INTERURBAN ROAD: CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The interurban road (commonly called a highway), within the concept of a public road, is that paved road that connects cities or important centers within a city. According to the Spanish penal code, the interurban road is “the geographical space that is duly marked by the symbol of opening to town”.

Some authors conceive them as roads for public use, built only for vehicular passage; In addition, they are also used for long journeys. Its classification will depend on the lanes that constitute it, the crossings and the type of traffic they support.

Since there are several classifications, they need road specifications for their correct construction and maintenance. It is estimated that the first roads were created to allow the passage of animals, since they could not travel on the same routes as people. During the Roman Empire the evolution of these first roads occurred.

History

Several important civilizations are known that made important contributions to the construction of roads:

- There are records that estimate that the Mesopotamians were the pioneers in the matter, finding evidence of roads made around 3500 BC. C.

- The Chinese developed a line of roads towards the s. XI a. C. They are credited with the Silk Road (the longest in the world).

- In South America the Incas made an elaborate network of roads, although some historians do not consider it fully as highways because, at that time, they were unaware of the existence of the wheel. These nets ran all over the Andes and were made of cut stone.

- The Egyptians built roads to transport materials for the subsequent construction of the pyramids and monuments to gods and pharaohs.

- Some roads made in the Roman Empire still exist. It is estimated that they were built between 312 and 220 BC. C. and allowed to move from the center to the most important cities. Maintenance was the responsibility of the towns and cities through which they passed; thus the good condition of them was maintained.

- In the S. XVII the French government reinforced the construction of these roads with the support of private institutions, which established tolls to allow the maintenance of the roads.

- The improvements and advances in terms of road infrastructure are largely due to the progress made during the s. XIX. After the second half of that century, asphalt and pavement were included as the main materials for the construction of roads.

- In the S. In the 20th century, during the 1930s, the Germans developed a new system of roads called autobahn, which are considered the predecessors of today's roads.

characteristics

- They are roads that connect cities or important centers within a city.

- They are also popularly known as highways.

- They are destined almost exclusively for the transit of motor vehicles.

- They are used to carry out long journeys.

- They do not have crossings that cross the road.

- Depending on the type, some do allow the passage of people and even animal-drawn vehicles.

- They have freedom of layout.

Types

According to its characteristics

Freeways

Roads specially designed for automotive vehicular traffic. They have access control; that is, they have specific points for the passage of vehicles. They do not have crossings of other roads (paths or railways) and they have different carriageways.

Highways

They have characteristics similar to the highway with the difference that the passage of pedestrians and people with limited mobility is allowed. They always have signs indicating that it is a highway.

Express or car lanes

They consist of a single road for both directions in the vehicular passage. It does not cross any other road and has access limits.

Conventional roads

They are considered as those that do not meet the characteristics previously explained. They have crossroads, intersections, and shortcuts. They also include high-speed lanes and a route for slower and less traffic.

According to the functions they fulfill

Nationals

They are also called main, because they connect the population or provincial centers of a country. This is why they make long-distance traffic possible.

Regional and regional

Secondary calls, communicate the activity centers of a region. Some authors consider them a branch of the national highways.

local

They join small towns, so their journey is short and close.

Local

They serve to link to particular properties. These are generally unpaved.

Differences with the conventional road

Differences with urban roads

They are those that are within urban centers. Streets, squares and everything found in the urban area are included. Some of its main characteristics are the following:

- They serve for the containment, regulation and accessibility of vehicular passage.

- They handle large amounts of traffic in short periods, especially where large concentrations of population are found.

- They are conditioned by space.

- They include vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

- There is presence of intersections.

- Multiplicity of accesses from the outside.

- They are short distance networks.

Differences with crossing

It is a section of road that leads to a town, crossing it from the beginning to the end.

References

1. Bañón Blázquez, Luis. (sf). Cart Manual. In Sirius UA. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Sirio UA from sirio.ua.es.
2. Highway. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Wikipedia at es.wikipedia.org.
3. Differentiation between urban and interurban roads in the crime of speeding in article 379.1 of the Penal Code. (2013). In Criminal Law. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Criminal Law from infoderechopenal.es.
4. History of the highways. (sf). In Arqhys Arquitectura. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Arqhys Arquitectura de arqhys.com.
5. The pubic roads. Road safety education for adults. (2009). In Open Classroom. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Open Classroom of aula-abierta-dgt.es.
6. Public road. (sf). In Arqhys Arquitectura. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Arquys Arquitectura de arquys.com.
7. Public road. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: March 8, 2018. In Wikipedia at es.wikipedia.org.