Limited-access road
Encyclopedia
A limited-access road known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway and expressway, is a highway
or arterial road
for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway
(freeway or motorway), including limited or no access to adjacent property, some degree of separation of opposing traffic flow
, use of grade separated interchanges
to some extent, prohibition of some modes of transport such as bicycle
s or horse
s and very few or no intersecting cross-streets. The degree of isolation from local traffic allowed varies between countries
and regions. The precise definition of these terms varies by jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, the term expressway is synonymous with freeway or motorway
.
in New York
, in 1907. The New York State Parkway System
was constructed as a network of high speed roads in and around New York City
.
The first limited access highway built is thought to be the privately built Long Island Motor Parkway
in Long Island, New York
.
The concept evolved into uninterrupted arterial road
s that are commonly known as expressways in some parts of the world and by other names including motorway and autobahn in others.
, the national Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
(MUTCD) uses "full control of access" only for freeways. Expressways are defined as having "partial control of access" (or semi-controlled access), meaning that major roads typically use interchange
s and commercial development is accessed via cross roads or frontage road
s, while minor roads can cross at grade and farm
s can have direct access. This definition is also used by some states, some of which also restrict freeways only to motor vehicle
s capable of maintaining a certain speed.
Some other states use "controlled access" to mean a higher standard than "limited access", while others reverse the two terms.
's larger capital cities feature a motorway network, Canberra
, Adelaide
, Hobart
and the regional centres of Newcastle
, Geelong, Gold Coast
, and Wollongong rely on limited-access roads for high-speed local traffic.
The Canberra
urban area in Australian Capital Territory
has two expressway style main roads: Tuggranong Parkway from the satellite town of Tuggranong to the Glenloch Interchange
outside of Belconnen
, and Parkes Way from the Glenloch Interchange
to the Anzac Parade
roundabout in Canberra City.
South Australia
has several expressways; some are controlled-access highways and others are slightly lower-grade limited-access roads.
Outside these areas, upgrades to full dual carriageway
of the heavy-use Sydney-Melbourne (A31/M31 Hume Highway/Freeway
) and Sydney-Brisbane (M1 Pacific Highway
) interstate routes, a total length of more than 2000 km (1,242.7 mi), are underway.
; the difference being that in New Zealand a Motorway has certain additional legal traffic restrictions.
has many numbers of expressways and highways particularly concentrated on the island of Luzon
. The country for now has 6 completed and available expressways and 8 major highways including the Pan-Philippine Highway
also known as Asian Highway Highway 26. SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) is currently the longest toll expressway in the country covering about 97 km, after it was connected to Metro Manila Skyway
, an elevated highway within Metro Manila
, and STAR Tollway in Batangas
. SCTEX (Subic- Clark- Tarlac Expressway) is the second longest expressway in the Philippines
, connecting economic zones of Luisita, Tarlac
; Clarkfield, Pampanga
and Subic Bay
, Zambales
, it is as of now the fastest way to get to Manila from Northern Luzon. Still, many expressways are constructed for more convenient and faster way to drive to and from the capital, Manila
, including TPLEX or Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, North Luzon West Expressway
, Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora Expressway
, CALABARZON Loop, North Luzon East Expressway and Infanta- Cabanatuan Scenic Superhighway.
The provincial highway level is lower than the national highway(Freeway) in Taiwan.
Provincial Highways
No. 61~88 are usually known as Expressway (快速公路
). There are several sections open for the traffic. Others are still under construction.
East-west expressways and the West-Coast Expressway, indicated by a number greater than 60, were planned to ease the congestion in the freeways.
(Lebuhraya Utara Selantan) covers the length of Peninsular Malaysia. It connects Woodlands in Singapore
to the Thailand
border. Another expressway called the Karak Highway
links Kuala Lumpur to Jabor. It covers almost the width of Peninsular Malaysia. There are many rest areas along both expressways. Both expressways has a speed limit from 90 km/h to 110 km/h.
, which covers the width of Singapore
. It is 42 kilometres long. Since 2009, even more expressways are being constructed. One of the newest is the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway
which is 2 kilometres on ground level and 10 kilometres underground. That makes it the longest tunnel expressway in Southeast Asia. On ground level or on flyovers and viaducts, speed limits is 70 km/h to 90 km/h but in tunnels, the speed limit is from 70 km/h or 80 km/h.
Expressways in India
make up more than 600 km (372.8 mi) of the Indian National Highway System on which they are the highest class of road. The National Highways Development Project
is underway to add an additional 18637 km (11,580.5 mi) of expressways to the network by the year 2022.
and between other important cities (Usually two province
capitals) in rural and desert areas. The speed limit in Urban areas is between 50 and 70 km/h and in rural and desert areas between 90 and 110 km/h.
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The term Expressway as used in English in Japan refers to both freeway-style highways and narrower, more winding, often undivided Regional High-Standard Highways . Both types of expressways have a combined length of 8,730 km as of March 2005.
(freeways/motorways); the chief difference is that they are more cheaply built with smaller curve radius, often undivided
and have fewer bridges and tunnels.
(East Velika Gorica Bypass).
, Czech: Rychlostní silnice (abbrrviation: R), are defined as dual carriageways with smaller emergency lane. The speed limit is 130 km/h (80 mph). Expressway road signs are white on blue. There are 391.2 km of rychlostní silnice.
, a Moottoriliikennetie (Finnish) or Motortrafikled (Swedish) (both mean "motor traffic road") has a speed limit of 80 – 100 km/h.
A Kraftfahrstrasse (German
for "motor-power road") in Germany
is a grade of highway below the standard of an Autobahn
. These are also colloquially called Schnellstraße (literally "fast road"). The speed limits are at least 60 km/h and oversized vehicles are banned.
A High-quality dual carriageway
(HQDC) in Ireland is normally completed to a motorway standard, including no right-turns, but with no motorway restrictions. These are common on the final stretches of motorways nearing a major city, generally in order to enable use of bus stops and city bus services on the particular stretch of road.
There are not yet any specific signs for this type of road, but the National Roads Authority
have hinted that they are looking at implementing the German-style Autostrasse sign in Ireland.
Speed limits are normally 100 km/h compared to 120 km/h on motorways
, Autowegen or expressways are rare in comparison to Autosnelwegen (motorways). The speed limit is 100 km/h.
, a motortrafikkvei (Norwegian for "motor traffic road"), also called a motorvei klasse B ("class-B motorway") is a high-speed highway with a speed limit of 90 km/h.
Droga ekspresowa (plural: drogi ekspresowe) in Poland refers to a network of roads fulfilling the role of bringing traffic to the motorways, and serving major international and inter-regional purposes. All expressways start with the letter S, followed by a number. They can be dual or single carriageways. As of May 2004 the Polish government documents indicated that the country had plans of an expressway and motorway network totalling 7200 kilometre (including about 2000 kilometre of motorways). The speed limit is 120 km/h (dual carriageway).
Unlike Spain
's Autopistas, specifically reserved for vehicles able to sustain at least 60 km/h (37 mph), and usually tolled, Autovías are usually upgrades from older roads, and never toll roads. In general, slow vehicles like bicycles and agricultural machinery are allowed under certain restrictions.
The Swedish road type motortrafikled is a road with limited access (all grade-separated, no slow traffic) and two or three lanes. According to the EU's multilingual term base, motortrafikled should be translated to expressway, rapid road or road with limited access. The same rules apply to a motortrafikled as to a motorway - it is basically a half motorway. The speed limit is usually 90 – 100 km/h. Many motortrafikleder are built as 2+1 road
s, alternating two lanes in one direction and one in the other, with a narrow fence in between.
Autostrasse (German
, "auto road") or Semi-autoroute (French
, "semi-freeway") is a highway that allows high-speed traffic but is not the highest class road, the Autobahn or Autoroute. The speed limit on these roads in Switzerland is 100 km/h (63 mph). Some Autostrasse\semi-autoroutes have no central barrier separating the lane
s in different directions.
s. Many roads such as the A1, the A14, the A19
and the A42
are built to a high quality, in many places they are only intersected by grade-separated junctions, have full barriers at both the road side and the central reservations and in some cases three lanes of traffic, however for at least one reason they fall short of motorway standard. They may lack some features that a motorway would have, such as hard shoulders, and may have tighter bends and steeper gradients than would be allowed on a motorway or have established rights of way
that cannot be removed. The standard motorway speed limit for cars of 70 mph (31 m/s) also applies to many dual carriageways.
through downtown Toronto. Where the expressway turns into a 6-lane arterial road
(Lake Shore Boulevard) east of the Don River, there is a sign warning of the end of the expressway. The Macdonald–Cartier Freeway would be an example of a route that uses the term freeway, however, that name is being phased out by the Ministry of Transportation. In general, expressways are municipally maintained, while freeways are provincially maintained.
The E. C. Row Expressway
in Windsor, Ontario
is a controlled-access divided highway with grade-separated interchanges. It continues until Ojibway Parkway at its western terminus and Banwell Road at its eastern terminus, where there are traffic intersections at both.
The Veterans Memorial Parkway
in London, Ontario
, has intersections instead of interchanges, and thus is not considered a freeway. It was designed to be a limited access highway for the city, but a lack of funding forced it to be built with at-grade intersections. Other examples include the Hanlon Parkway
in Guelph
and Regional Road 420 in Niagara Falls
.
In other locations, such as Alberta
and most of Western Canada
, an expressway is a high-speed arterial road along the lines of the California definition, while a freeway has no at-grade intersections.
In Quebec, the term freeway is never used, with the terms expressway (in English) and autoroute (in English and French) being preferred. English terms are rare, and only found on bilingual signage of expressways (abbreviated "expy") found in Montreal
around bridges and on the Bonaventure Expressway
; these signs are controlled by the federal government.
’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
as a divided highway with partial control of access. In contrast, a freeway is defined as a divided highway with full control of access. The difference between partial and full access control is that expressways may have a limited number of driveways and at-grade intersections (thus making them a form of high-speed arterial road), while access to freeways is allowed only at grade-separated interchanges. Expressways under this definition do not conform to interstate highway standards (which ban all driveways and at-grade intersections) and are therefore usually numbered as state highway
s or U.S. highways.
This distinction was first developed in 1949 by the Special Committee on Nomenclature of what is now the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
(AASHTO). In turn, the definitions were incorporated into AASHTO's official standards book, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which would become the national standards book of the U.S. Department of Transportation
under a 1966 federal statute. The same distinction has also been codified into the statutory law of eight states: California
, Minnesota
, Mississippi
, Missouri
, Nebraska
, North Dakota
, Ohio
, and Wisconsin
.
However, each state codified the federal distinction slightly differently. California expressways do not necessarily have to be divided, though they must have at least partial access control. For both terms to apply, in Wisconsin, a divided highway must be at least four lanes wide; in Missouri, both terms apply only to divided highways at least 10 miles long that are not part of the Interstate Highway System. In North Dakota and Mississippi, an expressway may have "full or partial" access control and "generally" has grade separations at intersections; a freeway is then defined as an expressway with full access control. Ohio's statute is similar, but instead of the vague word "generally," it imposes a requirement that 50% of an expressway's intersections must be grade-separated for the term to apply. Only Minnesota enacted the exact MUTCD definitions, in May 2008.
However, many states around the Great Lakes
region and along the Eastern Seaboard have refused to conform their terminology to the federal definition. The following states officially prefer the term expressway instead of freeway to describe what are technically freeways in federal parlance: Connecticut
, Florida
, Illinois
, Maryland
, and West Virginia
. In those states, it is common to find Interstate highways that bear the name expressway. Ultimately, it is the federal definition that defines a road's classification whether a it is an expressway or freeway no matter the preferred term. No state, for instance, could have what is technically an expressway given Interstate status just because semantically they use the term interchangeably with freeway.
Most expressways under the federal definition have speed limit
s of 45-55 mph (70–90 km/h) in urban areas and 55-70 mph (90–110 km/h) in rural areas. Urban expressways are usually free of private driveways, but occasional exceptions include direct driveways to gas stations
and shopping mall
s at major intersections (which would never be allowed on a true freeway).
The vast majority of expressways are built by state government
s, or by private companies, which then operate them as toll road
s pursuant to a license from the state government.
A famous example of a local government
getting into the expressway business is Santa Clara County
in California
, which deliberately built its own expressway system in the 1960s to supplement the freeway system then planned by Caltrans
. Although the county originally planned to upgrade the expressways into full-fledged freeways, such a project became politically infeasible after the rise of the tax revolt
movement in the mid-1970s, which began with California Proposition 13
in 1978.
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
or arterial road
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...
(freeway or motorway), including limited or no access to adjacent property, some degree of separation of opposing traffic flow
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
, use of grade separated interchanges
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
to some extent, prohibition of some modes of transport such as bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s or horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s and very few or no intersecting cross-streets. The degree of isolation from local traffic allowed varies between countries
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
and regions. The precise definition of these terms varies by jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, the term expressway is synonymous with freeway or motorway
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...
.
History
The first implementation of limited-access roadways in the United States was of the Bronx River ParkwayBronx River Parkway
The Bronx River Parkway is a long parkway in downstate New York. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue near Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx neighborhood of Soundview...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, in 1907. The New York State Parkway System
New York State Parkway System
The New York State Parkway System opened its first section in 1908 and was a series of then-high speed four-lane roads that were created to provide a scenic way into, out of, and around New York City. The parkway system is still in use today...
was constructed as a network of high speed roads in and around New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The first limited access highway built is thought to be the privately built Long Island Motor Parkway
Long Island Motor Parkway
The Long Island Motor Parkway , also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway and Motor Parkway, was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. It was privately built by William Kissam Vanderbilt with overpasses and bridges to remove intersections...
in Long Island, New York
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
The concept evolved into uninterrupted arterial road
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
s that are commonly known as expressways in some parts of the world and by other names including motorway and autobahn in others.
Regional implementations
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the national Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration of the United States Department of Transportation to specify the standards by which traffic signs, road surface markings, and signals are designed, installed, and used...
(MUTCD) uses "full control of access" only for freeways. Expressways are defined as having "partial control of access" (or semi-controlled access), meaning that major roads typically use interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
s and commercial development is accessed via cross roads or frontage road
Frontage road
A frontage road is a non-limited access road running parallel to a higher-speed road, usually a freeway, and feeding it at appropriate points of access...
s, while minor roads can cross at grade and farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s can have direct access. This definition is also used by some states, some of which also restrict freeways only to motor vehicle
Motor vehicle
A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...
s capable of maintaining a certain speed.
Some other states use "controlled access" to mean a higher standard than "limited access", while others reverse the two terms.
Australia
While most of AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's larger capital cities feature a motorway network, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
and the regional centres of Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, Geelong, Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, and Wollongong rely on limited-access roads for high-speed local traffic.
The Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
urban area in Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
has two expressway style main roads: Tuggranong Parkway from the satellite town of Tuggranong to the Glenloch Interchange
Glenloch Interchange
Glenloch Interchange is Canberra's only major interchange which connects Tuggeranong Parkway with Parkes Way, William Hovell Drive and Caswell Drive . Following a major reconstruction lasting from 2007 to mid 2008, the interchange now operates without traffic lights...
outside of Belconnen
Belconnen
Belconnen is a district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, comprising 25 suburbs with 29,900 dwellings housing 82,247 people of the 311,518 people in the Australian Capital Territory ....
, and Parkes Way from the Glenloch Interchange
Glenloch Interchange
Glenloch Interchange is Canberra's only major interchange which connects Tuggeranong Parkway with Parkes Way, William Hovell Drive and Caswell Drive . Following a major reconstruction lasting from 2007 to mid 2008, the interchange now operates without traffic lights...
to the Anzac Parade
Anzac Parade
Anzac Parade can refer to:* ANZAC Parade, Canberra* Anzac Parade, Sydney* ANZAC Day parades for war veterans held on Anzac Day....
roundabout in Canberra City.
South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
has several expressways; some are controlled-access highways and others are slightly lower-grade limited-access roads.
Outside these areas, upgrades to full dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
of the heavy-use Sydney-Melbourne (A31/M31 Hume Highway/Freeway
Hume Highway
The Hume Highway/Hume Freeway is one of Australia's major inter-city highways, running for 880 km between Sydney and Melbourne. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and...
) and Sydney-Brisbane (M1 Pacific Highway
Pacific Highway (Australia)
The Pacific Highway is a major transport route along part of the east coast of Australia and is part of Australia's national route 1.It is 960 km long and links Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, along the coast, via Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port...
) interstate routes, a total length of more than 2000 km (1,242.7 mi), are underway.
New Zealand: Expressway, Motorway
The terms Motorway and Expressway in New Zealand both encompass multilane divided freeways as well as narrower 2-4-lane undivided expressways with varying degrees of grade separationGrade separation
Grade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...
; the difference being that in New Zealand a Motorway has certain additional legal traffic restrictions.
Philippines
The PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
has many numbers of expressways and highways particularly concentrated on the island of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
. The country for now has 6 completed and available expressways and 8 major highways including the Pan-Philippine Highway
Pan-Philippine Highway
The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway is a network of roads, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in the Philippines, serving as the country's principal transport backbone....
also known as Asian Highway Highway 26. SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) is currently the longest toll expressway in the country covering about 97 km, after it was connected to Metro Manila Skyway
Metro Manila Skyway
The Metro Manila Skyway is an elevated highway crossing over much of the existing South Luzon Expressway as of the moment. It is located within the Metro Manila portion of the SLEX and crosses through Makati City, Pasay City, Parañaque City, and Muntinlupa City. The Skyway begins in Barangay San...
, an elevated highway within Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
, and STAR Tollway in Batangas
Batangas
Batangas is a first class province of the Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in the CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the...
. SCTEX (Subic- Clark- Tarlac Expressway) is the second longest expressway in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, connecting economic zones of Luisita, Tarlac
Tarlac
Tarlac is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Luzon Island. Its capital is Tarlac City. Tarlac borders Pampanga to the south, Nueva Ecija to the east, Pangasinan to the north, and Zambales to the west...
; Clarkfield, Pampanga
Pampanga
Pampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...
and Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, Zambales
Zambales
Zambales is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is Iba. Zambales borders Pangasinan to the north, Tarlac and Pampanga to the east, and Bataan to the south. The province lies between the South China Sea and the Zambales Mountains. With a land area of...
, it is as of now the fastest way to get to Manila from Northern Luzon. Still, many expressways are constructed for more convenient and faster way to drive to and from the capital, Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, including TPLEX or Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, North Luzon West Expressway
North Luzon West Expressway
The North Luzon West Expressway is a 4-lane, 238.5-kilometer, limited-access toll expressway that is currently under construction on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The construction involves 3 stages...
, Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora Expressway
Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora Expressway
The Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora Expressway is a planned 60-km, 4-lane limited-access expressway that will begin from Tarlac City in the province of Tarlac up to the town of Baler in the province of Aurora...
, CALABARZON Loop, North Luzon East Expressway and Infanta- Cabanatuan Scenic Superhighway.
Taiwan
Expressways are now known as Taiwan highways. However, many people still refer to them as provincial highway (省道 sheng-dao).The provincial highway level is lower than the national highway(Freeway) in Taiwan.
Provincial Highways
Provincial Highway No. 1 (Taiwan)
Provincial Highway No. 1 is a 464.693 km-long provincial Taiwanese highway that starts in the north of the country near Taipei Main Station and ends in the south at Fangshan, Pingtung County. It intersects with Provincial Highway No. 9 and No. 26. Before the freeway system is built in Taiwan,...
No. 61~88 are usually known as Expressway (快速公路
Provincial Highway No. 61 (Taiwan)
Provincial Highway No. 61 is usually known as West Coast Expressway . There are several sections open for the traffic. Others are still under construction.-Length:As of December 2008, the following sections have been completed:...
). There are several sections open for the traffic. Others are still under construction.
East-west expressways and the West-Coast Expressway, indicated by a number greater than 60, were planned to ease the congestion in the freeways.
Malaysia: Lebuhraya
The North-South ExpresswayNorth-South Expressway
The North–South Expressway is the longest expressway in Malaysia with the total length of running from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah near the Malaysian-Thai border to Johor Bahru at the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia and to Singapore...
(Lebuhraya Utara Selantan) covers the length of Peninsular Malaysia. It connects Woodlands in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
to the Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
border. Another expressway called the Karak Highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
links Kuala Lumpur to Jabor. It covers almost the width of Peninsular Malaysia. There are many rest areas along both expressways. Both expressways has a speed limit from 90 km/h to 110 km/h.
Singapore
Singaporean expressways are used to get to one urban place to another. The longest is the Pan Island ExpresswayPan Island Expressway
The Pan Island Expressway is the oldest and longest of Singapore's expressways. Currently, it is also Singapore's longest road. It extends along the length of the island, connecting Tuas in the west to Singapore Changi Airport in the east. Its length is .-Construction:Construction of the PIE...
, which covers the width of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. It is 42 kilometres long. Since 2009, even more expressways are being constructed. One of the newest is the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway
Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway
The Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway is the third newest of Singapore's network of expressways. The southern section of the expressway opened first, on 26 October 2007 with the remaining section fully opened on 20 September 2008....
which is 2 kilometres on ground level and 10 kilometres underground. That makes it the longest tunnel expressway in Southeast Asia. On ground level or on flyovers and viaducts, speed limits is 70 km/h to 90 km/h but in tunnels, the speed limit is from 70 km/h or 80 km/h.
India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
make up more than 600 km (372.8 mi) of the Indian National Highway System on which they are the highest class of road. The National Highways Development Project
National Highways Development Project
The National Highways Development Project is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard. The project was implemented in 1998. "National Highways" account for only about 2% of the total length of roads, but carry about 40% of the total traffic across...
is underway to add an additional 18637 km (11,580.5 mi) of expressways to the network by the year 2022.
Iran
Expressways in Iran are one class lower than freeways and are used in large urban areas such as Isfahan or TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
and between other important cities (Usually two province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
capitals) in rural and desert areas. The speed limit in Urban areas is between 50 and 70 km/h and in rural and desert areas between 90 and 110 km/h.
Japan
Austria: Schnellstraße
In Austria the speed limit on a Schnellstraße is 100 – 130 km/h. Schnellstraßen are very similar to Austrian AutobahnenAutobahns of Austria
The Austrian autobahns are controlled-access highways in Austria. They are officially called Bundesstraßen A according to the Austrian federal road act...
(freeways/motorways); the chief difference is that they are more cheaply built with smaller curve radius, often undivided
Single carriageway
A single carriageway is a road with 1, 2 or more lanes arranged within a single carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. Two-lane road or two-lane highway are single carriageway with one lane for each direction...
and have fewer bridges and tunnels.
Croatia
Some expressways are tailored for local traffic, such as the D28 (Vrbovec Expressway), and some are built as bypasses or beltways, such as the D31D31 (Croatia)
D31 is a state road in central Croatia connecting Velika Gorica and Glina to Croatian motorway network at the A11 motorway Velika gorica jug interchange. The road is long....
(East Velika Gorica Bypass).
Czech Republic: Rychlostní silnice
Expressways in the Czech RepublicCzech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Czech: Rychlostní silnice (abbrrviation: R), are defined as dual carriageways with smaller emergency lane. The speed limit is 130 km/h (80 mph). Expressway road signs are white on blue. There are 391.2 km of rychlostní silnice.
Finland: Moottoriliikennetie
In FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, a Moottoriliikennetie (Finnish) or Motortrafikled (Swedish) (both mean "motor traffic road") has a speed limit of 80 – 100 km/h.
Germany: Schnellstraße
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "motor-power road") in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
is a grade of highway below the standard of an Autobahn
German Autobahnen
The German autobahns are the nationally coordinated motorway system in Germany. In German, they are officially called Bundesautobahn , which translates as federal expressways...
. These are also colloquially called Schnellstraße (literally "fast road"). The speed limits are at least 60 km/h and oversized vehicles are banned.
Ireland: HQDC
High-quality dual carriageway
A High-quality dual carriageway is a category of road in the Republic of Ireland. It is an all-purpose dual carriageway road type built to near motorway standards, but without motorway classification or motorway restrictions. High-quality dual carriageways have full grade-separated access and do...
(HQDC) in Ireland is normally completed to a motorway standard, including no right-turns, but with no motorway restrictions. These are common on the final stretches of motorways nearing a major city, generally in order to enable use of bus stops and city bus services on the particular stretch of road.
There are not yet any specific signs for this type of road, but the National Roads Authority
National Roads Authority
The National Roads Authority is a state body in the Republic of Ireland, responsible for the national road network. The NRA was established as part of the Roads Act 1993 and commenced operations on 23 December 1993 in accordance with S.I. 407 of 1993.County councils remain responsible for local...
have hinted that they are looking at implementing the German-style Autostrasse sign in Ireland.
Speed limits are normally 100 km/h compared to 120 km/h on motorways
Italy: superstrada
- Type B highway (or strada extraurbana principale), commonly but unofficially known as superstrada, is a divided highway with at least two lanes for each direction, paved shoulder on the right, no cross-traffic and no at-grade intersections. Access restrictions on such highways are exactly the same of autostrade, as well as signage at the beginning and the end of the highway (with the only difference being the background color, blue instead of green). Speed limit on type-B road is 110 km/h.
- Type C highway (or strada extraurbana secondaria). Most Italian roads outside of town and cities belongs to this category. According to Italian Highway Code definition, a type-C road is a single carriageway
Single carriagewayA single carriageway is a road with 1, 2 or more lanes arranged within a single carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. Two-lane road or two-lane highway are single carriageway with one lane for each direction...
with at least one lane for each direction and shoulders. It may have at-grade intersections, at-level crossings with railways, roundabouts and traffic lights.
Despite the definition made by the Highway Code, this category contains also dual carriageways (commonly but unofficially known as strada scorrimento veloce or seldom as superstrada) that can not be classified as type-B highways because of the lack of one or more required features.
In absence of specific regulation signs, a type-C road is accessible by all vehicles and pedestrians, even if it has separate carriageways and no cross-traffic. In order to deny access to pedestrians, bicycles and other slow vehicles, the road owner must place a specific prohibition sign for each category of transport to be banned. However, there is a sign that allows access to the road only to motorized vehicles (without power restrictions unless specified). This sign is very similar to those used in most EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries to indicate the beginning of a limited-access road, but its meaning in Italy is quite different as it does not indicate whether the road is or isn't a limited-access road.
Speed limit on type-C roads is 90 km/h.
Netherlands: Autoweg
In NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Autowegen or expressways are rare in comparison to Autosnelwegen (motorways). The speed limit is 100 km/h.
Norway: Motortrafikkvei
In NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, a motortrafikkvei (Norwegian for "motor traffic road"), also called a motorvei klasse B ("class-B motorway") is a high-speed highway with a speed limit of 90 km/h.
Poland: droga ekspresowa
Russia
Russia has a large federal highway network that totals approximately 30000 kilometre. Federal highways in the country are classified into two categories: "motorways" and "other".Spain: Autovía
Unlike Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Autopistas, specifically reserved for vehicles able to sustain at least 60 km/h (37 mph), and usually tolled, Autovías are usually upgrades from older roads, and never toll roads. In general, slow vehicles like bicycles and agricultural machinery are allowed under certain restrictions.
Sweden
2+1 road
2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and separated usually with a steel cable barrier. Traditional roads of at least width can be converted to 2+1 roads and reach near-motorway...
s, alternating two lanes in one direction and one in the other, with a narrow fence in between.
Switzerland
In SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
Autostrasse (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, "auto road") or Semi-autoroute (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, "semi-freeway") is a highway that allows high-speed traffic but is not the highest class road, the Autobahn or Autoroute. The speed limit on these roads in Switzerland is 100 km/h (63 mph). Some Autostrasse\semi-autoroutes have no central barrier separating the lane
Lane
A lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...
s in different directions.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the second tier of high speed roads below Motorways are typically dual carriagewayDual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
s. Many roads such as the A1, the A14, the A19
A19 road
The A19 is a major road in England running approximately parallel to and east of the A1 road, although the two roads meet at the northern end of the A19, the two roads originally met at the southern end of the A19 in Doncaster but the old route of the A1 was changed to the A638. From Sunderland...
and the A42
A42 road
The A42 is a major trunk road in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It links junction 23A of the M1 motorway to junction 11 of the M42 motorway. The A42 is in effect a continuation of the M42, and its junctions are numbered accordingly....
are built to a high quality, in many places they are only intersected by grade-separated junctions, have full barriers at both the road side and the central reservations and in some cases three lanes of traffic, however for at least one reason they fall short of motorway standard. They may lack some features that a motorway would have, such as hard shoulders, and may have tighter bends and steeper gradients than would be allowed on a motorway or have established rights of way
Right of Way
Right of Way is a 1983 television film drama starring Bette Davis and James Stewart, and directed by George Schaefer.The TV movie stars film veterans Davis and Stewart as an elderly long-married couple who must decide how to deal with the situation of one of them being diagnosed with a terminal...
that cannot be removed. The standard motorway speed limit for cars of 70 mph (31 m/s) also applies to many dual carriageways.
Canada
In some parts of Canada, expressway is synonymous with freeway and is used to mean limited-access divided-highways with no at-grade intersections, with both terms used interchangeably. An example of this is the Gardiner ExpresswayGardiner Expressway
The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, colloquially referred to as "the Gardiner", is a municipal expressway in the Canadian province of Ontario, connecting downtown Toronto with its western suburbs...
through downtown Toronto. Where the expressway turns into a 6-lane arterial road
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
(Lake Shore Boulevard) east of the Don River, there is a sign warning of the end of the expressway. The Macdonald–Cartier Freeway would be an example of a route that uses the term freeway, however, that name is being phased out by the Ministry of Transportation. In general, expressways are municipally maintained, while freeways are provincially maintained.
The E. C. Row Expressway
E. C. Row Expressway
The E C Row Expressway is a municipal expressway in the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario. It divides the city in half as it crosses it between the Ojibway Parkway in the west and Banwell Road in the east. The expressway is named after Ohio born Edgar Charles Row, the president of Chrysler Canada...
in Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
is a controlled-access divided highway with grade-separated interchanges. It continues until Ojibway Parkway at its western terminus and Banwell Road at its eastern terminus, where there are traffic intersections at both.
The Veterans Memorial Parkway
Veterans Memorial Parkway
The Veterans Memorial Parkway is a expressway located in London, Ontario. The expressway was previously known as Highway 100 from 1977 until 1994 and as Airport Road prior to September 2006. It is currently an at-grade, four-lane expressway...
in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, has intersections instead of interchanges, and thus is not considered a freeway. It was designed to be a limited access highway for the city, but a lack of funding forced it to be built with at-grade intersections. Other examples include the Hanlon Parkway
Hanlon Parkway
The Hanlon Parkway is a high-capacity at-grade suburban expressway in the city of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, which connects it with Highway 401. It runs in a general north-south direction in the city's west end. It is signed as Highway 6 for its whole length; from Wellington Street to Woodlawn Road,...
in Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
and Regional Road 420 in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
.
In other locations, such as Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and most of Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, an expressway is a high-speed arterial road along the lines of the California definition, while a freeway has no at-grade intersections.
In Quebec, the term freeway is never used, with the terms expressway (in English) and autoroute (in English and French) being preferred. English terms are rare, and only found on bilingual signage of expressways (abbreviated "expy") found in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
around bridges and on the Bonaventure Expressway
Quebec Autoroute 10
Autoroute 10 is an Autoroute in southern Quebec, Canada...
; these signs are controlled by the federal government.
United States
In the United States, an expressway is defined by the federal governmentFederal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration of the United States Department of Transportation to specify the standards by which traffic signs, road surface markings, and signals are designed, installed, and used...
as a divided highway with partial control of access. In contrast, a freeway is defined as a divided highway with full control of access. The difference between partial and full access control is that expressways may have a limited number of driveways and at-grade intersections (thus making them a form of high-speed arterial road), while access to freeways is allowed only at grade-separated interchanges. Expressways under this definition do not conform to interstate highway standards (which ban all driveways and at-grade intersections) and are therefore usually numbered as state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
s or U.S. highways.
This distinction was first developed in 1949 by the Special Committee on Nomenclature of what is now the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines which are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States...
(AASHTO). In turn, the definitions were incorporated into AASHTO's official standards book, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which would become the national standards book of the U.S. Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
under a 1966 federal statute. The same distinction has also been codified into the statutory law of eight states: California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
However, each state codified the federal distinction slightly differently. California expressways do not necessarily have to be divided, though they must have at least partial access control. For both terms to apply, in Wisconsin, a divided highway must be at least four lanes wide; in Missouri, both terms apply only to divided highways at least 10 miles long that are not part of the Interstate Highway System. In North Dakota and Mississippi, an expressway may have "full or partial" access control and "generally" has grade separations at intersections; a freeway is then defined as an expressway with full access control. Ohio's statute is similar, but instead of the vague word "generally," it imposes a requirement that 50% of an expressway's intersections must be grade-separated for the term to apply. Only Minnesota enacted the exact MUTCD definitions, in May 2008.
However, many states around the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region and along the Eastern Seaboard have refused to conform their terminology to the federal definition. The following states officially prefer the term expressway instead of freeway to describe what are technically freeways in federal parlance: Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. In those states, it is common to find Interstate highways that bear the name expressway. Ultimately, it is the federal definition that defines a road's classification whether a it is an expressway or freeway no matter the preferred term. No state, for instance, could have what is technically an expressway given Interstate status just because semantically they use the term interchangeably with freeway.
Most expressways under the federal definition have speed limit
Speed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
s of 45-55 mph (70–90 km/h) in urban areas and 55-70 mph (90–110 km/h) in rural areas. Urban expressways are usually free of private driveways, but occasional exceptions include direct driveways to gas stations
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
and shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s at major intersections (which would never be allowed on a true freeway).
The vast majority of expressways are built by state government
State government
A state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...
s, or by private companies, which then operate them as toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
s pursuant to a license from the state government.
A famous example of a local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
getting into the expressway business is Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, which deliberately built its own expressway system in the 1960s to supplement the freeway system then planned by Caltrans
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...
. Although the county originally planned to upgrade the expressways into full-fledged freeways, such a project became politically infeasible after the rise of the tax revolt
Tax revolt
A tax revolt is a political struggle to repeal, limit, or roll back a tax.-1930s, The Great Depression:In the United States, the term "tax revolt" is sometimes used to refer to a series of anti-tax state initiative campaigns. The first significant wave of these campaigns was during the 1930s. The...
movement in the mid-1970s, which began with California Proposition 13
California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
in 1978.
External links
- http://www.expresswaysite.com/