Short answers, pulled from the story.
A controlled-access highway is a road designed for high-speed vehicular traffic where all entry and exit points are regulated. Unlike ordinary roads, it has no at-grade intersections, no traffic signals, and no direct property access; cross-traffic is carried by overpasses and underpasses, and drivers join or leave via slip roads at interchanges.
Italy built the first controlled-access highway in the world. The Autostrada dei Laghi, devised by Piero Puricelli, was inaugurated in 1924 and connected Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, forming parts of what are now the A8 and A9 motorways.
The word freeway was first used in February 1930 by Edward M. Bassett. In his property-law framework, a freeway is a strip of public land devoted to movement where abutting property owners have no rights of light, air, or access, distinguishing it from highways and parkways.
Motorways are the safest road type by design. In Europe in 2006, motorways accounted for more than a quarter of all kilometres driven but contributed only 8% of total road deaths. Eliminating at-grade crossings and opposing-direction conflicts is the primary factor in this lower fatality rate.
China has the world's largest expressway network by length. By the end of 2019, China's expressway network reached 149,600 km, having surpassed the total length of the American Interstate Highway System in 2011.
Several cities have demolished urban freeways and reclaimed the land. Seoul converted the Cheonggyecheon freeway corridor into a stream and park, Portland closed Harbor Drive, Boston buried the Central Artery, San Francisco removed the Embarcadero Freeway, Seattle removed the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and Milwaukee removed the Park East Freeway.