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I have a feeling I'm missing something really obvious here...
I'm trying to find a suitable name for stretches of road like the connector here between the M6 and M42. I also want the term in US English rather than UK, but if I can figure out what I mean in UK English, I can then have a stab at finding a US equivalent.
The context is that I am looking at texts that can be presented to the driver in a navigation app. For some instructions, it describes the nature of the road it wants the driver to follow (highway, ramp, whatever). In this case, it's describing a connector road between two motorways that is not simply an off/on-slip (or -ramp in US English). "Slip road" (or US equivalent) feels wrong partly because in my mind it's specifically associated with accessing/leaving a motorway and not so much with travelling longer distances between two motorways; and mostly because you get slip roads at all motorway junctions (OK, yes, I know about M50 J3, don't start ) but this refers to specifically connecting roads that are completely freeflowing and under the same general rules and regulations as the roads they join together.
"Connector road" or "connecting road" is my first thought, but as I said above, I wonder if I'm missing an established term. Any ideas?
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FosseWay wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 09:53
I have a feeling I'm missing something really obvious here...
I'm trying to find a suitable name for stretches of road like the connector here between the M6 and M42. I also want the term in US English rather than UK, but if I can figure out what I mean in UK English, I can then have a stab at finding a US equivalent.
The context is that I am looking at texts that can be presented to the driver in a navigation app. For some instructions, it describes the nature of the road it wants the driver to follow (highway, ramp, whatever). In this case, it's describing a connector road between two motorways that is not simply an off/on-slip (or -ramp in US English). "Slip road" (or US equivalent) feels wrong partly because in my mind it's specifically associated with accessing/leaving a motorway and not so much with travelling longer distances between two motorways; and mostly because you get slip roads at all motorway junctions (OK, yes, I know about M50 J3, don't start ) but this refers to specifically connecting roads that are completely freeflowing and under the same general rules and regulations as the roads they join together.
"Connector road" or "connecting road" is my first thought, but as I said above, I wonder if I'm missing an established term. Any ideas?
DMRB CD 122 uses the term Interchange link, defined as a connector road carrying free-flowing traffic within an interchange between one level and/or direction and another
A connector road is a collective term for interchange links, link roads, slip roads and loops designed as part of a full grade separated junction. A connector road starts/ends at the back of a diverge/merge nose.
I'd probably call it a connector road.
Simon
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My first thought was a Link Road, as per Slattocks Link, although that is really a Spur!
A quick look around some of the motorways in America has found Express Lanes in Dallas and Miami, although these seem to be much longer bypassing a number of junctions.
Rob. My mission is to travel every road and visit every town, village and hamlet in the British Isles.
I don't like thinking about how badly I am doing.
I initially thought Spur but in US terminology it seems to be more a motorway/freeway that goes off on a tangent, not connecting to another motorway/freeway
FosseWay wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 09:53
I have a feeling I'm missing something really obvious here...
I'm trying to find a suitable name for stretches of road like the connector here between the M6 and M42. I also want the term in US English rather than UK, but if I can figure out what I mean in UK English, I can then have a stab at finding a US equivalent.
The context is that I am looking at texts that can be presented to the driver in a navigation app. For some instructions, it describes the nature of the road it wants the driver to follow (highway, ramp, whatever). In this case, it's describing a connector road between two motorways that is not simply an off/on-slip (or -ramp in US English). "Slip road" (or US equivalent) feels wrong partly because in my mind it's specifically associated with accessing/leaving a motorway and not so much with travelling longer distances between two motorways; and mostly because you get slip roads at all motorway junctions (OK, yes, I know about M50 J3, don't start ) but this refers to specifically connecting roads that are completely freeflowing and under the same general rules and regulations as the roads they join together.
"Connector road" or "connecting road" is my first thought, but as I said above, I wonder if I'm missing an established term. Any ideas?
DMRB CD 122 uses the term Interchange link, defined as a connector road carrying free-flowing traffic within an interchange between one level and/or direction and another
A connector road is a collective term for interchange links, link roads, slip roads and loops designed as part of a full grade separated junction. A connector road starts/ends at the back of a diverge/merge nose.
I'd probably call it a connector road.
Simon
CD122 is full of Sir Humphreyisms - I'd stick with connector road for a lay audience that probably doesn't care about the distinction between an exit/entry slip road and an interchange link.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
I think I'll go with "connector road". It needs to be sufficiently generic to avoid translation problems. "Express lane" when interpreted in a European context by translators may be misinterpreted as something akin to a HOV lane or some other means of bypassing congestion, which isn't the intention here.
I've always considered a spur to end somewhere other than another motorway, as wallmeerkat suggests. The A66(M) is a spur; the M49 isn't.
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FosseWay wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 10:26I've always considered a spur to end somewhere other than another motorway, as wallmeerkat suggests. The A66(M) is a spur; the M49 isn't.
I agree - even if there are examples of roads called "spur" that don't match this (M26 is the "Wrotham Spur", which is a nonsense name). "Connector" is a good name for the type of thing you're asking about.
roadtester wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 10:41
‘Connector road’ sounds good. One small point, any chance of confusion in sat nav speak with the very nearby ‘Collector Road’?
Haha - I hadn't noticed that on the map!
The texts I'm looking at are the generic interface texts for the app, not the result of a particular journey query, so if the given name of a particular road happens to coincide with a word used generically, I'm not sure the software developers can do much about it. At the very least, though, it will distinguish between "Follow the connector road" and "Follow Collector Road".
In the specific example here, I imagine the app would tell you to follow the A452 in the first instance, since it's a classified road whose classification is openly used on maps and signage. This kind of thing is more of an issue in countries where road numbers are less all-pervasive in giving directions.
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I think connector is US terminology for a freeflow ramp/slip, as in direct or semi-direct connector. It's not specific to more elongated examples like this - all the turns at a stack would be connectors, for example. But probably it's sufficient for present purposes. You could check FHWA.
^ Yes, this is an unusual one. I didn't initially look at the linked map. This is not what a connector normally looks like. Most connectors are quite short, and one-way. Two ways would be two connectors. And that one would be three.
The nearby A452 'Collector Road' is quite a coincidence! OSM makes it seem to be a proper noun, but Google Maps doesn't find such a name. Did the OSM contributor think that it functions as a collector road (common noun)? A collector road, as used in 'collector road' or 'distributor road' or 'collector/distributor (C/D) road', is not like that short length of the A452. A C/D road generally runs parallel (or roughly) alongside a motorway carriageway, and joins to it at two or more places.
Don't get too fixated by my specific choice of illustration for my problem
The M6/M42 example was the first one that came to mind that was a bit longer than, say, the connectors at Almondsbury and which definitively connected two motorways via a freeflow link.
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"Link" or "Link Road" is the correct term, it is used in the TTROs & referred to as such during smart motorway, M6 Toll, maintenance & HS2 construction works,for the specific M6/M42 example. Also used at other junctions where this a section that could be classed as a "long slip road", eg M1/M18, "south link/North link" etc
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Peter Freeman wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 12:21
The nearby A452 'Collector Road' is quite a coincidence! OSM makes it seem to be a proper noun, but Google Maps doesn't find such a name. Did the OSM contributor think that it functions as a collector road (common noun)? A collector road, as used in 'collector road' or 'distributor road' or 'collector/distributor (C/D) road', is not like that short length of the A452. A C/D road generally runs parallel (or roughly) alongside a motorway carriageway, and joins to it at two or more places.
Peter Freeman wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 12:21
The nearby A452 'Collector Road' is quite a coincidence! OSM makes it seem to be a proper noun, but Google Maps doesn't find such a name. Did the OSM contributor think that it functions as a collector road (common noun)? A collector road, as used in 'collector road' or 'distributor road' or 'collector/distributor (C/D) road', is not like that short length of the A452. A C/D road generally runs parallel (or roughly) alongside a motorway carriageway, and joins to it at two or more places.
I've always known it as the Collector Road, and I think it's shown as such on A-Z street atlases.
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Collector Lanes are the opposite of Express Lanes on a North American freeway with four carriageways. The latter, in the centre, can go for miles without a junction. The Collectors on the outside have frequent on/off ramps to major streets.
A Transfer is where there is the ability to cross between one and the other, and a Rollover is where this is provided for all exchanging movements in both directions. I suppose the nearest UK equivalent to the latter is M4 J2. Here's one on the 401 in Toronto :
WHBM wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 17:52
Collector Lanes are the opposite of Express Lanes on a North American freeway with four carriageways. The latter, in the centre, can go for miles without a junction. The Collectors on the outside have frequent on/off ramps to major streets.
A Transfer is where there is the ability to cross between one and the other, and a Rollover is where this is provided for all exchanging movements in both directions. I suppose the nearest UK equivalent to the latter is M4 J2. Here's one on the 401 in Toronto :
) but this refers to specifically connecting roads that are completely freeflowing and under the same general rules and regulations as the roads they join together.
