A park is a rectangle 60 m by 40 m. Two concrete roads, each 3 m wide, cross at the centre: one runs parallel to the length and the other parallel to the breadth. What is the total area of the roads?

Explanation

1. 01

   Road along the length: $60 \times 3 = 180$ m². Road along the breadth: $40 \times 3 = 120$ m².

2. 02

   The 3 $m \times 3$ m square where they cross has been counted twice, so subtract it once: $180 + 120 - 9 = 291$ m².