A collector road or distributor road is a low to moderate-capacity road

Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

 which serve to move traffic from local street

Street

A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...

s to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collectors are also designed to provide access to residential properties. Rarely, jurisdictions will differentiate major and minor collector roads, the former being wider, busier and more significant.

Specifications

Collector roads can vary widely in appearance. Some urban collectors are wide boulevards entering communities or connecting sections. Others are residential streets, which are typically wider than local roads, although few are wider than four lanes. Small-scale commercial

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 areas can be found on collector roads in residential areas. Key community functions such as school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s, churches and recreation

Recreation

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

al facilities can often be found on collector roads. The flow of a collector road usually consists of a mixture of signalled intersections

Intersection (road)

An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...

 or traffic circle

Traffic circle

A traffic circle or rotary is a type of circular intersection in which traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. In some countries, traffic entering the circle has the right-of-way and drivers in the circle must yield. In many other countries, traffic entering the circle must...

s with arterial roads; signals, circles or stop sign

Stop sign

A Stop sign is a traffic sign to notify drivers that they must stop before proceeding.-Specifications:The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals proposed standard stop sign diameters of 0.6, 0.9 or 1.2 metres. UK and New Zealand stop signs are 750, 900 or 1200 mm, according to sign...

s (often in the form of a four-way stop) with other collector roads, and; unsignalized intersections with local streets which favour traffic movement on the collector.

Speed limits are typically between 20 and 35 mph (or 30 to 55km/h) on collector roads in built-up areas, depending on the degree of development and frequency of local access, intersections and pedestrians, as well as the surrounding area (the speed tends to be lowest in a school zone). Traffic calming

Traffic calming

Traffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...

 is occasionally used in older areas on collector roads as well.

Development

Collector roads can originate in different ways: most often they have been planned along with the suburban layout and built especially for that purpose. Occasionally they can fill gaps in a grid system between arterial roads. Urban planners

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 will often consider such roads when laying out new areas of development, as branch sections of utilities such as trunk sewer

Sanitary sewer

A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...

s and water mains can be built through the same corridor.

Examples

• A39 road
  A39 road
  The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset and Devon through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynmouth, Barnstaple, Bideford, Stratton, Camelford, Wadebridge and St...
  
  : "Camelford Distributor Road" in Camelford
  Camelford
  Camelford is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council....
  
  http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7949