What is a 'Turnpike'?

Question

I live in Scotland, and no such thing exists, but I hear it on American programs all the time. I know it's a road thing. I'm just not sure exactly what it is. Please explain?

Answer 1

In the U.S. a turnpike is a toll road. They are mostly in the East and some mid-western states. The term gave rise to the freeway, or non-toll road. The turnpike name comes from a gate that used to block access to the road.

Answer 2

For the trivia buffs, the term "turnpike" is a corruption of the original term "turn spikes" that referred to a log roller that had spikes on half of the log that when they were facing "up" prevented a horse and carriage from crossing it. The carriagemen had to pay a toll to cross trhough the gate. Once the toll was paid, the gatekeeper rotated the log so that spikes rotated downward and the smooth side of the log faced up and allowed the horse and carriage to cross.

the term has been carried forward to the current times where a turnpike is a highway that has toll booths to collect the fees for using the road. It also goes by the term 'toll road'. A freeway in contrast is a public highway that is toll-free.

How's that for trivia!

Answer 3

Long story short, it is simply an old fashioned toll road/house.

"Turnpike trusts were bodies set up in eighteenth century Britain to maintain principal roads and pay for this service by the extraction of tolls from users.

Up until the seventeenth century the maintenance of roads was the responsibility of individual parishes, a system which resulted in neglect and a piecemeal approach. The state of the roads was a continuing national problem made worse by increasing use made by heavy carts and carriages as trade increased."

Answer 4

a turnpike, is a toll road that u pay to get to one ex-change road destination to the one that u traveling to small example say u r going (in scotland) to kiltie road u have to travel south to get there then at the end of the road u r originally on (we'll call it scottish lane) u need to go thru the turn pike to make the ex-change road u need to be traveling on and pay the toll for purpose of getting from point a to point b sure hope that helps..

Answer 5

It can be a gate across a road which you cannot cross unless you pay a toll.

Answer 6

it's a road with a gate or barrier preventing access until a toll had been paid

Answer 7

A high-speed highway, esp. one maintained by tolls.

I'm not sure if that's correct but that's what the dictionary told me!

Answer 8

It is like a highway. You have to pay money every so often.

Answer 9

Nowadays it's a crossroads !!