Freeway or Expressway?

[Henry]

I don't know if there's an existing thread for this, but I've wondered what you refer to the limited-access highways in your area, Interstate or otherwise.

In Chicago, as well as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Atlanta, they use the term "Expressway." On the West Coast, as well as in Michigan, Texas and the Carolinas, it's called a "Freeway." However, there may be some exceptions to this, like the Bishop Ford Freeway that runs south of the Windy City.

So which term do you prefer?

[Quillz]

Some states, like California, actually legally define "freeway" and "expressway," so the terms are not always interchangeable.

[Henry]

Some states, like California, actually legally define "freeway" and "expressway," so the terms are not always interchangeable.

I'm well aware of that, but I was just pointing out that what's called a freeway in one part of the country is an expressway in another, as cited by the examples above.

[Quillz]

Well, I would generally call any limited-access highway a "freeway," because in the states that do have legal differences between the two, an expressway tends to be a typical arterial street, but with far fewer intersections and longer green lights. (At least that's some work in the Bay Area.)

[Michael in Philly]

I grew up (in the New Jersey suburbs of New York) saying "Expressway" - to me, "Freeway" was how Californians said "Expressway."  And I could swear I read, decades ago so I can't give a source, that a freeway was by definition toll-free.  It was only on discovering road forums in the last year or two that I learned (1) that the MUTCD says they mean different things, (2) that a freeway can be a toll road, and (3) that people in parts of the country where local usage agrees with the MUTCD, and also Dutch people, can be very dogmatic in insisting we Northeasterners are wrong!

I now use the terms more or less interchangeably, although I need to be some distance from New York to say freeway.
PennDOT seems to as well - there are "Expressway Ends" signs northbound on US 1 near Kennett Square and "Freeway Ends" signs eastbound on US 30 east of Lancaster, and I can't see any difference in the roads themselves.  And as far as I'm concerned, the MUTCD (which most people have never heard of and which I haven't looked at in years) has no authority over the language used by non-specialists in non-specialist contexts.

[Quillz]

The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.

[berberry]

The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.

I don't know if you're right or wrong, but that's not what I've heard.  I was under the impression that the word was deliberately devised to distinguish from an ordinary highway a special type which was "free" of the usual encumbrances like opposing traffic, stop signs and signals.  

As for what what folks say around here (Mississippi), mostly "interstate", although the word "freeway" is also used.  I don't know of any road anywhere in the state with the word "freeway" in its official name, and only a few rare cases of "highway".  I've never heard "expressway" used in reference to any road in the state, officially or unofficially, except as an adjective.

[hbelkins]

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.

[LeftyJR]

Here in PA, most people call them expressway or highway, very few use freeway - that sounds like a California-ism to me!

[agentsteel53]

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.

I call anything with a traffic light an "arterial" or a "boulevard".  Expressways should never have the main line of traffic come to a stop.  There may be at-grade intersections, which is what differentiates them from freeways, but the side street should give way unconditionally to the mainline.

[Ian]

I grew up in the Philadelphia area, yet I use the term freeway and expressway interchangeably.

[Quillz]

The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.

I don't know if you're right or wrong, but that's not what I've heard.  I was under the impression that the word was deliberately devised to distinguish from an ordinary highway a special type which was "free" of the usual encumbrances like opposing traffic, stop signs and signals.

Well, yes, that's what I was getting at. The "free" referred to freedom of movement, not free of cost. This is why freeways can be tolled. I don't believe "tollway" is official terminology, but I could be wrong.

[corco]

I learned that part of my vocabulary while I was a pup in Chicago, so "Expressway" is the term I naturally think of.

That said, I tend to think of either term as referring to an urban limited access roadway. A rural freeway/expressway is just a highway or "the interstate." It feels weird to me to think of I-80 in Wyoming or I-84 in southern Idaho as a "freeway"

[mightyace]

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.

In Nashville,
I-440 - Four-forty Parkway
US 31E - Ellington Parkway
TN 155 - Briley Parkway - small part is arterial
TN 386 - Vietnam Veterans Parkway
TN 386 - Saturn Parkway

In colloquial usage, I tend to use Expressway and Freeway interchangeably.

It seems to me from reading this board that Freeway means fully controlled access.  (i.e. at exit/entrance ramps only)  An Expressway may have at-grade intersections and traffic lights, but a limited number.

[Coelacanth]

Outside of the roadgeek/transportation professional community, I've never heard a Minnesotan use the word expressway.

All Interstates are referred to as "the freeway". Dual carriageway roads with intersections are "highways" if they carry a number.

In the Twin Cities we have several routes which transition from fully limited-access to having signalized intersections. (TH 36 in Maplewood; US 169 in Edina/Bloomington and again in Brooklyn Park, for example). These are signed with "FREEWAY ENDS" signs, so I think most locals are conditioned to think that no intersections = freeway and intersections = highway.

[Henry]

I learned that part of my vocabulary while I was a pup in Chicago, so "Expressway" is the term I naturally think of.

Always good to hear from a fellow Windy City native!

When I moved to California after high school, I adapted to the "freeway" custom rather quickly (even though it took me quite a while to get used to it), so I too have used these terms interchangeably.

[SSOWorld]

Wisconsin - Freeways for the full limited access, Expressway for the partial limited access (some at-grade intersections).  Refer to them as roads - that covers em all

[J N Winkler]

The "free" in freeway has always referred to "freedom of movement" rather than "free of cost." Because when they were invented in the 20th century, they were really the first class of highway to be free of frequent stoppages and low speeds. The idea was to have as much freedom of movement in one direction as possible, hence the word.

I don't know if you're right or wrong, but that's not what I've heard.  I was under the impression that the word was deliberately devised to distinguish from an ordinary highway a special type which was "free" of the usual encumbrances like opposing traffic, stop signs and signals.

In practice this is a distinction without a difference.  The term freeway itself was invented in 1930 by Edward M. Bassett, an American urban planner, long before the first American long-distance toll motor highway (the Pennsylvania Turnpike) opened.  Obviously a freeway is "free" of many things that inhibit fast rapid movement, but considering the context in which the term emerged--being proposed by a planner at the start of a decade in which the first access-control statutes started to appear--I think the key part of the definition involves freedom from frontage access.

When the built entity (technical object) is under discussion, the definitions that are most relevant are the standard AASHTO ones, which specify that a freeway is a special type of expressway with full control of access and entry and exit only at interchanges which provide for gradual change of speed.  The AASHTO definition does not correspond perfectly with the various definitions of a freeway in state access-control statutes.  In California, for example, a freeway (legal entity) is any corridor (whether built or not) where legal provision has been made for full control of access.  In the early 1940's it was not uncommon for the term to be used in relation to improved through routes with some level intersections.  During World War II the California Highway Commission issued "freeway declarations" covering hundreds of miles of road (later integrated into the present California freeway network) although construction was not immediately in prospect.

[huskeroadgeek]

I use the terms based on how they are legally defined in Nebraska-a "freeway" being 4(or more) lanes with full controlled access and an "expressway" being 4 lane with partial controlled access. Even though I know most other states don't use these distinctions, I always think in this way, even if a particular road has a name that doesn't follow that description.

[Michael in Philly]

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.?

[Henry]

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

[Truvelo]

Over here expressways are generally limited access although side roads are tolerated. Junctions are mainly grade separated expect where provision was made but not implemented such as this roundabout where the median widens to allow an underpass to be built. As I write this the underpass is in the process of being built nearly 40 years after the road first opened.

The main difference between expressways and full blown freeways in this country, and in much of Europe, is the signs are green whereas freeways have blue signs. This is less noticeable in North America as green signs are used throughout.

[Central Avenue]

When talking with non-roadgeeks, I tend to just say "freeway", because that's what most people in Columbus call a grade-separated limited-access highway, and I really don't travel much.

Aside from that, I use the "legal" definition for the area, or just call everything a "highway".

[cjk374]

I don't use either one...it'll be either interstate or highway.   

[Dr Frankenstein]

In Quebec most people just call them highways. And they call non-restricted highways "routes".

On signs and maps, they're called Expressways.