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Dead-end street
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (/ˈkʌldəsæk, ˈkʊl-/; French: [kydsak], lit. 'bag bottom'), a no outlet road, a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet.
Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some dead ends prohibit all-through traffic, while others allow cyclists, pedestrians, or other non-automotive traffic to pass through connecting easements or paths. The latter case is an example of filtered permeability.
The International Federation of Pedestrians proposed calling such streets "living end streets" and to provide signage at the entry of the streets that clearly indicates non-automotive permeability. This would retain the dead end's primary function as a non-through road, but establish complete pedestrian and bicycle network connectivity.
"Dead end" is not the most commonly used expression in all English-speaking regions. Official terminology and traffic signs include many alternatives; some are only used regionally. In the UK, a dead end residential street is sometimes called a close. In the United States, a cul-de-sac is often not an exact synonym for "dead end,” as it refers explicitly to a dead-end street with a circular end, making it easier for vehicles to turn around. Street names are determined at the city or county level, with most choosing to use court for a bulbous cul-de-sac. In Australia, a street with a bulbous end is usually referred to as a court. In Canada, where street names are decided on the municipal level, culs-de-sac are usually named courts.
The earliest examples of dead ends were unearthed in the El Lahun workers' village in Egypt, which was built in c. 1885 BC. The village was planned and built orthogonally with straight streets that intersect at right angles in an irregular grid. The western section of the excavated village, once home to the workers, featured fifteen narrow, short dead ends arranged perpendicularly on either side of a wider, straight street and ending at the enclosing walls.
Dead end streets also appeared during the classical periods of Athens and Rome. The 15th century architect and planner Leon Battista Alberti implies in his writings that dead end streets may have been used intentionally in antiquity for defense purposes:
The Ancients in All Towns were for having some intricate Ways and turn again Streets [i.e., dead ends or loops], without any Passage through them, that if an Enemy comes into them, he may be at a Loss, and be in Confusion and Suspense; or if he pushes on daringly, may be easily destroyed.
The same opinion is expressed by Aristotle when he criticized the Hippodamian grid:
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Dead-end street
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (/ˈkʌldəsæk, ˈkʊl-/; French: [kydsak], lit. 'bag bottom'), a no outlet road, a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet.
Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some dead ends prohibit all-through traffic, while others allow cyclists, pedestrians, or other non-automotive traffic to pass through connecting easements or paths. The latter case is an example of filtered permeability.
The International Federation of Pedestrians proposed calling such streets "living end streets" and to provide signage at the entry of the streets that clearly indicates non-automotive permeability. This would retain the dead end's primary function as a non-through road, but establish complete pedestrian and bicycle network connectivity.
"Dead end" is not the most commonly used expression in all English-speaking regions. Official terminology and traffic signs include many alternatives; some are only used regionally. In the UK, a dead end residential street is sometimes called a close. In the United States, a cul-de-sac is often not an exact synonym for "dead end,” as it refers explicitly to a dead-end street with a circular end, making it easier for vehicles to turn around. Street names are determined at the city or county level, with most choosing to use court for a bulbous cul-de-sac. In Australia, a street with a bulbous end is usually referred to as a court. In Canada, where street names are decided on the municipal level, culs-de-sac are usually named courts.
The earliest examples of dead ends were unearthed in the El Lahun workers' village in Egypt, which was built in c. 1885 BC. The village was planned and built orthogonally with straight streets that intersect at right angles in an irregular grid. The western section of the excavated village, once home to the workers, featured fifteen narrow, short dead ends arranged perpendicularly on either side of a wider, straight street and ending at the enclosing walls.
Dead end streets also appeared during the classical periods of Athens and Rome. The 15th century architect and planner Leon Battista Alberti implies in his writings that dead end streets may have been used intentionally in antiquity for defense purposes:
The Ancients in All Towns were for having some intricate Ways and turn again Streets [i.e., dead ends or loops], without any Passage through them, that if an Enemy comes into them, he may be at a Loss, and be in Confusion and Suspense; or if he pushes on daringly, may be easily destroyed.
The same opinion is expressed by Aristotle when he criticized the Hippodamian grid: