A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road, usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports and other places, which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic. Many trunk roads have segregated lanes in a dual carriageway, or are of motorway standard.

Why is it called a trunk road?

Historically, the phrase "trunk road" in an Irish context referred to the main routes in the first Irish road numbering system, which were known as Trunk Roads and given the prefix letter of "T".

Is an A road a trunk road?

'A' Roads: These can be trunk or principal roads. They are often described as the 'main' roads and tend to have heavy traffic flows though generally not as high as motorways. Trunk roads (designated by the Trunk roads Acts 1936 and 1946): Most motorways and many of the long distance rural 'A' roads are trunk roads.