A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places that has been surfaced or otherwise improved to allow travel by foot or some form of conveyance, including a motor vehicle, cart, bicycle, or horse. Roads have been adapted to a large range of structures and types in order to achieve a common goal of transportation under a large and wide range of conditions. The specific purpose, mode of transport, material and location of a road determine the characteristics it must have in order to maximize its usefulness. Following is one classification scheme.

Taxonomy of Road

Marohn distinguishes between roads that are designed for mobility which he terms "roads" and those that function to "build a place", build community wealth and provide access to land. He argues the value of a road in terms of both community wealth and mobility is maximised when the road speed is either low or high, but not at midpoints such as 45mph. He refers to this low-value midpoint of speed and land access as a stroad.

Types of roads

Lower capacity roads

Street

Primitive roads

• Agricultural road

• Backroad

• Dirt road

• Forest road

• Gravel road

• Green lane

• Historic roads and trails

• Ice road

• Roman roads

• Sunken lane

Large roads

Higher capacity roads

Sometimes with medianss.

Expressways

The term expressway includes limited-access roads and grade-separated highways.

Private roads

• Driveway

• Gated community

• Military road

• Private highway

• Private road

Intersecting roads

• Connector

• Interchange

• Intersection

• Level junction

• Level crossing

• Road diet

• Roundabout

Material type

Roads also may be classified based on their pavement material types. For instance, the Long-Term Pavement Performance database includes more than 30 types of pavement types for roads in the US and Canada. However, a more generic classification of roads based on material type is as follows.

• Concrete roads

• Asphalt roads

• Gravel roads

• Earthen roads

• Murrum roads

• Kankar roads

• Bituminous roads

Other thoroughfares

Road types by features

In this list, roads names are used in different areas and the features of the roads varies. So this table address the differences in that usage when needed.

Notes

Access type

• Interchange - access limited to grade-separated interchanges

• Junction (roundabout) - access limited to major roads via a roundabout

• Partial - Limited access

• Uncontrolled - no control of access

Speed

• Any - Used in all types of applications

• Low - Low-speed

• High - High-Speed

Cross traffic

• Yes- cross traffic allowed at-grade without a traffic light

• Intersections - at-grade with a traffic signal

• No - no cross traffic

Divided

• Yes

• No

• Some - some sections may be divided

References

External links