Unit 10 Motorway

Motorway symbol in the UK, France and Ireland.

A motorway (in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Pakistan, some other Commonwealth nations and Ireland) is both a type of road and a classification or designation. Motorways are highways designed to carry a large volume of traffic where a normal road would not suffice or would be unsafe, usually between cities. In the UK they are predominantly dual-carriageway roads, usually with three lanes in each direction, although four-lane and two-lane carriageways are also common, and all have grade-separated access.

Equivalent terms in other countries include autoroute, autobahn, freeway, autostrada, autopista, motorvej, autópálya, motorväg and autoput. In North America, the English terms freeway and expressway (including autoroutes) are used as a type of road, not necessarily as a classification type. Many highways are maintained throughout the United States as part of the Interstate Highway System. These highways are generally similar to motorways in purpose and quality.