Road

A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. more...

Home
Airsoft
Camping, Hiking, Backpacking
Cycling
Apparel
BMX Bikes & Parts
Comfort Bikes
DVD & Video
Footwear
Mountain
Other Shoes
Road
Helmets and Protection
Kids Bikes, Seats & Trailers
Mountain Bikes & Parts
Other
Road Bikes & Parts
Universal Parts &...
Exercise & Fitness
Fishing
Golf
Hunting
Paintball
Skiing & Snowboarding

Roads are typically smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance.

The term was also commonly used to refer to natural waterways that leant themselves to use by shipping. Notable examples being Hampton Roads, in Virginia, and Castle Roads, in Bermuda (also formerly in Virginia).

In urban areas roads may pass through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route. Economics and society depend heavily on efficient roads. In the European Union (EU) 44 % of all goods are moved by trucks over roads and 85 % of all persons are transported by cars, buses or coaches on roads.

The United States has the largest network of roadways of any single country in the world with 6,430,366 km (2005). India has the second largest road system in the world with 3,383,344 km (2002). People's Republic of China is third with 1,870,661 km of roadway (2004). When looking only at expressways the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS) in People's Republic of China has a total length of 45,000 km at the end of 2006, second only to the United States with 90,000 km in 2005.

Usage and etymology

See also: Usage of the terms railroad and railway and Street name

In original usage, a "road" was simply any pathway fit for riding. The word “street,” whose origin is the Latin strata, was kept for paved pathways that had been prepared to ease travel in some way. Thus, many "Roman Roads" have the word "street" as part of their name. Roads are a prerequisite for road transport of goods on wheeled vehicles.

Read more at Wikipedia.org