What does a ramp mean?
2 Answers
A ramp refers to a short section of road that provides vehicles with access to and from main roads (such as highways, elevated roads, bridges, and vehicular tunnels) and connects to nearby auxiliary roads or other main roads via overpasses, inclined roads, approach roads, and collector-distributor roads. It is a key traffic facility that constitutes road interchanges and an essential component of grade-separated interchanges. Ramps are categorized into entrance and exit ramps, up and down ramps, direct ramps, indirect ramps, semi-direct ramps, and loop ramps. The rationality of ramp design directly impacts the functionality of grade-separated interchanges, the safety and smoothness of traffic, operational efficiency, and the investment in engineering projects.
You're asking about on-ramps? Honestly, I was confused the first time I got on the highway too. It's actually that section of road connecting the regular road to the highway, shaped like a snail-shell curve. To enter the highway, you first need to accelerate in the on-ramp until your speed is high enough to safely merge into the main lanes. Same goes for exiting - you have to move right into the off-ramp early to decelerate, otherwise slamming the brakes from 120 km/h would be super dangerous! On-ramps usually have speed limits of 40-60 km/h, with yellow channelizing lines on the side reminding you to stay in your lane. I often encounter them on urban elevated roads too, like that spiral section connecting Yan'an Elevated Road to the Inner Ring Elevated - when navigation says 'please follow the ramp', it's referring to this kind of connecting road design. Remember, never stop to make phone calls on ramps - you'll get ticketed for traffic violations.
