Key:expressway
 expressway
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| Description |
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| Tagging for expressway without forcing a specific highway=* value. |
| Group: Properties |
| Used on these elements |
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| Requires |
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highway=* |
| Wikidata |
| Search Wikidata |
Status: de facto
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| Tools for this tag |
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- See also: Proposed features/Expressway indication, and possibly User:Vid the Kid/Expressway.
An expressway is much like a freeway or motorway, with high-speed design features and no access to adjacent properties, but unlike a freeway, an expressway may have at-grade intersections, signalized or not, with other public roads. Like freeways, expressways also often have some grade-separated interchanges at more major junctions. Expressway typically have signage similar to that of a full freeway. This is in contrast to a conventional road, which may be divided with a high-speed nature, but allows access to homes and businesses along the road. This terminology comes from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). (Note that many freeways and even some conventional roads in the United States, especially the eastern U.S., have names that end with "Expressway", for example Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. This key's use is based strictly on the definitions from the MUTCD, regardless of the road's name.)
expressway=yes can also refer to a "Jersey freeway", which is a divided road (typically a jersey barrier and narrow overall footprint) with high-speed design and grade separations. Unlike a standard expressway, however, it does have frequent access to adjacent properties, but has few or no at-grade intersections with other public roads, or what intersections it does have are unsignalized.
Regional variation in road design can also be a deciding factor. True expressways are rare in the northeast United States, however some roads such as US 11/15 along the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania, as well as parts of US 22 in western Pennsylvania, can be said to be "expressways" relative to the typical regional road network.
Contents
Values
| Tag | Description | Notes | Photo |
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| expressway=yes | The road is an expressway, a motorway-like road with at-grade intersections, or a Jersey freeway, a road with few or no intersections, but adjacent property access. |
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| expressway=no | The road is not an expressway, but a conventional road, with access to adjacent properties. | Default treatment of roads without expressway=* tag. Explicitly stating this is more of an indication to other mappers, than to users of OSM data. | 
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Examples
Rural Expressways
- US 33 in parts of Ohio
- US 48 in West Virginia
- Much of US 15 between Frederick, MD and Harrisburg, PA
Urban/Suburban Expressways
- SR 161 in Columbus, Ohio
- US 222 around Trexlertown, PA near Allentown
- US 29 in Maryland between MD 650 and MD 32
Jersey Freeways
- US 11/15 between Duncannon and Selinsgrove in Pennsylvania
- US 46 and NJ 3 between I-80 and NJ 21
- NJ 17 between NJ 3 and I-287
