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

[A.J. Bertin]

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.

A lot of road enthusiasts understand that "expressways" are high-speed highways that have periodic at-grade intersections and limited (not non-existent) cross traffic - while "freeways" have absolutely zero cross traffic and at-grade intersections. If the eastern U.S. calls freeways "expressways", do they have a specific term for what I just described as expressways? Or are those types of roads few and far between in that part of the country?

I know I'm being a bit pedantic in the terminology, but I just enjoy discussing these nuances.

[NE2]

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

Have you heard the one about airline food? Sometimes they serve jumbo shrimp!

[AsphaltPlanet]

It is interesting that there are so many variations to naming different highway classes in the English language.

In French, for example, a highway is simply an autoroute.  There aren't variations of the word autoroute that coincide with specific forms of highways such as expressways, freeways, or tollways.

[briantroutman]

A lot of road enthusiasts understand that "expressways" are high-speed highways that have periodic at-grade intersections and limited (not non-existent) cross traffic - while "freeways" have absolutely zero cross traffic and at-grade intersections. If the eastern U.S. calls freeways "expressways", do they have a specific term for what I just described as expressways? Or are those types of roads few and far between in that part of the country?

I think for the most part, partially controlled-access expressways are relatively rare in the East. There are some newer examples, such as the US 222 bypass around Trexlertown and Wescosville west of Allentown. In the project literature, PennDOT referred to the new road as a "boulevard-style highway".

With the prevalence of Eastern freeways named "The (Whatever) Expressway", I doubt most Easterners would refer to a true "expressway" by that name. It would just be a "highway", or more specifically, "route 222".

My guess is that it's rarer in the East for two reasons. First, because of right of way issues. Most Eastern cities are older, and their arterial routes typically evolved out of city street patterns. By the time highway departments were coping with suburbanization and increased car traffic, the areas to be served were often already developed or in development, so preventing these landowners from accessing the highway frontage would be impractical.

And second, since many Eastern states were early adopters of the limited-access highway concept, it seems like the zeitgeist of the '40s and '50s was behind building "superhighways" with great enthusiasm. A mantra repeated many times in articles about the growing turnpike network was "New York to Chicago without a single red light." So an expressway with at-grade intersections would seem like an anti-achievement in those days. If they did go to the trouble of acquiring that ROW, it would be for a fully controlled-access highway.

[cpzilliacus]

In much  of the world (including the UK and many other EU nations), the word motorway is used describe a high-speed road with full access control. 

IMO, motorway and freeway are synonyms.

[cpzilliacus]

A lot of road enthusiasts understand that "expressways" are high-speed highways that have periodic at-grade intersections and limited (not non-existent) cross traffic - while "freeways" have absolutely zero cross traffic and at-grade intersections. If the eastern U.S. calls freeways "expressways", do they have a specific term for what I just described as expressways? Or are those types of roads few and far between in that part of the country?

I think for the most part, partially controlled-access expressways are relatively rare in the East. There are some newer examples, such as the US 222 bypass around Trexlertown and Wescosville west of Allentown. In the project literature, PennDOT referred to the new road as a "boulevard-style highway".

There are several around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Md., including:

Md. 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue);
Md. 5 (Branch Avenue);
Md. 41 (Perring Parkway);
Md. 43 (White Marsh Boulevard);
Sections of Md. 201 (Kenilworth Avenue - including the part between D.C. 295 and U.S. 50);
U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike - between Md. 650 and I-70);
Sections of U.S. 50/U.S. 301 in Anne Arundel and Queen Anne's Counties;
Sections of U.S. 50 (Arlington Boulevard) in Arlington and Fairfax Counties;
Va. 286 (Fairfax County Parkway);
Va. 289 (Franconia Springfield Parkway);
Sections of Va. 294 (Prince William Parkway);
The part of Va. 234 that is the western end of the Prince William Parkway; and
At least one section of D.C. 295 (between East Capitol Street and Eastern Avenue, N.E.).

EDIT: added a few more segments.

[NE2]

In much  of the world (including the UK and many other EU nations), the word motorway is used describe a high-speed road with full access control. 

IMO, motorway and freeway are synonyms.

Actually, a motorway usually limits traffic to motor vehicles. Freeways in general have no such restrictions.

[briantroutman]

There are several around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Md., including:

The Baltomore-Washington area seems to be an exception. And that seems to make sense, as I believe the Baltimore-Washington area has seen a greater proportion of suburban/exurban development in later years compared with the other old Northeastern cities.

[empirestate]

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?

To answer your question most narrowly: yes, it is incorrect to call a toll road a freeway, when the road you're referring to isn't limited-access. In every other case it's correct, but you may be informed that it isn't by a listener unfamiliar with the various definitions of "freeway".

In another sense, to call a tolled limited-access highway a "freeway" is incorrect after all, if you're in California, in the same way that it's incorrect to be in New York City, see a hero sandwich, and call it a hoagie. Or to be in the U.S., see a sweater, and refer to it as a jumper.

By extension, it would be considered incorrect writing style to use "freeway" to refer to a toll road if it leads to misapprehension of what you've written. A similar example: most style editors would discourage the use of "rectangle" to describe a square, even though it's an accurate term for that shape, because most readers would imagine a shape with unequal sides. Therefore "rectangle" is not a desirable choice, and therefore stylistically incorrect.

So in answer to your question, yes it is incorrect. It is also correct. Of the different ways it is and isn't correct, you must choose the applicable one and pick your word accordingly.

[A.J. Bertin]

To answer your question most narrowly: yes, it is incorrect to call a toll road a freeway, when the road you're referring to isn't limited-access. In every other case it's correct, but you may be informed that it isn't by a listener unfamiliar with the various definitions of "freeway".

In another sense, to call a tolled limited-access highway a "freeway" is incorrect after all, if you're in California, in the same way that it's incorrect to be in New York City, see a hero sandwich, and call it a hoagie. Or to be in the U.S., see a sweater, and refer to it as a jumper.

By extension, it would be considered incorrect writing style to use "freeway" to refer to a toll road if it leads to misapprehension of what you've written. A similar example: most style editors would discourage the use of "rectangle" to describe a square, even though it's an accurate term for that shape, because most readers would imagine a shape with unequal sides. Therefore "rectangle" is not a desirable choice, and therefore stylistically incorrect.

So in answer to your question, yes it is incorrect. It is also correct. Of the different ways it is and isn't correct, you must choose the applicable one and pick your word accordingly.

Thanks for this answer. I love exploring the nuances of language and discussing subtle differences. I like that it's both correct and incorrect to call toll roads "freeways".

In general, I do believe that the "free-" in "freeway" is about the free flow of traffic - not about being toll free.

Regional differences in terminology are quite interesting. If the Eastern U.S. calls their freeways "expressways", that's cool I s'pose, since it sounds like actual expressways are pretty rare there and because that's what they are used to saying. In the Midwest, however, where expressways and freeways are two separate and distinct highway types, we need to have two separate words to describe them.

On the other hand, someone made a distinction of rural vs. urban, where:

Rural limited-access highways = "freeways"
Urban limited-access highways = "expressways"

That kinda makes sense too. Driving through an busy urban setting quickly is the "express" way of getting through, while being out in rural areas, the motorist is "free" and doesn't have dense population areas to drive through. That's a really good distinction. Although... rural expressways with at-grade intersections CANNOT be called "freeways".

This has been such a fun discussion. Thanks to everyone for your insights!

[cpzilliacus]

In much  of the world (including the UK and many other EU nations), the word motorway is used describe a high-speed road with full access control. 

IMO, motorway and freeway are synonyms.

Actually, a motorway usually limits traffic to motor vehicles. Freeways in general have no such restrictions.

If memory serves, I think I have seen a motorway that allows shoulder use by bike traffic in Finland.

And more than a few roads in the  U.S. classed as freeways forbid all bike traffic.

[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.

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.

The one thing your examples and my above-examples have in common is that all of those are non-tolled highways.

Most of the longer-distance toll roads that built in the East Coast were, in many instances, the only limited-access highways around until the Interstate Highway Act came along and were commonly refered to as Turnpikes (GSP being one exception).  Addtionally, the term Turnpike wasn't just limited-access highways back then.  We could have a whole other thread devoted to the definition of the word Turnpike if there isn't already one buried in the archives. 

While the freeway definition/term may have existed even then; it just wasn't used or known in the East Coast back then.  Similar holds true today, at least in terms of the usage of the term.

[agentsteel53]

am I the only one who calls a road an expressway if, and only if, it has no stops on the mainline?  it can have at-grade intersections, but no traffic signals or stop signs. 

[Kacie Jane]

am I the only one who calls a road an expressway if, and only if, it has no stops on the mainline?  it can have at-grade intersections, but no traffic signals or stop signs. 

As long as I've been around this community, I still have no idea what a non-freeway expressway is.

[J N Winkler]

In French, for example, a highway is simply an autoroute.  There aren't variations of the word autoroute that coincide with specific forms of highways such as expressways, freeways, or tollways.

Actually, that is not true.  French technical literature recognizes a distinction between an autoroute as legal object (i.e., a road having all the legal characteristics of an autoroute, such as limitation to motor vehicles, denial of access to frontagers, etc.) and an autoroute as technical object (i.e., having all the physical features associated with a freeway or motorway, but not necessarily all the legal characteristics).  France also has voies express which are in effect "green autoroutes"--i.e., two carriageways and design for high speed with access only at grade-separated interchanges--but do not meet the criteria to be signed as true autoroutes.  ("Green" comes from the fact that these voies express are part of the reseau vert--"green network"--and thus have green-background direction signs.  I don't know offhand whether the reseau vert is limited to roads which are under the charge of French central government, but any changes to the network have to be approved at ministerial level.)

Spain has a distinction between autopistas and autovías.

Germany has true Autobahnen and what are sometimes called "gelb [yellow] Autobahnen," which are similar to French "green autoroutes" in that they are freeways by construction but are not legally classified as Autobahnen and thus have the yellow-background direction signs that in Germany are used for important through routes.

In addition to Autobahnen, Austria has Schnellstrassen (this term is itself a transliteration of English expressway) which in practice are often freeways.

Und so weiter . . .

While the freeway definition/term may have existed even then; it just wasn't used or known in the East Coast back then.  Similar holds true today, at least in terms of the usage of the term.

Freeway may not have been in East Coast colloquial usage either now or then; however, the term itself was invented in 1930 by an East Coast planning expert (Edward M. Bassett, also known as the father of zoning), and the first modern access control laws were passed in Eastern states (if memory serves, Rhode Island was the first).

I suspect the colloquial usage of freeway has been more prevalent on the West Coast because, initially, the only feature of a freeway that mattered was the denial of access to frontagers; it was not generally understood then that a freeway also implies a sterile median and access only at grade-separated interchanges.  The California access-control law (which does not distinguish between freeways as presently understood and expressways having full or partial control of access, both being defined as "freeways") preserves a relic of this older usage.  Early California standards for freeways included provisions covering partial-access scenarios, such as minimum spacing between driveways and design and placement details for marker posts which were to be placed on either side of an approved driveway.

It was not until the early 1950's that California Highways and Public Works (the house publication of the California Department of Public Works, which included the Division of Highways) began using the term freeway more or less exclusively to refer to facilities which meet the modern MUTCD/AASHTO definition of a freeway.

In regard to the OP's question, there is a distinction between what is correct and what is idiomatic.  For example, I would neither correct anyone, nor accept a correction from anyone else, for calling the Cross-Bronx Expressway or the New York Thruway freeways.  However, I would point out (and accept it if it were pointed out to me by someone else) that calling these facilities "freeways," though technically correct, is not idiomatic in their regions and might be misunderstood either as an error or as a culturally insensitive attempt to import California usages.

For similar reasons, when talking about freeway-type facilities in an European country, I tend to use the technical terms that are used in that country without translation.  In situations where this is not convenient (e.g., talking about freeway-like facilities in more than one country), I use the term motorway for those freeways which are defined as motorways in national legislation, and comprehensively grade-separated dual carriageway for freeways which for one reason or another are not classified as motorways.  (High-quality dual carriageways is a shorter British Isles circumlocution for the latter, which is well-understood in SABRE circles, but I don't use it because it is not self-evident that high-quality refers to an absence of traffic crossing on the level.)  It is very grating to hear British motorways, for example, described as "freeways":  the term is technically correct but the cultural freight is just wrong.

[J N Winkler]

am I the only one who calls a road an expressway if, and only if, it has no stops on the mainline?  it can have at-grade intersections, but no traffic signals or stop signs.

That is more restrictive than the AASHTO definition, which allows traffic signals and other forms of intersection priority control.

As long as I've been around this community, I still have no idea what a non-freeway expressway is.

That is very simple, if it is clear that the AASHTO definition is being referenced:  two carriageways, intersections on the level, partial control of access.  But besides the complication of local usage ("expressway" as a synonym for "urban freeway" or what Caltrans calls a "major metropolitan freeway"), some states distinguish between expressways and "divided rural arterials," which meet the AASHTO definition of expressway but have a lesser quality of access control and thus a higher degree of infestation with stoplights, traffic-generating frontage development, etc.  It is rare for mapping for these states to distinguish among the different degrees of access control that may be applied to a facility that meets the AASHTO definition of expressway.

[vdeane]

So in answer to your question, yes it is incorrect. It is also correct.

Welcome to Alanland.

[agentsteel53]

what is the difference between this ...

That is more restrictive than the AASHTO definition, which allows traffic signals and other forms of intersection priority control.

and this?

"divided rural arterials," which meet the AASHTO definition of expressway but have a lesser quality of access control

how many traffic lights per mile are you allowed before your expressway becomes an arterial?  if there is a hard number to this, why not make it zero?  I think there is definite value in having roads with permitted left turns, but no stops on the mainline.  it's certainly my preference to drive those roads, as opposed to ones with traffic lights.  I'd even rather do a two-lane than a four-lane with traffic lights.

[agentsteel53]

a culturally insensitive attempt to import California usages.

for just 70 cents a day, you can save New York's vulnerable and threatened culture from being invaded by imperialist Californians.

[A.J. Bertin]

As long as I've been around this community, I still have no idea what a non-freeway expressway is.

Non-freeway expressways, as I understand them, are high-speed roads (usually divided with a median) that have periodic at-grade intersections (usually without traffic signals). Driveways and side streets are infrequent.

Freeways, on the other hand, can NEVER have at-grade intersections, traffic signals, or driveways/side streets entering the carriageway. Access is more limited than on freeways than on expressways.

Does that make sense?

[J N Winkler]

what is the difference between this ...

That is more restrictive than the AASHTO definition, which allows traffic signals and other forms of intersection priority control.

and this?

"divided rural arterials," which meet the AASHTO definition of expressway but have a lesser quality of access control

how many traffic lights per mile are you allowed before your expressway becomes an arterial?  if there is a hard number to this, why not make it zero?  I think there is definite value in having roads with permitted left turns, but no stops on the mainline.  it's certainly my preference to drive those roads, as opposed to ones with traffic lights.  I'd even rather do a two-lane than a four-lane with traffic lights.

It is not a question of how many traffic lights are allowed since both types of facility are technically expressways per the AASHTO definition.  Frankly, I think it is a very bad idea for those states to have a policy of breaking out divided rural arterials as a separate category of road for which only a minimum level of access control is provided--this just encourages ribbon development and squeezes out the construction of other types of road which are better specialized to handle fast through traffic and thus to act as a supplement to the freeway network.

Southern states are especially susceptible to this mistake, though some have learned their lesson--North Carolina, for example, is very expensively upgrading to full freeway the part of US 70 east of Raleigh which became an enabler for ribbon development when it was widened to four-lane divided more than 20 years ago.  On the other hand, if comments on the Southeastern board are to be believed, Georgia DOT is still going full speed ahead with this sort of development.

[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.

The one thing your examples and my above-examples have in common is that all of those are non-tolled highways.

Most of the longer-distance toll roads that built in the East Coast were, in many instances, the only limited-access highways around until the Interstate Highway Act came along and were commonly refered to as Turnpikes (GSP being one exception).  Addtionally, the term Turnpike wasn't just limited-access highways back then.  We could have a whole other thread devoted to the definition of the word Turnpike if there isn't already one buried in the archives. 

While the freeway definition/term may have existed even then; it just wasn't used or known in the East Coast back then.  Similar holds true today, at least in terms of the usage of the term.

Yeah, my comment about those was not intended as to the "toll road" aspect of this thread but rather in response to your comment that the segment you reference in New Jersey is the only place you've heard "freeway" used on the East Coast. In other words, I understood you to be commenting that the term simply isn't used here–regardless as to whether it's a toll road or not–and I was concurring and noting that the term is just rare in general and that most of the time if I've heard it used it's because it's part of the road's actual name (i.e., "Whitehurst Freeway" is a formal name, whereas "28 freeway" is not).

[cpzilliacus]

am I the only one who calls a road an expressway if, and only if, it has no stops on the mainline?  it can have at-grade intersections, but no traffic signals or stop signs. 

As long as I've been around this community, I still have no idea what a non-freeway expressway is.

No driveways or other private access points.

Signalized intersections are allowed.

At-grade unsignalized intersections are allowed.

Grade-separated interchanges are, of course, allowed, but I have seen expressways that had very few grade-separated interchanges - U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike) in Montgomery and Howard Counties, Maryland once had three grade-separated interchanges, with everything else at-grade (about 15 to 20 signalized intersections in a row).

The "original" interchanges were near the southern end of the expressway section of U.S. 29 at Md. 650 (New Hampshire Avenue); and at the northern end - U.S. 40, and I-70 (U.S. 29 ends just north of I-70 at a signalized intersection with Md. 99).

Va. 286 (the Fairfax County Parkway - former Va. 7100) is a good example of an East Coast expressway with long sections of almost-freeway like driving, but then suddenly (signalized and unsignalized) intersections at-grade.

[cpzilliacus]

For similar reasons, when talking about freeway-type facilities in an European country, I tend to use the technical terms that are used in that country without translation.  In situations where this is not convenient (e.g., talking about freeway-like facilities in more than one country), I use the term motorway for those freeways which are defined as motorways in national legislation, and comprehensively grade-separated dual carriageway for freeways which for one reason or another are not classified as motorways.  (High-quality dual carriageways is a shorter British Isles circumlocution for the latter, which is well-understood in SABRE circles, but I don't use it because it is not self-evident that high-quality refers to an absence of traffic crossing on the level.)  It is very grating to hear British motorways, for example, described as "freeways":  the term is technically correct but the cultural freight is just wrong.

I also prefer to call a motorway just that, especially if it has signs like this at its entrances (in many ways analogous to California's almost iconic FREEWAY ENTRANCE signs):



And these at its exits:



Some of my Swedish-speaking friends have been misled by poorly-subtitled Hollywood movies into believing that the U.S. English word highway means motorway - which, of course, it does not, even though there are more than a few U.S. highways that happen to be built to motorway (freeway) standards.

To stir the pot some more, highway E20 is a motorway as it approaches the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel on the  Swedish and Danish sides, yet as one approaches the toll plaza (located on the Swedish side for both directions), these are the signs that greet drivers - END MOTORWAY. Once clear of the toll plaza (and for Denmark-to-Sweden, sometimes Swedish Customs control), the motorway resumes with a fairly standard "Swedish" motorway speed limit of 110 k/h.

[cpzilliacus]

Yeah, my comment about those was not intended as to the "toll road" aspect of this thread but rather in response to your comment that the segment you reference in New Jersey is the only place you've heard "freeway" used on the East Coast. In other words, I understood you to be commenting that the term simply isn't used here–regardless as to whether it's a toll road or not–and I was concurring and noting that the term is just rare in general and that most of the time if I've heard it used it's because it's part of the road's actual name (i.e., "Whitehurst Freeway" is a formal name, whereas "28 freeway" is not).

Though the Whitehurst Freeway (also U.S. 29) is definitely not functionally classed as a freeway. It might be an expressway (and I am not certain of that).