A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes rise. The term super two is often used by roadgeeks for this type of road, but traffic engineers use that term for a high-quality surface road. Most of these roads are not tolled.
In Europe, the concept of express road encompasses roads which are classified between a motorway and an ordinary road. This concept is recognized both by European Union law and under the UNECE treaty. This type of road is not very standardized, and its geometry may vary from country to country or within a same country. These roads are usually, but not always, limited-access roads. Some European union regulation considers the high-quality roads to be roads "which play an important role in long-distance freight and passenger traffic, integrate the main urban and economic centres, interconnect with other transport modes and link mountainous, remote, landlocked and peripheral NUTS 2 regions to central regions of the Union". According to this same regulation "High-quality roads shall be specially designed and built for motor traffic, and shall be either motorways, express roads or conventional strategic roads."
Justification
Two-lane freeways are usually built as a temporary solution due to lack of funds, as an environmental compromise or as a way to overcome problems constrained from highway reconstruction when there are four lanes or more. If the road is widened, the existing road is typically allocated to traffic going in one direction, and the lanes for the other direction are built as a whole new roadbed adjacent to the existing one. When upgraded in this manner, the road becomes a typical freeway. Many two-lane freeways are built so that when the road is upgraded to a proper divided freeway, the existing overpasses and ramps do not need reconstruction.[citation needed]
A super-2 expressway is a high-speed surface road with at-grade intersections, depending on the common usage of the term expressway in the area. By this definition, Super-2s can be considered the first stage of project which is expected to become a full freeway, with the transportation authority owning the land necessary for the future adjacent carriageway. At-grade intersections exist but there is sufficient land to replace them with interchanges. In some US states, a super-2 expressway is simply referred to as a super-2, regardless of whether it is fully controlled-access or not. Highway 410 in Ontario was originally a super-2 before being upgraded to a full freeway. Similarly, most of Highway 102 in Nova Scotia was a super-2 for three decades before being upgraded. Many super-2 expressways are simply just short transitional segments between surface street and four-lane divided freeways.
A super-4 expressway is a multi-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections, although the highway will become a full controlled-access freeway if the intersections are replaced with interchanges. A super-4 may have been a super-2 that has been twinned, although such instances of super-4 intermediaries are rare as super-2s are often upgraded right away to full freeways. Highway 40 in Ontario is a super-4 expressway between Highway 402 and Wellington St., and from Indian Rd to Rokeby Line. The remaining sections of Highway 40 are super-2 expressways. Other super-4 expressways include the Hanlon Parkway in Guelph and Black Creek Drive in Toronto, both which have sufficient right of way to allow for interchanges and overpasses to replace the at-grade crossings.
When a super-2 expressway is converted to a four-lane divided freeway, conversion artifacts such as double yellow lines, or broken yellow lines in passing zones are usually cleanly bestowed in favor of more consistent road marking for four-lane divided expressways.
In Brisbane, Queensland, the Cunningham Highway, is a two-lane freeway between Warwick Road and Ripley Road, After Ripley Road the Cunningham Highway is grade separated until it meets the Ipswich Motorway, M2.
In north-eastern Tasmania, the Bass Highway has some grade-separated interchanges, and the standard rural freeway 110 km/h speed limit, but with some sections having only two lanes.
Canberra's Gungahlin Drive Extension (GDE) was constructed as a two-lane grade-separated freeway for part of its length. The GDE has since been duplicated to four lanes.
In Ottawa, the transit-ways are almost entirely two lane, undivided freeways through the use of grade separations but are for buses and emergency vehicles only.[citation needed]
Europe
Finnish national road 6 is a two-lane expressway at Kouvola, Finland.
In a few European countries (like Germany and Switzerland), many rural highways have been converted into two-lane freeways. However, most of these have been built with low overpasses wide enough to accommodate only two-lanes, which indicates that there is no intent to widen them into freeways in the foreseeable future. In German this type of road is called an Autostrasse.
In Germany rural segments of the A 8 in the Saarland (between Saarlouis and the Luxembourg border), the A 60 from the exit for Prüm to the Belgian border, and the A 62 between the A 6 and the A 8, are two lanes (or, in the former two cases, 2 + 1 with an extra climbing lane). Unlike the Autostrassen previously mentioned, these segments are built to Autobahn standards but with only one carriageway; all of the overpasses, culverts and short bridges, cuttings and earthworks are wide enough for twin carriageways, and only some long bridges would need to be dualized for upgrading to a full 4- or 5-lane Autobahn.
In Croatia, the Istrian Y highway complex used to consist out of two-lane freeways, which were due to be upgraded to four-lane ones, should the traffic increase. The complex is classified as consisting of expressways and as such has a general speed limit of 110 km/h (68 mph), although a limit of 100 km/h (62 mph) tends to be more prevalent there. However, as the traffic increases came sooner than it was predicted, the status of Istrian Y was changed to semi-highway, as a widening to four or six lanes is already in progress.
Highway 19 in the Czech Republic is a two-lane expressway between Highway 3 and Zahradka.
In Poland most of two-lane expessways were built after joining European Union in 2004. Because of that, most of them most of them are still under construction. Marking them stars with "S" and speed limits for cars, motorcycles and for buses with additional technical requirements is 100 km/h (62 mph) and for trucks / lorries and buses is 80 km/h (50 mph).
In Sweden and Norway, a large amount of two-lane expressways were built in the period 1960-1990 (Sweden) and 1970-2000 (Norway). In addition, some have been built in Denmark. Only a few such roads have been built recently because there were many serious accidents. Many have been widened to four-lane expressways. Those remaining have, in Sweden, been converted to 2+1 roads with a barrier between the directions. In Norway and many other European countries the two-lane expressways are too narrow to convert to 2+1-road if they are not widened.
In Spain, there were few two-lane expressways until the 1980s, when many started being built to provide a faster and safer alternative to old rural roads that cross towns and have long and dangerous tracings around mountains and other obstacles. Although there are less accidents on this type of road than in normal roads, those that happen are usually more serious, due to the high speeds they allow (100 km/h, but up to 120 km/h to pass). Some blamed the name "expressway" as being an "apology of speed", so after 2003 it was changed for "automobile way" in most of the country ("high performance way" in some regions). Since the 1990s, many have been widened to four-lane or six-lane expressways, but still few have been converted to 2+1 roads. In 2019, their general speed limit was lowered to 90 km/h.
In Romania the total width of an expressway is 21.5 m, while the width of a highway is 26 m. As a result, each lane of an expressway are 0.25 meters narrower and there are no emergency lanes. The maximum speed is 10 km/h lower than that of a highway, 120km/h instead of 130km/h.
While most expressways in Japan are four-lane divided expressways with median barriers, some expressways in rural areas are two-lane expressways, such as some sections of the Hokkaidō Expressway. The two-lane expressways in Japan are built in the same manner as the ordinary four-lane expressways with grade-separated interchanges and full access control, allowing future conversions to full four-lane divided expressways.[3]
The two-lane expressway is not a new concept in Malaysia, as the Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway was initially a two-lane toll expressway before being upgraded to a full expressway in 1997.[4] While the full four-lane divided toll expressways are more favored in recent years due to their higher traffic capacity, a few two-lane expressways do exist, such as the Kempas Highway and the North Klang Straits Bypass. These expressways, however, only have partial access control with at-grade intersections commonly available like most other federal and state roads. Nevertheless, these two-lane highways are still classified as "two-lane expressways" as they are maintained by highway concessionaires, namely PLUS Expressways Berhad (Kempas Highway) and Shapadu (North Klang Straits Bypass).
Meanwhile, the South Klang Valley Expressway at Teluk Panglima Garang is a two-lane carriageway making it the first true two-lane expressway in Klang Valley and the second in Malaysia.
A new Super-2 bypass of Mexicali (MEX-2D) was completed in summer 2006. It features 1 lane in each direction and is a toll road. Three interchanges exist—one at each end, and one in the middle, providing access to MEX-5 (north to downtown Mexicali and south to San Felipe). The road has complete control of access. According to a toll collector, this Super-2 is scheduled for an upgrade to a full toll freeway (four lanes, two in each direction) by sometime in 2008. Eventually, this freeway may be constructed all the way to San Luis Río Colorado, replacing the existing four lane undivided highway, MEX-2.
A Super-2 toll road, MEX-150D and MEX-190D (MEX-150D travels to Veracruz), connects Mexico City and Oaxaca.
A Super-2 bypass of Poza Rica, Veracruz, was finished in 2005. This two-lane toll highway connects MEX 131 north of Poza Rica to MEX 180 east of Papantla.
A Super-2 toll road (MEX-15D) connects most of the distance between Mazatlán and Tepic.
The Christchurch Northern Motorway is two lanes undivided between its northern terminus at Pineacres and the Lineside Road interchange. This reduces the number of lanes prior to the northern terminus, where the motorway merges onto a two-laned road.
In the southwestern part of the city prior to 2012 was the two-laned Christchurch Southern Motorway, between Barrington Street and Curletts Road. The road has since been duplicated to four lanes divided as part of the motorway's extension from Curletts Road to Halswell Junction Road.
Linking Christchurch with Lyttelton is the limited-access Tunnel Road.
In Dunedin, the Dunedin Southern Motorway has a short one-kilometre section which is only two-laned. Work is underway to widen it to duplicate the road to four lanes divided.
Philippines
The Subic Freeport Expressway before its expansion in 2020.
A segment of Metro Manila Skyway from Alabang South Station to Alabang Toll Plaza is a two-lane expressway.
A segment of the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway) from Lipa to Batangas City (southern terminus) was a two-lane expressway but upgraded into a four-lane expressway, however the segment of Sabang Bridge to the Batangas Toll Plaza of the expressway is still a two-lane expressway.
Some sections of two-lane freeway can be found on the N1 and the N2 highways.
United Kingdom
The former A6144(M) in Manchester had one lane in each direction, although to motorway standards. It has now been downgraded to an A road.
Part of the A601(M) road in Lancashire was a two-lane motorway between its junction with the M6 and terminus at the B6254. This section was downgraded to a B road in 2020.[6]
The Runcorn Spur Road in Runcorn is a two-lane expressway with grade separations and at-grade intersections (partially motorway-like).
United States
Arizona
A portion of State Route 80 in the vicinity of Bisbee is a two-lane expressway with an interchange at West Boulevard and Tombstone Canyon Road (Historic US 80).[7]
A one-mile (1.6 km) portion of the Milford Parkway from the Wilbur Cross Parkway to Wheelers Farms Road in Milford. This divided two-lane extension of the original connector opened in 1993.
Route 190 between Route 159 in Suffield and the Pearl Street underpass in Enfield is a two-lane freeway. It was originally planned to be a four-lane freeway across northern Connecticut.
Route 2A from the eastbound on-ramp from Mohegan Boulevard to Route 12 (0.8 miles or 1.3 kilometres).
Florida
State Road 293 is a two-lane expressway on two separate locations. One is north of the unincorporated community of Bluewater Bay, and the other section is north of Niceville. This parkway mostly serves as bypass around the community of Niceville, providing quicker access to Bluewater Bay and Destin. [citation needed]
State Road 570 (Polk Parkway) was a two-lane freeway along its northernmost six miles (9.7 km) from its opening in 1999 to 2011. It is two lanes for approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Old Dixie Highway to a point three miles (4.8 km) south of Interstate 4. This is an example of a two-lane toll road.
U.S. Highway 400 bypasses Neodesha to the south and west. The western portion of this bypass is two-lane, while the eastern section, overlapping U.S. Highway 75 is a conventional four-lane freeway.
K-96/K-14 bypasses Hutchinson from the south at U.S. Highway 50 along the western side of the urban area to just northwest of Yaggy at West 50th Avenue, where it returns to a conventional two-lane highway.
The Hal Rogers Parkway (formerly Daniel Boone Parkway), connecting Hazard and London, is a two-lane freeway for virtually its entire length (approximately 65 miles (105 km)), with occasional truck lanes on hills. The only four-lane section is the northern bypass of London at the road's western end. Originally, the road was tolled from the eastern end of the London bypass to Hazard. Upgrading to four lanes had been considered in the early 21st century as part of a possible extension to Interstate 66, but I-66 was officially killed in 2015.
The Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway, another road that was originally a toll road but has since ceased toll collection, is a two-lane freeway from exit 46 at Campton to the road's eastern terminus in Salyersville. In 2014, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced a proposal to upgrade the two-lane section to four lanes, and extend the parkway a further 16 miles (26 km) to Prestonsburg.[12]
Interstate 95 north of Bangor was originally constructed as a two-lane freeway. In 1981 the present divided highway was completed between Bangor and Houlton at the Canadian border.
The I-395/Route 9 Connector, which will provide an all-freeway link between Interstate 95 in Bangor and Maine State Route 9 in Eddington via Interstate 395, is being built as a two-lane freeway.[15][16]
Portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge approach (exit 42 to exit 44) on the Baltimore Beltway were originally a two-lane freeway when the final section of the beltway opened in 1977. The highway was updated to four lanes in the mid-1990s.
U.S. Route 6 on Cape Cod, from exit 78B (Route 134) in Dennis to the Orleans Rotary. This stretch of highway is known to locals as "Suicide Alley" due to the high number of fatalities from head-on collisions. Median construction has alleviated this problem somewhat.
Route 88, a two-lane expressway in Westport connecting Interstate 195, US 6, and Route 177 to Horseneck Beach. Unlike the other examples in Massachusetts, Route 88 features a mixture of interchanges and signaled intersections.
Michigan
A rare instance of a two-lane freeway that was restricted to only one direction of traffic existed in Michigan at one time, of which U.S. Highway 16 was restricted to eastbound traffic when bypassing Farmington, Michigan. This rare instance permitted passing traffic without the liability of a head-on collision, though this changed when it was upgraded to a four-lane divided freeway which became I-96, and later M-102, then M-5.
M-231 is a two-lane freeway built as a “U.S. 31 emergency Route” between Interstate 96 and M-104 to M-45 with one at grade intersection at Lincoln St near Robinson. Future plans call for southward extensions and widening of M-231
Minnesota
U.S. Highway 12 bypasses around Long Lake, from Wayzata to Orono. Originally built without a median, a median was installed in September 2016 in response to the highway's high accident rate.[17]
Missouri
U.S. Route 54 bypasses Mexico, on a two-lane expressway around the city. The two-lane expressway both begins and ends at the original route through Mexico, now signed as Business Loop 54. The divided highway begins just east of the West Mexico Interchange, while the east end is only a set of ramps to eventually be connected to the planned expressway. The planned expressway is slated to built as part of a project to improve US 54 from Mexico to the town of Louisiana and upgrade the existing Mexico bypass to four lanes. Another two-lane freeway section is a north bypass of Bowling Green with a grade separated crossing at Business US Route 61 and a diamond interchange at U.S. Route 61 (intersections are on 54) that has grading for a full cloverleaf interchange. The forementioned project will not include improvements to this section of US 54.[18]
U.S. Route 65 in Warsaw, is a two-lane expressway from Route MM to just north of Main Street. The portion from north of Main Street to North Dam Access Road become a four-lane expressway in 2012.
Interstate 93 (Franconia Notch Parkway) from Lincoln (mile marker 113) to Franconia (mile marker 121), due to fears that building a four-lane highway would destabilize the Old Man of the Mountain, long before the rock formation's natural collapse from erosion occurred on 3 May 2003. The highway was constructed with a median divider. This segment of I-93 is now the only Interstate highway with fewer than four lanes.
The Freehold Bypass of Route 33 is a two-lane freeway between Halls Mill Road (County Route 55) and Brickyard Road. There is a full cloverleaf at Halls Mill, a westbound entrance at Howell Road, and full access from Fairfield Road.
New York
An example of a two-lane parkway is Bethpage State Parkway on Long Island. This was constructed by Robert Moses as a two-lane freeway in part due to aesthetics. Like most parkways (especially those created by Moses), the road was originally meant to deliver a pleasurable motoring experience, and as such incorporates natural scenery, as well as pedestrian and bicycle trails for those who choose not to drive.
New York State Route 85 near Albany contains a section of approximately two miles (3.2 km) of two-lane freeway extending from the Albany city line to the roundabout at Blessing Road. This section, colloquially known as the Slingerlands Bypass, was originally constructed as two lanes of a four-lane freeway when it was designed in the 1940s and 1950s. However, the remaining two lanes were never completed. In the future, the unused portions of adjacent land could easily be used to construct the two lanes originally planned, with minimal effort, if necessary. This is due to the fact that most of the grading and drainage is already present from the original construction work.
New York State Route 5S has a two-lane freeway section between Ilion and its junction with New York State Route 28. The highway is a divided four-lane freeway west of this, extending to Utica.
North Carolina
U.S. Highway 1 between Cary and Sanford (exits 70 and 98) was a two-lane freeway until its expansion to four divided lanes in the late 1990s.
U.S. Highway 17 between exits 224 and 229 in the Edenton area was a two-lane freeway until the late 1990s.
U.S. Highway 64 between exits 457 and 463 in the Nashville area was a two-lane freeway until the late 70s.
U.S. Highway 421 was originally constructed with three two-lane freeway segments—the first between Winston-Salem and Yadkinville, with the second sections as part of a bypass around the towns of North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro. These sections were converted into four-lane divided freeways between the 1970s and 1990s.
In the Delaware urban area, U.S. Route 42 is a two-lane freeway between London Road and U.S. Route 23, it has some grade-separations. Incidentally its intersection with U.S. Route 23, with which it runs concurrent, is at-grade.
U.S. Route 22 is a two-lane expressway between Cadiz and Hopedale for 2.5 miles between two four-lane divided segments.
Oregon Route 22 is a four-lane divided freeway from Salem east to just north of Aumsville. It becomes a true freeway for about five miles (8.0 km) through Stayton/Sublimity, then is a two-lane freeway for about another mile east. (The freeway section between Aumsville and Stayton used to be a two-lane freeway.)
Pennsylvania
U.S. Route 220, south of the Bedford Fairgrounds interchange to the intersection with Business Route 220.
Route 8, just north of the Interstate 80 interchange in Barkeyville, for 1.4 miles before it upgrades to a four-lane divided highway.
Rhode Island
Route 78, which starts about 200 yards (180 m) inside Connecticut bypasses the city of Westerly to the north and east, and is a key route for traffic heading between Interstate 95 and the Rhode Island beaches.
US 287 was a two-lane expressway between I-45 and Bus. US 287 (Ennis Avenue) near Ennis, however, it was recently upgraded to a four-lane divided highway with frontage roads.
As of January 2018, the proposed Cibolo Parkway in Cibolo will initially be built as a two-lane tollway.[19]
Both US 190 and SH 9 are briefly two-lane freeways while bypassing Copperas Cove; SH 9 for its entire length except its western terminus, and US 190 from about half a mile east of its intersection with FM 2657 to the point where it merges with Bus. US 190 and SH 9 to become I-14.
Utah
Utah State Route 7 is routed around St. George on a two-lane freeway bypass and will be fully-upgraded to a divided freeway when demand is met.
Vermont Route 289 around Burlington. Plans to extend the Super 2 both north and south were cancelled by Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin in May 2011. Mile markers on the constructed segment are based on the entire length as originally planned.[20]
The Bennington Bypass is a two-lane freeway bypass of Bennington. Two segments, from New York Route 7 to U.S. Route 7 and from U.S. Route 7 to Vermont Route 9 are open and signed as Vermont Route 279. The remaining southern portion of the bypass remains to be built and is unfunded.
A short section of Vermont Route 127 in Burlington known as the Winooski Valley Parkway is built as a two-lane expressway.
Virginia
The Staunton Loop Road (State Route 262) is a two-lane freeway for most of its length. Grading already exists for this highway to be upgraded to a fully divided highway in the future.
U.S. Route 101 from the interchange with State Route 3 to the northern city limits of Shelton (half-freeway with two-way traffic on northbound side and no plans for the southbound half being constructed) and a section between Sequim and Port Angeles (half-freeway with two-way traffic on the eastbound side, with some intersection segments upgraded to full freeway and plans for further improvements).
U.S. Route 195 has two lane expressway segments between Spangle and Plaza, and on the Thornton bypass. The Plaza bypass is a two lane freeway.
Washington State Route 9 has a two lane expressway from Marsh Road in Snohomish to Arlington with the exception of a 2 mile 4 lane divided section through Lake Stevens with plans for more 4 laning between Snohomish and Lake Stevens.
US 14, south of the interchange with County Trunk Highway MM at Oregon, to Wisconsin Highway 138 (WIS 138). This section was expanded to four lanes during the middle of 2009.
A segment of WSI 26 bypassing Fort Atkinson was built as a two-lane limited access freeway. This section was expanded to four lanes during the middle of 2011.[21][22]
US 45, from its split from US 41 (now I-41) north of Milwaukee to a point just north of West Bend, Wisconsin, was built as a two-lane freeway, then expanded to four lanes in 1990.[23]
The US 151 bypasses of Beaver Dam and Waupun were originally built as Super 2s during the 1970s to accommodate future expansion; these have since been upgraded as part of the highway's ongoing conversion to a four-lane facility through the entire state.
Portions of I-39/US 51, first near Westfield and later near Tomahawk, were built as a two-lane freeways; these were expanded in the late 1980s and 1990s respectively. While I-39 ends in Wausau, a portion of US 51 north of Tomahawk remains a Super 2, with a stub allowing for future expansion to four lanes north of the US 8 interchange.[24]
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