Is it incorrect to call a toll road a "freeway"?

[A.J. Bertin]

This is something I've been thinking about lately. There have been some occasions when I've been discussing toll roads and I would say something like, "Get back on the freeway" or something along those lines.

Most toll roads are actually freeways. And by the term "freeway", the definition of course has nothing to do with whether tolls are involved; it's simply about divided roads with access control (interchanges, etc.). However, I've had multiple people correct me and say that toll roads (even if they are actually freeways) should not be referred to as "freeways". I don't understand why.

Any insights?

[NE2]

It's incorrect in the same way that it's incorrect to call a game football where the ball is predominantly touched by the hands.

[Henry]

Except in rare instances, the eastern half of the United States calls its limited-access highways expressways, no matter what type they are. Freeways as a term are limited to the western half of the U.S. Therefore, being a Chicago transplant having lived on the West Coast for 25 years, I'd think that a freeway is where no tolls are collected, with toll roads being called something else (usually turnpikes, tollways, thruways, etc.).

[1995hoo]

I think the interpretation of "freeway" depends on where you live. The federal definition of the word "freeway" (or "expressway" or whatever) is really irrelevant in terms of everyday speech.

I've always lived on the East Coast and I think of the word "freeway" as being a California term, as it's not one that's used very often here in Virginia. Most of the time we would just say "the highway" when distinguishing a high-speed road with interchanges from a surface street. For example, my neighbor is preparing to sell her house and if the new homeowner is not from around here and asks me for advice in beating the traffic, one thing I'd say is that a lot of people always take the highway and so learning how to get around via the streets is vital. In that case "the highway" would be a generic term for I-495, I-95, I-395, I-66, the George Washington Parkway, and the Dulles Toll Road.

With that said, if I'm giving directions I shy away from generic terms like "freeway," "parkway," etc., in favor of using route numbers or names, landmarks, exit numbers, or preferably some combination of all of the above.

It's funny you raise this question now. On another forum I recently posted a picture of an old newspaper ad from 1984 when the Dulles Toll Road opened in Virginia. The HOA out in Reston wanted the road to be called the "Reston Expressway" and started running ads as though that name had already been adopted (it hadn't, and it never "took"–people still call it the Dulles Toll Road almost 30 years later). I made a crack about saying "expressway" when the road is a "freeway" and someone replied that calling a toll road a "freeway" would just serve to piss off a lot of people by misleading them.

So it's a fairly widespread misconception, I think, and no doubt the general disuse of the word "freeway" on the East Coast is a part of the reason for it. It's a bit jarring when you hear it. But so are many other regionalisms. In the mid-1980s my Boy Scout troop was heading to Pennsylvania on a camping trip and one of the adult leaders wrote up some directions saying to take "IH-95" north towards Baltimore. We all, adult leaders included, looked at it and said, "What the fuck is 'IH-95'?" (Picture Booger's reaction in Revenge of the Nerds when Takashi says he has a "frush" during a card game. That's how we reacted.) Apparently "IH" is a Texas regionalism and none of us had ever heard of it before.

[US 41]

Freeway= free expressway.

Tollway / turnpike = tolled expressway

So my answer is yes. Expressway would be correct in any instance though.

[wxfree]

I previously had a distinction in my mind between toll roads and freeways, but upon reassessing, I concluded that the "free" in "freeway" is just like the "express" in "expressway.  The "freedom" on a freeway refers to the free flow of traffic, with the lack of cross traffic and mandatory stops.  If you have to stop, or slow to a very low speed, to pay a toll, that might make the road something other than a freeway.  Every toll road I've seen in Texas has at least an option to drive through at full speed, and on most that's the only option.  So I'd call them freeways.

That's how I see it.  I believe I read somewhere that TxDOT agrees with me, defining freeways by design, regardless of tolls.  It might be nice to have a term that means "non-toll freeway."  I wouldn't object to the use of "freeway" to refer only to non-toll roads, or at least with non-toll lanes; I just wouldn't agree that it's the most proper term.  But just like freeways don't exist in the northeast, and some expressways in Texas are actually freeways, maybe there isn't a "proper" term, and you use whichever term will be understood by those around you, or maybe live with whatever your state highway department says.

[Brandon]

No.  Technically, the term "freeway" is used for roads that are free of crossing traffic.  Hence, "tolled freeway" is accurate.  However, that said, around Chicago, the local terms "tollway" and "expressway" are used for the toll-supported and tax-supported freeways.

There is no such thing as a free road.  It is either supported by tolls or taxes (fuel, property, sales, or otherwise).

[Big John]

Depends more on the region.  In the upper midwest, freeway only applies to the freeways that don't charge a toll to drive on it and tollway refer to the roads that charge them. 

Then "expressway" can have localized meanings meaning a freeway, but the common use is of a high-speed divided highway, but can contain at-grade intersections and private entrances/driveways, but doesn't contain traffic signals nor stop signs facing the expressway.

[corco]

I was living in Chicago when I learned to speak English and my father admonished that-

"freeway"- free road, limited access, rural areas
"tollway"- toll road, limited access
"expressway"- free or tolled, urban area

so I-80 and I guess I-57 (never had a reason to be on I-57) was a freeway, but everything else in Chicago was either a tollway or an expressway.

Now that I live in the middle of nowhere, I tend to think of a tollway as a tolled freeway- all tollways are freeways but all freeways are not tollways. Expressways are a different beast.

[1995hoo]

Depends more on the region.  In the upper midwest, freeway only applies to the freeways that don't charge a toll to drive on it and tollway refer to the roads that charge them. 

Then "expressway" can have localized meanings meaning a freeway, but the common use is of a high-speed divided highway, but can contain at-grade intersections and private entrances/driveways, but doesn't contain traffic signals nor stop signs facing the expressway.

I think part of the point of this thread is that "the common use" varies from place to place. If you're in New York, an "expressway" doesn't include at-grade intersections or private entrances/driveways. Interstate 278 is an "expressway," for example. So is Interstate 495.

I don't think that's all that unique, as the word "expressway" is commonly used that way in plenty of other places. The thing I think of as being unique to New York is the usage of "parkway" as meaning "no commercial traffic" (including on arterial streets like Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn). Sure, in other places you can find parkways with "no trucks" restrictions, but the word doesn't always have that sort of significance as a blanket rule.

[PHLBOS]

The only reference to 'freeway' reference I've heard of in the east coast, aside from this website/forum, was traffic reporters referring to NJ 42 (and NJ portion of I-76) as the 42 Freeway.  Some maps refer to the road (along w/I-676) as the North-South Freeway.  That's been about it.

[kphoger]

While a toll road can be a freeway, I avoiding calling them that in speech for exactly that reason.  I always just call a toll road a toll road.  "Get back on the toll road".  And telling someone that "the road is fine, it's a toll road" conveys the same peace of mind about cross traffic as saying "the road is fine, it's a freeway".

[1995hoo]

The only reference to 'freeway' reference I've heard of in the east coast, aside from this website/forum, was traffic reporters referring to NJ 42 (and NJ portion of I-76) as the 42 Freeway.  Some maps refer to the road (along w/I-676) as the North-South Freeway.  That's been about it.

Here in the DC area we have the Whitehurst Freeway (an extremely short elevated highway in DC with a 35-mph speed limit that's routinely ignored), the Anacostia Freeway (which is never called that; everyone calls it I-295), and the Southwest—Southeast Freeway (I-395 and I-695). Everyone calls the Whitehurst Freeway by either that name or just "the Whitehurst." The traffic reporters refer to the Southwest—Southeast Freeway simply as "the Freeway." Other than those two roads, I can't think of any East Coast road I've heard people refer to using the word "freeway." Signs in Maryland refer to I-68 as the "National Freeway," but I've never heard anybody use that name.

Actually, come to think of it, I can think of ONE exception: Former poster ethanman62187 referred to Virginia State Route 28 north of I-66 as the "28 freeway" or the "sr 28 freeway" when he wasn't calling it "I-366." That alone is a reason to avoid the use of "freeway"! 

[bugo]

No.  The "free" in "freeway" refers to the free flow of traffic.  It doesn't mean it's toll free.  Words can have more than one meaning.

[bugo]

In Tulsa, freeways are "the highway".  Toll roads are either "the highway" or "the turnpike" regardless of the name of the road.  An expressway is either a 4 lane divided road with traffic lights (Riverside Expressway) or a freeway (Broken Arrow Expressway(OK 51)) which is locally known as "The BA".

My definitions are as follows: A 4 or more lane controlled access road is a freeway.  A 4 lane divided highway with at grades is an expressway.  A 4+ lane road with at grades and traffic lights is just a street.

Cain's Ballroom is "The Cain's".

[Alex]

The webmaster of tollroadnews once emailed and asked me to not refer to toll roads as freeways on the site. 

[Alps]

I have a pending comment from a client where I used the term "freeway" for a toll road and they said "it's not free!" My snarky answer is, "Look it up." My real answer will be "Will choose a different word to avoid ambiguity" or along those lines. Diplomacy. Though at a road meet, if you say a toll freeway is not a freeway, I just might eat your dessert.

ETA:

I just might eat your dessert

is not a sexual reference. I will take your cake and eat it in front of you.

[briantroutman]

Taken from Page 237 of the 2009 MUTCD...

Toll highways are typically limited-access freeway or expressway facilities.

That's about as obvious as it can get.

[cpzilliacus]

In a technical discussion with technical people, if a road enjoys full access control and happens to be tolled, I will still call it a freeway, because that is almost certainly its functional classification.

Certainly the toll roads around Maryland and Virginia are all functionally classed as freeways (I-95 north of Baltimore (JFK Highway); I-895 (Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway - though its design is dated); Md. 200 (ICC); Va. 267 (Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway); Va. 76 (Pohwite Parkway); Va. 195 (Downtown Expressway); Va. 895 (Pocahontas Parkway); and Va. 168 (Chesapeake Expressway)).

But in speaking in lay terms to lay people, I will call a tolled freeway a "toll road" or "turnpike" or "toll crossing." 

[roadman65]

Burt Reynolds said it best in Smokey And The Bandit to Sally Field "It depends on what part of the country you stand on is how dumb your are" that being said means that every part of the country learns in a different manner. What one learns to be correct in one place could make you seem incorrect in another.

It is like us road geeks if we talked to non road geeks about what we talk about here on this forum, we would be told to "get a life!"  That is because to most people the subject of roads and being deep into it  is a worthless topic and the more you know about it, the more eccentric you are.   Yet here we have rules that the more you know, the better it is for you when posting information.

Nonetheless, it is normal as many of us in society redefine words or its true meaning.  I believe, personally that freeway should be used for non toll roads and do so in everyday talk, however I know the true definition means free of obstacles like intersections and free flowing at all times.  I am not disputing the meaning, but I feel funny using the word "free" for a tollway even if it is correct to do so.   I only use freeway here, because I know you know the meaning.

[mgk920]

I agree that there is some regionalism at work here - in Illinois and Wisconsin, nobody, but NOBODY, will ever refer to a highway that requires the user to pay a direct toll to use as a 'freeway', it is a 'tollway'.

Mike

[PHLBOS]

Taken from Page 237 of the 2009 MUTCD...

Toll highways are typically limited-access freeway or expressway facilities.

That's about as obvious as it can get.

While most lay people have heard of Webster's Dictionary, they're likely unaware of the existence of MUTCD let alone its contents.

Burt Reynolds said it best in Smokey And The Bandit to Sally Field "It depends on what part of the country you stand on is how dumb your are" that being said means that every part of the country learns in a different manner. What one learns to be correct in one place could make you seem incorrect in another.

It is like us road geeks if we talked to non road geeks about what we talk about here on this forum, we would be told to "get a life!"  That is because to most people the subject of roads and being deep into it  is a worthless topic and the more you know about it, the more eccentric you are.   Yet here we have rules that the more you know, the better it is for you when posting information.

Nonetheless, it is normal as many of us in society redefine words or its true meaning.  I believe, personally that freeway should be used for non toll roads and do so in everyday talk, however I know the true definition means free of obstacles like intersections and free flowing at all times.  I am not disputing the meaning, but I feel funny using the word "free" for a tollway even if it is correct to do so.   I only use freeway here, because I know you know the meaning.

Agree 100%.

[roadfro]

No, it isn't incorrect to refer to a toll road as a freeway, cause technically it is a freeway.

That said, I understand why many here wouldn't use the term to refer to a tolled highway just because it can be confusing. There's not tolled roads in Nevada (yet), but I imagine that I would just refer to such highways by their number or saying "toll road" or "tollway".

Looking at another related perspective: Is it incorrect to call a driveway exactly that? You don't really 'drive' there, it's for parking.

[Brandon]

Looking at another related perspective: Is it incorrect to call a driveway exactly that? You don't really 'drive' there, it's for parking.

It is?  I usually drive through mine between the street and the garage.

[Big John]

Gallagher: Why is it that we drive through a parkway, and park in a driveway?