Freeway 11707 225105542 2008-07-11T22:16:44Z Bankbryan 3484992 copyedit, punctuation <!--Per discussion among Wikipedia editors in 2006, this article is limited to countries where the term freeway is actually used. If you wish to add information on countries where other terms are in use for similar roads, edit or create the article for the appropriate term. --> {{two other uses||specific systems, such as the [[Autobahns of Germany]]|list of highway systems with full control of access and no cross traffic}} [[Image:I-80 Eastshore Fwy.jpg|thumb|right|[[Interstate 80]] ([[Eastshore Freeway]]) in [[Berkeley, California]]: a typical American freeway (MUTCD definition)]] A '''freeway''' &mdash; also known as a [[highway]], [[superhighway]], [[Expressway|autoroute]], [[autobahn]], [[autopista]], [[autovía]], [[autostrada]], [[dual carriageway]], [[expressway]], or [[motorway]] &mdash; is a type of road designed for [[Road safety#Motorway|safer]] high-speed operation of [[motor vehicle]]s through the elimination of [[at-grade intersection]]s. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all [[cross traffic]] through the use of [[grade separation]]s and [[interchange (road)|interchange]]s; [[railroad crossing]]s are also removed. Such highways are usually [[divided highway|divided]] with at least two [[lane (road)|lane]]s in each direction. Because traffic never crosses at-grade, there are generally no [[traffic light]]s or [[stop sign]]s. The word ''freeway'' first surfaced in the mid-1930s in proposals for the improvement of the [[New York City]] [[parkway]] network.<ref>E.L. Yordan, "The 'Freeway' System Expands: Broader Roads With Grade Crossings Eliminated Are Built And Latest Designs Envision Still Greater Speed And Safety", ''[[New York Times]]'', [[24 February]] [[1935]], p. 21.</ref> It is currently in regular use in the [[United States]] as well as parts of [[Canada]] and [[Australia]]. Other countries refer to a freeway as a grade-separated [[highway]]{{Fact|date=May 2007}} or a [[superhighway]].{{Fact|date=May 2007}} In the [[United States]], the term ''freeway'' is frequently used. In some regions of the U.S., other terms are also used, including ''[[Interstate Highway System|Interstate]]'', ''[[highway]]'', ''[[expressway]]'', and ''[[turnpike]]''. While some people use these terms interchangeably, [[turnpike]]s and [[thruway]]s have specific associations with toll roads and other limited access highways, such as the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]], [[West Virginia Turnpike]], [[New Jersey Turnpike]], [[Florida's Turnpike]], and [[New York State Thruway]];{{Fact|date=April 2007}} consequently, the term ''freeway'' is often used in contrast to refer only to a toll-free road<ref name="ahd">[http://www.bartleby.com/61/33/F0313300.html American Heritage Dictionary] online at [[bartleby.com]].</ref><ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861613444 Encarta English Dictionary online].</ref> as opposed to its original meaning<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]] 2nd edition.</ref><ref>[[Random House Unabridged Dictionary]] 1st edition, 1979 printing</ref> &ndash; in which the component "free" implied freedom from traffic interference rather than "at no cost" &ndash; still used in other countries and in parts of the U.S. ==General characteristics== [[Image:Los Angeles Freeway Interchange.jpg|thumb|left|High-capacity freeway [[Interchange (road)|interchange]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], [[USA]]]] Freeways, by definition, have no at-grade [[Intersection (road)|intersections]] with other roads, [[railroad]]s or [[multi-use trail]]s. [[Movable bridge]]s, such as the [[Interstate Bridge]] on [[Interstate 5|I-5]] between [[Oregon]] and [[Washington]], may require drivers to yield to cross traffic on the river. Not all roads bearing the name of freeway are in fact freeways by definition; for example, the [[William L. Wilson Freeway]] ([[U.S. Route 340]]) by [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia]], is a two-lane undivided roadway featuring at-grade intersections. The crossing of freeways by other routes is typically achieved with grade separation either in the form of [[underpass]]es or [[overpass]]es. In addition to [[sidewalk]]s (footpaths) attached to roads that cross a freeway, specialized pedestrian [[bridge]]s or [[tunnel]]s may also be provided. These structures enable [[pedestrian]]s and [[cyclist]]s to cross the freeway at that point without a detour to the nearest road crossing. [[Image:401atDVP.jpg|thumb|right|[[Highway 401 (Ontario)|Ontario Highway 401]] in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]: An example of an urban freeway with an [[express-collector]] setup]] Access to freeways is typically provided only at grade-separated [[Interchange (road)|interchanges]], though lower-standard [[right-in/right-out]] access can be used for direct connections to side roads. In many cases, sophisticated interchanges allow for smooth, uninterrupted transitions between intersecting freeways and busy [[arterial road]]s. However, sometimes it is necessary to exit onto a surface road to transfer from one freeway to another. An example of this would be [[Interstate 70]] in the town of [[Breezewood, Pennsylvania]].<ref>Manuel Roig-Franzia, "The Town That Stops Traffic: Travelers Encounter Way Station as Way of Life in Breezewood," ''[[Washington Post]]'', 22 November 2001, B1.</ref> [[Image:CongestionM25.jpg|thumb|left|The [[M25 motorway]] near [[Reigate]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. In most [[Commonwealth]] nations, freeway-like roads are referred to as [[motorways]].]] [[Speed limit]]s are generally higher on freeways, and are occasionally nonexistent (as on much of [[German Autobahns|Germany's Autobahn]] network). Because higher speeds reduce decision time, freeways are usually equipped with a larger number of [[guide sign]]s than other roads, and the signs themselves are physically larger. Guide signs are often mounted on overpasses or overhead [[Gantry (road sign)|gantries]] so that drivers can see where each lane goes. Exit numbers are commonly derived from the exit's distance in miles or kilometers from the start of the freeway. In some areas, there are public [[rest area]]s or [[service area]]s on freeways, as well as [[emergency phone]]s on the [[hard shoulder|shoulder]] at regular intervals. In the United States, [[milepost]]s start at the southern or westernmost point on the freeway (either its terminus or the state line). [[California]], [[Ohio]], and [[Nevada]] uses a [[California postmile|postmile]] system where markers indicate mileage through the state's individual counties; however, Nevada and Ohio also use the standard [[milepost]] system concurrently with their respective postmile systems on freeways only. Until the 1980s, [[New York]] used [[New York State Reference Markers|reference markers]] which, like California, indicated mileage through individual counties. The [[New York State Department of Transportation]] has since supplemented their reference marker system with mileposts indicating a freeway's mileage through the state.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} ===Cross sections=== [[Image:La city hwys.jpg|right|thumb|The Judge [[Harry Pregerson]] Interchange, connecting the [[Century Freeway]] (I-105) and the [[Harbor Freeway]] (I-110) in [[Los Angeles, California]]]] [[Two-lane freeway]]s, often undivided, are sometimes built when traffic volumes are low or right-of-way is limited; they may be designed for easy conversion to one side of a four-lane freeway. Otherwise, freeways typically have at least two lanes in each direction; some busy ones can have as many as 16 or more lanes<ref>Portions of the [[Downtown Connector]] in [[Atlanta, Georgia]] has eight lanes in each direction.</ref> in total. In [[Mississauga, Ontario]], [[Highway 401 (Ontario)|Highway 401]] uses [[local-express lanes|collector-express lanes]] for a total of 18 lanes through its intersection with [[Highway 403 (Ontario)|403]]/[[Highway 410 (Ontario)|410]] and [[Highway 427 (Ontario)|427]]. In [[San Diego, California]], [[Interstate 5]] has a similar system of express and local lanes for a maximum width of 21 lanes on a two-mile segment between [[Interstate 805]] and [[California State Route 56]]. These wide freeways may use separate [[collector and express lane]]s to separate through traffic from local traffic, or special [[high-occupancy vehicle]] lanes, either as a special restriction on the innermost lane or a separate roadway, to encourage [[carpool]]ing. These [[HOV lane]]s, or roadways open to all traffic, can be [[reversible lane]]s, providing more capacity in the direction of heavy traffic, and reversing direction before traffic switches. Sometimes a [[collector/distributor road]], a shorter version of a local lane, shifts weaving between closely-spaced interchanges to a separate roadway or altogether eliminates it. In some parts of the world, notably [[frontage road#Texas|Texas]], [[frontage road]]s form an integral part of the freeway system. These parallel surface roads typically run the entire length of the freeway{{Fact|date=May 2008}} and provide a transition between high-speed "through" traffic and local traffic. Frequent on- and off-ramps provide access from the freeway to the frontage road, which in turn provides direct access to local roads and businesses.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Except on some [[two-lane freeway]]s (and very rarely on wider freeways), a [[median (road)|median]] separates the opposite directions of traffic. This strip may be as simple as a grassy area, or may include a [[crash barrier]] such as a "[[Jersey barrier]]" or a "Ontario Tall Wall"" to prevent [[head-on collision]]s.<ref>Anonymous, "Median barriers prove their worth", ''Public Works'' 123, no. 3 (March 1992): 72-73.</ref> On some freeways, the two carriageways are built on different alignments; this may be done to make use of available corridors in a mountainous area or to provide narrower corridors through dense [[urban area]]s.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Some roads in [[Ohio]] that conform to freeway criteria use at-grade intersections in [[lieu]] of over/under-passes, with occasional [[interchange]]s to avoid signalized traffic interruption (i.e., traffic lights are omitted). Examples include [[US-23]] between [[Ohio State Route 15|OH-15]]'s eastern terminus and [[Delaware, Ohio]], along with highway 15 between its eastern terminus and [[I-75]], [[US-30]], [[Ohio State Route 29|OH-29]]/[[US-33]], and [[US-35]] in western and central Ohio. These roads are fundamentally [[expressways]], but expressways tend to have lower design speeds, and signalized at-grade intersections. ===Access restrictions=== {{main|non-motorized vehicle access on freeways}} [[Image:Acosta Bridge northbound end.jpg|thumb|left|A bicyclist using a freeway legally]] To reduce the probability that high-speed freeway traffic will have to slow down for slower same-direction traffic, access to freeways is usually limited to drivers of [[motor vehicle]]s which are powerful enough to maintain a certain minimum speed. Some [[East Asia]]n countries partially restrict the use of motorcycles or ban them completely from freeways (or expressways in countries where that term is used) (see [[restrictions on motorcycle use on freeways]]). Travelers in a low-powered transportation class (such as [[pedestrian]], [[cyclist|bicyclist]], [[Equestrianism|equestrian]], and [[moped]] driver) are banned at all times from the freeways in many areas by default. In some jurisdictions, these classes are allowed on the shoulders of certain freeways (usually where the freeway completely replaced an existing road) or on [[sidepath]]s. ==Legal definitions== {{Globalize/USA}} ===United States=== [[Image:Montagueexpressway.jpg|thumb|[[Santa Clara County Route G4]] (Montague Expressway), an American expressway under the MUTCD definition]] In the United States, a "freeway" is defined by the federal government’s [[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]] as a divided highway with full control of access.<ref>Section 1A.13, Paragraph 29, ''[[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]]'', 2003 ed., rev. 1.[http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003r1/part1/part1a.htm]. See also 23 CFR 750.153(k).</ref> This means two things. Adjoining property owners do not have a legal right of access, meaning that they cannot connect their lands to the highway by constructing driveways, although [[frontage road]]s provide access to properties adjacent to a freeway in many places.<ref>This part of the word's meaning was codified in 1939 at Section 23.5 of the California Streets and Highways Code.[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/shc/1-36.html] See also ''People v. Scheinman'', 248 Cal. App. 2d 180, 182, 56 Cal. Rptr. 168, 168-169 (1967) (interpreting Section 23.5 to find that a property owner had deeded to the State just the access from the side of his property directly abutting a future freeway but not the access through a connecting road which the state wished to close in order to upgrade an expressway to a freeway).</ref> When an existing road is converted into a freeway, all existing driveways must be removed and access to adjacent private lands must be blocked with fences or walls. Traffic on the highway is "free-flowing". All cross-traffic (and left-turning traffic) has been relegated to overpasses or underpasses, so that there are no traffic conflicts on the main line of the highway which must be regulated by a traffic light, stop signs, or other traffic control devices. Achieving such free flow requires the construction of many bridges, tunnels, and ramp systems. The advantage of grade-separated interchanges is that freeway drivers can almost always maintain their speed at junctions since they do not need to yield to crossing traffic. In contrast, an [[expressway]] is defined as a divided highway with partial control of access.<ref>Section 1A.13, Paragraph 27, ''[[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]]'', 2003 ed., rev. 1.[http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003r1/part1/part1a.htm] </ref> Expressways may have driveways and at-grade intersections, though these are usually less numerous than on ordinary arterial roads. This distinction was apparently first developed in 1949 by the Special Committee on Nomenclature of what is now the [[American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials]].<ref>American Association of State Highway Officials, ''AASHO Highway Definitions'' (Washington D.C., American Association of State Highway Officials, 1962), 1-3.</ref> 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 seven states: [[California]],<ref>Cal. Sts. & High. Code § 257.</ref> [[Mississippi]],<ref>Miss. Code Ann., § 65-5-3, subds. (b) and (c).</ref> [[Missouri]],<ref>Mo. Rev. Stat., § 304.010.</ref> [[Nebraska]],<ref>Neb. Rev. Stat., §§ 60-618.01 and 60-621.</ref> [[North Dakota]],<ref>N.D. Cent. Code, § 24-01-01.1 (2006).</ref> [[Ohio]],<ref>[http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4511 Ohio Rev. Code Ann., § 4511.01, subds. (YY) and (ZZ).]</ref> and [[Wisconsin]].<ref>Wis. Stat., §§ 59.84(1)(b) and 346.57(1)(am).</ref> 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; and in Missouri, both terms apply only to divided highways at least {{convert|10|mi|km}} 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.<ref>[http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4511 Ohio Rev. Code Ann., § 4511.01, subd. (ZZ).]</ref> The term ''expressway'' is also used<ref name="ahd"/> <!-- text previously said "by some states"; if it's a legal definiton somewhere, let's have a cite -->for what the federal government calls "freeways"; see the [[expressway]] article for further information. Where the terms are distinguished, all freeways are expressways, while not all expressways are freeways. ==Effects and controversy== [[Image:traffic06.jpg|thumb|left|[[Rush hour]] on [[I-45]], downtown Houston, USA.]] Freeways have been constructed both between urban centers and within them, leading to the sprawling [[suburb]]an development found near most modern cities. Freeways reduced travel times{{Fact|date=February 2007}} and [[Traffic safety#Motorway|accident rates]],{{Fact|date=February 2007}} though the higher speeds have increased the severity and death rates of the [[collision]]s that do occur.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Freeways have been heavily criticized by environmentalists, urbanists, and preservationists for the noise,<ref>Hugo Martin, "Sounding Off On Noise: Freeways' Neighbors Struggle To Drown Out Road Racket, Experts Say The Din Creates Mental And Physical Hazards", Los Angeles Times, [[20 April]] [[2003]], B1.</ref> pollution, and economic shifts they bring. Additionally, they have also been criticized by the driving public for the inefficiency with which they handle peak hour traffic.<ref>Sandy McCreery, "Don't just sit there, enjoy it!" ''[[New Statesman]]'', [[23 July]] [[2001]], 23. </ref><ref>Martha Smilgis, "Trapped behind the wheel; clever commuters learn to live in the slow lane", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', [[20 July]] [[1987]], p. 64-65.</ref><ref>Gerard Coulombe, "Doing The Turnpike Crawl", ''[[New York Times]]'', [[6 July]] [[1986]], sec. CN, p. 16.</ref> Often, rural freeways open up vast areas to economic development, generally raising property values. In contrast to this, above ground freeways in urban areas are often a source of lowered property values, contributing to [[urban decay]]. Even with overpasses and underpasses, above ground freeways divide neighborhoods &mdash; especially impoverished ones where residents are less likely to own a car, or to have the political and economic influence to resist construction efforts.<ref>Jeffrey Spivak, "Today's road opening represents progress, pain", ''Kansas City Star'', [[27 July]] [[1999]], sec. A, p. 1.</ref> Beginning in the early 1970s, the U.S. Congress identified freeways and other urban highways as responsible for most of the noise exposure of the U.S. population.<ref name="Senate>>Senate Public Works Committee, Noise Pollution and Abatement Act of 1972, S. Rep. No. 1160, 92nd Cong. 2nd session</ref> Subsequently, computer models were developed to analyze freeway noise and aid in their siting and design to minimize noise exposure.<ref>[http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/2930880 C. Michael Hogan and Gary L. Latshaw,''The relationship between highway planning and urban noise '', :Proceedings of the ASCE, Urban Transportation Division specialty conference, [[May 21]]-23, 1973, Chicago, Illinois. by American Society of Civil Engineers. Urban Transportation Division</ref> Some freeways have even been demolished and reclaimed as [[boulevard]]s, notably in [[Portland (OR)|Portland]] ([[Harbor Drive (Portland)|Harbor Drive]]), [[New York City]] ([[West Side Highway]]), [[Boston]] ([[Central Artery]]), [[San Francisco]] ([[Embarcadero Freeway]]) and [[Milwaukee]] ([[Park East Freeway]]). An alternative to surface or above ground freeway construction has been the construction of underground urban freeways using tunnelling technologies. This has been extremely successful in the Australian cities of [[Sydney]] (which has five such freeways) and [[Melbourne]] (which has one such freeway). This has had the benefit of removing traffic from surface roads and has led to urban renewal due to a significant decrease in surface road traffic congestion, noise and pollution.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} Public transport has been improved in these areas through the provisioning of dedicated bus lanes where previously traffic congestion prevented such lane allocations from being made.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} Other Australian cities face similar problems (lack of available land, cost of home acquisition, aesthetic problems, and community opposition). Brisbane, which also has to contend with physical boundaries (the river) and heavy population increases, has embraced underground tunnel freeways. There are currently three under active development, one of which (the [[North-South Bypass Tunnel, Brisbane|North-South Bypass Tunnel]]) is currently under construction. All of the planned tunnels include provisions for public transport, whether underground or in reclaimed space on the surface.<ref>TransApex (Brisbane City Council) ''[http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE:257180067:pc=PC_1783]''</ref> Freeway opponents have found that freeway expansion is often self-defeating: expansion simply generates more traffic. That is, even if traffic congestion is initially shifted from local streets to a new or widened freeway, people will begin to run errands and commute to more remote locations. Over time, the freeway and its environs become congested again as both the average number and distance of trips increases. This idea is known as [[induced demand]].<ref>Robert Cervero, "Road expansion, urban growth, and induced travel: a path analysis", ''Journal of the American Planning Association'' 69, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 145-164.</ref><ref>Hugo Martin, "Will More Freeways Bring More Traffic?" ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', [[10 April]] [[2002]], sec. B, p. 1. </ref> [[Image:Interstate H-1.jpg|thumb|Interstate H-1 eastbound into Honolulu, USA.]] Urban planning experts such as Drusilla Van Hengel, Joseph DiMento, and Sherry Ryan, argue that although properly designed and maintained freeways may be convenient and safe, at least in comparison to uncontrolled roads, they may not expand recreation, employment and education opportunities equally for different ethnic groups, or for people located in certain neighborhoods of a given city.<ref>Drusilla Van Hengel, Joseph DiMento, and Sherry Ryan, ''[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftaylorandfrancis.metapress.com%2Findex%2FRL67TT2RMJC4WE5B.pdf&ei=uruuReefMIWIgAS8tImoAg&usg=__2Ac81I04rp5IyDEnFWEgJPtwHIE=&sig2=CAUy8ex3i3qXADUmD0qWZQ Equal Access? Travel Behaviour Change in the Century Freeway Corridor, Los Angeles]'', ''Urban Studies'' 36, no. 1 (March 1999): 547.</ref> Still, they may open new markets to some [[small business]]es.<ref>Christy Borth, ''Mankind on the Move: The Story of Highways'' (Washington, D.C.: The Automobile Safety Foundation, 1969), 248 and 264.</ref> At present, freeway expansion has largely stalled in the [[United States]], due to a multitude of factors that converged in the 1970s: higher [[due process]] requirements prior to taking of private [[property]], increasing land values, increasing costs for construction materials, local opposition to new freeways in urban cores, the passage of the [[National Environmental Policy Act]] (which imposed the requirement that each new federally-funded project must have an [[environmental impact statement]] or report), and falling [[gas tax]] revenues as a result of the nature of the flat-cent tax (it is not automatically adjusted for inflation), the [[tax revolt]] movement,<ref>Brian D. Taylor, "Public perceptions, fiscal realities, and freeway planning: the California case", ''Journal of the American Planning Association'' 61, no. 1 (Winter 1995): 43-59.</ref> and growing popular support for high-speed mass transit in lieu of new freeways. ==History== {{seealso|Dual carriageway#History}} The concept of limited-access automobile highways dates back to the [[New York City]] area [[Parkway]] system, whose construction began in 1907&ndash;1908; but parkways are traditionally distinguished from freeways by lower design speeds and a ban on commercial traffic. Some parkways, notably the [[Taconic Parkway]], [[Sprain Brook Parkway]], and [[Saw Mill Parkway]] have at-grade intersections, although direct access to property adjacent to the parkways is prohibited. Designers elsewhere also researched similar ideas, especially in [[Germany]], where the [[Autobahn]] would become the first national freeway system. However, in 1925, [[Italy]] was technically the first country to build a freeway-like road, which linked [[Milan]] to [[Lake Como]].<ref>Paul Hofmann, "Taking to the Highway in Italy", ''[[New York Times]]'', [[26 April]] [[1987]], 23.</ref> It is known in Italy as the [[Autostrada dei Laghi]]. Meanwhile, in [[Great Britain]], the related concept of the [[motorway]] was first proposed by Sidney Webb in a 1910 book, ''The King's Highway'', but was not formally embraced by the government until the passage of the Special Roads Act 1949.<ref>Geoffrey Hindley, ''A History of Roads'' (London: Peter Davies, 1971), 142.</ref> In 1926, the English intellectual [[Hilaire Belloc]] recognized the necessity of grade-separated roads for "rapid and heavy traffic", but thought they would be the exception rather than the rule: :The creation of a great network of local highways suitable for rapid and heavy traffic is impossible. Even if the wealth of the community increases, the thing would be impossible, because it would mean the destruction of such a proportion of buildings as would dislocate all social life.<ref>Hilaire Belloc, ''The Highway and Its Vehicles'' (London: The Studio Limited, 1926), 39.</ref> While [[Connecticut]]'s [[Merritt Parkway]] was the first fully controlled-access highway in America when it opened on [[June 29]], [[1938]], it does not qualify as the country's first freeway, since low bridge heights, tight curve radii, and short interchange ramps fell well below freeway standards. The first long-distance rural freeway in the United States is generally considered to be the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]], which opened on [[October 1]], [[1940]].<ref>Phil Patton, ''The Open Road: A Celebration of the American Highway (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986), 77.</ref> The Turnpike was so advanced for its time that tourists even had picnics in the median (that is, after it was already open to traffic) and local [[entrepreneur]]s did a brisk business in souvenirs.<ref>Phil Patton, "A quick way from here to there was also a frolic", ''Smithsonian'' 21, no. 7 (October 1990): 96-108.</ref> It was designed so that straightaways could handle maximum speeds of 102 miles per hour, and curves could be taken as fast as 90. What may be the world's first long-distance [[intercity]] freeway is the [[Queen Elizabeth Way]] in [[Southern Ontario|Southern]] [[Ontario]] in [[Canada]], initially linking the large cities of [[Toronto]] and [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]] together by 1939. Shortly thereafter, on [[December 30]], [[1940]], [[California]] opened its first freeway, the [[Arroyo Seco Parkway]] (now called the [[Pasadena Freeway]]) which connected [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]] with [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].<ref>Cecilia Rasmussen, "Behind the Wheel: Harrowing Drive on State's Oldest Freeway &mdash; Curvy, quirky 110 carries motorists between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena", ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', [[6 November]] [[2001]], 2.</ref> And in 1942, [[Detroit, Michigan]] opened the world's first urban depressed freeway, the [[Davison Freeway]].<ref>[http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Environment/E_Casestudy/Davison.htm Davison Freeway<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Portions of the first freeway in [[Texas]] and the [[Southern United States]], the [[Gulf Freeway]] in [[Houston]], opened in 1948. <ref> [http://www.texasfreeway.com http://www.texasfreeway.com] </ref> Meanwhile, traffic in Los Angeles continued to deteriorate and local officials began planning the huge freeway network for which the city is now famous.<ref>Gladwin Hill, "Traffic Chaos Spurs Los Angeles To Plan 'Freeways' On Mass Scale: Coast Metropolis, Lacking Rapid Transit System Such as New York Possesses, Maps $300,000,000 Highway Set-Up", ''[[New York Times]]'', [[13 January]] [[1947]], p. 12.</ref> Today, many freeways in the United States belong to the extensive [[Interstate highway]] system (most of which was completed between 1960 and 1990). Starting in the 1970s freeways began to consider environmental factors, particularly noise and air quality in their location and design. Nearly all Interstate highways are freeways. The earlier [[United States highway]] system and the highway systems of [[U.S. state]]s also have many sections that are built to controlled-access standards (though these systems are mostly composed of uncontrolled roads). Only a handful of sections of the Interstate system are not freeways, such as [[Interstate 81|I-81]] as it crosses the American span of the 2-lane Thousand Islands Bridge and a segment of [[Interstate 93]] through [[Franconia Notch]], [[New Hampshire]] that is a 2-lane road with partial access control.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} === Recent developments === [[Image:SouthernExpresswayClosed.jpg|thumb|right|An intersection with the [[Southern Expressway]] in [[Adelaide, South Australia]], is the world's longest reversible freeway.]] Besides the U.S., some provinces of [[Canada]] have adopted the terms ''freeway'' and ''[[superhighway]]'' to describe comparable roads {{Fact|date=December 2007}} (instead of or alongside the term ''[[expressway]]'') and they continue to extend their freeway networks. In [[Australia]], some states such as [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] use the term ''freeway'', and others such as [[Queensland]] and [[New South Wales]] use both terms, usually to distinguish between toll roads such as [[Brisbane]]'s [[Gateway Motorway]] and toll-free roads such as [[Sydney]]'s [[Warringah Freeway]]. However, many of Victoria's rural freeways have [[at-grade intersection]]s and therefore would not be considered freeways nor motorways in other states. Australia has been innovative in using the newest tunneling technologies to bring freeways into its high-density [[central business district]]s ([[Sydney]] and [[Melbourne]]). In Australia, the city of [[Adelaide]] pioneered the concept of a dedicated reversible freeway. The M2 expressway runs toward the city in the morning and out of the city in the evening. Its ramps are designed so that they can double as on- or off-ramps, depending upon the time of day. Gates and electronic signage prevent motorists from driving in the wrong direction. [[Brisbane]] currently has three major freeway tunnels under development; all are planned to incorporate traffic, congestion, incident and accident management technology. Major progress has been made in making existing U.S. freeways and expressways more efficient. Innovations include the addition of [[high-occupancy vehicle lane]]s (HOV lanes) to discourage driving solo, and building new roads with [[train]] tracks down the [[Central reservation|median]] (or overhead). California's [[Caltrans]] has been very innovative in squeezing HOVs into limited right-of-way (by elevating them), and in building special HOV-only ramps so that HOVs can switch freeways or exit the freeway without having to merge across regular traffic. Many states have added truck-only ramps or lanes on heavily congested routes, so that cars need not weave around slow-moving big rigs. [[Intelligent transportation system]]s are also increasingly used, with [[camera]]s to monitor and direct traffic, so that [[police]], [[fire brigade|fire]], [[ambulance]], [[tow truck|tow]], or other assistance [[vehicle]]s can be [[dispatch]]ed as soon as there is a problem, and to warn [[driving|drivers]] via [[variable message signs]], radio, television, and [[World Wide Web|the Web]] to avoid problem areas. Research has been underway for many years on how to partly [[automate]] cars by making [[smart road]]s with such things as buried [[magnet]]s to guide [[sensor]]-equipped vehicles, with on-board [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] to determine location, direction, and destination. While these systems may eventually be used on surface streets as well, they are most [[practical]] in a freeway setting. ====Public-private partnerships in the United States==== Until the late 1990s, funding of construction and maintenance of the Interstate Highway System was by the national gasoline tax. Originally, revenues generated by the national gasoline tax were intended solely for the maintenance and expansion of the country's highway system. During the Clinton Administration, federal legislation was passed allowing the use of gasoline tax revenues to fund other government programs and projects not related to highways or transportation. Since this reduced the amount of money available for the intended purpose of maintaining America's road network, many projects were either delayed, canceled, or scaled back. Additionally, the original [[Highway Act]] of 1956 prohibited states from collecting tolls on Interstate-funded freeways. As more miles of freeways were completed, the cost of maintaining the infrastructure increased dramatically. A major issue that has slowed new freeway construction in America has been the application of highway funds to maintaining and repairing existing infrastructure. Most of the freeways in America are near or have exceeded their designed life span, which necessitates replacing of bridges and overpasses and reconstruction of the driving surfaces on many freeways nationwide. To address the issue of lack of funding for new freeways and maintenance of existing roads, legislation enacted in 1998 gives states greater flexibility in funding major highway projects. Specifically the legislation, known as TEA-21 in official documents, authorizes states to add tolls to Interstate-funded freeways. Additionally, it gave states the latitude to enter into public-private partnership [[P3]] arrangements to facilitate expansion and maintenance of the freeway network. [[Texas]], [[Florida]], [[Virginia]], and [[California]] quickly took advantage of the TEA-21 legislation and began on massive projects to expand their respective states' freeway networks, complementing existing Interstate freeways with privately funded and operated tollways. In 2004, [[Illinois]] sealed a $1.8 billion deal with [[Macquarie Infrastructure Group]] and Cintras to operate the [[Chicago Skyway]] for 99 years. In a similar P3 arrangement in [[Indiana]], the Cintras-Macquarie joint venture assumed responsibility for the [[Indiana East-West Toll Road]] for 75 years on [[June 30]], [[2006]] in a very controversial $3.8 billion deal, which for political purposes was dubbed [[Major Moves]]. As of late 2006, [[Pennsylvania]] is actively pursuing the P3 toll road concept, but still has to clear challenges in the state legislature before such an arrangement can be implemented on the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]]. Also in late 2006 [[Delaware]] has plans to enter into an agreement with a private firm to design, build, and operate a planned 17-mile (27 km) bypass of [[U.S. Route 301]] between [[Delaware Route 1]] and the Maryland state line. Meanwhile in [[New York]] and [[Massachusetts]], the respective state public authorities that operate the [[New York State Thruway]] and [[Massachusetts Turnpike]] have generated enough revenue to assume maintenance of other freeways beyond the roads on which tolls are collected. The [[Massachusetts Turnpike Authority]] provided more than 50 percent of the funding to complete the [[Big Dig (Boston, Massachusetts)|Big Dig]] project in Boston, and later assumed responsibility for operating the Central Artery, the [[Sumner Tunnel]], and the [[Callahan Tunnel]] following the project's completion in 2005. As federal funding dries up for expanding and maintaining America's freeway network, states are looking to innovative solutions using a combination of state and federal funding, toll collection through public authorities, and private sector investment. ==Gallery of freeways around the world== </div> <gallery> Image:TullamarineFwy.jpg|The "Sound Tube", [[CityLink]] Tollway, [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]. Image:Autopista-Central-2.jpg|Autopista Central, [[Santiago, Chile]]. Image:AutopistaLibertadores.JPG|Autopista Los Libertadores, (International Freeway) [[Santiago, Chile]] Image:Queensway east of Riverside Drive Ottawa.jpg|[[Highway 417 (Ontario)|Highway 417]] (The [[Queensway (Ottawa)|Queensway]]) in [[Ottawa, Ontario|Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]. Image:376 east.jpg|[[Interstate 376]] eastbound in downtown [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[USA]]. <!-- Unsourced image removed: Image:Expressway malavi bridge 3.jpg|[[Mumbai-Pune Expressway]] in [[India]] --> Image:Motorväg_-_bild.jpg|[[International E-road network|E-Road]] [[European route E6|E6]] [[European route E20|E20]] in southwest [[Sweden]] in [[Varberg]] Image:Old_Autobahn_DE.jpg|An older [[Germany|German]] [[Autobahn]] without an emergency lane Image:Lowry_Hill_Tunnel.jpg|[[Interstate 94]] entering the Lowry Hill Tunnel in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]. [[USA]]. Image:Romania_A2_Freeway.jpg|A2 Motorway connecting the city of [[Bucharest]] with [[Constanta]], [[Romania]]. Image:Highway1-cassiar-southbound.jpg|The [[British Columbia Highway 1|British Columbia portion of the Trans Canada Highway]] in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]]. Image:Alessandria-L'autostrada_A-26-tratto_appenninico.jpg|The [[Italy|Italian]] [[Autostrada]] A26 while it enters a tunnel crossing northern [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]] Image:Atlanta 75.85.jpg|The "[[Downtown Connector]]" (I-75 and I-85) in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], [[United States of America]], during rush hour. Image:North-South Expressway Simpang Pulai-Gopeng.jpg|North-South Expressway Simpang Pulai-Gopeng in [[Malaysia]] Image:Cape Town N2.jpg|The [[N2 (South Africa)|N2]] entering the center of [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]] Image:Brisbane Riverside Expressway.jpg |[[Riverside Expressway]] , [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland (Australia)|Queensland]], [[Australia]]. </gallery> ==See also== *[[List of OECD countries by freeway network size]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} {{Road types}} [[Category:highways with full control of access and no cross traffic| ]] [[Category:Limited-access roads| ]] [[bs:Autoput]] [[bg:Автомагистрала]] [[ca:Autopista]] [[cs:Dálnice]] [[da:Motorvej]] [[de:Autobahn]] [[es:Autovía]] [[fa:آزادراه]] [[fr:Autoroute]] [[ko:고속도로]] [[hr:Autocesta]] [[it:Autostrada]] [[nl:Autosnelweg]] [[ja:高速道路]] [[no:Motorvei]] [[pl:Autostrada]] [[pt:Via expressa]] [[ro:Autostradă]] [[ru:Автомагистраль]] [[simple:Freeway]] [[sr:Аутопут]] [[fi:Moottoritie]] [[sv:Motorväg]] [[zh:高速公路]]