History: Controlled-access highway

A controlled-access highway is a particular type of highway that has been designed for high-speed traffic and which have all incoming/outgoing traffic controlled. This means that one is able to enter or exit this type of highway only at the designated entry or exit points. There are different names for this type of highway throughout the world. In the US / Australia they're called freeways, in the UK & Ireland the term motorway is used. In some other countries like Canada or some Asian countries the term expressway refers to this type of highway. In non-English speaking countries the terms differ: autobahn in German, autostrada in Italian, autopista or autovia in Spanish, autoroute in French, autoestrada, rodovia or via expressa in Portuguese, autostrada in Polish, autopalya in Hungarian, autostrada in Romanian, otoyal in Turkish.

See also

Famous controlled-access highways
List of controlled-access highways by country