| Road type code |
Physical characteristics |
Location |
Typical speed limit |
Traffic characteristics |
Safety characteristics |
Weather and environmental characteristics |
| UM |
2x3 lane motorway or expressway with hard shoulder (divided carriageways, grade-separated junctions) |
Urban ring road |
70-100 km/h |
Busy all day, congestion on weekday rush hour peaks in both directions, mix of cars and heavy vehicles |
Critical safety problems: frequent accidents and incidents (rear-end shunts, accidents due to lane changing, etc) |
No weather problems. Local environmental pollution and noise problems |
| UR |
2+1 lane road (single carriageway, at-grade junctions with traffic signals) |
Urban radial road |
50-70 km/h |
Busy all day, congestion inbound in morning peak, outbound in evening, mostly cars, frequent bus services |
Moderate safety problems: speeding when road is not congested, safety of pedestrians, conflicts due to stopping vehicles (buses, deliveries, roadside parking) |
No weather problems. Local environmental pollution problems |
| IM |
2x2 lane motorway with hard shoulder (divided carriageways, grade-separated junctions) |
Interurban – part of Trans-European road network in mountainous area, including tunnel and viaduct sections |
110-130 km/h |
Moderate traffic, high degree of international long-distance traffic and heavy goods vehicles, high proportion of foreign drivers |
Low accident rate but some potential for serious accidents involving heavy vehicles in tunnels or in bad weather |
Winter weather and change of weather condition problems. Local environmental pollution and noise problems |
| IR |
1+1 lane main road with hard shoulder on some sections (single carriageway, mostly at-grade junctions including roundabouts) |
Interurban – part of Trans-European road network |
80-100 km/h |
Moderate traffic with mix of national and regional, including all vehicle types (cars, heavy vehicles, buses, cyclists and localised slow-moving farm traffic) |
Moderate accident rate: problem of speeding and mix of slow and fast vehicles, cyclists, horses, tractors, etc. Some sharp bends or other geometry-related hazards |
No severe weather problems. Local environmental pollution and noise problems |
| RR |
1+1 lane secondary road with no hard shoulder |
Rural – regional road in mountainous area linking ski resorts |
60-90 km/h |
Mostly low traffic, but severe congestion a few weekends a year with winter holiday traffic. Breakdowns or accidents likely to block road |
Moderate accident rate, due to speeding, frequent sharp bends, ice and snow in winter |
Severe winter weather problems, environmental pollution when congestion occurs |
