Types of Roads, Streets and More (Avenue, Boulevard, Lane, Highway, Arcade)

Hello and welcome to Fransy Fancy English! Let's talk about the different types of roads and streets.

Types of roads

Road

Roads connect two cities and are made to facilitate travelling between these places. They are found in rural and suburban areas. You don't usually see pedestrians, cafes or shops on a road.

"Take the second road on the left and then follow the signs."
"Our house is on a peaceful/calm/quiet/busy road."
"The standard speed limit on urban roads is 50 kmph."
"Why is there always construction on this road?"
"The road was blocked by fallen logs."
"It takes six hours by road."
"We'll leave when the roads are clear."

"He was involved in a road accident."
"Road bumps/​humps limit the speed of cars."

ROADS IN THE US 

Arterial roads

An arterial road is a high-speed urban road that delivers a large volume of traffic to freeways or expressways. 

Expressway

Expressways are high-speed roads and have a few intersections and limited points of access or exit. In the US, an expressway is a highway. Expressways can have two, four or eight lanes and some facilities like lane dividers or access ramps.

"The expressway was clogged with automobiles."

"We can save fifteen minutes by taking the expressway to the airport."

"There is a serious pileup on the expressway."

"He hit a patch of ice as I entered the ramp to the expressway."

Highway

A highway is a main road that can connect states, cities or villages. Multiple roads merge with highways and you can find them in shopping districts or in the country. A highway isn't necessarily an expressway. Highways usually have four lanes and might have tolls. They can connect to freeways and they have access points. The speed limit for highways ranges from 40 mph to 80 mph.

"We got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway."

"They are resurfacing the highway."

"There was a tragic crash on the highway yesterday."

"I have been driving/sitting on the highway for an hour."

"What highway do I take to Halkidiki?"

"There's a 55 mph speed limit on most highways."

"The new highway will reduce the time to drive to the beach."

"Exit lanes become deceleration lanes as they break away from the highway."

 

"He got caught by a speed camera on the highway."

Freeway

All freeways are highways. They don't have tolls. They connect cities and you don't have to go through rural towns. You can only access freeways through ramps and there are no intersections. The speed limits for a freeway range from 60 mph to 80 mph. In the US, freeways are also called expressways depending on the state or area. 

This is a typical rural American freeway.

"Avoid slowing down on the freeway."

"If you miss the exit ramp on a freeway, never turn around or back up." 

"The new freeway will pass over the lake."

"A billboard caught my eye on the freeway."

"I was driving behind a truck on the freeway and I couldn't overtake it."

"Everyone gawked at the smashed cars on the freeway."

"We're driving on the freeway."

Freeways have interchanges, underpasses and overpasses.

An interchange is a highway intersection in which vehicles move from one road to another without crossing traffic.

ROADS IN THE UK

Motorway

A motorway is a UK term for a limited-access road. Motorways are the fastest routes between cities. They usually have three lanes and the speed limit is 70 mph.

"Turn off the motorway at junction 4."

"Our car had a breakdown on the motorway."

"Two cars collided on the motorway."

"You'll be banned from the roads if you get caught speeding at more than 100 mph on the motorway."

"Leave the motorway at the next exit / Junction 7."

"He was driving at full speed down the motorway when his back tyre burst."

"Obey all speed limits if you're approaching roadworks on the motorway."

"I was driving at 50 mph when a road racer cut me up on the motorway."

"We were on the motorway to London."

"Join the motorway at Junction 5."

"We ran out of juice on the motorway."

"I hate changing lanes on the motorway."

Ring road 

A ring road encircles a city or town. In American English, it's called "beltway".

OTHER ROADS

Driveway or drive

A driveway is a private road that connects a house or a garage with a public road.

"I backed out of the driveway."

"You can't park here, you're blocking my driveway."

"He pulled into the driveway in front of her garage."

"Be careful when you pull out of the driveway."

"I heard the crunch of tires on the gravel driveway."

"The delivery driver threw my order on driveway without even getting out of his car."

"Parking on another person's driveway without their consent actually isn't against the law."

Lane

A lane is:

A. a narrow and sometimes winding road in the countryside.

B. the part of a road which is divided by white or yellow lines. There is usually an overtaking lane or fast lane, a middle lane and a slow lane. If you see broken white lines on the road, you can overtake and change lanes. A continuous white line tells you that you mustn't overtake. You can't cross double white continuous lines.

Bike lane, bicycle lane or cycle lane

"They want to add a bike lane to the highway."

"There are many cars parked illegally in a cycle lane."

"The bike lanes get blocked all the time."

Bus lane

"The bus lane, permits only taxis, private hire vehicles and buses."

"Drivers are not allowed to drive in a bus lane."

"If you've been detected by the CCTV cameras illegally using a bus lane, a Penalty Charge Notice letter will be issued to you."

Turnpike, toll road or tollway

All these words refer to a road for which you pay a fee. 

"You have to pay a toll to drive on a turnpike."

"How much is the toll?"

"We must take a longer route without tolls."

"We need to find another route if we want to avoid toll roads."

Gravel road

A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with a gravel surface instead of asphalt.

Dirt road

A dirt road is an unpaved road made from soil.

TYPES OF STREETS

Street

Streets are public roads that have buildings, houses and shops on their sides. The streets are found in towns and cities and the roads in rural areas. Some people use these two words interchangeably.

Street canyon or urban canyon

Streets that separate skyscrapers or other buildings creating a canyon-like place, are called street or urban canyons.

Avenue

An avenue is a wide street with a line of trees or large shrubs on each side.

"The store/house is on Fifth Avenue."

"Turn right/left onto Hillside Avenue."

"Merge onto First Avenue."

"I was walking down/up/along the avenue when he called me."

"She lives at the end of the avenue."

Boulevard

"Boulevard" and "avenue" are synonyms. Boulevards are broad avenues with trees on the side and paved sidewalks. They are sometimes divided with a median. 

"We strolled along the boulevard."

"There's a supermarket on Sunrise Boulevard."

"Is this the right bus for Pacific Boulevard?"

"Who were you driving with on Washington Boulevard?"

One-way street

A one-way street allows you to travel in only one direction.

"I drove the wrong way down a one-way street by mistake."

"This isn't a one-way street."

"A man crashed a stolen moped after going the wrong way down one-way street."

Dead-end street

A dead-end street is a street that has no exit. Sometimes there is a circle to turn around.

"I drove down a dead-end road, turned the car around and left."

Cul-de-sac

 A cul-de-sac is a dead-end street with a rounded end to turn around.

"We live in a quiet cul-de-sac."

Arcade

A. An arcade or shopping arcade is a covered alley or passageway with shops on each side. You can easily recognize it by the pillars or arches.

B. An amusement or video arcade is an area where people play arcade games.

Alley

An alley is a narrow lane for pedestrians between or behind buildings.

"He was robbed/mugged/attacked in a dark alley."

"She was alone in a dark alley."

"The robber escaped through the back alley."

"A maze of narrow alleys leads down to the sea."

 "I lost my way in the network of tiny alleys."

 "Greek islands are full of whitewashed stone paved alleys."

Bowling alley

Esplanade 

An esplanade is a wide street for walking and it is next to the seashore.

 "People were lying on the beach and strolling along the esplanade."

Pedestrian zone

A pedestrian zone is a car-free area in a city.

OTHERS

Roundabout or traffic circle

A roundabout is a circular intersection or junction in which cars drive around.

"At the roundabout take the second exit."

Intersection (mainly US)

An intersection is where two roads cross each other and continue going on. They form a "+" or a  "t" shape. They are found in cities.

"Turn left at the intersection."

Junction

At a junction, the roads can cross but they don't always. A junction can be an intersection. It can form a "+", "Y", "D" or "T" shape. Some of the roads stop and others continue.

Fork

A fork is a place where a road divides into two parts.

"Take the right fork."

Taxi rank, taxi stand, cab rank or cabstand

 A taxi rank is a place where taxis wait to get passengers.

"Where's a taxi stand around here?"

"You can catch a cab at the taxi stand over there."

 "Luckily, there was a taxi stand nearby."

Path or trail

A path or trail is a line made by people walking through the woods.

"The path leads up the hill."

"Which path should we take?"

"We went off the trail and got lost".

Track

This is a track for sports.

"I had track practice yesterday."

Am I missing something here? Let me know in the comments!