Australia Australia's important urban and inter-regional routes not covered by the National Highway or National Route systems are marked under the State Route system. They can be recognised by blue shield markers. They were practically adopted in all states by the end of the 1980s, and in some states, some less important National Routes were downgraded to State Routes. Each state has or had its own numbering scheme, but do not duplicate National Route numbers in the same state, or nearby routes in another state. As with the National Routes and National Highways, State Routes are being phased out in most states and territories in favour of alphanumeric routes. However, despite the fact that Victoria has fully adopted alphanumeric routes in regional areas, state route numbers are still used extensively within the city of Melbourne as a part of its
Metropolitan Route Numbering Scheme. Unlike in other Australian states, State Routes in Western Australia carry a large importance by representing major routes across the state, as Western Australia has not adopted the Alphanumeric numbering system.
Brazil state highway shield in the state of
São Paulo Brazil is another country that is divided into states and has state highways. For example, the longest highway in the state of
São Paulo, the
Rodovia Raposo Tavares, is designated as
SP-270 and SP-295.
Canada provincial highway marker
Canada is divided into provinces and territories, each of which maintains its own system of provincial or territorial highways, which form the majority of the country's highway network. There is also the national transcontinental
Trans-Canada Highway system, which is marked by distinct signs, but has no uniform numeric designation across the country. In the eastern provinces, for instance, an unnumbered (though sometimes with a named route branch) Trans-Canada route marker is co-signed with a numbered provincial sign, with the provincial route often continuing alone outside the Trans-Canada Highway section. However, in the western provinces, the two parallel Trans-Canada routes are consistently numbered with Trans-Canada route markers; as Highways 1 and 16 respectively. Canada also has a designated
National Highway System, but the system is completely unsigned, aside from the Trans-Canada routes. This makes Canada unique in that national highway designations are generally secondary to subnational routes.
Germany In
Germany, state roads ('''' or ) are a road class which is ranking below the federal road network (). The responsibility for road planning, construction and maintenance is vested in the federal states of Germany. Most federal states use the term (marked with 'L'), while for historical reasons
Saxony and
Bavaria use the term (marked with 'S'). The appearance of the shields differs from state to state. The term should not be confused with , which describes every road outside built-up areas and is not a road class.
Italy The
Strade Statali, abbreviated SS, is the
Italian national network of state highways. The total length for the network is about . The Italian state highway network are maintained by
ANAS. From 1928 until 1946 state highways were maintained by Azienda Autonoma Statale della Strada (AASS). The next level of roads below Strada Statali is
Strada Regionale ("regional roads"). The routes of some state highways derive from ancient
Roman roads, such as the
Strada statale 7 Via Appia, which broadly follows the route of the
Roman road of the same name. Other examples are the
Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia (
Via Aurelia) and the
Strada statale 4 Via Salaria (
Via Salaria). in
Arenzano. It is one of the most important state highways in Italy and derives from an ancient Roman consular road, the
Via Aurelia. in
Soraga. It is a mountainous road that runs through the
Dolomites area from
South Tyrol, through
Trentino to
Cadore. Since the reforms following the
birth of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the State took charge of the construction and maintenance of a primary network of roads for connections between the main cities; in 1865 the
Lanza law introduced the classification of roads between national, provincial and municipal (see Annex F, art.10) and the Royal Decree of 17 November 1865, n. 2633 listed the first 38 national roads. Italian state highways are identified by a number and a name. In road signs and maps the number is preceded by the acronym SS, an acronym for
strada statale ("state road"). The nomenclature of the state highways managed by
ANAS generally follows the SS
n scheme, where
n is a number ranging from 1 (
Aurelia) up to 700 (of the
Royal Palace of Caserta) depending on the date of establishment of the state highway. Newly built ANAS roads, not yet classified, are identified by the acronym NSA, an acronym for
nuova strada ANAS ("new ANAS road"). Notable state highways in Italy are the
Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia, the
Strada statale 4 Via Salaria, the
Strada statale 4 dir,
Strada statale 7 Via Appia, the
Strada statale 12 dell'Abetone e del Brennero, the
Strada statale 18 Tirrena Inferiore, the
Strada statale 35 dei Giovi, the
Strada statale 36 del Lago di Como e dello Spluga, the
Strada statale 37 del Maloja, the
Strada statale 38 dello Stelvio, the
Strada statale 44 del Passo di Giovo, the
Strada statale 44 bis Passo del Rombo, the
Strada statale 48 delle Dolomiti, the
Strada statale 72 di San Marino, the
Strada statale 106 Jonica, the
Strada statale 115 Sud Occidentale Sicula, the
Strada statale 125 Orientale Sarda, the
Strada statale 131 Carlo Felice, the
Strada statale 131 Diramazione Centrale Nuorese, the
Strada statale 148 Pontina, the
Strada statale 163 Amalfitana, the
Strada statale 336 dell'Aeroporto della Malpensa and the
Strada statale 407 Basentana.
India State highways in India are numbered highways that are laid and maintained by
state governments.
Japan In Japan, prefectural roads are maintained by the governments of the
prefecture they are in. By length, 10.7% of public roads in Japan were prefectural roads as of 2011; by usage, they carried more than 30% of all traffic volume on public roads as of 2007.
Mexico Mexico's
State Highway System is a system of urban and state routes constructed and maintained by each Mexican state. The main purpose of the state networks is to serve as a feeder system to the federal highway system. All states except the
Federal District operate a road network. Each state marks these routes with a white shield containing the abbreviated name of the state plus the route number.
New Zealand New Zealand state highways are national highways – the word "state" in this sense means "government" or "public" (as in
state housing and
state schools), not a division of a country. New Zealand's state highway system is a nationwide network of roads covering the
North Island and the
South Island. As of 2006, just under 100 roads have a "State Highway" designation. The
NZ Transport Agency administers them. The speed limit for most state highways is 100 km/h, with reductions when one passes through a densely populated area. The highways in New Zealand are all state highways, and the network consists of SH 1 running the length of both main islands, SH 2–5 and 10–59 in the North Island, and SH 6–8 and 60–99 in the South Island. National and provincial highways are numbered approximately north to south.
State Highway 1 runs the length of both islands.
South Korea In South Korea, local highways () are the next important roads under the
national highways. The number has two, three, or four digits. Highways with two-digit numbers are called state-funded local highways.
Turkey , a major state highway in Turkey. In Turkey, state roads () are primary roads, mostly under the responsibility of
General Directorate of Highways (KGM) except in
metropolitan city centers where the responsibility lies with local government. The roads have a three-digit number designation, preceded by
D. Provincial roads () are secondary roads, maintained by respective local governments with the support of the KGM. The roads have a four-digit numbering grouped as two pairs separated by a dash. The first pair represents the
license number of that province.
United States In the United States, state highways are generally a mixture of primary and secondary roads, although some are
freeways (for example,
State Route 99 in California, which links many of the cities of the
Central Valley,
Route 128 in Massachusetts, or parts of
Route 101 in New Hampshire). Each state has its own system for numbering and its own marker. The default marker is a
white circle containing a black sans-serif number (often inscribed in a black square or slightly rounded square), according to the
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). However each state is free to choose a different marker, and most states have. States may choose a design theme relevant to its state (such as an outline of the state itself) to distinguish state route markers from interstate, county, or municipal route markers. The longest state highway in the U.S. is
Montana Highway 200. ==See also==