Strade extraurbane principali

The strade extraurbane principali ("main extra-urban road"; sg.

Road with independent carriageways or separated by an impassable traffic island, each with at least two lanes and wharf on the right, without at-grade intersections, with coordinated access to lateral properties, characterized by the appropriate start and end signs, reserved for the circulation of certain categories of motor vehicles; suitable spaces must be provided for any other categories of users.

It must be equipped with special rest areas, which include parking spaces, with accesses equipped with deceleration and acceleration lanes.Therefore, compared to motorways, roads of this type have some technical differences (for example the minimum width of the emergency lane but not of the travel lanes), the color of the signs (blue background instead of green), the speed limit for cars and motorcycles (110 km/h (68 mph)), the radius of curvature, the presence of the emergency lane and the presence of SOS columns.

For transit on main extra-urban roads, unlike many motorways, there is currently no toll system, except for the Pedemontana Veneta.

In other European states, what in Italy are known as the strade extraurbana principali, roads with separate carriageways with two or more lanes in each direction, without at-grade intersections, are not classified as highways, but in different ways.