Autovía

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Sign for autovía in Spain

Autovía is one of two classes of major highway in the Spanish road system similar to a freeway. It is akin to the autopista, the other major highway class, but has fewer features and is not a toll road.

Distinguishing features:

must be divided by a median
must have restricted access
cannot be crossed by other roads

Whereas autopistas are laid out on original routes, autovías are generally improvements to existing roads, so they may have tighter curves and less safe access. However, both have speed limits of 120kmh.

Rest areas are usually 300km or 2hr apart. There is usually a safety lane along the median.

Autovía was also the name of a 2 car DMU train of the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico that operated between Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico.

Autovías is the name of the first-class service of the Herradura de Plata Mexican bus company operating in the vicinity of the Mexican state of Michoacan.