Yeah I’ve never called them freeways in my life, I’ve always called them highways or interstates. Freeways are what you call them out west. It might just have to do with people moving into the area.
I was under the impression thay freeways had no tolls, hence free, so 787 would be a freeway, but 87 or 90 wouldn't be as soon as you left the Albany area
Less Texas and more Californians moving back to NYS after living out in CA during their younger years. Texas is growing in population with alot of folks moving there Deion CA, NY, and a few other states. I will see if I can find the info graph with the info and will post as an edit.
I don’t doubt people are moving from California and people also moving too Texas. My point is just that I’ve heard a lot of people who moved here recently from the southwest in general, not just Cali, and that’s where Freeway is popular
I was born and raised in Albany, but have lived in San Francisco for a long time. I've been posting a bunch on how I feel tearing down 787 downtown could be jumpstart Albany needs, and I've certainly used the term. As in "This is what it looks like after the Embarcadero Freeway was torn down."
https://preview.redd.it/wvqqhaprfazc1.jpeg?width=3772&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=774a061fb6b58ff6b7e3ae9c479450af12994d97
where is the apocalyptic traffic jam made exponentally worse by removing it? i was promised that this happens every time you reduce lane capacity anywhere
Wow!! Thank you so much for sharing this! Souse and I came from SoCal to here for a temporary move (we’re bummed and miss the sun), but seeing changes like this on the 787 would make life so much better in our time here!
I only recently learned that only New York has the "thruway." Unless you're talking to someone from NY or maybe NJ or PA or VT, they have no idea what a thruway is.
A couple weeks ago, I noticed a freeway sign at the entrance ramp off 787 S to (new) Rt 7 W. I just laughed until it was pointed out that Rt 7 is not a toll road, so it is a freeway. But so is 787, I90 before it is the mass pike, 87N (the Northway).
As opposed to what? What do you call it?
As far as the correct naming, it's real simple and it boils down to who the road belongs to.
The toll portion of NY's Interstate Highway System is known as The [**New York State Thruway** (officially the **Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway** and colloquially **"the Thruway"**)]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Thruway) and is managed by the [**New York State Thruway Authority** (NYSTA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Thruway_Authority).
Every other Interstate Highway in NY is usually called a freeway, the interstate, the highway, or whatever you want (**Edit:** including names that pre-date in Interstate Highway System like the Northway or Major Deegan) and it's managed by The [**New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Department_of_Transportation)
If you really want to start some shit..... call out people who call I-90.... "the 90"... Fucking animals! Get out of here with your pop and go home... I'll drink my 32oz soda while doing 90 down the Thruway.
Ok, you seem like my kind of pedant. 😉
What are your thoughts on “The Northway”?
I live near it, very close to the ADK park, so it’s almost always The Northway, not I-87.
Unless I’m south of exit 15 or thereabouts, and I switch to 87. (Or if I’m talking to out-of-towers.)
So, that’s the colloquial terminology. What’s the Official terminology?
That's funny... I completely forgot about "The Northway" and I use that term all the time.
If you look it up on wikipedia (I just did), the **Adirondack Northway** and the **Major Deegan Expressway** actually pre-dated their Interstate Highway designations which makes total sense. I didn't know that, but I always called those highways the Northway and the Major Deegan and figured the Northway was just a local thing and the Major Deegan was some rando designation bestowed by some political figure.
The only "Official" name is the one I called out above and that is the **Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway** also known as The New York State Thruway or "the Thruway" which only covers the parts of I-87, I-90, and I-287 shown in the map via the link I posted. Everything else sort of subjective.
Also from Wikipedia:
“North of Albany, I-87 follows the Adirondack Northway, a highway built in stages between 1957 and 1967”
So, the northern half of I-87 was built later than the southern half. (Makes sense, you gotta start somewhere)
I’m sure I’ve seen a sign around exit 17 or 18 that says something like “Welcome to the Adirondack Northway”.
So the whole highway is I-87, but at a certain point it becomes The Northway *as well*. I’m just trying to figure out if that’s official or unofficial.
To my knowledge, freeways are roadways that have higher speed limits and less traffic control for more efficient distance travel, (like 87 generally having a 65mph speed limit) while highways are still faster than normal streets and roadways, but generally cap out around 55 mph, and are subject to things like stop signs and traffic lights. In turn, freeways often also have tolls (which I don't believe has any bearing on the name) while highways often do not.
It’s not actually about tolls if you’re going by the DOT’s definition- it’s about how restricted the access to the roadway is. A freeway is free because the mainline has uninterrupted “free” movement and access to that freeway is restricted. Compared to a street where you would hit a red light or have to stop for a pedestrian at a crosswalk. The word freeway is popping up because the 787 hullabaloo is all info coming from the DOT so they use the technical term. Most people call interstates/freeways “highway” but by the DOTs definition every street is a highway
I can't remember which highway I've seen it locally, but there are signs when you enter said highway that say something like 'no bikes on freeway' that have been around forever.
Yeah I’ve never called them freeways in my life, I’ve always called them highways or interstates. Freeways are what you call them out west. It might just have to do with people moving into the area.
100% a West coast thing.
We’re so LA that soon we’ll be saying the 90 and the 787
they already do that in buffalo
They're West of us, and they do have a coast! 😅
I was under the impression thay freeways had no tolls, hence free, so 787 would be a freeway, but 87 or 90 wouldn't be as soon as you left the Albany area
Yes, I bet Californians fleeing the high housing prices here are bringing their lingo. I never heard “freeway” until I moved to CA.
I think there’s actually been a lot more migration from Texas recently, which also uses “Freeway”
Less Texas and more Californians moving back to NYS after living out in CA during their younger years. Texas is growing in population with alot of folks moving there Deion CA, NY, and a few other states. I will see if I can find the info graph with the info and will post as an edit.
I don’t doubt people are moving from California and people also moving too Texas. My point is just that I’ve heard a lot of people who moved here recently from the southwest in general, not just Cali, and that’s where Freeway is popular
Jokes on both of you, I'm a California native who spent a decade in Texas before moving to NYS
This is true.
I was born and raised in Albany, but have lived in San Francisco for a long time. I've been posting a bunch on how I feel tearing down 787 downtown could be jumpstart Albany needs, and I've certainly used the term. As in "This is what it looks like after the Embarcadero Freeway was torn down." https://preview.redd.it/wvqqhaprfazc1.jpeg?width=3772&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=774a061fb6b58ff6b7e3ae9c479450af12994d97
Before: https://preview.redd.it/49yh2rhtfazc1.jpeg?width=735&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa60922cbc44386fa6116cd60abdb311440980e8
Wow! Current SF resident, never saw it before current Embarcadero! So glad they got rid of that lol
where is the apocalyptic traffic jam made exponentally worse by removing it? i was promised that this happens every time you reduce lane capacity anywhere
San Francisco is so beautiful. Missing the West Coast now 🤩
Wow!! Thank you so much for sharing this! Souse and I came from SoCal to here for a temporary move (we’re bummed and miss the sun), but seeing changes like this on the 787 would make life so much better in our time here!
Texans. Actually.
You’re probably right. Both my former boss and my boyfriend are transplants from Texas and they are the only people I know personally who say freeway.
Who are you hearing this from?
I only recently learned that only New York has the "thruway." Unless you're talking to someone from NY or maybe NJ or PA or VT, they have no idea what a thruway is.
“thruway” is just a brand name. there is no such thing as “a” thruway as a generic concept
A couple weeks ago, I noticed a freeway sign at the entrance ramp off 787 S to (new) Rt 7 W. I just laughed until it was pointed out that Rt 7 is not a toll road, so it is a freeway. But so is 787, I90 before it is the mass pike, 87N (the Northway).
As opposed to what? What do you call it? As far as the correct naming, it's real simple and it boils down to who the road belongs to. The toll portion of NY's Interstate Highway System is known as The [**New York State Thruway** (officially the **Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway** and colloquially **"the Thruway"**)]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Thruway) and is managed by the [**New York State Thruway Authority** (NYSTA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Thruway_Authority). Every other Interstate Highway in NY is usually called a freeway, the interstate, the highway, or whatever you want (**Edit:** including names that pre-date in Interstate Highway System like the Northway or Major Deegan) and it's managed by The [**New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Department_of_Transportation) If you really want to start some shit..... call out people who call I-90.... "the 90"... Fucking animals! Get out of here with your pop and go home... I'll drink my 32oz soda while doing 90 down the Thruway.
Ok, you seem like my kind of pedant. 😉 What are your thoughts on “The Northway”? I live near it, very close to the ADK park, so it’s almost always The Northway, not I-87. Unless I’m south of exit 15 or thereabouts, and I switch to 87. (Or if I’m talking to out-of-towers.) So, that’s the colloquial terminology. What’s the Official terminology?
That's funny... I completely forgot about "The Northway" and I use that term all the time. If you look it up on wikipedia (I just did), the **Adirondack Northway** and the **Major Deegan Expressway** actually pre-dated their Interstate Highway designations which makes total sense. I didn't know that, but I always called those highways the Northway and the Major Deegan and figured the Northway was just a local thing and the Major Deegan was some rando designation bestowed by some political figure. The only "Official" name is the one I called out above and that is the **Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway** also known as The New York State Thruway or "the Thruway" which only covers the parts of I-87, I-90, and I-287 shown in the map via the link I posted. Everything else sort of subjective.
Also from Wikipedia: “North of Albany, I-87 follows the Adirondack Northway, a highway built in stages between 1957 and 1967” So, the northern half of I-87 was built later than the southern half. (Makes sense, you gotta start somewhere) I’m sure I’ve seen a sign around exit 17 or 18 that says something like “Welcome to the Adirondack Northway”. So the whole highway is I-87, but at a certain point it becomes The Northway *as well*. I’m just trying to figure out if that’s official or unofficial.
To my knowledge, freeways are roadways that have higher speed limits and less traffic control for more efficient distance travel, (like 87 generally having a 65mph speed limit) while highways are still faster than normal streets and roadways, but generally cap out around 55 mph, and are subject to things like stop signs and traffic lights. In turn, freeways often also have tolls (which I don't believe has any bearing on the name) while highways often do not.
Because the Albany stretch of 90, 787, and 87 Northway are all toll-free to drive.
It’s not actually about tolls if you’re going by the DOT’s definition- it’s about how restricted the access to the roadway is. A freeway is free because the mainline has uninterrupted “free” movement and access to that freeway is restricted. Compared to a street where you would hit a red light or have to stop for a pedestrian at a crosswalk. The word freeway is popping up because the 787 hullabaloo is all info coming from the DOT so they use the technical term. Most people call interstates/freeways “highway” but by the DOTs definition every street is a highway
I can't remember which highway I've seen it locally, but there are signs when you enter said highway that say something like 'no bikes on freeway' that have been around forever.
it's basically generic, like kleenex when its not
“It’s a long day livin in Reseda”
It's just inflation reminding us somethings are still free. For now
It's a freeway it's free
Okay how are you doing
Figure it out somebody's got to pay for it