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and exit time is calculated to determine if you were speeding and if so, you are issued a citation. I can assure you this is false.’

If a road passes through a US National Park then you must pay the park entrance fee at the entrance station, almost certainly located on the highway itself. Usually main roads which pass through National Monuments are free unless you intend to stop.

In Canada, in most cases motorists using a road through a National Park do not need to pay a toll unless they intend to stop. However, the Canadian authorities seem to be tightening up on this in recent years so I would highly advise anyone planning to stop to pay the park entrance fee. In Canada you often have to divert off the highway to visit the park's entrance station.

http://www.johncletheroe.org/usa_can/driving/roads.htm

25. Read the following information and render it in English. Don’t forget to give the title, the source, the main idea, your attitude to the problem described.

Российские дороги станут безальтернативно платными

22 октября 2009

Минэкономразвития выступило с предложением отказаться от обязательного наличия альтернативных бесплатных трасс при создании платных. Как заявил заместитель главы ведомства Андрей Клепач на ежегодной конференции UBS в Москве в среду, 21 октября, Минэкономразвития предлагает отказаться от предусмотренного законодательством обязательного наличия бесплатных дорог при строительстве платных магистралей. «Мы предлагаем, чтобы механизм платности автодорог был более гибким, и не требовалось наличие альтернативных бесплатных автодорог, таким образом, можно будет ввести большую часть магистральных трасс как платные».

На эту идею Минэкономразвития подтолкнула необходимость привлечения дополнительных частных инвестиций в транспортную инфраструктуру. Заместитель ведомства отметил, что уже действующие дороги тоже можно сделать платными. Как это часто бывает в России при принятии сомнительных решений, в пример приводится зарубежный опыт. Похоже, так получится и в случае с платными магистралями. Клепач говорит, что во многих государствах отсутствуют обязательные альтернативные бесплатные дороги и отечественные автомобилисты «будут ездить так же, как ездят в Германии, Китае и

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других странах». Забывая при этом привести сопоставимые данные по плотности автодорог в разных странах.

На начало 2008 года протяженность федеральных дорог составила 48,8 тысяч километров, на них приходится более 40% всех грузо- и пассажироперевозок. Тем не менее, на эти значимые трассы приходится менее 5% от общей протяженности российских дорог. В 2007 году общая протяженность дорог общего пользования составила 746 тысяч км, при этом дорог с твердым покрытием – 623 тысяч км.

«Ничего кроме негатива у миллионов автомобилистов предложение не вызовет», – заявил корреспонденту GZT.RU Вячеслав Лысаков, лидер движения автомобилистов «Свобода выбора». Правозащитник называет предложение чиновников «абсолютной дикостью и политической провокацией». В России на фоне кризиса повышаются цены, создаются препятствия для потребителей, хотя в других странах все наоборот. Лысаков говорит, что у автовладельцев должна быть свобода выбора, а предлагать строительство платных трасс без альтернатив в России, не обеспеченной дорожной сетью, – это безответственное заявление, заключает он.

Если говорить о количестве платных дорог в европейских странах, исходя из их доли в общей дорожной сети, то на первом месте по данным Всемирного банка (2007 год) стоит Хорватия. При общей протяженности дорог 24 тыс. км, в стране платных 800 км или 3,33%. За ней следует Сербия. При аналогичной длине дорог протяженность платных 650 км (2,71%). На третьем месте Швейцария, в которой плотность дорог выше – 71 тыс. км, но платных – 1,9 тыс. км (2,68 %).

Что касается других стран мира, то много платных магистралей в Аргентине: общая протяженность 216 тыс. км, а платных 9,8 тыс. км

(4,54%).

Асатур Бисембин http://www.gzt.ru/topnews/auto/267712.html

26.Study the chart (Table 1) and compare road tolls in various American states.

27.Find the information about shunpiking in the Internet and be ready to tell about it to your group.

28.Read the text below. How can you entitle it? Why?

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The Romans had realized that a coordinated system of roadways connecting the major areas of their empire would be of prime significance for both commercial and military purposes. In the modern era, the nations of Europe first introduced the concept of highway systems. In France, for example, the State Department of Roads and Bridges was organized in 1716, and by the middle of the 18th century the country was covered by an extensive network of roads built and maintained primarily by the national government. In 1797 the road system was divided into three classes of descending importance: (1) roads leading from Paris to the frontiers, (2) roads leading from frontier to frontier but not passing through Paris, and

(3) roads connecting towns. By the early 1920s this general plan remained essentially the same except that a gradual change in class and responsibility had taken place. At that time the road system was divided into four classes: (1) national highways, improved and maintained by the national government, (2) regional highways, improved and maintained by the department under a road service bureau appointed by the Department Commission, (3) main local roads, connecting smaller cities and villages, built and maintained from funds of the communes supplemented by grants from the department, and (4) township roads, built and maintained by the communities alone.

29. Should any changes be made in the following schemes? Give your reasons.

Road system (1797)

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national highways

township roads

30. Work in pairs. Draw a schematic diagram of various road classifications without looking back at the texts. Discuss the results in group.

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http://www.ask.com/bar?q=toll+roads+in+america,+the+price&page=2&qsrc=0&ab=2&title=Table+1+Part+3+- +Interstate+System+Toll+Roads+in+the+United+States+|&u=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tollpage

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31. Look through the story. Supply the missing word parts to get the whole story. What is the main idea? What was new for you?

Street names in towns

Str_ _ _ _ in towns have na_ _ _ or street num_ _ _ _ which are independent of and additional to any highway numbering.

In many towns the str_ _ _ _ are n_ _ _ _ _ _ _: 12th Street, 15th Avenue, etc. This especially applies in towns laid out in the block system.

At every inter_ _ _ _ _ _ _ of two str_ _ _ _ in towns throughout the USA and Canada there is a sign bea_ _ _ _ the names of the two str_ _ _ _

which cross. These signs normally consist of two small rectangular plates bea_ _ _ _ the str_ _ _ names, mou_ _ _ _ at right angles to one another, with one sign under the other, on a pole near the inter_ _ _ _ _ _ _. On major routes through towns the names of the str_ _ _ being crossed is sometimes indi_ _ _ _ _ on large overhead signs at each inter_ _ _ _ _ _ _. Often the current block number is also indi_ _ _ _ _, in smaller type, for example “Colorado Ave 1200” (meaning that this inter_ _ _ _ _ _ _ is at the 1200 block of Colorado Avenue, i.e. buildings numbered 1200 to 1299).

Beware of str_ _ _ _ changing their names along their le_ _ _ _. In small and medium sized towns this is very rare but in large cities where what were once separate suburbs have now merged together it is not uncommon.

Beware of str_ _ _ _ which are not continuous because of nat_ _ _ _

features such as rivers, lakes and hills. You may need to divert onto other str_ _ _ _ in order to reach a different section of a str_ _ _ .

32. Work in two groups. After reading the text draw up a questionnaire for another group of students to find out how attentive these students are and how many facts they can remember.

UK road system

While the British recognized the necessity for national support of highways and a national system as early as 1878, it was the Ministry of

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Transport Act of 1919 that first classified the roadway system into 23,230 miles of Class I roads and 14,737 miles of Class II roads. Fifty percent of the cost of Class I roads and 25 percent of the cost of Class II roads were to be borne by the national government. In the mid-1930s the need for a national through-traffic system was recognized, and the Trunk Roads Act of 1939, followed by the Trunk Roads Act of 1944, created a system of roadways for through traffic. The Special Roads Act of 1949 authorized existing or new roads to be classified as “motorways” that could be reserved for special classes of traffic. The Highways Act of 1959 swept away all previous highway legislation in England and Wales and replaced it with a comprehensive set of new laws.

Questionnaire

1._______________________________________

2._______________________________________

3._______________________________________

4._______________________________________

5._______________________________________

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ROAD DESIGN,

STRUCTURE,

CONSTRUCTION

1. How many stages of road building do you know? What are they? Read the text and give the title.

Road needs are closely associated with the relative location of centres of population, commerce, industry, and transportation. Traffic between two centres is approximately proportional to their populations and inversely proportional to the distance between them. Estimating traffic on a route thus requires a prediction of future population growth and economic activity, an estimation of their effects on land use and travel needs, and acknowledge of any potential transport alternatives. The key variables defining road needs are the traffic volumes, tonnages, and speeds to be expected throughout the road's life.

Once the traffic demand has been estimated, it is necessary to predict the extent of the road works needed to handle that traffic. A starting point in these calculations is offered by surveys of the origins, destinations, and route choices of present traffic; computer models are then used to estimate future traffic volumes on each proposed route. Estimates of route choice are based on the understanding that most drivers select their estimate of the quickest, shortest, or cheapest route. Consideration in planning is also given to the effect of new traffic on existing streets, roads, and parking provisions.

Where feasible, the next step in planning a road system is to refine the selected route to a narrow corridor. The various alignment options are drawn, considering the local terrain and conditions. The economic, social, and environmental benefits and costs of these options are discussed with relevant official and community groups until an acceptable specific route is determined.

2. Match the words to make word combinations. Check your answers in the text above. Make up your own sentences with those word combinations which were matched improperly.

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