A road number is often assigned to a stretch of public roadway. The number chosen is often dependent on the type of road, with numbers differentiating between interstates, motorways, arterial thoroughfares, two-lane roads, and so forth.

Contents 1 United Kingdom 2 United States 3 Canada 3.1 Canada-wide 3.2 Alberta 3.3 British Columbia 3.4 Manitoba 3.5 New Brunswick 3.6 Newfoundland and Labrador 3.7 Nova Scotia 3.8 Ontario 3.9 Prince Edward Island 3.10 Saskatchewan 3.11 Quebec 3.12 Northwest Territories 3.13 Nunavut 3.14 Yukon 4 Hong Kong 5 Elsewhere 6 See also 7 Further reading

[edit] United Kingdom

In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, the road number has a letter followed by a number of up to 4 digits. For example, the main road from London to Edinburgh is called the A1, the "A" in Britain indicating a first class route; this is classified as being more important than "B" roads. The A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 also radiate out from London (in clockwise order) to points around the coast. All classified roads starting in the zone between the A1 and the A2 must begin with the figure 1 (A137, B1412), etc, etc. Scotland is similarly divided into zones by the A7, A8 and A9 which radiate out from Edinburgh. Motorways are marked by an M, for example the M25 (which forms a beltway around London). Motorways are fast freeways and are larger than "A" roads. Motorways follow different zoning and numbering systems than "A" and "B" roads.

This clock-face zonal system is used in many other European countries (for example, Spain).

[edit] United States

In other countries, such as the United States, the situation is a bit more complicated. The numbers can be broken up into several major classifications, such as Interstate highways, or high-speed limited-access highways. For instance, the interstate between Boston and Seattle is called Interstate 90. The United States highways are often more local routes that can span multiple states and can include multiple roadway classifications. An example of this is the U.S. highway linking Maine to Florida called U.S. Route 1. There are also state highways, or roadways under the control of the state government and are usually more minor than those of U.S. highways. These are often titled with the state name followed by the route number; Kentucky Route 67 indicates a Kentucky state road numbered 67.

Under the current numbering system for Interstate highways, odd numbers generally indicate a north-south route, and even numbers mean an east-west route. The numbering system creates a sort of grid; east-west Interstates increase in number as one goes north, and north-south Interstates increase in number as one goes east. For example, Interstate 4 is in central Florida, while Interstate 94 runs in the northern part of the country. Also, Interstate 5 travels along the Pacific Ocean while Interstate 95 runs up the East Coast. Conversely, north-south U.S. routes increase in number as one goes west (U.S. Route 1 parallels Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 97 runs in the Pacific Northwest) and the number of east-west U.S. routes increase as one goes south (U.S. Route 2 travels along the Canadian border and U.S. Route 98 runs along the Gulf of Mexico). States may or may not follow the odd and even rules and usually do not number their routes according to a grid. Some exceptions are Iowa, which uses a grid to number its county routes, and Ohio, which has "clusters" of similarly numbered routes.

The numbering system for state highways varies widely from state to state. A state may choose to use letter prefixes for all, some, or none of its state roads. For example, the Virginia Department of Transportation does not use letter prefixes for state primary or secondary routes, but does use an "F" prefix for frontage roads. Although the state's two-letter designation usually becomes a prefix for the route, some states, like Michigan, prefer to use a single-letter prefix (such as "M-28"). Indeed, a state may choose to give a route an entirely alphabetic designation, such as the lettered county routes in Wisconsin and the Missouri Supplemental Routes.

Some states (Southern and Midwestern states in particular) tend to use the term "Highway" for state routes and their sections of U.S. highways, while others prefer the term "Route."

Some routes may carry a letter suffix, such as E/W (for East/West) or N/S (for North/South). Other lesser-known suffixes include A (for Alternate), B (for Business) and C (for City), but not all states practice this convention. For example, in New York State, there has been or currently are routes 17, 17A, 17B, 17C, 17D, 17E, 17F, 17G, 17H, 17J, 17K, and 17M.

Complicating the issue further is the fact that some states have distinct numbering systems for primary and secondary routes or for state routes and county roads. For example, in Virginia, the primary and secondary road systems have numbering ranges that are, with rare exceptions, mutually exclusive.

[edit] Canada

[edit] Canada-wide

The Trans-Canada Highway systems uses route numbering of the respective provinces the route runs.

Most Canadian highways are numbered or with official names.

[edit] Alberta

• Primary Highways are numbered 1 to 216
• Secondary east-west routes are 500 to 699
• Secondary north-south routes are 700 to 899
• 900 series are new routes and potentially re-designated as primary routes.

[edit] British Columbia

Varying number of route number assignments under two categories:

• east-west
• north-south

[edit] Manitoba

• Provincial Trunk Highways are numbered as PTH 1 to 99
• Provincial Routes are secondary roads are numbered as PR 200 to 632

[edit] New Brunswick

• Arterial or Primary Highways are numbered 1 to 96
• Collector Highways are numbered 100 to 190
• Local Highway are numbered 205 to 970

[edit] Newfoundland and Labrador

• Main Highways are numbered 1, 210-510
• Regional Roads are numbered 2-520
• Local highways are based on intersecting primary routes and numbered with extension (i.e. 210-1)

[edit] Nova Scotia

• Arterial (100-series) highways
• Trunk
• Collector
• Scenic

[edit] Ontario

• Major freeways are numbered as 400-series highways; some 400-series highways have sections with names assigned or with unique designations:
  • 400: Toronto-Barrie Highway
  • 401: Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, Highway of Heroes (Toronto to Trenton), Toronto Bypass (Toronto section)
  • 402: Blue Water Bridge Approach
  • 403: Chedoke Expressway or Chedoke Parkway (Hamilton section)
  • 405: General Brock Parkway
  • 407: 407 ETR
  • 409: Belfield Expressway
  • 416: Veterans Memorial Highway
  • 417: Queensway (Ottawa section)
  • 427: Airport Expressway (original portion only)
  • The Queen Elizabeth Way, nicknamed the QE or QEW, is part of this system. It has a highway number, 451, although this is not posted on the highway and exists only for internal inventory purposes.
• King's Highways are numbered between 3 and 148.
• Minor highways of local importance in Northern Ontario are designated as secondary highways (numbered in the 500s and 600s) or tertiary highways (numbered in the 800s)
• Numbered county road systems, which are numbered by the local government. Roads that cross county boundaries sometimes, but do not always, retain the same county road number in both counties. These systems may include former provincial highways that have been downloaded to local municipalities; these may or may not retain their old highway numbering.
• Local non-numbered highways maintained by municipalities are given names
  • Hamilton - Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway, Red Hill Valley Parkway
  • London - Veterans Memorial Parkway
  • Toronto - Allen Road, Gardiner Expressway, Don Valley Parkway
  • Windsor - E. C. Row Expressway

[edit] Prince Edward Island

• Primary Highways are numbered 1 to 100
• Secondary Highways are assigned numbers according to their counties:
  • Prince County 101-182
  • Queens County 201-272
  • Kings County 301-358

[edit] Saskatchewan

• Primary 1 to 99
• Secondary 100 to 399
• Minor - north-south 600 to 699
• Minor - east-west 700 to 799
• Northern or isoldated routes - 900 to 999

[edit] Quebec

• Primary 100-series
• Secondary 200-series
• Regional 300-series

[edit] Northwest Territories

• Major highways are numbered 1 to 8
• there are 3 non-numbered highways with names

[edit] Nunavut

• 9 key roads anda are non-numbered (given names of the start and end points

[edit] Yukon

• Key routes numbered 1-10, 14, 15, 37

[edit] Hong Kong

• Highways or Routes are numbered 1-10; there is no Route 6 (it is a proposed route)
• Routes are also given names (e.g. Tolo Highway)

[edit] Elsewhere

France still uses Route Nationale numbers from an 1824 revision of 1811 numbers made under Napoleon.

Some countries, such as Brazil, number their national highways by direction. (BR1xx = North/South highways, BR2xx = East/West, BR3xx = 'Diagonal' (ie NW/SE or NE/SW)).

[edit] See also

• Road designation or abbreviation
• Highway shield
• Asian Highway Network
• Auxiliary route (United States)
• China road numbering
• International E-road network (Europe)
• State-numbered route (countries that are divided into states)
• Numbered street

[edit] Further reading

• Road numbering systems, covering most nations
• Explanation of British road numbers
• Explanation of highway numbers in the United States Numbered Highways system