Municipal Road

Municipal Road 

a motor-vehicle road that passes through a city’s territory and is an integral element of the city’s network of roads and streets; also, a road that connects a city with functionally related areas.

As opposed to streets, a municipal road passes through areas generally free of man-made structures. In accordance with the classification system adopted in the USSR for streets and roads in populated areas, these roads are called either highways or local access roads. Highways are direct links between urban areas, large industrial regions outside cities, and motor vehicle roads that constitute the national networks. Local access roads are intended to connect industrial enterprises and warehouses with main streets and roads. Special roads for freight transport are being planned that will bypass residential areas, hospitals, schools, sports complexes, and so on. In addition, so-called park roads are being built to provide access to recreational areas.

Highways within built-up areas must be located at least 50 meters from residences and separated from them by broad belts of greenery. In many cases it may be advantageous to build highways below ground level for convenience and safety and to help minimize the effects of noise and dust generated by motor vehicles moving at high speeds. In remote areas highways are being planned that will pass through tunnels and along causeways and embankments. Municipal highways intersect streets, railroads, and pedestrian crossings at different elevations. Municipal road speed limits are 120 km per hr for highways, 80 km per hr for local access roads, and 60 km per hr for local roads.

REFERENCES

Stroitel’nie normy i pravila, part 2, section K, chapter 3: “Ulitsy, dorogi, i ploshchadi naselennykh mest: Normy proektirovaniya.” Moscow, 1963.
Gurevich, L. V., Iu. S. Lantsberg, and K. I. Strakhov. Spravochnik proektirovshchika gorodskikh dorog. Moscow, 1968.

L. V. GUREVICH