Information AboutExpressway |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT EXPRESSWAY | |
| road infrastructure | |
| limited-access roads | |
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s.]] An expressway is a divided Highway for high-speed traffic with at least partial Control Of Access . However, as explained below, the degree of access allowed varies between Countries and even between regions within the same country. In some jurisdictions, expressways are divided Arterial Road s with limits on the frequency of Driveway s and intersecting cross-streets. In other jurisdictions, access to expressways is limited only to grade-separated Interchanges , making them the full equivalent of Freeway s. The term “expressway” is currently used in Australia , Canada , China , India , Iran , Japan , Malaysia , New Zealand , Philippines , Qatar , Singapore , South Korea , Thailand , and the United States (where the term originated). UNITED STATES on the expressway is both legal and popular in California]] In the United States, an ''expressway'' is defined by the standards (which ban practically all driveways and at-grade intersections) and are therefore usually numbered as State Highway s or U.S. Highway s. This distinction was first developed in 1949 by the Special Committee on Nomenclature of what is now the .Wis. Stat., §§ 59.84(1)(b) and 346.57(1)(am). 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. However, many states around the ,Conn. Gen. Stat. § 13a-20(a). Florida ,Fla. Stat. § 348.0002(8). Illinois ,625 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/1-119.3. Indiana , Maryland ,Md. Transp. Code Ann. § 8-620(c). Massachusetts , New Jersey , New York , Pennsylvania , South Carolina , Virginia , and West Virginia .W. Va. Code § 17-4-2(a). In those states, the term "freeway" is not in common usage and it is common to find Interstate Highway s which bear the name “expressway.” Minnesota officially uses "freeway" and "expressway" interchangeably (with both defined as what federal officials call freeways).Minn. Stat. § 160.02, subd. 19. 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 Station s and Shopping Center 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 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. 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. Examples include the Gardiner Expressway 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 is an example of a route that uses the freeway term. The new Veterans Memorial Parkway in London, Ontario , has intersections instead of interchanges, thus the Parkway is not considered a Freeway . The Parkway was designed to be a limited access highway for the city but the lack of funding for the Highway forced it to be built as 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. REFERENCES SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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