Footway

A sidewalk (American English) or pavement (British English), also known as a footpath or footway, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade (height) and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb. There may also be a median strip or road verge (a strip of vegetation, grass or bushes or trees or a combination of these) either between the sidewalk and the roadway or between the sidewalk and the boundary.

In some places, the same term may also be used for a paved path, trail or footpath that is not next to a road, for example, a path through a park.

The term sidewalk is usually preferred in most of North America, along with many other countries worldwide that are not members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The term pavement is more common in the United Kingdom, as well as parts of the Mid-Atlantic United States such as Philadelphia and New Jersey. Many Commonwealth countries use the term footpath. The professional, civil engineering and legal term for this in North America is sidewalk while in the United Kingdom it is footway.

In the United States, the term sidewalk is used for the pedestrian path beside a road. Shared use paths or multi-use paths are available for use by both pedestrians and bicyclists.Walkway is a more comprehensive term that includes stairs, ramps, passageways, and related structures that facilitate the use of a path as well as the sidewalk.

In the UK, the term footpath is mostly used for paths that do not abut a roadway. The term shared-use path is used where cyclists are also able to use the same section of path as pedestrians.

There is evidence that sidewalks were built in ancient times. It was claimed that the Greek city of Corinth was paved by the 4th-century, and the Romans were particularly prolific sidewalk builders – they called them semitas.

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