Motorway

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Motorway is the term used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and some other Commonwealth nations for both a type of road and a classification or designation. Motorways are high capacity highways designed to safely carry fast motor traffic, usually between cities. In the UK they are predominantly dual-carriageway roads, usually with three lanes in each direction, although four-lane and two-lane carriageways are also common, and all have grade-separated access.

Equivalent terms in other countries include autoroute, auto-estrada, autobahn, freeway, avtocesta, autostrada, autopista, motorvej, autópálya, motorväg, avtopat, autoput, avtokinitódromos and diaľnica. In North America, the English terms freeway and expressway (including autoroutes) are used as a type of road, not necessarily as a classification type. Many highways are maintained throughout the United States as part of the Interstate Highway System. These highways are generally similar to motorways in purpose and quality.

Contents 1 Regulations and features 1.1 Common criteria 1.2 Speed limits 1.3 Lanes 2 Junctions 3 Location and construction 4 Inheritance 5 Route numbering 6 Motorway service areas 7 History 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Regulations and features

In Ireland and the UK, motorways are denoted by blue signage and an M-prefixed or suffixed road number. In New Zealand, motorways are distinguished from regular state highways with the word 'Motorway' on entrance signage. Historically, New Zealand's motorways had green signage while everywhere else had black, until green signage was spread to the entire State Highway network by Transit New Zealand.

The construction and surfacing of motorways is generally of a higher standard than conventional roads, and maintenance is carried out more frequently; in particular, motorways drain water very quickly to reduce hydroplaning. The road surface is generally asphalt concrete (often incorrectly referred to as tarmac) or portland cement concrete. Other features are crash barriers, cat's eyes and, increasingly, textured road markings (a similar concept to rumble-strips).

[edit] Common criteria

For a road to be classified as motorway a number of conditions must be fulfilled. The following conditions generally apply:

• Accessed at junctions by slip roads off the sides of the main carriageway;
• Joined by link-roads at an interchange, the object of which is to allow traffic to change route without stopping or slowing significantly;
• Traffic lights are not permitted (except at toll booths and certain interchanges) - see Ramp meter;
• Have signposted entry and exit points at the start and end;
• Certain types of transport are banned, typically pedestrians, bicycles, learner drivers, horses, agricultural vehicles, underpowered vehicles (e.g. small scooters, invalid carriages). In the Republic of Ireland, the "Motorway Ahead" sign at every motorway junction lists the excluded classes of vehicles (this sign was also formerly used in the United Kingdom - from which the Irish version is based - but has been almost entirely phased out). The same is true for the "Motorway Entrance" sign on motorways in most Australian states. In New Zealand, a no pedestrians and no cycles sign precede the "Motorway Begins" sign to tell pedestrians and cycles that they are not allowed on the motorway.

In the UK and the Republic of Ireland there are further restrictions:

• The central reservation must remain unbroken (an exception being the Aston Expressway in Birmingham, which has none);
• Emergency telephones (which connect directly to the police) must be provided at a regular distance (in the UK emergency telephones are situated at intervals of 1 mile)
• No roundabouts apart from at the start and finish
• Hardshoulder at majority of times
• All roads must be connected at junctions or interchanges only; no roads joining at any other point.
• Junctions must be numbered
• Service stations are more sparsely populated than standard primary routes

Note that these only apply to roads directly designated as motorways. Roads may also be indirectly designated as such, see Inheritance below.

A motorway in the UK, whether by design or inheritance, must have a Statutory Instrument (SI) defining a stretch of road and sliproads as a special road under the Highways Act 1980. In the Republic of Ireland, a Motorway Scheme must be made under the Roads Act 1993.

[edit] Speed limits

Motorway Speed limits are generally higher than those on single-carriageway roads, and some types of vehicle, such as heavy goods vehicles, may be subject to lower limits.

In the UK the majority of motorways and dual carriageways have a maximum speed limit of 70 mph (110 km/h) for cars, some may have lower limits for various local reasons. A UK Department for Transport (DfT) study at several sites in 2006 showed that over half of all motorway traffic was travelling in excess of this limit.^[1] In 2004 the Conservative Party proposed increasing the motorway speed limit to 80 mph (130 km/h) on some stretches,^[2] although this did not appear in their 2005 election manifesto.^[3] Some^{[citation needed]} road safety groups feel this would be a good idea, as it more closely represents the normal (and, they claim, safe) driving practice of the majority of motorway users.

In Ireland the speed limit for motorways and some dual-carriageways was changed from 70 mph to 120 km/h (75 mph) as part of the conversion from imperial to metric speed limits for roads on 20 January 2005.^[4]

In New Zealand the speed limit on motorways and other dual-carriageways is normally the top limit for state highways, 100 km/h (65 mph), with restrictions in some areas.

Many other roads may be of near-motorway quality, but not classified as such, generally because one or more of the normal motorway rules cannot be adhered to.

[edit] Lanes

Most motorway carriageways comprise a main running surface, with a hard shoulder along one edge, and a median or central reservation separating it from the other carriageway along the other edge. The hard shoulder is generally provided for use in emergencies, such as breakdowns, only. However the M42 in the UK has recently introduced a system whereby the hard shoulder can be used as an extra lane during busy periods on a small section.

The nearside edge (the edge up against the hard shoulder) of the running surface is marked with a solid white line, or in Ireland, a solid yellow line. The offside edge of the running surface (the edge nearest to the median) is marked with a solid white line. The running surface is divided into lanes by white dashed lines. On the M42 in the UK the hard shoulder line is not textured due to the frequent use of it as a running lane.

In the UK the lanes in a given direction are numbered sequentially from the nearside (left) as lane 1, lane 2, lane 3, etc. Lane 1 is the lane next to the hard shoulder.

The lane closest to the nearside of the road (lane 1 in the UK) is generally intended for normal steady driving, while the other lane or lanes, those closer to the median, are intended for overtaking or passing slower-moving vehicles. Generally vehicles are expected to use the nearside-most lane which is clear, especially if they are not overtaking other traffic. The Highway Code for the UK recommends that vehicles only ever overtake on the right. Similar rules apply on German autobahns and in some other countries. In heavy traffic it may be acceptable to cruise in any lane and to pass slower vehicles on either side to avoid constant lane changes.

A significant problem on motorways is the 'middle lane hog', a driver who drives in the middle lane when there is no reason to do so. This can be very frustrating for other drivers. Faster vehicles approaching in the left hand lane have to manoeuvre across two lanes of the motorway rather than just one to overtake such a vehicle, since undertaking on a drivers inside can be unexpected and therefore dangerous (although in New Zealand, undertaking is legal on motorways). Drivers of heavy goods vehicles can be especially frustrated by a middle lane hog, as their vehicles are not permitted to use the lane closest to the central reservation on a three (or more) lane motorway under normal circumstances. Some vehicles try to induce a 'middle lane hog' to move to the slower lane by keeping a very close to their rear (known as tailgating), which is also dangerous and illegal.

[edit] Junctions

The most basic motorway junction is a two-lane flyover with four slip-roads, two on each side of the motorway, to exit or enter. A simple crossroads or roundabout is present on either end of the flyover. A rather large version of a roundabout, using two curved flyovers is sometimes used to present a single large junction for users of the slip-roads or crossing road. The slip roads leading off the motorway are known as 'exit sliproads', those leading onto the motorway as 'entry sliproads'. The precise sliproad at any junction may be identified by reference to the direction of the carriageway, for example 'northbound entry slip'.

The signal-controlled roundabout is often used in these situations and has become very common in Ireland. A far greater degree of complexity is present in Britain with varying types of Spaghetti Junction-style interchanges.

Motorway junctions are usually given a number, indicated in the UK and Ireland with a white number of a black background in the corner of signs approaching that junction. The same junction number is used in both directions on the motorway. Sometimes, where a junction is newly inserted between two existent junctions, it will be given a letter also (eg 2a). In Ireland, the junction numbering has only been used consistently on the M50 since it was opened, however a junction numbering scheme is now being applied to all motorways other than the M11. This has necessitated certain junctions being renumbered on the M7 (and, in future, on the M4).

[edit] Location and construction

Major intercity or national routes are often built or upgraded to motorway standard. Motorways are also commonly used for ring roads around cities or bypasses of built-up areas.

In Britain there are plans to improve many motorways as well as to upgrade some roads to motorway status. In Ireland, the National Roads Authority has been connecting main cities with motorways as part of a six-year National Development Plan. The European Union has part-funded many motorway projects in the past, as part of a Trans-European Transport Networks, and there are plans to invest billions of euro in such projects in the next ten years.

One of the most recently constructed motorways in the UK is the M6 Toll, bypassing Birmingham and Wolverhampton, which opened in 2004 and is the only completely toll motorway in England. There are tolled sections of motorway on the M4 and M48, where they cross the River Severn at the Severn crossings. Although the crossing of the River Thames east of London on the M25 is tolled, the bridge and tunnels themselves are officially designated the A282 to permit usage by non-motorway traffic. In Ireland, the M1, M4, and M50 are all tolled, with sections of the M6, M7 and M8 likely to face tolls also in the future.

[edit] Inheritance

In the UK and Ireland certain types of traffic are not permitted on motorways. Thus, to avoid people being forced to travel illegally, there are a number of rules about stretches of road which must be designated as motorways.

In all cases, there must be an escape route for traffic not wishing or not permitted to enter the motorway. As a result, the motorway technically begins as soon as the escape route has diverged from it; for example at a grade-separated junction, the motorway starts at the junction with the exiting slip road, and the opposite slip road is also part of the motorway for this and the following reason. An exception was the A1(M) near Leeds, which was "illegal", as pedestrians could legally cross 300 yards from the start, but cyclists and other types of traffic not permitted on motorways had no way of turning back - the escape route was the Boot & Shoe a mile before. This is remedied by the A1(M) extension. On some maps the start was disguised or covered so people could not see the blunder.

As a result, this creates a less-restrictive set of rules for the standard of the road. Roads whose only destination is a motorway must be assigned motorway status, notwithstanding the possibility of their not being built to normal motorway standards. For example, the A48(M) motorway outside Cardiff begins after the last exit to St Mellons, since by staying on the dual carriageway you cannot get anywhere other than the M4 eastbound; however, it is a motorway-grade highway. A similar example in Ireland is the M6, currently a short 2 km section of the N6 eastbound that leads exclusively to the M4 motorway. The equivalent westbound section of the N6 is not signed as a motorway however.

[edit] Route numbering

In England and Wales, the numbers of major motorways were allocated to broadly follow the A-roads heading in the same direction, with a zonal pattern formed by the single-digit motorways, in much the same way as the single-digit A-roads mark out the zone boundaries for all-purpose routes. The numbering is entirely separate - the M1 and the A1 can co-exist.

In Scotland, where the Scottish Office rather than the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation had the decision, there is no zonal pattern, but rather the A-road rule is strictly enforced. The M8 follows the route of the A8, and the M85 became part of the M90 when the A90 was re-routed along the path of the A85.

In Ireland, motorway and national road numbering does not follow the same convention. Since the passage of the Roads Act 1993, all motorways are part of, or form, national primary roads. These routes are numbered in series, using numbers from 1 to 33 (and, separately from the series, 50). Motorways use the number of the route of which they form part, with an M prefix rather than N for national road (or in theory, rather than R for regional road).^[5] In most cases, the motorway has been built as a bypass of a road previously forming the national road (e.g. M7 bypassing roads previously forming the N7) - the bypassed roads are reclassified as regional roads, although updated signposting may not be provided for some time, and adherence to signage colour conventions is lax (regional roads have black-on-white directional signage, national routes use white-on-green).

Under the previous legislation, the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act 1974, motorways theoretically existed indepdendently to national roads, however the short sections of motorway opened during this act, except for the M50, always took their number from the national road which they were bypassing. The older road was not downgraded at this point (indeed, regional roads were not legislated for at this stage). Older signage at certain junctions on the M7 and M11 can be seen reflecting this earlier scheme, where for example "N11" and "M11" can be seen coexisting.

The M50, an entirely new national road, is an exception to the normal inheritance process, as it does not replace a road previously carrying an "N" number. The M50 was nevertheless legislated in 1994 as the "N50" route (despite having no non-motorway sections). The M50's designation was chosen as a recognisable unique number (as of 2007 N34 is the next unused national primary road designation). In theory, a motorway in Ireland could form part of a regional road.^[5]

In Hungary, similarly to Ireland, motorway numbers can be derived from the original national highway numbers (1-7), with an "M" prefix attached, eg. M7 is on the route of the old Highway No. 7 from Budapest towards Lake Balaton and Croatia. New motorways not following the original Budapest-centered radial highway system get numbers M8, M9, etc., or M0 in the case of the ringroad around Budapest.

In New Zealand, motorway numbers are also derived from the state highway route which they form a part of, but unlike Hungary and Ireland they are not distinguished from non motorway sections of the same state highway route. In the cases where a motorway acts as a bypass of a state highway route, the original state highway is either stripped of that status or renumbered (as in the case of the Northern motorway extension from Albany to Silverdale, north of Auckland, where the new motorway was designated as part of State Highway One, while the old state highway one route linking Albany to Silverdale was designated State Highway 17).

[edit] Motorway service areas

Motorway service areas (MSA), motorway service stations, or simply motorway services, as in the rest of the world, are places where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel, rest, or take refreshments. Almost all the MSA sites in the UK are owned by the Department for Transport and let on 50-year leases to private operating companies.

Food sold at MSAs is notoriously expensive (although discounts are frequently available; for instance, MOD (Ministry Of defence) and The AA breakdown members receive a little-publicised 20% discount on virtually all products at Moto service stations on production of their membership card). This is often attributed to the fact that, under the terms of their leases, MSAs must provide free short-term parking and free toilet facilities and adequate provision for the sale of food and fuel; also, the vast majority of MSAs in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break or RoadChef. Another factor may be that, unlike in other countries, the companies must pay the full cost of constructing the entry and exit ramps and all other required features for safe access to the MSA, as well as the MSA facility itself. In other countries, the authority responsible for the highway tends to subsidize these costs on the grounds that these areas are partly a public service to drivers. The leases provide that MSAs must operate 24 hours a day, and the costs of providing utilities and services are high. With very few customers in the early morning, they need to earn the money in other ways.

Services are prohibited from selling alcohol, as this might encourage drunk driving.

The Republic of Ireland does not yet have motorway service areas - initially the National Roads Authority opposed them on the grounds that it perfered to see traffic using existing businesses in bypassed towns, and that the motorway network was not large enough for them anyway. However in 2006 it changed its mind, and the Roads Bill 2007 makes provision for a Motorway Service Area Scheme to be made for proposed motorway service areas.

[edit] History

The first motorway built was the Autostrada dei laghi, inaugurated on September 21, 1921 in Milan. It linked Milan to Varese. Piero Puricelli, the engineer who designed this new type of road, decided to cover the expenses by introducing a toll to be paid by whoever used the motorway.^[6][7]

New Zealand's first motorway opened in December 1950 near Wellington. This 5 kilometre (3 mile) motorway now forms part of the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway and State Highway 1.^[8]

In the United Kingdom motorways were introduced into law under the Special Roads Act 1948, with the first motorway, the M6 Preston Bypass, opening in 1958. The first major section of motorway in the UK, part of the M1 motorway, opened in 1959. The completed M25 London Orbital opened in 1986

In the Republic of Ireland the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act 1974 made motorways possible, although the first section, the M7 Naas Bypass, did not open until 1983. The first section of the M50 opened in 1990, a part of which was Ireland's first toll motorway, the West-Link. However it would be the 1990s before substantial sections of motorway were opened in Ireland, with the first completed motorway - the 83km M1 motorway - being finished in 2005. In 2007 legislation (the Roads Bill 2007) was proposed to allow existing roads be designated motorways by order. Current legislation only allows for new build roads to be designated motorways.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom
• Roads in Ireland
• List of motorways in Belgium
• List of motorways in Hungary
• List of motorways in New Zealand
• Pakistan Motorways
• Freeway (includes links to motorways around the world)
• UK topics
• Motorway junction

[edit] External links

• Department for Transport (United Kingdom)
• Highways Agency (England)
• Czech Motorways (Czech Republic)
• Slovak Motorways (Slovakia)
• National Roads Authority (Republic of Ireland)
• European Union Transport Policy
• CBRD Motorway Database
• UK Roads Portal
• How Motorway Numbering Was Organised in the UK
• How Motorways Work (Satirical insight)
• Independent Auckland Motorways Website (New Zealand)

v • d • e Types of road
High-speed access via interchanges	Autobahn • Autopista • Autoroute • Autostrada • Auto-estrada • Freeway • Lebuhraya • Motorway
High-speed other types of access	2+1 road • Divided highway • Expressway • Farm to Market Road • Highway • Parkway • Super two
Low speed	Arterial road • Boulevard • Frontage road • Road • Street
Low speed low traffic	Alley • Cul-de-sac • Driveway • Lane
Other	Dual carriageway • Interchange • Range road • Roundabout • Toll road
Surface types	Asphalt concrete • Brick • Cobblestone • Concrete • Corduroy road • Dirt road • Gravel road • Ice road • Macadam • Oiled road • Plank road • Tarmac • Winter road