Wildfire in Los Angeles-Route Fire

[Dash man]

Aaah yes, and the funny thing is that the 101 is called different things, depending on which section you're talking about - it is both the Hollywood Freeway and the Ventura Freeway, in different areas. IIRC, the Hollywood Freeway consists of parts of both the 101 and the 170 (it's been 14 years since I lived in LA, and even longer since I drove there).



We used to call the Pacific Coast Highway simply PCH.



KNX 1070 comes in well at night here - as well as across large swathes of the West in general. Occasionally I listen, and find the traffic reports nostalgic. There is something about hearing Denise Fondo name the different freeways that really makes me nostalgic for Southern California. A lot of good things happened to me in my 20's and 30's in LA. Those experiences when young stick with you for a lifetime. I thought it was neat during my recent 4 1/2 month campervan trip through CA, AZ, NM, CO, UT and NV, that I could listen to KNX at night wherever I was.

I left there in 1982 for the Air Force. Stationed in Sacramento twice for a year each after that, but ended up on the east coast. No more family ties to go back for.

 

[jollystomper]

the 101 Freeway (aka the Ventura Highway)

<Thread drift>
Not being from Cali, I thought the actual name was the Ventura Freeway. America called it "Ventura Highway" in their song (which I like very much ).
</Thread drift>

Hoping they get the fire under control soon, with no casualties and minimal property damage.

 

[Dash man]

<Thread drift>
Not being from Cali, I thought the actual name was the Ventura Freeway. America called it "Ventura Highway" in their song (which I like very much ).
</Thread drift>

It’s been a long long time since I’ve driven those roads. Please don’t hold me accountable for everything I’ve said to be exact.

 

[street]

Yeah when I was driving down to Orange County my fav route was "take the 5 south, cut across on the 210 and take 605 south to 405 south"

Lol!!
We use landscape marking, names of people, creeks or mountain names etc. where to turn in giving directions. Most here couldn't tell you what number a gravel road is if asked. Of course, interstate road is a long way from me, so I never have to travel that road.

You would have me lost!!

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah freeway name change often in CA. 405 (Santa Monica Freeway) north to (San Diego Freeway) south.

I10 changes from Santa Monica to San Bernardino

How about I5; Montgomery Freeway, San Diego Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway, Golden State Freeway, and West Side Freeway

Same road, just the names have been changed to cunfuse the drivers -

And nobody calls the Pacific Coast Highway that, it's either the coast highway or PCH

 

[Koolau]

More thread drift - but IME, in the Chicago area, You'd say "You takin' 90, 290, or 294?" (not "the 90" - that would sound weird to my ears). If using names for the same, it would be "You takin' the Kennedy, the Ike (Eisenhower), or the Tri-State?". OK, more like "'da Kennedy", etc.

We have Expressways and Tollways, the term "freeway" (IME) is not used here.

The thing that I think is weird, there are signs directing people to "The IKE" - now, if you were from out of town, and looking for I-290, you might also know to look for the "Eisenhower", and you might know that President Eisenhower was known as "IKE", but would you put that all together while driving and looking for a road sign? They should stick with names or numbers or both, but not 'nicknames'.

-ERD50

What about the LSD (yeah, I know, not a Freeway)

 

[Souschef]

I'm not from Cali, but that's the way I heard it when visiting. In the Islands, it's very simple. It's either H1, H2 or H3. That's it. That's all we've got!

The worst part was sitting in our condo on Kauai, and watching a traffic report about the Nimitz highway in Oahu on TV

 

[Koolau]

The worst part was sitting in our condo on Kauai, and watching a traffic report about the Nimitz highway in Oahu on TV

Heh, heh, it's a waste of time to me on Oahu too. I pretty much know when to stay off the roads. Another major advantage of FIRE.

Full disclosure: When I was still on the mainland (pining for Island life) I used to occasionally watch the Honolulu traffic reports on the net - especially when the beach cams were down.

 

[calmloki]

Lol!!
We use landscape marking, names of people, creeks or mountain names etc. where to turn in giving directions. Most here couldn't tell you what number a gravel road is if asked. Of course, interstate road is a long way from me, so I never have to travel that road.

You would have me lost!!

Go about a 1/4 mile past the old oak that blew down a couple years ago and up the hill with all the Scotch Broom. If you pass Brody's place you've gone too far.

 

[ERD50]

What about the LSD (yeah, I know, not a Freeway)

Great song, saw them perform it one time. Love the piano arpeggio.

IME, people pretty much just said "the Drive", and you knew they meant "Lake Shore Drive". It's complicated, there is an inner and outer drive - the inner drive has more connections to cross streets, the outer drive is more of an expressway. Sorta, kinda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Shore_Drive

They pretty much only say "LSD" as a reference to the song, but maybe some just say it for short, but "the Drive" actually rolls off the tongue slightly easier.

I think a lot of traffic reports will refer to the inner/outer drive. Fire-wise, not much to report since 1871.

-ERD50

 

[street]

Go about a 1/4 mile past the old oak that blew down a couple years ago and up the hill with all the Scotch Broom. If you pass Brody's place you've gone too far.

Yep, that is it!!! Lol Easy and simple.

 

[Koolau]

Great song, saw them perform it one time. Love the piano arpeggio.

IME, people pretty much just said "the Drive", and you knew they meant "Lake Shore Drive". It's complicated, there is an inner and outer drive - the inner drive has more connections to cross streets, the outer drive is more of an expressway. Sorta, kinda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Shore_Drive

They pretty much only say "LSD" as a reference to the song, but maybe some just say it for short, but "the Drive" actually rolls off the tongue slightly easier.

I think a lot of traffic reports will refer to the inner/outer drive. Fire-wise, not much to report since 1871.

-ERD50

Used to hear the traffic reports on WLS. Always referred to the "Outer Drive."

Yeah, that 1871 fire was a doozy.

 

[Major Tom]

<Thread drift>
Not being from Cali, I thought the actual name was the Ventura Freeway. America called it "Ventura Highway" in their song (which I like very much ).

I lived in LA from 1986 to 2008, and everyone I knew called it the Ventura Freeway. I was wondering if, at some point in the past, it was commonly referred to as the Ventura Highway but it turns out that Dewey Bunnell (the songwriter) wasn't really writing about a specific road, and was a bit confused about what the different highways and freeways were actually called. Either way, it's a lovely song, and evokes the feeling of Southern California in the 1970's for me.

 

[EarlyandLate]

BTW, the reason I asked the off topic question about using "the" for freeway numbers is because I was reminded that I always wondered why it was named that way and was reminded by the first line of the linked article.


"Mandatory evacuations on as many as 200 homes were ordered as a brush fire burned near the 5 Freeway north of Los Angeles on a day of extreme late-summer heat in Southern California."


Here in Atlanta, we just say I 75, I 85, or I 20, or just the number without the I. The big loop around the city is I 285, but more commonly called "The Perimeter". Obvious message implied there.


Any way, I'm still hoping for a safe an quick end to the fire there!!

 

[grasshopper]

Yep, that is it!!! Lol Easy and simple.

16 years here and people still call my place the Peterson place.

 

[REWahoo]

16 years here and people still call my place the Peterson place.

Are we to assume you aren't the Peterson's?

 

[braumeister]

Must be a regional thing. There is a house on my street that has had two different owners in the ten years since the Robertses moved out, but the old timers on the block still call it the Roberts house.

 

[rodi]

First an on topic comment (to be followed by several thread drift comments).

My sister is vacationing in Oregon - and headed north yesterday - she couldn't figure out why google maps routed her on I-15 instead of I-5 until she heard about the fire. It only added an hour to her travel the way google routed her.

Now the off topic/thread drift comments:
I grew up in San Diego Growing up we would say "take 5 to 8"... no "the". I moved to Bellingham WA and every main road has "The" in front of it "The Guide-Meridian", "The Hannigan". I asked people about it and no one knew why. The addition of "the" spread to freeways up there pretty soon after that.

Freeways should be free. The term freeway is the common term in CA. It implies limited access, no tolls. Though not necessarily interstate. When I lived in PA, the turnpike was a "freeway" with tolls... That freaked me out. (Tolls are much rarer on the west coast and are usually privately developed roads.)

Hawaii's three freeways are considered interstates... but you'd be hard pressed to take them to another state.

We have freeways (limited access, not toll) that are not interstates... Close to my house is SR 52. (state route). Further south in the county is SR-94. Both are east west freeways. But the north-south 805 connects from I-5 to I-5 - as an alternate north south route... So does "the" 405. These are not truly interstate - but 'auxiliary" interstates.

Words are weird.

I've never understood why (the) 405 southbound is called the San Diego Freeway... It merges into I-5 well north of San Diego county. Why isn't I-5 southbound called the San Diego freeway?

Ok... I've had my various rants for the day.

 

[rodi]

Oh - one more off-topic discussion. The term "Dude"

Growing up coastal San Diego "Dude" was gender non-specific. It was a greeting used for friends. Hey Dude, what's up?". Back east I was told it had to be Dudette for women. I played the Cali card and refused to use Dudette.

 

[braumeister]

Ok... I've had my various rants for the day.

I'll add one more.
During my time in DC, I got to appreciate the shorthand used by radio traffic reporters. There is a major highway (I-495) that circles the DC area. Many cities have such bypass routes, but DC is one of the few that calls it "the Beltway". Such an appropriate name.

But the part I liked was that since it was a circle, the cardinal directions (NESW) were useless, so traffic reports would specify locations on the "inner Belt" or "outer Belt". Since all such highways are two-way, it was immediately obvious that the outer belt was traffic moving counter-clockwise, and the inner belt was clockwise. A most sensible way of describing things. I haven't heard that technique used in other cities.

 

[Turbo29]

I lived in LA from 1986 to 2008, and everyone I knew called it the Ventura Freeway. I was wondering if, at some point in the past, it was commonly referred to as the Ventura Highway but it turns out that Dewey Bunnell (the songwriter) wasn't really writing about a specific road, and was a bit confused about what the different highways and freeways were actually called. Either way, it's a lovely song, and evokes the feeling of Southern California in the 1970's for me.

It always seemed kind of sad driving north on US-101, you'd come to a sign designating the Santa Barbara County line and on the same sign post underneath was a smaller sign saying "End Ventura Freeway."

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Oh - one more off-topic discussion. The term "Dude"

Growing up coastal San Diego "Dude" was gender non-specific. It was a greeting used for friends. Hey Dude, what's up?". Back east I was told it had to be Dudette for women. I played the Cali card and refused to use Dudette.

Dude- real Californians don’t say “Cali”

 

[Dash man]

Dude- real Californians don’t say “Cali”

That’s for sure! And from my experience, most people don’t even say just California. But either specify LA, the Bay Area, Southern California, Northern California or the Central Valley, high desert, central coast, Sierra foothills or something similar.

 

[Walt34]

I'll add one more.
During my time in DC, I got to appreciate the shorthand used by radio traffic reporters. There is a major highway (I-495) that circles the DC area. Many cities have such bypass routes, but DC is one of the few that calls it "the Beltway". Such an appropriate name.

Not surprisingly because they're so close, but I-695 that circles Baltimore is also referred to as "The Beltway" when you're there.

I remember when DC's Beltway was opening, they opened sections of it at a time. Locally it was a Very Big Deal for almost everyone - for us, it cut the travel time to a relative in Virginia from two hours to 40 minutes.

And traffic engineers from around the world visit that section of I-495 between Georgia Ave and Rockville Pike (MD 355) known as the "Rock Creek Roller Coaster" as an example of how NOT to build a highway. It has a series of sharp (for an interstate) banked turns that looked really cool to me as a teenager when it was built, but the wrecks that design has caused are legendary. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

That’s for sure! And from my experience, most people don’t even say just California. But either specify LA, the Bay Area, Southern California, Northern California or the Central Valley, high desert, central coast, Sierra foothills or something similar.

Exactly!
I’m in Northern California which “foreigners” take to mean the Bay Area.
No, if I was from the Bay Area I would have said that! I live in a completely different area. Night and day.

I worked 35 years in county government so I’m well versed in the differences though.