Controlled-access highwayA controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms include throughway (or thruway) and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highways with somewhat less isolation from other traffic. In countries following the Vienna convention, the motorway qualification implies that walking and parking are forbidden.
Dual carriagewayA dual carriageway (BrE) or a divided highway (AmE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are designed to higher standards with controlled access are generally classed as motorways, freeways, etc., rather than dual carriageways. A road without a central reservation is known as a single carriageway regardless of how many lanes there are.
Pennsylvania TurnpikeThe Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway that is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state, connecting the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia areas. It also passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian Mountains in central Pennsylvania.
TrafficTraffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly and timely flow of traffic. Organized traffic generally has well-established priorities, lanes, right-of-way, and traffic control at intersections.
AutobahnThe Autobahn (ˈaʊtoˌbaːn; German plural Autobahnen) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is Bundesautobahn (abbreviated BAB), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word Bundesautobahn is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of the system has no speed limit for some classes of vehicles. However, limits are posted and enforced in areas that are urbanised, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction.
RoadA road is a thoroughfare for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, whose primary function is to serve as public spaces, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of roads, including parkways, avenues, controlled-access highways (freeways, motorways, and expressways), tollways, interstates, highways, thoroughfares, and local roads.
ParkwayA parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled parkways. The term may be used to describe city streets as narrow as two lanes with a landscaped median, wide landscaped setbacks, or both. The term has also been applied to scenic highways and to limited-access roads more generally.
Interstate Highway SystemThe Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. The United States Congress first funded roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, and began an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921.
Traffic barrierTraffic barriers (known in North America as guardrails or guard rails, in Britain as crash barriers, and in auto racing as Armco barriers) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them from colliding with dangerous obstacles such as boulders, sign supports, trees, bridge abutments, buildings, walls, and large storm drains, or from traversing steep (non-recoverable) slopes or entering deep water. They are also installed within medians of divided highways to prevent errant vehicles from entering the opposing carriageway of traffic and help to reduce head-on collisions.
Road transportRoad transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ensure a separation of the two industries. Movement along roads may be by bike, automobile, bus, truck, or by animal such as horse or oxen. Standard networks of roads were adopted by Romans, Persians, Aztec, and other early empires, and may be regarded as a feature of empires.
