Characteristics of the conventional road of the future

The technological revolution has come to transform all areas and sectors of our society and, among them, the conventional road.

Conventional road: what is it and what is the maximum speed?

The conventional highway has, nowadays, a great importance for the mobility of the country. In fact, it was the Romans who, several centuries before Christ, discovered the relevance of these land transport routes. In addition, it is the most common route in the Spanish road network, which is why they play a key role in the country's mobility.

Do you know what conventional roads are? In this article, we will explain what they are, the maximum speed allowed and how to differentiate them from highways or motorways.

What are conventional roads?

Also known as secondary roads, conventional roads are non-urban roads that are outside of towns and have two-way traffic on the same road. Therefore, there is no separation between the two lanes as there is on highways or motorways. These traffic lanes are also recognized by the capital letter N followed by their identification number.

As a general rule, these types of roads are used to join different municipal capitals or to connect them with a main road. Another key difference between dual carriageways and motorways is the number of lanes - dual carriageways have at least two lanes, and their layout tends to be more irregular as they have more curves and poorer visibility.

Undoubtedly, conventional highways fulfill a great function as they connect populations that are not linked by main highways. In this way, its objective is to unite any city or town with any point in the country.

What is the maximum speed on conventional highway?

Now that we know what a conventional road is, it is important to know what the maximum speed limit is. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) set the speed of secondary roads at 90 km/h in 2019. It also established that certain vehicles should travel at a maximum speed of 80 km/h with the clear objective of reducing the number of accidents.

In addition, in the latest update of the traffic law, the margin of 20 km/h for overtaking is eliminated in order to reduce traffic accidents on secondary roads. In this way, failing to comply with this obligation carries a sanction for drivers of €100, but it will amount to €300 and a loss of 2 points if they exceed 120 km/h.

How to distinguish a conventional road from a highway or motorway?

As we have explained previously, the most obvious difference between a conventional road and a highway is the number of lanes in the same direction, the former having only one for each direction. In general, secondary roads do not have a fixed separation between both directions, which makes them a more dangerous road, so it is necessary to be more careful when driving on them. In addition, the layout is usually irregular and its lighting is poor, so the accident rate is higher than on motorways

The importance of conventional roads

Despite the fact that most drivers try to avoid secondary roads to travel on highways and expressways. But, the truth is that conventional roads play a key role in the road network in Spain:

It allows to connect localities to each other.

It prevents rural isolation.

It helps the economy of the populations.

The reality is that this type of road must be adapted to current traffic needs, betting on sustainability and the environment.

What will the conventional road of the future be like?

The reality is that this type of road must be adapted to current traffic needs, betting on sustainability, safety, efficiency and intelligence. Next, we will look at each of these aspects in more detail:

Greener Secondary Road

Certainly reduce

environmental impact is one of the guidelines of this century, and with the vast extension that road systems represent worldwide, it is a priority for the future to have more ecological conventional roads, which are not only built with sustainable materials, but also that contribute to reduce the emissions of the vehicles that transit them.

One of the examples in this sense is the European project LIFE eQUINOx, a treatment system for application in asphalt pavements with the aim of eliminating nitrogen oxides (NOx) in urban environments. It is a film that is easily applied to the topmost layer of the road and is activated by the sun to trap CO2.

On the other hand, photovoltaic technology is a more than promising alternative when integrated into roads. Both in Europe and North America, tests of the first photovoltaic pavers are already underway, the company Solar Roadways has already begun to market hexagonal tiles with a performance of more than 26,000 kWh per year per kilometer and a half, with which it could be put around 22 electric vehicles in operation.

A safer conventional road

According to the World Health Organization, more than one million people died in traffic accidents worldwide in 2016. Autonomous driving cars promise to reduce human error, but this requires that conventional roads adapt to this type of technologies.

These technologies use advances in geolocation and high-speed telecommunications to detect and warn drivers, making them a very useful tool in accident prevention.

More efficient conventional road

The advances that have been made in paving materials have managed to improve the performance of cars that circulate on conventional roads. Among the properties of asphalt-rubber are that they tire less, adapt better to changes in temperature, offer greater grip and increase the efficiency of ground mobility. But the future of efficiency lies in considerably reducing the need for infrastructure maintenance.

smarter roads

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence has brought about a revolution that has affected practically all sectors. Just as we have previously talked about accident detection and prevention systems, these technologies can be applied to improve other aspects of mobility on conventional roads, such as the storage of large amounts of information thanks to new data monitoring and control technologies. .