Basic traffic theory

6. The roads

The roads

In chapter 1 we already read about how roads came to exist. People used paths made by wild animals or they had to make roads themselves by clearing away weeds and bushes. These roads were all made of sand. Gradually the need for better roads arose, especially because of the use by cars. People then moved on to building proper roads.

At first we only had roads made of special stones. Later people used concrete and asphalt. On our island, not all roads are made of asphalt, concrete or special stones. There are still many roads made of sand.

When we look around, we can say that there are two types of roads:

1. Paved roads Paved roads are roads where a thick layer of asphalt or concrete has been applied, or roads that have been tiled with special stones.

2. Unpaved roads Unpaved roads are roads made of sand or gravel. As the name says, these roads have not been paved.

With the building of roads it has become much easier to get from one place to another.

People did not just build roads randomly. They also took into account the amount of traffic that would need to use these roads. Sometimes you also see that a road is made wider to handle more traffic.

All roads come together in one way or another — they have a shape.

If you look carefully at how roads come together, you will notice that there are four possibilities, namely:

• Intersection
• Half intersection or T-intersection
• Fork
• Roundabout

Intersection

Half intersection or T-intersection

Fork

Roundabout

Find out near your school how the roads come together!