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A two-way residential frontage road running parallel to a motorway.

A frontage road for U.S. Highway 71 (a freeway) near Carthage, Missouri. The frontage road (called an "outer road" in Missouri) is former Alternate US 71. A second frontage road on the opposite side of the freeway is visible and was built during construction of the freeway.

A frontage road (also access road, feeder, service drive, service road, outer road, and especially surface road) is a non-limited access road running parallel to a higher-speed road, usually a freeway, and feeding it at appropriate points of access (slip ramps). In many cases, the frontage road is a former highway already in existence when the limited access road was built. In other cases they may be built prior to construction of the highway. In urban areas, frontage roads are frequently one way roads when they exist on both sides of a highway. In more rural ones, roads are typically two-way. Image File history File links Confused. ... Image File history File links Frontage_road. ... Image File history File links Frontage_road. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 995 KB) Summary A section of former Alternate US 71 near Carthage, Missouri. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 995 KB) Summary A section of former Alternate US 71 near Carthage, Missouri. ... United States Highway 71 is a north-south United States highway. ... Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St Louis[1] Area  Ranked 21st  - Total 69,709 sq mi (180,693 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 300 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... Alternate US 71 is a former bannered highway. ... A typical freeway with an interchange in the foreground Rush hour on the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles A typical rural freeway (Interstate 5 in the Central Valley of California). ... Parallel is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. ... Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway) in Berkeley, California: a typical American freeway (MUTCD definition) A freeway, also known as a highway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, autostrada, dual carriageway, expressway, Autosnelweg or motorway, depending on the country of discussion, is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles... Some countries, like Germany, show text on one-way signs A Swedish one-way sign used on T junctions No entry signs are often placed at the wrong ends of one-way streets A one-way street is a street on which vehicles can only move in one direction. ...

Frontage roads provide access to homes and businesses which would be cut off by a limited access road and connect these locations with roads which have direct access to the main highway. Frontage roads give indirect access to abutting property along a freeway, either preventing the commercial disruption of an urban area that the freeway traverses or allowing commercial development of abutting property. At times, they add to the cost of building an expressway due to costs of land acquisition and the costs of paving and maintenance. However, the benefits of nearby real estate can more than offset the cost of building the frontage roads. Furthermore, a frontage road may be a part of an older highway, so the expense of building a frontage road may be slight. Conversely, the existence of a frontage road can increase traffic on the main road and be a catalyst for development; hence there is sometimes an explicit decision made to not build a frontage road. Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway) in Berkeley, California: a typical American freeway (MUTCD definition) A freeway, also known as a highway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, autostrada, dual carriageway, expressway, Autosnelweg or motorway, depending on the country of discussion, is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Crowded Shibuya, Tokyo shopping district An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the American English usage of pavement as the durable surfacing of roads and walkways. ... Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

A backage road is a similar concept, but lies on the other side of the land parcels that abut the frontage road. It serves mainly to provide access to those parcels without using the frontage road.

Collector-express

The successor to the concept of service/frontage roads in urban freeways is the collector-express system, which is designed to handle closely spaced interchange ramps without disrupting through traffic. Unlike service roads, the collector lanes are typically high-speed full controlled-access lanes, conforming to freeway requirements. The collector lanes may also be known as a collector/distributor road and slip ramps provide access to and from the express/mainline lanes. Frontage roads may feed into and from collector/distributor roads near some interchanges. It has been suggested that express lanes be merged into this article or section. ... A collector/distributor road, often abbreviated as C/D road, is a one-way road next to a freeway that is used for some or all of the ramps that would otherwise merge into or split from the main lanes of the freeway. ...

Texas

A frontage road for Texas State Highway 183 (Airport Freeway) in Irving, Texas.

Most Texas freeways have frontage roads on both sides. In urban and suburban areas, the traffic typically travels one-way only in the direction of the neighboring main lanes. Most other areas have two-way traffic, but as an area urbanizes the highway is often transformed for one-way traffic. Over 80% of Houston freeways have frontage roads[1], which locals typically call feeders. Many frontage roads in urban and suburban areas of Texas have the convenience of Texas U-turns, which allow drivers to avoid being stopped by traffic lights when making a U-turn. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 1728 pixel, file size: 728 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 1728 pixel, file size: 728 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Texas State Highway 183, known as Texas 183 and SH 183 is a state highway in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in Texas. ... Mustangs at Las Colinas Streetscape along Las Colinas Blvd in North Irving Aerial shot of Irving/Las Colinass Urban Center. ... Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway) in Berkeley, California: a typical American freeway (MUTCD definition) A freeway, also known as a highway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, autostrada, dual carriageway, expressway, Autosnelweg or motorway, depending on the country of discussion, is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles... Houston redirects here. ... A Texas U-turn, or Texas Turnaround, is a lane allowing cars traveling on one side of a one-way frontage road to U-turn into the opposite frontage road (typically crossing over or under a freeway or expressway) without being stopped by traffic lights or crossing the highway traffic...

The Stemmons Freeway in Dallas illustrates the practicability of the frontage road: the real estate developer John Stemmons offered free land to the Texas Highway commission in which to build a freeway (Interstate 35E) on the condition that the state build the freeway with frontage roads that would give access to undeveloped property until then of slight value that he owned along the freeway corridor. The state was able to reduce its costs (largely the cost of land acquisition) of building the freeway and did not need to acquire and demolish developed property; in return the developer profited handsomely from lucrative development along the freeway. Interstate 35E (abbreviated I-35E), an interstate highway, is the eastern half of Interstate 35 where it splits to serve different cities in Texas. ... “Dallas” redirects here. ... A real estate developer (American English) or property developer (British English) makes improvements of some kind to real property, thereby increasing its value. ... Interstate 35E (abbreviated I-35E), an interstate highway, is the eastern half of Interstate 35 where it splits to serve different cities in Texas. ... // History The Texas Legislature created the Texas Highway Department in 1917 to administer federal highway construction and maintenance. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

With the arguable exception of Missouri, Texas is the only state in the USA that widely constructs frontage/access roads along its highways state-wide, even in some rural areas. Outside of these two states, frontage roads are common in only Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and Florida, and then only in urban or suburban areas. Official language(s) English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St Louis[1] Area  Ranked 21st  - Total 69,709 sq mi (180,693 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 300 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Largest metro area Metro Detroit Area  Ranked 11th  - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 491 miles (790 km)  - % water 41. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami metropolitan area Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ...

Frontage roads are often built as part of a multi-phase plan to construct new limited access highways. Therefore, they initially serve as a highway with access to local business before the freeway is constructed several years later. Even after the completion of the new freeway, frontage roads serve as a major thoroughfare for local activity, such as with the Katy Freeway project in Greater Houston[2]. In several cases, a long range plan has called for a future freeway, but the design is either changed or the project cancelled before completion [3]. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, is the seventh-largest metropolitan area and one of the most diverse[2] in the United States consisting of 10 counties within the state of Texas. ...

Entering and exiting from access roads can be very confusing to drivers unfamiliar with the system. Signaling is very important not just for the drivers behind one, but also for oncoming traffic in areas where the access road is two-way.

Nicknames for frontage roads vary within the state of Texas. In Houston and East Texas they're called feeders. Dallas and Fort Worth residents call their frontage roads "service roads". In San Antonio, they're known as "access roads". El Paso residents call their frontage roads "gateways". In Austin, however, they use the state's official term of "frontage roads". Red counties show the core of East Texas; pink and red counties may or may not be included in East Texas, and thus their inclusion varies from source to source. ... Nickname: Motto: Where the West Begins Location of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, Texas Coordinates: , Country State Counties Tarrant and Denton Government  - Mayor Michael J. Moncrief Area  - City  298. ... “San Antonio” redirects here. ... El Paso redirects here. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country State Counties Travis County Government  - Mayor Will Wynn Area  - City  296. ...

In 2002, the Texas Department of Transportation proposed to discontinue building frontage roads on new freeways, citing studies that suggest frontage roads increase congestion. However, this proposal was widely ridiculed and criticized and was dropped later the same year[4]. // History The Texas Legislature created the Texas Highway Department in 1917 to administer federal highway construction and maintenance. ...

Michigan

Frontage roads are also common in Metro Detroit, where they are usually referred to as "service drives." As in Texas, they typically run one way with frequent slip ramps to and from the limited access roadway, with Texas U-turns at or near many intersections. Unlike Texas, there is usually little commercial development situated along the frontage road itself (see [5] for one example); the road serves to provide access to the freeway from existing residential streets and commercial surface thoroughfares. Also unlike in many locales in urban Texas, where an exit ramp may actually precede the entrance ramp for the previous interchange to facilitate access to businesses situated directly on the frontage road (in effect, the two interchanges overlap along the frontage road), Michigan slip ramps to and from frontage roads are generally positioned as they normally would be in the absence of the frontage road. Motorists entering and exiting the freeway are not sharing the frontage road simultaneously to as large a degree, reducing weaving. Access to the frontage road between exits is provided by turnarounds and frequent bridging, generally every 1/2 mile, between exits. The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in southeastern Michigan, centered on the city of Detroit. ...

Michigan left hand turns are also quite common at surface street-frontage road intersections, with dedicated turnaround lanes (similar to the Texas U-turn) built over the freeway on separate bridges approximately 100 meters from the main intersection and bridging. [6] A typical Michigan left setup. ...

With the exceptions of Interstate 275 and the freeway portion of M-53, every Metro Detroit freeway has a frontage road along it for at least a portion of its length. This Interstate Highway article needs to be cleaned up to conform to both a higher standard of article quality and accepted design standards outlined in the WikiProject U.S. Interstate Highways. ... M-53 M-53 is the gateway route to The Thumb of Michigan, carrying vacationers to the many cottages and resorts located on Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron in the vicinity of Caseville and Port Austin. ...

There are no other Michigan frontage roads running more than one mile in length outside of the Metro Detroit area. New freeway construction in Michigan has not included frontage roads since the completion of Interstate 696, most of which was constructed along the rights of way of major surface arteries, in 1989. Interstate 696 (abbreviated I-696) is an interstate highway entirely within the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ...

Ontario

The only freeway with a significant remaining network of service roads is the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW). However, most of the slip ramps between St. Catharines and Mississauga were removed during major reconstruction in the 1970s and 1990s. Service roads are no longer able to directly access the QEW; they have been rerouted to intersections with other major roads which have interchanges with the QEW. Nonetheless, the service roads are positioned too close to the QEW to easily widen the freeway unless all the private properties along the service road are bought out. This would be unlikely in the current political environment. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Nickname: Motto: Industry and Liberality Location of St. ... For the First Nation, see Mississaugas. ...

The only remaining slip ramps connecting to service roads are on the QEW running through St. Catharines. These dangerous low-standard ramps (due to lack of acceleration/de-acceleration lanes) are due to be replaced in a planned extensive reconstruction of the QEW that is currently underway. Similar service roads and slip ramps exist along Highway 401 through Oshawa, but like through St. Catharines, these are also in the process of being replaced with modern ramps. Nickname: Motto: Industry and Liberality Location of St. ... “Macdonald-Cartier” redirects here. ... Oshawa (estimated 2004 population 150 000; metropolitan population 296 298) is a city on Lake Ontario located approximately 60 km east of downtown Toronto in Ontario, Canada. ...

Highway 427 had its service roads replaced with a collector-express system in the 1970s. However, it has several RIRO access onramps and offramps to serve residential traffic in addition to its standard parclo interchanges with major arterials. Highway 427 as part of the 400-series network Highway 427 is a 400-Series Highway in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, that runs from immediately south of the Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway interchange (its exact southern terminus is on the Browns Line at Coules Court... It has been suggested that express lanes be merged into this article or section. ... Right-in/right-out (RIRO) or left-in/left-out (LILO), corresponding to the side of the road that traffic drives on (RIRO for right-side driving), is a type of access on a divided highway that allows access to only the side of the highway closer to the intersecting... The parclo interchange (short for partial cloverleaf interchange) is a successor to the cloverleaf interchange. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

List of RIRO on the 427:

• Gibbs Road onto North 427
• Eva Road onto/off South 427
• Holiday Drive onto/off South 427
• Eringate Drive onto/off South 427
• Vahalla Inn Road onto North 427

China

In China, roads running next to expressways, taking outgoing traffic and feeding incoming traffic, are called either service roads or auxiliary roads (fudao locally). Where expressways cross larger urban areas, such frontage roads may run next to the expressway itself. Much of the Beijing portion of the Jingkai Expressway, for example, has, in fact, China National Highway 106 acting as a split-direction frontage road. Chinese expressway, complete with signage. ... The Jingkai Expressway (京开高速公路, Hanyu Pinyin: Jīngkāi Gāosù Gōnglù) is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Kaifeng. ... Related: Transportation of Beijing Part of the WikiProject Transportation in China Categories: Stub | Peoples Republic of China roads and expressways ...

Argentina

In Argentina, especially around Buenos Aires, frontage roads can be found next to freeways. Examples include Avenida General Paz, and Ruta 9 coming into Buenos Aires. For other uses, see Buenos Aires (disambiguation). ... Gral. ... National Route 9 (in Spanish, Ruta Nacional 9) is a major road in Argentina, which runs from the center-east to the northwest of the country, crossing the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy. ...

See also

• Collector-express
• Collector/distributor road
• Frontage Lane