HIGHWAY DESIGN / INSPECTION

In American law, the word “highway” is sometimes used to denote any public way used for travel, whether major highway, freeway, turnpike, street, lane, alley, pathway, dirt track, footpaths, and trails, and navigable waterways;[citation needed] however, in practical and useful meaning, a “highway” is a major and significant, well-constructed road that is capable of carrying reasonably heavy to extremely heavy traffic.[citation needed] Highways generally have a route number designated by the state and federal departments of transportation.[clarification needed]

California Vehicle Code, Sections 360, 590, define a “highway” as only a way open for use of motor vehicles, but the California Supreme Court has held that “the definition of ‘highway’ in the Vehicle Code is used for special purposes of that act,” and that canals of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Venice, California, are “highways” that are entitled to be maintained with state highway funds.[citation needed]

Smaller roads may be termed byways.[4]