The functional classification of a

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

is the class or group of roads to which the road belongs. There are three main functional classes as defined by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

: arterial, collector, and local.

Arterial roads

Arterial roads generally provide the fastest method of travel and typically have low accessibility from neighboring roads. They are usually designed with long-distance travel in mind and are not as common as the other two functional classes of roads. Examples include interstates and highways.

Collector roads

Collector roads are the second most common and are used as a connection between local roads and arterial roads. They provide a balance between access and mobility.

Local roads

Local roads are the most common roads by far, but are also the slowest for travel. They are designed specifically to have high accessibility and to connect to collector and arterial roads, and are typically not used for through traffic. The main function of local roads are to allow for people who live in low density residential to connect to other residential areas or to collector roads.

Arterial roads

Collector roads

Local roads

See also