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Street
A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetlights or Bench (furniture), benches. A street can be as simple as a level patch of Dirt road, dirt, but is more often pavement (material), paved with a hard, durable surface such as Tarmacadam, tarmac, concrete, cobblestone or brick. It can be designed for both social activity and movement. Originally, the word ''street'' simply meant a paved road (). The word ''street'' is still sometimes used informally as a synonym for ''road'', for example in connection with the ancient Watling Street, but city residents and urban planning, urban planners draw a significant modern distinction: a road's main function is transportation, while streets facilitate public interaction. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Street Light
A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution became ubiquitous in developed countries in the 20th century, lights for urban streets followed, or sometimes led. Many lamps have light-sensitive photocells that activate the lamp automatically when needed, at times when there is little-to-no ambient light, such as at dusk, dawn, or the onset of dark weather conditions. This function in older lighting systems could be performed with the aid of a solar dial. Many street light systems are being connected underground instead of wiring from one utility post to another. Street lights are an important source of public security lighting intended to reduce crime. History Preindustrial era Early lamps were used in the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilizations, where light primarily ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedestrian Street
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or human-powered transport such as bicycles, with non-emergency motor traffic not allowed. Converting a street or an area to pedestrian-only use is called ''pedestrianisation''. Pedestrianisation usually aims to provide better accessibility and mobility for pedestrians, to enhance the amount of shopping and other business activities in the area or to improve the attractiveness of the local environment in terms of aesthetics, air pollution, noise and crashes involving motor vehicle with pedestrians. In some cases, motor traffic in surrounding areas increases, as it is displaced rather than replaced. Nonetheless, pedestrianisation schemes are often associated with significant falls in local air and noise pollution and in accidents, and frequen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alley
An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, walk, or avenue (French allée) in a park or garden. A covered alley or passageway, often with shops, may be called an arcade (architecture), arcade. The origin of the word alley is late Middle English, from "walking or passage", from ' "to go", from "to walk". Definition The word alley is used in two main ways: # It can refer to a narrow, usually paved, pedestrian path, often between the walls of buildings in towns and cities. This type is usually short and straight, and on steep ground can consist partially or entirely of steps. # It also describes a very narrow, urban street, or lane, usually paved, which may be used by slow-moving local traffic, though more pedestrian-friendly than a regular street. There are two versions of thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stroad
A stroad is a thoroughfare that combines the features of streets and roads. Common in the United States and Canada, stroads are wide arterials (roads for through traffic) that also provide access to strip malls, drive-throughs, and other automobile-oriented businesses (as shopping streets do). Stroads have been criticized by urban planners for safety issues and for inefficiencies. While streets serve as a destination and provide access to shops and residences at safe traffic speeds, and roads serve as a high-speed connection that can efficiently move traffic at high volume, stroads serve both purposes. They are often an expensive, inefficient, and dangerous compromise. Etymology In 2011, the American civil engineer and urban planner Charles Marohn, founder of Strong Towns, coined the word "stroad" as a blend of the words ''street'' and ''road'' to illustrate what he characterized as failures in the North American pattern of development''.'' Criticisms Poor mix of st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cobblestone
Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a cobblestone by being quarried and shaped into a regular form, while cobblestones are naturally occurring rounded forms less uniform in size. It has been used across various cultures for millennia, particularly in Europe, and became especially prominent during the medieval and early modern periods. Today, cobblestone streets are often associated with historic preservation and are used in many cities to maintain the historical character of certain neighborhoods. History as road surface During the Middle Ages, medieval period, cobblestone streets became common in many European towns and cities. Cobblestones were readily available, as they were often naturally occurring stones found in riverbeds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Road
A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The words "road" and "street" are commonly considered to be interchangeable, but the distinction is important in urban design. There are many types of roads, including parkways, avenues, controlled-access highways (freeways, motorways, and expressways), tollways, interstates, highways, and local roads. The primary features of roads include lanes, sidewalks (pavement), roadways (carriageways), medians, shoulders, verges, bike paths (cycle paths), and shared-use paths. Definitions Historically, many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or some maintenance. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines a road as "a line of communication (travelled way) using a stab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidewalk
A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone, or asphalt, it is designed for pedestrians. A sidewalk is normally higher than the carriageway, roadway, and separated from it by a curb. There may also be a Road verge, planted strip between the sidewalk and the roadway and between the roadway and the adjacent land. Terminology The preferred term for a pedestrian path beside a road varies based on region. The term "sidewalk" is preferred in most of the United States and Canada. The term "pavement" is more common in the United Kingdom and some other members of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as parts of the Mid-Atlantic United States such as Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey. Australia, New Zealand, and many other Commonwealth countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedestrian Crossing
A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, Vienna and Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road signs and road traffic. Marked pedestrian crossings are often found at Junction (road), intersections, but may also be at other points on busy roads that would otherwise be too unsafe to cross without assistance due to vehicle numbers, speed or road widths. They are also commonly installed where large numbers of pedestrians are attempting to cross (such as in shopping areas) or where vulnerable road users (such as school children) regularly cross. Rules govern usage of the pedestrian crossings to ensure safety; for example, in some areas, the pedestrian must be more than halfway across the crosswalk before the driver proceeds, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district (CBD). It may also be a center for shopping and entertainment. Downtowns typically contain a small percentage of a city's employment but are concentrated in services, including high-end services (office or white-collar jobs). Sometimes, smaller downtowns include lower population densities and nearby lower incomes than suburbs. It is often distinguished as a hub of public transit and culture. History Origins The ''Oxford English Dictionarys first citation for "down town" or "downtown" dates to 1770, in reference to the center of Boston. Some have posited that the term "downtown" was coined in New York City, where it was in use by the 1830s to refer to the original settlement, or town, at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan.Fogels ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pavement (material)
A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, hoggin, cobblestone and granite setts were extensively used, but these have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete laid on a compacted base course. Asphalt mixtures have been used in pavement construction since the beginning of the 20th century and are of two types: metalled (hard-surfaced) and unmetalled roads. Metalled roadways are made to sustain vehicular load and so are usually made on frequently used roads. Unmetalled roads, also known as gravel roads or dirt roads, are rough and can sustain less weight. Road surfaces are frequently marked to guide traffic. Today, permeable paving methods are beginning to be used for low-impact roadways and walkways to prevent flooding. Pavements are crucial to countries such as United St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brick
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building units made of other materials or other chemically cured construction blocks. Bricks can be joined using Mortar (masonry), mortar, adhesives or by interlocking. Bricks are usually produced at brickworks in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region, and are produced in bulk quantities. Concrete masonry unit, ''Block'' is a similar term referring to a rectangular building unit composed of clay or concrete, but is usually larger than a brick. Lightweight bricks (also called lightweight blocks) are made from expanded clay aggregate. Fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting and strongest building materials, sometimes referred to as artificial stone, and have been used since . Air-dried bricks, also known as mudbricks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paved Road
A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, hoggin, cobblestone and sett (paving), granite setts were extensively used, but these have mostly been replaced by Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete laid on a compacted base course. Asphalt mixtures have been used in pavement construction since the beginning of the 20th century and are of two types: metalled (hard-surfaced) and unmetalled roads. Metalled roadways are made to sustain vehicular load and so are usually made on frequently used roads. Unmetalled roads, also known as gravel roads or dirt roads, are rough and can sustain less weight. Road surfaces are frequently road surface marking, marked to guide traffic. Today, permeable paving methods are beginning to be used for low-impact roadways and walkways to prevent flooding. Paveme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
