Roads vs Streets: We Bet You Didn't Know Difference [Video]
A lot of people think that roads and streets mean the same thing. If you are one of those people, we would not judge you because, over the years, the definitions of these two terms have blurred. However, if you are someone who wants to know what exactly roads and streets mean and how they are different from each other, here is the detailed explanation. So, without any further ado, let's jump right into it.
First off, let's talk about the more common term, which is roads. The main purpose of roads is to connect two faraway places. For example, a highway, an expressway, or even rural area connection paths are termed as roads. Their main purpose is to move vehicles quickly from point A to point B. Generally, the design of a road includes wide lanes, few intersections, and limited access points.
Also, roads are meant for higher-speed travel as they have higher speed limits. In simple terms, roads are meant for increasing the efficiency of travel from one place to another located at a far-off distance. Now, if you want to go deeper, the term “Road” originated from the Old English word “Rad,” which meant journey. All national and state highways, along with expressways, are roads.
Now coming to the slightly less frequently used term in India, “Street.” A street is not just a pavement on which one travels. Rather, it is more about a person or a vehicle stopping and being somewhere. Streets are places where humans interact with each other after stopping. You can think of all marketplaces.
In simple terms, streets are those that are meant to facilitate travel but also increase social interaction. Streets generally support markets, sidewalks, and storefronts, and the traffic on the streets is also slower. As for the origin of the word “Street,” it comes from the Latin word “Strata,” which means paved way. Most city roads are actually streets.
When it comes to the roads in India, on paper, we have 6.3 million km of roads, which is the second-largest road network in the world. However, in reality, a lot of these roads seem like an obstacle course due to the presence of massive potholes, stray animals, and random speed breakers which, instead of slowing down, cause serious accidents.
Over the last few years, with the construction of new highways and expressways, things have become better. However, they are far from perfect. Every now and then, we hear reports of brand-new roads getting washed away or brand-new bridges collapsing, all due to poor quality of workmanship and corruption.
Coming to the streets of India, most of our streets inside the cities lack proper sidewalks, zebra crossings, and working traffic signals. The streets are also filled with stray animals like cows and dogs, and they randomly step in and cause accidents. Also, not to forget the poor quality of drainage, which causes these streets to become Italy’s Venice.
Overall, the condition of highways and city streets has improved in the last decade. However, we cannot be satisfied with the progress that we have made. We still have a long way to go before we can be called a developed country. Till then, we can only pay our taxes and hope that the government makes wiser decisions.