Freeway or Expressway?

[iwishiwascanadian]

I live in Connecticut so we're swayed by the New Yorker way of using Expressway/Parkway...but only in New York.  Here, we don't use the names for our Interstates so most of the time I refer to Interstates as "the Highway" or by I-84/91/95.  But the Merritt Parkway is always the Parkway or the Merritt.  We do use the names for our bridges though.  

[Duke87]

In my experience, "Expressway" is purely a name suffix, not a conversational term. When not talking about a specific one, we say "highway", never "expressway".

Although, I will admit: I have taken to using the term "freeway" in conversation despite it being strange for Connecticut/New York, simply because it is more technically correct and less ambiguous than "highway".

[wh15395]

I guess in Indianapolis most people call them highways. I would say I hear Expressway and Freeway used about equally.

[hbelkins]

misc.transport.road

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[PAHighways]

I use the terms depending on what area of the country I am referring to, such as "expressway" here in Pennsylvania or "freeway" when I was in California last year.  Pittsburgh has the Parkways, which are limited-access, but the Penn-Lincoln was planned to be a NYC-like parkway and even Robert Moses helped in it's original design so that's how it became named as such.  I-279 is called the "Parkway North" just to fit in with the other two cardinals, and if/when 43 is built into the city, it will be named the Parkway South.

In PennDOT's MUTCD, limited-access routes are referred to as "expressway."  However, the notice of the end of such limited-access alignments vary between "EXPRESSWAY ENDS" such as on US 219 in Bradford to "FREEWAY ENDS" on PA 283 in Highspire.

[hbelkins]

I can't recall either being used much here in TN.  Many of the limited access roads that are not interstates are "Parkways" and a few that are.  And, that's not in the NY-NJ-MD sense as our "Parkways" allow all traffic.  In fact, Saturn Parkway was built originally for trucks to get to/from GM's former Saturn plan in Spring Hill.  And, not all Parkways are Freeways.  i.e. Sam Ridley Parkway and Lee Victory Parkway in the Smyrna area and Old Fort Parkway in Murfreesboro are mostly or completely arterials.

Kentucky used the term "parkway" to refer to its formerly toll routes, the only exception being the first toll road, the Kentucky Turnpike.

[Scott5114]

In my personal use, a "freeway" is an Interstate-style facility, while an "expressway" is a divided highway with little to no frontage access. There can be stoplights on an expressway, but any more than one every half-mile or so drops it down to just a boulevard. MO-13 is an expressway between Clinton and Springfield. Once it hits Springfield, it gets a bit iffy. Glenstone is definitely not an expressway.

[LeftyJR]

I use the terms depending on what area of the country I am referring to, such as "expressway" here in Pennsylvania or "freeway" when I was in California last year.  Pittsburgh has the Parkways, which are limited-access, but the Penn-Lincoln was planned to be a NYC-like parkway and even Robert Moses helped in it's original design so that's how it became named as such.  I-279 is called the "Parkway North" just to fit in with the other two cardinals, and if/when 43 is built into the city, it will be named the Parkway South.

In PennDOT's MUTCD, limited-access routes are referred to as "expressway."  However, the notice of the end of such limited-access alignments vary between "EXPRESSWAY ENDS" such as on US 219 in Bradford to "FREEWAY ENDS" on PA 283 in Highspire.

The end of US 422's expressway in Indiana County reads "Freeway Ends", while US 220's temporary expressway end near Jersey Shore read's "Expressway Ends" - you could call this a lack of consistency.

[roadfro]

My personal use of the terms "freeway" and "expressway" tends to follow the definitions of the MUTCD, AASHTO Green Book, et. al., in that there is a definite distinction between a freeway and an expressway in terms of interchanges and control of access.

Nevada in general also follows this distinction. We have freeways, but no expressways (although portions of CC-215 are definitely expressway-grade in their current form).

[UptownRoadGeek]

In my area the freeways are officially designated as "Expressways" and are usually referred to as the _______ expressway or the I-##. Recently, locals have started referring to the suburban section of the I-10 as the "Freeway".

[MDOTFanFB]

I grew up in Metro Detroit, so I interchangebly use both "freeway" and "expressway".

[Stephane Dumas]

Here in Canada, we use "autoroute" in Quebec. Ontario seem to have a mix of using freeway and expressways (Chedoke Expressway aka Hwy 403, McDonald-Cartier Freeway aka Hwy 401) as well as parkways (Don Valley parkway). Calgary and Edmonton use the terms "trail" and "drive" for freeways, expressways, boulevards like Glenmore trail and Whitemud drive.

[WillWeaverRVA]

People in this part of Virginia usually say "highway", "interstate" (although some people also use "interstate" to refer to VA 288 for some reason), or "expressway". However, they usually understand what you mean if you say "freeway". I've been to California enough that I usually refer to freeway-type roads as freeways, and I've never confused anyone with it.

[SSOWorld]

I always thought of freeways and expressways as meaning the same thing: limited-access highways of interstate quality. It came as a shock to me to hear that some use the term "expressway" to refer to routes that have traffic lights on them.

In Kentucky, the term "limited access" has always meant roads with intersections only at grade-separated interchanges. Others use that term differently.

As I mentioned elsewhere, last year I posted on m.t.r. a question about interstates in NYC and I used the term "freeways." That idiot Randy Hersh was quick to jump all over me and say that in NYC they are not freeways, they are expressways.

what's m.t.r.?

misc.transport.road

a.k.a. eMpTyR

Newsgroups such as this are like this forum, but they can get way out of hand since there is no moderating taking place.  There are a few "questionable" people that post there and constantly flame other users. (as in H.B.'s comment above)

[hbelkins]

Newsgroups such as this are like this forum, but they can get way out of hand since there is no moderating taking place.  There are a few "questionable" people that post there and constantly flame other users. (as in H.B.'s comment above)

Are you saying that it's questionable that Randy is a "people?"

I'd have to agree with that assertion! 

[BrynM65]

To echo Truvelo's comments, in the UK we have only really got one legally defined term for a controlled access road created under the provisions of the Special Roads Act 1949: Motorway.

Everything else is merely an "all-purpose road".

We never use the word "freeway" in the UK.

However, we are pretty slap-dash with all the other suffices as route naming is down to the whims of whichever highway authority official is in charge of it - here are some examples of how inconsistent we are:

The New Town of Runcorn has an Expressway network, which was planned as an access-controlled system (although as it is all-purpose pedestrians and cyclists are legally permitted to use it), but was not finished. Therefore a single-carriageway road with roundabouts is included in the system (the Daresbury Expressway).

The A5103 near Manchester is called the Princess Parkway (it changes to Princess Road when it hits a set of traffic signals). It has access-control including a prohibition of pedestrians, cyclists, and horse-drawn vehicles.

The M32, however, is referred to as the Bristol Parkway. It's a motorway with full access-control.

Unless the road is referred to specifically as an Expressway or Parkway in its name, people will often just say "the dual carriageway" or "the motorway". Often people will call all-purpose dual carriageways with grade seperation "motorways" (for example, the A56 Haslingden Bypass gets called this because it links directly into the M66).

[kharvey10]

st. louis simply refers then freeways as "highways" and arterials "routes"

[hm insulators]

In Phoenix, we have the Hohokam Expressway (Arizona 143), a short highway that connects I-10 and Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) to the east end of Phoenix Sky Harbor, the big airport here. The only real difference between the "expressway" and the other numbered freeways (I-10, I-17, US 60 and so forth) is that the 143 is two lanes in each direction, rather than three or more. As far as I'm concerned, the 143 is just a narrower freeway.

[Laura]

I don't know if I've ever heard any MD/VA natives refer to the roads as "freeways." I hear "interstate" and "highway" used frequently.

Honestly, when I think of "expressway," I think of roads that are highways below interstate standards, or just barely make it to interstate standards. I never think of I-95 in Baltimore as an expressway, but the JFX (Jones Falls Expressway - I-83) comes to mind, and indeed it does have that windy section at the end. I-70 through Cumberland, MD, which was grandfathered into the interstate system, certainly is not up to regulations.

MD Route 43 is considered an "expressway" although much of it is full of traffic lights and (ugh) businesses. It is an express way around other congestion in the area. The Lynchburg Expressway falls into this category, too. Plenty of limited access sections, and then weird sections with traffic lights and super slow speeds.

Something that also comes to mind for similar roads is the term "bypass" - highways that completely bypass the nearby city. While many of the time these roads hold the same qualities as expressways, they are NEVER labeled as such.

[Henry]

Honestly, when I think of "expressway," I think of roads that are highways below interstate standards, or just barely make it to interstate standards. I never think of I-95 in Baltimore as an expressway, but the JFX (Jones Falls Expressway - I-83) comes to mind, and indeed it does have that windy section at the end. I-68 through Cumberland, MD, which was grandfathered into the interstate system, certainly is not up to regulations.

Fixed that for you! I-70 enters Pennsylvania at Hancock, which is midway between Cumberland and Hagerstown, but I-68 does enter Cumberland.

[brownpelican]

Only a few routes are labeled "expressways" around here. Everytime I hear the word freeway, I think of California.

[BrynM65]

I have actually found a road called "freeway" in the United Kingdom.

Unfortunately, the rather impressive sounding Kingsmark Freeway, in Bradford (West Yorkshire), looks like this:

Oh dear.

[J N Winkler]

We have a similar abuse of nomenclature in Hutchinson, Kansas.  To be fair, however, K-61 northeast of town is being upgraded to an expressway with interchanges at major crossings.

[Laura]

Honestly, when I think of "expressway," I think of roads that are highways below interstate standards, or just barely make it to interstate standards. I never think of I-95 in Baltimore as an expressway, but the JFX (Jones Falls Expressway - I-83) comes to mind, and indeed it does have that windy section at the end. I-68 through Cumberland, MD, which was grandfathered into the interstate system, certainly is not up to regulations.

Fixed that for you! I-70 enters Pennsylvania at Hancock, which is midway between Cumberland and Hagerstown, but I-68 does enter Cumberland.

Haha! Thank you, m'dear, for embarrasingly enough I made that post whilst I was half asleep. I'm impressed that the rest of it makes sense! (Well, other than the random Virginia reference...)

I actually recently drove on I-68 not too long ago (back in December for the SWPA meet) in the snow...

But yes. I still hold true to the Expressway/Bypass thing. Even when the Bypass is up to interstate standards (such as US 29 outside Lynchburg, VA) the locals still call it "the bypass" so as not to confuse it with Lynchburg Expressway (which is now Business US 29.)

[hobsini2]

a better question would be "Highway" or "Route".  Being born in Wisconsin, i use Hwy up there but living in Chicagoland, i use Rte here.  For example.  IL 83 and WI 83 is the same road near Antioch IL.  I always refer to it as Route 83 regardless of the state.  But, US 45 also runs in the area and i always refer to that as Highway 45.
as to the original question, unless talking about a specific name, ie the Stevenson Expy., i use freeway more than expressway because there are tollways here.