Originally posted by: jdoggg12
Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
Originally posted by: jdoggg12
I Wik'd it up
Highway is generic for a roadHighway is a term commonly used in the United States and other countries to designate major roads intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as cities.
Highway designs vary widely. They can include some characteristics of freeways and motorways such as multiple lanes of traffic, a median between lanes of opposing traffic, and access control (ramps and grade separation). Highways can also be as simple as a two-lane, shoulderless road.
The United States has the largest network of national highways, including Interstate highways and United States Numbered Highways. This network is present in every state and connects all major cities. China has the second largest highway system in the world.
According to California civil code 360(590) a highway refers to "any way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel." Streets, avenues and even one lane dirt roads are therefore considered highways within the state of California, so long as they are maintained by the state. Multi-lane, high-speed roadways with restricted access are called Freeways according to California's civil code, whereby all freeways are highways but not all highways are freeways.
Some highways, like the Pan-American Highway or the European routes, bridge multiple countries. Australia's Highway 1 is the longest national highway in the world at over 20,000km and runs almost the entire way around the country.
Highways are not always continuous stretches of pavement. For example, some highways are interrupted by bodies of water, and ferry routes may serve as sections of the highway.
A freeway is a type of highway designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all cross traffic through the use of grade separations and interchanges; railroad crossings are also removed. Such highways are usually divided with at least two lanes in each direction. Because traffic never crosses at-grade, there are generally no traffic lights or stop signs.
The word "freeway" first surfaced in the mid-1930s in proposals for the improvement of the New York City parkway network.[1] It is currently in regular use in the United States, as well as parts of Canada and Australia. In the United States the term "freeway" is frequently used in the western part of the country. Other terms are predominant in other regions, such as "interstate" in the South (and particularly in Florida) and "expressway", "turnpike", or "thruway" in the Northeast and Midwest. While some people use these terms interchangeably, "turnpikes" and "thruways" have specific associations with some toll roads and other limited access highways such as the West Virginia Turnpike, New Jersey Turnpike, Florida Turnpike, and New York State Thruway.
freeway = high speed road
no, i can go very high speeds on expressways and other super-2s. the correct definition is a divided road with no at-grade interchanges.
In the United States, an expressway is defined by the federal government?s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as a divided highway with partial control of access.[1] In contrast, a freeway is defined as a divided highway with full control of access.[2]. 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 practically all driveways and at-grade intersections) and are therefore usually numbered as state highways or U.S. highways.
Originally posted by: jdoggg12
I Wik'd it up
Highway is generic for a roadHighway is a term commonly used in the United States and other countries to designate major roads intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as cities.
Highway designs vary widely. They can include some characteristics of freeways and motorways such as multiple lanes of traffic, a median between lanes of opposing traffic, and access control (ramps and grade separation). Highways can also be as simple as a two-lane, shoulderless road.
The United States has the largest network of national highways, including Interstate highways and United States Numbered Highways. This network is present in every state and connects all major cities. China has the second largest highway system in the world.
According to California civil code 360(590) a highway refers to "any way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel." Streets, avenues and even one lane dirt roads are therefore considered highways within the state of California, so long as they are maintained by the state. Multi-lane, high-speed roadways with restricted access are called Freeways according to California's civil code, whereby all freeways are highways but not all highways are freeways.
Some highways, like the Pan-American Highway or the European routes, bridge multiple countries. Australia's Highway 1 is the longest national highway in the world at over 20,000km and runs almost the entire way around the country.
Highways are not always continuous stretches of pavement. For example, some highways are interrupted by bodies of water, and ferry routes may serve as sections of the highway.
A freeway is a type of highway designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all cross traffic through the use of grade separations and interchanges; railroad crossings are also removed. Such highways are usually divided with at least two lanes in each direction. Because traffic never crosses at-grade, there are generally no traffic lights or stop signs.
The word "freeway" first surfaced in the mid-1930s in proposals for the improvement of the New York City parkway network.[1] It is currently in regular use in the United States, as well as parts of Canada and Australia. In the United States the term "freeway" is frequently used in the western part of the country. Other terms are predominant in other regions, such as "interstate" in the South (and particularly in Florida) and "expressway", "turnpike", or "thruway" in the Northeast and Midwest. While some people use these terms interchangeably, "turnpikes" and "thruways" have specific associations with some toll roads and other limited access highways such as the West Virginia Turnpike, New Jersey Turnpike, Florida Turnpike, and New York State Thruway.
freeway = high speed road
Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
How about parkway?
this term is being abused now more than ever. it was generally used to describe 2-lane non-arterials that went through a scenic area, but now it's being applied to freeways, toll highways, etc.
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
How about parkway?
this term is being abused now more than ever. it was generally used to describe 2-lane non-arterials that went through a scenic area, but now it's being applied to freeways, toll highways, etc.
I always understood parkway = no trucks.
Freeway vs. Expressway
Understanding the differences between a freeway and an expressway is important, if you want to understand the issues surrounding the K-61 Enhancement project. A key decision was whether the proposed four-lane K-61 highway would be built as a freeway or as an expressway.
FREEWAY--A freeway is a multilane divided highway that allows access only at interchanges (see Fig. 1). Some examples of freeway facilities in Kansas are I-70 and I-135.
* Advantages Typically has fewer fatal accidents per vehicle mile than other highway designs
* Has a lower total cost over its design life than other highway designs if all user costs (travel time, fuel costs, accidents) are taken into consideration
* Has a longer useful life and is more able to serve increasing traffic as communities and traffic grow
* More likely to draw traffic from parallel routes due to improved safety, convenience and capacity
Fig. 1: a freeway.
Fig. 1: a freeway.
EXPRESSWAY--An expressway is a multilane divided highway that allows access at public roads via at-grade intersections (see Fig. 2). Two examples of expressways in Kansas are K-254 between Wichita and El Dorado and K-96 between Hutchinson and Wichita. There are two approaches that can be taken to construct an expressway:
1) Upgradeable Expressway - An expressway where sufficient right-of-way is purchased to eventually construct interchanges when they become necessary.
* Advantages Has a longer useful life because it can be upgraded in the future without further disruptions or displacements
* Saves initial construction costs by providing sufficient right-of-way for interchanges but not constructing them
2) Non-Upgradeable Expressway - An expressway where only the right-of-way necessary to build the expressway is purchased. This design approach does not prevent the conversion to a freeway in the future, but the future conversion to a freeway may be prohibitively expensive due to development and growth in the corridor.
* Advantages Has the lowest initial cost compared to other options
* Makes greatest use of the existing roadway and right-of-way
* Changes access to the existing highway but leaves more access points in place than either a freeway or an "upgradeable" expressway
>....The fact that "freeway" doesn't appear in the list of
>Road-Atlas-legend definitions is exactly parallel to the
>fact that "turnpike", "parkway", and "expressway" don't
>appear in it.
The Feds (US DOT FHWA -- the Federal Highway Administration) help coordinate
uniform standards for road planning, design and safety, especially when
federal funds are involved. Naming or renaming of roads and associated
features is recognized as an element of safety -- such as in designating and
signing a "Senator Bedfellow Memorial Guardrail". This practice can confuse
the unwary driver, so the Feds recommend placing such signage off the main
route, at rest areas or scenic overlooks.
The FHWA MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) is the national
standard for all signage.
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/
The agency notes that auto clubs developed early road signs, and cites a few
significant dates:
1911 - first centerline painted (Michigan)
1914 - first electric traffic signal (Cleveland)
1915 - first STOP sign (Detroit)
1916 - the Federal-Aid Act requires that a State have a highway
department before it can get Federal money.
1918 - Wisconsin is the first state to erect official route signs
1920 - first 3-color traffic signal (Detroit)
1927 - first federal (AASHO) guidebook on signage
1935 - first edition of the MUTCD published
1940 - Arroyo Seco Parkway, 1940 (renamed Pasadena Freeway, 1954)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byday/fhbd1230.htm
1942 - standards published for wartime blackout conditions
1954 - white-on-red adopted for STOP signs, and white-on-green
for Interstate highways
1971 - definition of "should," "shall," and "may" added to MUTCD,
and orange designated for construction signage
Definitions, according to the MUTCD:
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/millennium/12.18.00/1.pdf
Road - see Roadway.
Roadway - that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used
for vehicular travel and parking lanes, but exclusive of the sidewalk, berm,
or shoulder even though such sidewalk, berm, or shoulder is used by persons
riding bicycles or other human-powered vehicles. In the event a highway
includes two or more separate roadways, the term roadway as used herein
shall refer to any such roadway separately, but not to all such roadways
collectively.
Highway - a general term for denoting a public way for purposes of travel by
vehicular travel, including the entire area within the right-of-way.
Expressway - a divided highway with partial control of access.
Freeway - a divided highway with full control of access.
"Turnpike" and "tollway" and not listed as such -- these are more in the
realm of regional names and usages assigned by state and local
transportation authorities. The Feds provide guidance, not absolute control,
over naming of road features designed and built by local agencies. "Freeway"
is a functional design term which may or may not be used to label a route.
Other "Transportation Expressions" are listed here:
http://www.bts.gov/btsprod/expr/expsearch.html
Originally posted by: RichUK
Neither. They?re called Motorways.
/thread
Originally posted by: BlancoNino
They're two different kinds of roads....
Highways are generally 2 lane and aren't divided.
Freeways are generally 4 lane, divided, and go for a long long time.
Originally posted by: IGBT
Originally posted by: BlancoNino
They're two different kinds of roads....
Highways are generally 2 lane and aren't divided.
Freeways are generally 4 lane, divided, and go for a long long time.
...:thumbsup: