Why do people in KC call highway names weirdly? (Kansas City: live, gym)

[stlguy1976]

I have heard you guys say things like 40 highway, 50 highway, etc. How weird is that? Explain please....is this a KC thing?

[MrsMo]

That is the name of the road! 40 hiway runs east and west and is the main road running through Independence. 50 hiway is the main road running through the middle of Raytown. I've lived in this area since I was 5 and its always been 40 hiway and 50 hiway. Not weird to me!

[TabulaRasa]

Okay, so you're a troll, but I actually have wondered about this, too.

I moved from out of state, and where I'm from, we call numbered highways things like "Route 52," or "Highway 251." Or, we just say the number, like, "Take 52 to Cottage Hill Road and turn left."

I wondered if it was a regional thing, or just a Kansas City thing, to say, "______Highway." I've noticed it really just seems to apply to two-lane numbered roads (from what I can tell, not that familiar with the roads that are named this way). Nobody seems to call divided highways like 435 "435 Highway," or calls 71 "71 Highway." We just call them 435 and 71.

[alwaystraveling25]

It's Definitely a KC thing to say 50 Highway, etc., instead of "Highway 50" or "Route 50". It probably has to do with Missouri's bizarre road naming systems of "A - Z" and sometimes "Double AA through ZZ". I have never lived anywhere else where I took a lettered road somewhere!

You want weird? Come to Chicago! We call freeways/highways by their names, not by their numbers...so if you listen to local traffic reports, they talk about the Edens, The Kennedy, The Dan Ryan, the Bishop Ford, Eisenhower. No one actually refers to them by numbers...try explaining THAT to out-of-towners!

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by alwaystraveling25

It's Definitely a KC thing to say 50 Highway, etc., instead of "Highway 50" or "Route 50". It probably has to do with Missouri's bizarre road naming systems of "A - Z" and sometimes "Double AA through ZZ". I have never lived anywhere else where I took a lettered road somewhere!

You want weird? Come to Chicago! We call freeways/highways by their names, not by their numbers...so if you listen to local traffic reports, they talk about the Edens, The Kennedy, The Dan Ryan, the Bishop Ford, Eisenhower. No one actually refers to them by numbers...try explaining THAT to out-of-towners!

Using the freeway names isn't unique to Chicago. In New York the names are used also, like the LIE, Grand Central Parkway, Major Deegan, etc. I've heard that in Philadelphia too.

[MrsMo]

I'm still trying to figure out why the op thinks it is weird. Do you want them to have names like Maple or Elm? When we were kids we called them Grandma's road. 50 highway was the road to Grandma K in Warrensburg. 40 highway was the road to Grandma S. We took 40 hiway all the way to Pittsburgh PA a long long time ago.

[aragx6]

No, it's weird because in most places you would say Highway 69 not 69 Highway. It's a funny little regional quirk -- I never thought too much of it. Anyone ever heard it said elsewhere?

Do you guys call them Outer or Frontage roads? This is a big difference between St. Louis and Chicago (as well as gym vs. tennis shoes, soda vs. pop and pavilion vs. shelter). Kansas Citians say shelter too right?

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by aragx6

No, it's weird because in most places you would say Highway 69 not 69 Highway. It's a funny little regional quirk -- I never thought too much of it. Anyone ever heard it said elsewhere?

Do you guys call them Outer or Frontage roads? This is a big difference between St. Louis and Chicago (as well as gym vs. tennis shoes, soda vs. pop and pavilion vs. shelter). Kansas Citians say shelter too right?

Shelter. Aragx6, are you getting used to "washroom" for restroom and "cookout" for BBQ?

[Versatile]

Because we like to!

[kcmo]

Why do people on the west coast call interstates by only the number?

Take the 5 to the 10. Guess they are weird too.