Talk:Connecticut/Roads by type

Suggested road type definitions (Saxteacher3)

Freeway

I want to suggest that a Freeway is a limited-access highway. I would define that as:

• no stop lights or stop signs
• no intersections (bridges or overpasses used for ALL crossing roads and railways)
• on and off ramps
• speed limit 55 or higher

Could I get consensus from the other CT Waze Editors on the above definition?

Based on that definition, the following should be Freeways, not major highways:

• the limited-access portions of CT route 7 (in Norwalk and Danbury)
• the limited-access portions of CT route 8 (from Bridgeport to Torrington)
• the limited-access portions of CT route 15 (from the NY border until I-91)

Major Highway

Major Highway and Minor Highway should be defined not by the speed or shape of the road, but by its route number designation. That is:

• A "major highway" is any U.S. Highway (US Route 1, US Route 7, etc) that isn't freeway.

So for instance US 7 between Wilton and Danbury is a Major Highway, regardless of its number of lanes. So is The Boston Post Road, for its entire length from the NY border to the RI border. It doesn't make sense to have such a major important to

• A minor highway is any Connecticut highway (CT route 106, CT route 110, etc.) that isn't freeway.

Minor Highway

Any road with a Connecticut route number.

Primary Street

Any "main road" that is one of the main thoroughfares of a town. Should be set only by local users who drive in that town regularly and know which roads are primary.

I haven't made these changes to the [Connecticut Roads By Type] page yet but would like to do so, unless there are any strong objections. Saxteacher3 19:21, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

My Road Type Proposal (AndyPoms)

Both my proposals use the Waze provided definitions of Road Types (How to label and name roads) which are fairly clear that the key distinction between Freeways/Major Highways and Minor Highways/Primary Roads is the presence of Exit/Entrance Ramps.

My first proposal is based off ConnDOT's Official Road Classifications - they do this for every road in the state (even town maintained roads). (Official Map Legend to the left, my proposed matches to the right). ConnDOT Road Classification maps found at Functional Classification Maps.

My second is an alternate proposal is more of a flow chart based off of looking at the road and ignoring the official classifications.

Both of these deal with the fact that CT 15 (Merritt/Wilbur Cross), CT 9, CT 2, CT 8, CT 7, etc... do not rise to the same level of highway as the Interstates do, and should not (in my opinon) be classified as Freeways.

I prefer my first proposal, as it would keep US 44, US 1, etc as Minor Highways their entire length in CT instead of dropping it to a Primary Road where they become one lane in each direction.

Freeway vs Major Highway

The fact that the ConnDOT classification shows a different color for interstates vs non-interstates doesn't mean that they need to be shown differently in Waze. The Merritt Parkway, CT Route 8, and US Route 7 (note, it's a US route, not a CT route) all meet every definition of limited access highway. They are most certainly "expressways" in every sense of the word and should appear as such in Waze. The fact that they don't have an Interstate designation is immaterial to the Waze driver.

Ask any resident of Fairfield county what the big highways (or "expressways") are and they will tell you: I-95, the Merritt Parkway, US 7, and CT 8. All of these should be the same classification. Saxteacher3 20:49, 14 March 2012 (UTC)