On 7/25/06, Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net>
wrote:
Richard Holton wrote:
I'd say that definition is unusual, even in
the US. In common usage, a
limited-access highway is a divided highway, with no cross roads--instead
using on & off ramps.
Limited access highway would probably be understood generically in most
of the US, but the term would not normally be used in the context,
"Take the limited access highway to get there." Instead people would
say, "Take the freeway (or expressway, or Interstate, or turnpike
according to local custom)."
<chuckle> I talk that way all the time, don't you? You're correct,
or
course, (virtually) no one talks that way, but as you say, most would
understand the term.
Having nobody talk that way is one of the strongest arguments for using
the term. :-) I suspect that it's mostly used among those who work at
planning, designing, and engineering road systems.
In fact, "expressway" seems like a good
synonym (to my very US-centric ears).
I don't think that its usage is uniform throughout the USA.
Given the other responses, you seem to be correct.
Perhaps we need to stay away from any of the regional/national/continental
terms for the category name. We don't need to create a neologism--we could
use a short descriptive phrase that gives a hint as to the meaning, and rely
on text on the category page to clarify.
Something like "Ramped roads", though I'm sure others will have better
ideas.