Not sure where to put this, but in writing, is there a distinction between road and street? Is it as simple as Buxton Road vs. Buxton Street and you should stick to the what it's called, or can you interchange the terms? It seems like a stupid question, but in my novel, the place where the protagonist lives is called Forest View and I don't know what to use, or if I can use Road and Street interchangeably. The stupid thing is that Forest view is not a tarmac road/street, it's full of pot holes that cars have to navigate. Thanks, Lorraine.

I think you can use the two interchangeably depending on how they sound in the sentence.

I think a road is absolutely anything - at some level I think I "see" a street is something tarmacked and probably pavemented, urban, with houses and possibly shops.

I've always thought the road was the description of the place and street the view.
As in: He ran full pelt down the road.
The street was full of interesting stalls.
As said previously it's how well it fits in the sentence, I think.

I agree with Emma that, except paradoxically for the odd Roman road, Stane Street for example, a street describes something urban, or at least something in a village. While road (and lane, way, etc.) can be found anywhere, what connects two villages or towns is almost never referred to as a street.

Chris

Not completely relevant to UK living, but when I get confused I look at the Spanish versions as they seem to have this worked out:
la calle is the street.
la carretera is the road.
Everything within a city, town or village is usually referred to as la calle and everything outside, going from one town to another, is called la carretera.
Helps me anyway.

But I agree that in English it is really down to the situation and what fits best.

Thanks everyone. It's interesting to hear everyone's view point. Sorry if I posted this up in the wrong section, but glad to get some responses.