Avenues

Avenues are a type of road commonly found in urban environments. They are typically broad streets designed to function as major through routes or ceremonial corridors. The term avenue comes from the French avenue, meaning an approach or way toward a place, and ultimately derives from Latin advenire, to arrive. In many cities, avenues run roughly parallel to other arterial streets and are laid out as wide, tree-lined corridors, sometimes with medians or planted verges that separate opposing lanes.

Characteristics of avenues often include greater width than surrounding streets, multiple lanes, and a prominence within city grids. They commonly host commercial activity, transit facilities, and civic institutions, and they may be designed to carry higher traffic volumes than local streets. The naming convention—avenue versus street versus boulevard—varies by city and history; in some places an avenue denotes a major official route, while in others it is simply a traditional label.

Examples of well-known avenues include Fifth Avenue in New York City, a major commercial and cultural artery, and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., which connects key government districts. The Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan is the official name for Sixth Avenue. Design and context of avenues influence urban form, pedestrian experience, and economic activity.

Worldwide, avenues vary in width, median treatment, and function, serving ceremonial axes as well as practical transit corridors. In planning discourse, the avenue category is used alongside streets, boulevards, and drives to describe road hierarchies and character.