![Spur route diagram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Spur_route_diagram.svg)
A spur route is a short
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
,
Interstate Highway, or
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
. A
bypass or
beltway
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the same major road.
Canada
In the province of Ontario, most spur routes are designated as A or B, such as Highway 17A, or 7B. A stands for "Alternate Route", and usually links a highway to a town's central core or main attraction, while B stands for "Business Route" or "Bypass", but are used when a main highway is routed around a town and away from its former alignment. The designation of "C" was used twice (Highway 3C and 40C), and is assumed to mean "Connector". Both highways have long since been retired and are now
county road
A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...
s. There was also one road with the D designation (Highway 8D, later the original Highway 102), and this may have stood for "Diversion", as it was along the first completed
divided highway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
at the time (
Cootes Drive
Cootes Drive, formerly known as the Dundas Diversion, is a city street in Hamilton, Ontario. The route connects York Boulevard and King Street in Dundas with Main Street (formerly Highway 2 and Highway 8) to the southeast, and is con ...
in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
).
India
The
Indian National Highway system designates spur routes of the main National Highways with letter suffixes. For example,
National Highway 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbere ...
has four spur routes:
NH 1A,
NH 1B,
NH 1C, and
NH 1D
National Highway 1 (NH 1) in India runs between the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. It comprises parts of old NH1A and NH1D. The number 1 indicates, under the new numbering system, that it is the northernmost East-Wes ...
, the shortest of which is just in length (NH 1C) and the longest is (NH 1A). While the spur routes essentially originate at the parent National Highway, they are not merely secondary in status as some of the spur routes serve important cities in India. For example,
Srinagar, the capital of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir, is served by the spur route NH 1A. Some spur routes are specifically used to connect important Indian
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
s:
NH 5A links
Paradip
Paradeep, also spelt Paradip (originally Paradweep, also spelt Paradwip), is a major seaport city and municipality, from Jagatsinghpur city in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, India. Paradeep Municipality was constituted as an NAC on 27 Sep ...
with its parent
NH 5 and
NH 7A
{{Infobox road
, country = IND
, type = NH
, route = 138
, alternate_name = Thoothukudi - Tirunelveli Highway
, map = {{Maplink, frame=yes, frame-width=300, frame-height=300, frame-align=center, type=line, stroke-width=3
, id= Q6973134, tit ...
links
Tuticorin
Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and ...
with
NH 7
National Highway 7 (NH 7) is a highway connecting Fazilka (Punjab) to Mana (Uttarakhand) in India. It passes through the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The NH-7 (old NH-58) connects Hindu pilgrim centres ...
).
Japan
![Aomori IC 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Aomori_IC_2.JPG)
In Japan, spurs of its
expressways are usually designated with an added letter "A". This designation applies to all routes that are part of a "family" of routes with the "parent" route lacking the added "A". Examples of spur routes in the system include the
Aomori Expressway (E4A), linking the
Tōhoku Expressway (E4) to the eastern limits of
Aomori, and the
Sasson Expressway (E5A), linking the
Dō-Ō Expressway (E5) to
Otaru
is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular to ...
; however, some expressways that lack the "A" designation could also be considered spurs, such as the
Kansai-Kūkō Expressway (E71) or the
Ōita Airport Road (E97).
New Zealand
In New Zealand, spurs on
state highways
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
are usually designated with an added letter. Examples include
SH 2B, linking SH 2 to Napier Airport, and
SH 6A, linking SH 6 with
Queenstown town center. Not all such alphabetic suffixes refer to spurs, however; ring roads and linking roads between highways are also so designated. Conversely, some State Highways could themselves be considered spurs, notably
SH 78, New Zealand's shortest state highway, which links SH 1 in
Timaru
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
city center with the Port of Timaru.
Such spurs and spur roads leading from smaller urban thoroughfares to individual facilities are often referred to in New Zealand as "feeder roads".
Romania
All national roads, local roads and county roads have spur routes.
A good example is
DN1 and
DN1A.
DN1A goes from
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
to
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...
via
Buftea, and have an intersection with
DN1 at
Ploiești
Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest.
The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commune ...
.
After
Ploiești
Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest.
The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commune ...
,
DN1A goes to Vălenii de Munte, Cheia, and then
DN1A goes directly onto the
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...
.
United Kingdom
In the
UK, a spur route carries the same definition, but the numbering rules differ.
Same-number spurs
Short spurs from primary roads or motorways typically are not given a unique number, and three arms of the junction will apparently have the same number. For example, the
A14 has a same-number spur to the
A1(M) motorway at
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
in
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
, the
M23 motorway
The M23 is a motorway in the United Kingdom, running from the south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what ...
has one to
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
in
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
and the
M4 has one to
Heathrow Airport. To distinguish the spur on road signs, the road it leads to is usually given - for example "Gatwick Airport (
A23)".
Unique-number spurs
Typically, slightly longer spurs, or those with intermediate
junctions of their own, are given unique numbers to distinguish them from their parent road, for example, the
A48(M) motorway
The A48(M) motorway in Wales links Cardiff with Newport. It is a long M4 spur. At St Mellons, it runs continuously into the dual-carriageway A48, which also features (albeit narrow) hard shoulders. The A48(M) has no junctions and opened ...
, a spur of the
M4. There is a loose numbering system for these spurs on the motorway network, not dissimilar to the US system – the road takes a three-digit number derived from that of the parent road. Examples include the
M602 motorway
The M602 motorway is a relatively short motorway, leading traffic into Salford, Greater Manchester, England, towards Manchester and by-passing the suburban town of Eccles.
History
The first section from Worsley to Eccles (now Junction 2) opene ...
(spur of the
M60 and
M62 motorways),
M621 motorway
The M621 is a short loop of motorway in West Yorkshire, England that takes traffic into central Leeds between the M1 and M62 motorways.
History
The first section of the M621 to open, known at the time as the 'South West Urban Motorway', exte ...
(spur of the
M62 and
M1 motorways), and
M271 motorway
The M271 is a motorway near Southampton in Hampshire, England. It is long, and is one of the shortest motorways in the country. Construction began in 1973 and it opened in 1975. (spur of the
M27 motorway
The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire ( Southampton and Portsmouth) with a direct m ...
). There are anomalous spur numbers though, for instance the
M898 motorway (spur of the
M8 motorway; number given to match with a unique A-number road) and the unique case of the
M181 motorway
The M181 is a motorway that links the town of Scunthorpe, England, to the M180 motorway. A spur of the M180, the road is virtually straight through its entire length. It was opened in December 1978, at the same time as the section of M180 fr ...
, a spur of a spur
M180 motorway
The M180 is a motorway in eastern England, starting at junction 5 on the M18 motorway in Hatfield, within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and terminating at Barnetby, Lincolnshire, some from the port of Immingham an ...
, and that of the
M18 motorway This is a list of roads designated M18. Road entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order.
* M-18 road (Bosnia and Herzegovina) a road connecting Sarajevo, Trnovo, Foča and Trebinje
* M18 motorway (Great Britain), a road connecting Ro ...
A-road spurs do not follow a noticeable numbering system; they would be impossible to assign due to the quantity of A-road numbers in use.
United States
![Spur route Washington state route 100](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Spur_route_Washington_state_route_100.JPG)
In the US, many
Interstate Highways have spur routes when they enter a large metropolitan area. Interstate spur routes are numbered with a three-digit number. The last two digits of the number are the number of the "parent" Interstate (
Interstate 238
Route 238, consisting of State Route 238 (SR 238) and Interstate 238 (I-238), is a mostly north–south state and auxiliary Interstate highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The southern segment is signed as SR& ...
, which connects
Interstate 880 with
Interstate 580 near Hayward, CA, is the only exception to this); e.g. a spur route of
Interstate 90 could be 990; a spur route of
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
could be 105.
Spur Interstate routes have three-digit numbers with an odd first digit. A subsidiary route either passing through a city or bypassing it and then reconnecting to a major highway would receive an even first digit, and be considered a loop rather than a spur. For example, in the case of
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
,
Interstate 105 is a spur route ending at
Los Angeles International Airport, whereas
Interstate 405 begins and ends at
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
, bypassing
downtown Los Angeles.
Spurs are also found branching from
US highway
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...
s,
state routes, and
county routes, often as extended
onramps and
offramp
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
s of
expressways.
There are many numbering violations in the spur route numbering system, thus the general rules above do not always apply (e.g.
U.S. Route 400
U.S. Route 400 (US 400) is a mostly east–west U.S. Highway, commissioned in 1994. The highway's western terminus is in Granada, Colorado, at an intersection with US 385. The highway's eastern terminus is southwest of Joplin, Missouri, ...
—there is no parent "route 0").
References
See also
*
Special route
In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the In ...
*
Loop route
In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the Int ...
{{US route types
Types of roads