snip
A freeway is a freeway because it is a free flowing facility, not
becuase it is free of charge. On a freeway there are no intersections
which would require vehicles to cross against other traffic to enter or
leave the facility, nor should there be any reason to stop to allow
other traffic to cross the road. This can be accomplished by overpasses
or traffic circle designes.
UK Motorways (M routes) or European autoroutes or autobahns are
equivilent.
The first regional freeway in North America was the Queen Elizabeth Way
from Toronto to Niagra Falls. The Arroyo Seco Freeway in Los Angeles was
the first urban example in NA.
An expressway ia a road in which all *major* intersections are free
flowing, but minor roads may have at grade intersections. (I believe
that UK A(M) routes are similar to this class).
Parkways are roads intended as scenic pathways. They are usually
freeways and usually restricted to automobiles (and buses) but not
trucks (goods movement). The Parkways in Ottawa meet this criteria even
though they have lots of at grade intersections. Some US Parkways are
major inter city or regional freeways, with restrictions on truck use.