Highway
A highway is a road made for travel by the public between important places, such as cities, towns and landmarks. The word "highway" can be different between countries and can also mean a road, freeway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, parkway, expressway, autostrasse, autostrada, byway or motorway.
Highways come in many different designs. They can include many lanes of traffic, a median (strip of lane or barrier) between lanes of opposing traffic, and access control (ramps and bridges). Highways can also be as simple as a two-lane road.
In many countries, these roads are numbered to easily tell them apart. These numbered highways are usually called routes. The United States includes a system called the Interstate Highway system, controlled by AASHTO, where major north/south routes are odd numbered and east/west are even numbered. In Canada, routes that are in the 400s are freeways. In China, types of routes are separated by the first letter of the route; "G" for national road, "S" for provincial road and "Y" for rural roads.
| 40x40px | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).. |
Highways are sometimes criticised because of the pollution cars make when driving highways. When too many cars travel along a highway, traffic slows down; this is known as a traffic jam. Public transportation (such as buses) and special lanes for those who have a given number of people in a car are used to help stop these problems.
Highway Media
- RA3 - Località Sant'Antonio.jpg
Raccordo autostradale RA3 In Italy, which connects the Tuscan cities of Florence and Siena
- Atlanta 75.85.jpg
The I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States
- Autostrada between Varese and Como.jpg
The Italian Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Highway" in the 1950s; now parts of the Autostrada A8 and the Autostrada A9), the first controlled-access highway ever built in the world
The construction of Harbor Freeway, and its subsequent displacement of homes in Los Angeles, California.
- Home Owners' Loan Corporation Philadelphia redlining map.jpg
The use of "Redlining" often would dictate where in cities highways would go through.
- Leipzig-Halle Airport Condor.jpg
A taxiway crossing the Autobahn, near Leipzig
- Highway 401 by 401-DVP.jpg
Noise, light and air pollution are negative environmental effects highways can have on their surroundings.
- Autoroute F.svg
International sign used widely in Europe denoting the start of special restrictions for a section of highway classed as a motorway