Thoroughfares

A thoroughfare is a public road or passage that is principally intended to carry through traffic between places rather than to provide local access. In many cities, thoroughfares include major streets, arterials, expressways, or highways that link neighborhoods and regions, enabling high volumes of vehicles to move efficiently.

Thoroughfares form the backbone of the road network. They are distinguished from local streets by higher design speeds, greater traffic capacity, and more extensive grade separations or interchanges. They may accommodate other modes such as buses and bicycles but primarily serve through movement.

Design and operation considerations include lane configuration, medians, intersection control, pedestrian facilities, and access management. Features such as turn lanes, signal coordination, and bus stops help maintain throughput while reducing conflicts. Safety, noise, and environmental impacts are also addressed in planning and design.

Governance and planning involve functional classification, traffic impact assessments, zoning and land-use policies, and right-of-way management. Minimizing driveway conflicts, implementing road diets, and coordinating with transit agencies are common strategies to balance mobility with local access and safety.

Examples of thoroughfares include urban arterial streets that connect districts or city centers and rural or suburban highways that form long-distance routes. The term is often used in planning documents to describe networks intended to optimize movement and accessibility across a region.