it refers to one or more of the interchanges near downtown, but that's about all I know.

Radio traffic reports are really kind of outdated in the age of Google Maps and Waze, anyway, so that might be part of the reason these terms have died out somewhat over the last decade or so.

[uicgrad]

You kind of have to be an old timer to know what the Circle refers to exactly. Before UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago was known as UIC) it was officially designated as UICC (University of Illinois at Chicago Circle). Yes, that made it the only University that I know of that is named after an expressway interchange. I guess the official name was changed in 1982. It was named after the circle interchange between I-90 and the Eisenhower. If you google circle interchange Chicago on google maps you will see exactly where it is. To add to the confusion the circle interchange's name has recently been officially changed to the Jane Byrne Interchange. I still catch myself referring to UIC as "Circle Campus" or "Chicago Circle" because that's what it was known as for 20 years.

Attached links helps explain this:

Uic? Is That Near Circle Campus? - tribunedigital-chicagotribune

The Circle Campus of the University of Illinois / Walter A. Netsch (SOM Partner) ⋆ ArchEyes

[Haaamburger]

I have lived in Chicago north side seven years and grew up so burbs I always called the Stevenson 55 never called it Stevenson still don't but when I moved to North side a drive the Kennedy a lot I called it keddenedy because I would forget the number and I call Eden's the Eden's . And I call Dan Ryan Dan Ryan but I still call Stevenson 55 . Maybe growing up that's what my family called it . I never called the regain the regaen or the Jane Adams the Jane Adams. I think the names make everything confusing even know I have lived in Chicago most life if someone ask for directions the only highway I can state with confidence is 55 or 355 or 390 with the Kennedy the number and name pop up in my head and I have to decide which one to use

[paytonc]

The Trib has a map, and short bios of the various eponyms.

Originally Posted by DavePa

Google street-view uses the name

I suspect that GPS navigation will be what does these regional names in. Notice how "Kingery" (which I have indeed heard in traffic reports!) has dropped from use, since I-80 mostly carries out-of-towners.

[Haaamburger]

I heard someone call the circle the spaghetti bowl

[NorthSideSoxGuy]

I'm a relatively-young person who grew up in the area, I call the expressways by their names, but numbers. So I don't think it's dying out with the locals, though my friends who who live here, but are not originally from the area often call it the highway or 90 or whatever. It's all the same thing I suppose, but I do have a special place in my heart for the quirky regionalism of expressway names.

Plus, it's just easier to say, "I'm stuck in traffic on the Kennedy" as opposed to "I'm on 90/94"

[SkylarkPhotoBooth]

Originally Posted by Haaamburger

I heard someone call the circle the spaghetti bowl

Ha. That's certainly a more accurate descriptor of the interchanges in that area. Perhaps in earlier days when the term was coined it more closely resembled a simple circle.