Road vocabulary

Streets

• Alley: a narrow street between buildings.
• Avenue: a wide and long street with tall buildings on both sides in a town or in a city.
• Boulevard: a wide street in a city, often with trees, grass or flowers on each side.
• Cul-de-sac (also dead end): a street that has only one inlet.
• Crescent: a street in the form of a crescent shape.
• Drive (US driveway): A short private road for access to a house or a garage.
• Walkway: a path for walking along.

Highways

• Beltway: a ring road, that goes around a city.
• Causeway: a raised road that is across wet ground or wetland.
• Artery (also arterial road): a high-capacity and important road.
• Dual carriageway (US divided highway): a road with median strip separating two or more lines of traffic that are moving in opposite directions.
• Single carriageway (US undivided highway): a road with one line of traffic.
• Motorway (US freeway): a highway that is designed for fast-moving traffic.
• Expressway: a highway with limited-access, that is designed for fast-moving traffic, and goes through a city.
• Service road: a side road running parallel to a major road.
• Parkway: a wide road with trees and grass on the both sides and in the middle.
• Turnpike (also toll road): a wide road that you pay a fee (or toll) to use.

Trails

Trails are roads, usually unpaved, through a countryside, forest, field etc. Trails can include:

• Back road: a small road, usually found in rural areas.
• Byway: a small road, often unsurfaced, that is not used very much.
• Dirt road: an unpaved road that is made from soil.
• Gravel road: an unpaved road that is made from gravel.

Parts of a road

A road can consist of carriageway (US roadway), lanes, pavement (US sidewalk), crossroads, and median strip.

• Carriageway: the part of a road used by vehicles.
• Lane: the part of a carriageway, that is marked by painted lines. The part of a road which is designed for bicycle travel is called bicycle lane.
• Pavement: the part of a road for people to walk on.
• Crossroads (also intersection): a place where two or more roads meet each other.
• Median strip (also central reservation): a paved area that separates two or more lines of traffic