Highway names

[Peter A. McGraw]

There have been discussions on this list in the past about the Southern
California use of the definite article with Interstate highway
numbers--e.g., "The Five," which becomes just "Five" or "I-5" somewhere
between LA and San Francisco, and remains so as far as the Canadian border
as far as I know.

On a trip to Kansas this past week I discovered another variant of highway
terminology that I hadn't encountered before.  Here in Oregon we speak of
"Highway 99," and that's the usage everywhere else I've lived, to the best
of my recollection.

In Bucklin, Kansas, I asked directions and was told that my destination lay
somewhere north on "154 Highway" (not "Highway 154").  Later I noticed a
sign at an intersection southwest of Hutchinson that identified the road I
was on as "KS 61 Highway" (as opposed to "KS Highway 61" or "SR 61").

Is this usage peculiar to Kansas, or is it more widespread?

Peter Mc.

*****************************************************************
Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************