Highways and byways
And you thought Monte Christo Road or Hendrik Witbooi Avenue was bad in the morning traffic in Windhoek? Check this out…
A highway is a public road with two or more lanes per direction, and have dual carriageways (divided highway), limited access and have grade-separated junctions.
The world's first limited access road was constructed in Italy in 1922.
Longest international highway
The Pan-American Highway is the longest highway in the world! It has a total of 47 958 km. It travels through 14 countries: Canada, US, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina.
The Pan American Highway is neither a single road nor part of a centrally administered road-building programme. The route was proposed in 1923 at the Fifth International Conference of American States, meeting in Santiago, Chile. Two years later the Pan American Highway Congress was created as a permanent institution to foster the building of the road. Routes were tentatively selected and plans were drafted, but only modest progress was made in construction until a final agreement was reached by the member states in 1936.
Longest national highway
Highway 1 is Australia's greatest highway, following the coast for the most part along its circumferential route around the country. At a total length of approximately 14 500 km, it is one of the longest national highways in the world, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway (over 11 000 km) and the Trans-Canada Highway (8 030 km). It could be argued that Highway 1 starts/ends its track in the historical Rocks precinct in the heart of Sydney. Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge north, it becomes the Pacific Highway, going south via George St (Australia's first street) it becomes the Princes Highway.
Widest highway by lane number
The Katy Freeway (part of Interstate 10) in Houston, Texas, has a total of 26 lanes in some sections as of 2007. In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is known as the Katy Freeway. This section is currently being widened to as much as 26 lanes. It carries more than 200 000 vehicles a day.
Largest national highway system
The United States has the largest network of roadways of any country with 6 430 366 km in 2005. The People's Republic of China is second with 3 583 715 km of roadway in2007.
Namibia has a total road system of 44 500 km of which 6 664 km are tarred and 412 km are a low-volume bitumen road. These roads have the same base layer as gravel roads but are covered with a thin layer of bitumen to reduce maintenance cost and dust formation. Some 25 710 km are standard gravel road with 11 460 km being earth-graded road. These roads are built by clearing the vegetation and blading the surface. Compaction is achieved by the traffic using the road. Some of these roads are not graded at all but just consist of earth or sand tracks separated by vegetation. These tracks are in use where a daily usage of less than five vehicles is expected. Finally there is roughly 288 km salt road.
Busiest highway
Highway 401 – the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway in Canada has volumes surpassing an average of 500 000 vehicles per day in some sections of Toronto as of 2006, giving Highway 401 the distinction of being North America's busiest highway. This surpasses the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles, and several Interstate freeways in Houston, Texas. King's Highway 401 is the primary through route across southern, central and eastern Ontario. Since the highway's completion in the late 1960s, Highway 401 has evolved from being a convenient bypass to a vital economic corridor. There are 19 service centres located along Highway 401. These centres are open 24 hours a day and offer motorists convenient access to fuel, restaurants and picnic areas. The centres are located about every 80 km except through the GTA, where services are generally available at almost every interchange. The posted speed limit on Highway 401 is 100 km/h.
INAUTONEWS
The world's first limited access road was constructed in Italy in 1922.
Longest international highway
The Pan-American Highway is the longest highway in the world! It has a total of 47 958 km. It travels through 14 countries: Canada, US, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina.
The Pan American Highway is neither a single road nor part of a centrally administered road-building programme. The route was proposed in 1923 at the Fifth International Conference of American States, meeting in Santiago, Chile. Two years later the Pan American Highway Congress was created as a permanent institution to foster the building of the road. Routes were tentatively selected and plans were drafted, but only modest progress was made in construction until a final agreement was reached by the member states in 1936.
Longest national highway
Highway 1 is Australia's greatest highway, following the coast for the most part along its circumferential route around the country. At a total length of approximately 14 500 km, it is one of the longest national highways in the world, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway (over 11 000 km) and the Trans-Canada Highway (8 030 km). It could be argued that Highway 1 starts/ends its track in the historical Rocks precinct in the heart of Sydney. Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge north, it becomes the Pacific Highway, going south via George St (Australia's first street) it becomes the Princes Highway.
Widest highway by lane number
The Katy Freeway (part of Interstate 10) in Houston, Texas, has a total of 26 lanes in some sections as of 2007. In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is known as the Katy Freeway. This section is currently being widened to as much as 26 lanes. It carries more than 200 000 vehicles a day.
Largest national highway system
The United States has the largest network of roadways of any country with 6 430 366 km in 2005. The People's Republic of China is second with 3 583 715 km of roadway in2007.
Namibia has a total road system of 44 500 km of which 6 664 km are tarred and 412 km are a low-volume bitumen road. These roads have the same base layer as gravel roads but are covered with a thin layer of bitumen to reduce maintenance cost and dust formation. Some 25 710 km are standard gravel road with 11 460 km being earth-graded road. These roads are built by clearing the vegetation and blading the surface. Compaction is achieved by the traffic using the road. Some of these roads are not graded at all but just consist of earth or sand tracks separated by vegetation. These tracks are in use where a daily usage of less than five vehicles is expected. Finally there is roughly 288 km salt road.
Busiest highway
Highway 401 – the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway in Canada has volumes surpassing an average of 500 000 vehicles per day in some sections of Toronto as of 2006, giving Highway 401 the distinction of being North America's busiest highway. This surpasses the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles, and several Interstate freeways in Houston, Texas. King's Highway 401 is the primary through route across southern, central and eastern Ontario. Since the highway's completion in the late 1960s, Highway 401 has evolved from being a convenient bypass to a vital economic corridor. There are 19 service centres located along Highway 401. These centres are open 24 hours a day and offer motorists convenient access to fuel, restaurants and picnic areas. The centres are located about every 80 km except through the GTA, where services are generally available at almost every interchange. The posted speed limit on Highway 401 is 100 km/h.
INAUTONEWS
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article