Highway facts for kids

The Angeles Crest Highway, California.

A highway is a special kind of road built for people to travel between important places. These places can be cities, towns, or famous landmarks. Highways are made for public use.

You might hear them called different names depending on where you are in the world. Some common names include freeway, motorway, autobahn, expressway, or superhighway. Even though they have different names, they all serve the same main purpose.

Highways can look very different. Some are huge roads with many lanes for traffic. They might have a special strip or barrier in the middle called a median to separate cars going in opposite directions. They often have ramps and bridges to control how cars get on and off. But some highways can also be as simple as a two-lane road.

How Highways Are Named

In many countries, highways are given numbers to make them easy to identify. These numbered highways are often called routes.

Highways in the United States

In the United States, there's a big system called the Interstate Highway system. It's managed by an organization called AASHTO.

• Major routes that go north and south usually have an odd number.
• Routes that go east and west usually have an even number.

Highways in Other Countries

• In Canada, many freeways have route numbers in the 400s.
• In China, the first letter of a route's number tells you what kind of road it is:
  • "G" means it's a national road.
  • "S" means it's a provincial road (for a specific province).
  • "Y" means it's a rural road, often in the countryside.

Challenges with Highways

Highways are very useful, but they can also cause some problems.

Traffic Jams

When too many cars try to use a highway at the same time, traffic can slow down a lot. This is known as a traffic jam. It can be frustrating and make travel times much longer. To help with this, cities sometimes use public transportation like buses. They might also create special lanes for cars that have a certain number of people inside them.

Pollution

Cars driving on highways produce pollution. This pollution can affect the air quality and the environment around the highway. Engineers and city planners try to find ways to reduce these negative effects.

Images for kids

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  The term highway includes any public road. This is an unpaved highway in Northern England.

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  The highway between Porvoo and Helsinki at the Jakomäki district in Helsinki, Finland.

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  An Autobahn in Lehrte, near Hanover, Germany—a busy, high-capacity motorway.

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  The I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States

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  Commonwealth Avenue, a major intercity highway in northeastern Manila metropolitan area, the Philippines.

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  A taxiway crossing the Autobahn, near Leipzig

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  Noise, light and air pollution are negative environmental effects highways can have on their surroundings.

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  An aerial view of the Lakalaiva interchange in the Tampere Ring Road between the Highway 3 (E12) and Highway 9 (E63) near city of Tampere

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  The Cross Bronx Expressway in New York, United States uses asphalt and concrete pavement, both of which are popular road surfaces on highways.

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  Highway bus lane on Gyeongbu Expressway in South Korea.