View source for Dead-end street

{{Short description|Street with only one way in and out}}
{{Redirect|Cul-de-sac}}
{{Redirect|No through road|the films|No Through Road (web series){{!}}''No Through Road'' (web series)}}
{{For|the song|Dead End Street (song)}}
[[File:Cul-de-sac 1.jpg|thumb|Cul-de-sac in [[La Crosse County, Wisconsin|La Crosse, Wisconsin]]]]
[[File:HK 石塘咀 Shek Tong Tsui 山道 Hill Road 保德街 Po Tuck Street 樂寶大樓 Lok Po Mansion.jpg|thumb|A dead end in [[Kennedy Town]], [[Hong Kong]]]]
[[File:Alberobello Trullo 64-2985.jpg|thumb|Dead end street in [[Alberobello]], [[Italy]]]]

A '''dead end''', also known as a '''''cul-de-sac''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ʌ|l|d|ə|s|æ|k|,_|ˈ|k|ʊ|l|-}};<ref name=ahd/> {{IPA|fr|kydsak|lang}},<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/cul-de-sac | title=CUL-DE-SAC : Définition de CUL-DE-SAC }}</ref> {{literally|bag bottom}}<ref name="Cite OED|cul-de-sac">{{Cite OED|cul-de-sac}}</ref>), 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 area]]s. Some dead ends prohibit all-through traffic, while others allow [[cyclist]]s, [[pedestrian]]s, or other non-automotive traffic to pass through connecting easements or paths. The latter case is an example of [[Permeability (spatial and transport planning)|filtered permeability]].

The [[International Federation of Pedestrians]] proposed calling such streets "'''living end streets'''"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pedestrians-int.org/en/about-us/project/68-living-end-roads-2 |title=living end streets |publisher=Pedestrians-int.org |access-date=2019-08-26}}</ref> 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 science|network connectivity]].

"Dead end" is not the most commonly used expression in all English-speaking regions. Official terminology and [[traffic sign]]s include many alternatives; some are only used regionally. In the [[United Kingdom|UK]], a dead end residential street is sometimes called a ''close''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Cambrodge Dictionary: 'close' |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/close |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926105311/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/close |archive-date=2024-09-26 |access-date=2025-01-28 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name=ahd>{{cite web|url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=cul-de-sac|title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: cul-de-sac|author=<!-- not stated -->|website=www.ahdictionary.com}}</ref> Street names are determined at the city or [[county]] level,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Street Naming and House Numbering Systems |url=https://www.planning.org/pas/reports/report13.htm |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=American Planning Association |language=en}}</ref> 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 [[Municipality|municipal]] level,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Street Naming and Renaming Policy and Guidelines {{!}} City of Hamilton |url=https://www.hamilton.ca/build-invest-grow/planning-development/planning-policies-guidelines/street-naming-and-renaming |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=www.hamilton.ca}}</ref> culs-de-sac are usually named ''courts''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Babin |first=Tom |date=2011-11-18 |title=In naming streets, strict rules dictate "roads," "rises," "trails" and more. |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/in-naming-streets-strict-rules-dictate-roads-rises-trails-and-more |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241229203351/https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/in-naming-streets-strict-rules-dictate-roads-rises-trails-and-more |archive-date=2024-12-29 |access-date=2024-12-29 |work=Calgary Herald}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Ville-pyramide-sesostris2.jpg|thumb|Workers' village at [[El Lahun]] pyramid site, [[Egypt]] ({{circa|1885 BC}})]]
The earliest examples of dead ends were unearthed in the [[El Lahun]] workers' village in [[Egypt]], which was built in {{circa}} 1885 BC. The village was planned and built [[Grid plan|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  [[perpendicular]]ly on either side of a wider, straight street and ending at the enclosing walls.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazzone |first=David |date=2017 |title=The Dark Side of a Model Community: The 'Ghetto' of el-Lahun |url=https://web.ujaen.es/investiga/egiptologia/journalarchitecture/downloads/JAEA2/JAEA2_Mazzone.pdf |access-date=11 September 2024 |website=D. Mazzone, ‘The Dark Side of a Model Community: The “Ghetto” of el-Lahun’, JAEA 2, 2017, pp. 19-54.}}</ref>

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:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alberti |first1=Leon Battista |author-link1=Leon Battista Alberti |editor1-last=Rykwert |editor1-first=Joseph |editor1-link=Joseph Rykwert |title=Ten Books on Architecture |date=1966 |publisher=Transatlantic Arts |location=New York |page=book IV, ch. V. 75 |no-pp=yes}}</ref>

{{blockquote|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]]:<ref>{{cite book |author1=Aristotle |author-link1=Aristotle |translator-last1=Sinclair |translator-first1=T. A. |title=The Politics |orig-year=335-323 BC |publication-date=1962 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |page=Book VII, sec. xi. 422 |no-pp=yes}}</ref>

{{blockquote|... but for security in war [the arrangement is more useful if it is planned in] the opposite [manner], as it used to be in ancient times. For that [arrangement] is difficult for foreign troops to enter and find their way about when attacking.}}

Inferential evidence of their earlier use can also be drawn from the writings of [[Germany|German]] architect Rudolf Eberstadt, which that explains the purpose of dead-end streets:<ref>{{cite journal |first=Rudolf |last=Eberstadt |title=The Problems of Town Development |journal=Contemporary Review |volume=96 |date=December 1909 |pages=660–667 |url=https://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/eberstad.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110141027/http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/eberstad.htm |archive-date=2011-11-10}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We have, in our medieval towns, showing very commendable methods of cutting up the land. I ought to mention here that to keep traffic out of residential streets is necessary not only in the general interest of the population, but, above all, for the sake of the children, whose health (amongst the [[working class]]es) is mainly dependent on the opportunity of moving about in close connection with their dwelling places, without the danger of being run over. In the earlier periods, traffic was excluded from residential streets simply by gates or by employing the cul-de-sac.}}

It was in the [[United Kingdom]] that the cul-de-sac street type was first legislated into use, with the [[Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906]] ([[6 Edw. 7]]. c. cxcii). The proponents of the act, [[Raymond Unwin]] and [[Richard Barry Parker|Barry Parker]], thus gained permission to introduce culs-de-sac in their subsequent site plans, and they promoted it as a suitable street type for garden suburbs. Unwin's applications of the cul-de-sac and the related crescent always included pedestrian paths independent of the road network. This design feature reflects the predominance of pedestrian movement for local trips at the turn of the 20th century, and presages the current{{Clarify timeframe|date=August 2021}}<!-- Specify since what year "current" refers to --> planning priority for increased pedestrian accessibility. The Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906 defined the nature of the cul-de-sac as a non-through road and restricted its length to {{convert|500|ft|m}}. [[Garden city movement|Garden cities]] in the UK that followed Hampstead, such as [[Welwyn Garden City]], all included culs-de-sac.

In the 1920s, the garden city movement became more popular in the [[United States]] and, with it, came its design elements, such as the cul-de-sac. [[Clarence Stein]], a main proponent of the movement, incorporated it in the [[Radburn, New Jersey]] (1929) subdivision, which was to become a model for subsequent neighborhood developments. The first modern cul-de-sac (1922) in America might be found in [[Buffalo, New York]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Van Ness |first1=Cynthia |title=Does Buffalo have the first modern American cul-de-sac? |url = https://buffaloresearch.com/2023/09/05/does-buffalo-have-the-first-modern-american-cul-de-sac/ |website=BuffaloResearch.com |date=5 September 2023 |access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref>

The country's [[Federal Housing Authority]] (FHA) recommended and promoted their use through their 1936 guidelines<ref>{{cite book |author=FHA |title=Planning Neighbourhoods for Small Houses |series=Technical Bulletin |volume=5 |location=Washington DC |date=July 1, 1936}}</ref> and the power of lending development funds.

In [[Canada]], a variation of Stein's Radburn 1929 plan that used crescents (loops) instead of culs-de-sac was built in 1947: [[Wildwood Park, Winnipeg]], designed by Hubert Bird. In 1954, the [[Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation]] published its own guidelines<ref>{{cite book |title=Principles of small house grouping |location=Ottawa |publisher=Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation |year=1954 }}</ref> in which the cul-de-sac was strongly recommended for local streets and, as the FHA in the US, used its lending power to see its inclusion in development plans. Varsity Village and [[Braeside, Calgary|Braeside]], subdivisions in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], also used the [[Radburn model]] in the late 1960s.

In the 1960s the cul-de-sac attained systematic international application in planned new cities such as [[Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis|Doxiadis']] [[Islamabad]] (1960). In the UK, new towns such as [[Harlow]] (1947) by [[Frederick Gibberd|Sir Frederick Gibberd]] and [[Milton Keynes]] (1967) incorporated culs-de-sac and crescents in their layouts.

Planning theorists have suggested the use of alternatives to culs-de-sac. Most notably, Christopher Alexander et al., in his 1977 book "[[A Pattern Language]]" (pattern #49) suggests the use of looped local roads which do not abruptly stop. Although dead end streets would fit his definition of looped local roads, Alexander suggestions that "cul-de-sacs [sic] <!-- Please do not fix the spelling here, this is a direct quote. --> are very bad from a social standpoint—they force interaction and they feel claustrophobic, because there is only one entrance".<ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Alexander |title=A Pattern Language |url=https://archive.org/details/patternlanguage00chri |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1977 |page = [https://archive.org/details/patternlanguage00chri/page/262 262]|isbn=978-0-19-501919-3 }}</ref> Doxiadis has additionally argued their important role in separating man from machine.<ref>{{cite book |first1=K. A. |last1=Doxiadis |author-link=Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis |first2=A. K. |last2=Oikistikes |title=Anthropopolis: City for Human Development |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton |year=1975 |isbn=0-393-08721-2}}{{page needed|date=August 2012}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=Does this mean separating vehicles and pedestrians?|date=August 2021}}

===Originally-unplanned dead ends===
[[File:PF Sackgasse.jpg|thumb|Two dead ends, made by closing a minor road in the center to block through-traffic]]
Originally unplanned dead ends have been added in [[City centre|city centers]] that are laid out on a grid by blocking through-traffic. Whole neighbourhood street reconfigurations emerged in several cities, mainly concentrated in [[North America]] and the UK, which include [[Berkeley, California]]; [[Seattle, Washington]]; and [[Vancouver, British Columbia]]. The transformation of [[grid plan]]s since the 1970s limits access to an existing road that is newly designated as a [[arterial road|major artery]], enabling traffic to move smoothly on it, alleviating residents' concerns.

This selective, sporadic transformation has been continuing into the 21st century. City planners sometimes, as traffic volumes increase and as cities decide to remove or reduce traffic on specific streets of central areas, streets are closed off using [[Bollard (traffic)|bollards]] or landscaping. As such, these actions make new, originally unplanned dead ends and producing a new, functional blend of the inherited grid with newer street types. A common variation of limiting traffic is managed via closure of retractable bollards that are activated only by designated card-holders.

==Suburban use and benefits==
Since the end of [[World War II]],<ref name="npr">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5455743|title=Culs-de-Sac: Suburban Dream or Dead End?|date=7 June 2006|work=Morning Edition|publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> new [[subdivision (land)|subdivisions]] in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], as well as [[New Towns]] in England and other countries have made extensive use of the cul-de-sac and crescent (loops) street types. Typically, there is one or several central roads in the subdivision with many cul-de-sac streets of varying length, branching out from the main roads, to fill the land in the subdivision, a dendrite or [[Hierarchy of roads|hierarchical]] pattern.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Marshal |year=2005 |title=Streets and Patterns |publisher=Spon Press |isbn=0-415-31750-9 }}</ref> Since the 1960s, the pattern has been the dominant road network structure of [[suburb]]s and exurbs in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], and [[Australia]]. It is also increasingly popular in [[Latin America]], [[Western Europe]], and [[China]]. In this pattern, there are only a few roads (relative to the number of cul-de-sac streets) leading out of the subdivision and into other subdivisions or onto major roads.

In the [[United States|US]], these changes can be attributed to real-estate developers' desire to meet [[Federal Housing Administration|FHA]] guidelines and make federal home loans available to their customers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/01workshop/sub_landsc.htm |work=NRHP Workshop @ NCSHPO Annual Meeting |title=Suburban Landscapes |access-date=2005-09-30 |archive-date=2012-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019131238/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/01workshop/sub_landsc.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In [[Canada]], a similar incentive was provided to developers by [[Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation|CMHC]]. The incentives, which were discontinued in the 1970s, gave the initial impetus for the application of the hierarchical pattern. In other countries, such incentives do not exist, and adoption is motivated by customer preferences.

American [[urban planning]], in the 19th and the early 20th centuries, emphasized a [[grid plan]], partly out of extensive reliance on foot, horse, and [[tram]]s for transportation. In such earlier urban development, [[alley]]s were included to allow for deliveries of soiled supplies, such as coal, to the rear of houses, which are now heated by electricity, piped natural gas or oil.

===Effects on local traffic===
[[File:Brookside Close - geograph.org.uk - 37506.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Channel 4]] soap opera ''[[Brookside (television programme)|Brookside]]'' was filmed exclusively in Brookside Close in [[Liverpool]].]]
The use of culs-de-sac has been shown to reduce the volume of car traffic on residential streets within a subdivision which in turn can reduce noise, air pollution, and the probability of accidents. 
<!-- Citation with meta-analysis. 
Feels a little out of place with rest of article. Seems a little narrow minded. Car traffic could be just transferred elsewhere? -->

Ben-Joseph (1995), and Lovegrove and Sayed (2006), indicate a substantially lower collision rate for [[street network]]s based on the cul-de-sac street type.<ref name="Ben-Joseph 1995">{{cite journal |first=Eran |last=Ben-Joseph |title=Livability and Safety of Suburban Street Patterns: A Comparative Study |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=Institute of Urban and Regional Development |series=University of California, Working Paper |volume=641 |year=1995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lovegrove |first1=Gordon R. |last2=Sayed |first2=Tarek |year=2006 |title=Using Macrolevel Collision Prediction Models in Road Safety Planning Applications |journal=Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board |volume=1950 |pages=73–82 |doi=10.3141/1950-09 }}</ref> Dumbaugh and Rae (2009) suggest that land-use patterns play a significant role in traffic safety and should be considered in conjunction with the network pattern.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Eric |last1=Dumbaugh |name-list-style=amp |first2=Robert |last2=Rae |title=Safe Urban Form: Revisiting the Relationship Between Community Design and Traffic Safety |journal=Journal of the American Planning Association |volume=75 |issue=3 |year=2009 |pages=309–329 |doi=10.1080/01944360902950349 |s2cid=153379995 }}</ref> While all intersection types in general increase the incidence of fatal crashes, four-way intersections, which rarely occur in a network with cul-de-sac or loop streets, increase total and injurious crashes significantly. This study recommends hybrid street networks with dense concentrations of T-intersections, and concludes that a return to the 19th century gridiron is undesirable.

In turn, the decrease in traffic is thought to lower the incidence of crime and increase desirability, because in most cases the people who traverse the cul-de-sac either live there or are guests of those who do. [[CPTED]] planning principles suggest increased natural surveillance and sense of ownership as a means of fostering security in a neighborhood. Both of these phenomena occur naturally on a cul-de-sac street as does social networking. Design guidelines based on the CPTED perspective recommend its use for those reasons.

Cul-de-sac streets increase spontaneous outdoor activity by children. A study in California examined the amount of child play that occurred on the streets of neighbourhoods with different characteristics; grid pattern and culs-de-sac.<ref>{{cite book |title=Culs-de-Sac and Children's Outdoor Play: Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence |year=2007 |first1=Susan |last1=Handy |first2=Samantha |last2=Sommer |first3=Julie |last3=Ogilvie |first4=Xinyu |last4=Cao |first5=Patricia |last5=Mokhtarian |author5-link=Patricia Mokhtarian|publisher=University of California Davis }}</ref> The findings indicate that culs-de-sac showed substantial increase in play activity than the open grid street pattern. culs-de-sac reduce perceived danger from traffic, thereby encouraging more outdoor play.

[[File:Culs-de-sac Varisto, Vantaa.jpg|thumb|right|Cul-de-sac in [[Vantaa]], [[Finland]]]]
Similar studies in Europe<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huttenmoser |first1=Marco |last2=Meierhofer |first2=Marie |author-link2=Marie Meierhofer |year=1995 |title=Children and Their Living Surroundings for the Everyday Life and Development of Children |journal=Children's Environments |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=1–17}}</ref> and Australia<ref>{{cite journal |title=Individual, social and physical environmental correlates of children's active free-play: a cross-sectional study |first1=Jenny |last1=Veitch |first2=Jo |last2=Salmon |first3=Kylie |last3=Ball |journal=Australia International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity |year=2010 |volume=7 |page=11 |doi=10.1186/1479-5868-7-11 |pmid=20181061 |pmc=2841089 |doi-access=free }}</ref> found that children's outdoor play is significantly reduced on through roads where traffic is, or perceived by parents to be, a risk. In addition, they confirmed the results of the seminal [[Donald Appleyard]] 1982 study, which showed the negative correlation between amount of traffic and social networks. The inverse correlation between amounts of traffic and sociability of streets was reconfirmed by a newer study<ref>Hart, Joshua and Parkhurst, Graham 2011, Driven To Excess: Impacts of Motor Vehicles on the Quality of Life of Residents of Three Streets in Bristol UK, [[World Transport Policy and Practice]], Volume 17.2 June 2011</ref> that repeated Appleyard's San Francisco analysis in Bristol, UK. It showed that the cul-de-sac street with the lowest traffic of the three streets had the highest level of social interaction.

The studies recommend the use of the cul-de-sac or strong traffic calming measures. When culs-de-sac are interconnected with foot and bike paths, as for example in [[Vauban, Freiburg]] and [[Village Homes]] in [[Davis, California]], they can increase active modes of mobility among their residents.<ref name="Frank, L. 2008">{{cite book |last1=Frank |first1=L. |last2=Hawkins |first2=C. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Assessing Travel and Environmental Impacts of Contrasting Levels of Vehicular and Pedestrian Connectivity: Assessing Aspects of the Fused Grid |location=Ottawa |publisher=Canada Mortgageand Housing Corporation }}</ref>

===Real estate desirability===
[[Real estate developer]]s prefer culs-de-sac because they allow builders to fit more houses into oddly shaped tracts of land and facilitate building to the edges of rivers and property lines.<ref name="npr" /> They also choose these discontinuous network patterns of cul-de-sac and loop streets because of the often significant economies in infrastructure costs compared to the [[grid plan]].

From an environmental perspective, culs-de-sac allow greater flexibility than the common grid in adapting to the natural grades of a site and to its ecologically sensitive features, such as streams, creeks, and mature forest growth.

The desirability of the cul-de-sac street type among home buyers is implied by the evidence that they often pay up to a 20% premium for a home on such a street, according to one study.<ref name="npr" /> That could be because there is considerably less passing traffic, resulting in less noise and reduced actual or perceived risk, increasing the sense of tranquility. A survey of residents on three types of streets: cul-de-sac, loop, and through (grid) recorded their preferences among these types. It found that 82% of cul-de-sac residents preferred their own street type, 18% preferred a loop, and 0% the grid. Only 13% of grid street residents preferred their own type and 54% would choose a cul-de-sac.<ref name="Ben-Joseph 1995" />
Two other studies,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Paul K. |last=Asabere |title=The value of a neighborhood street with reference to the cul-de-sac |journal=Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics |volume=3 |issue=2 |year=1990 |pages=185–193 |doi=10.1007/BF00216591 |s2cid=154313261 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Asabere |first1=Paul K. |last2=Huffman |first2=Forrest E. |title=The Relative Impacts of Trails and Greenbelts on Home Price |journal=Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics |volume=38 |issue=4 |year=2009 |pages=408–419 |doi=10.1007/s11146-007-9089-8 |s2cid=54544269 }}</ref> reported in 1990 and 2009 respectively, confirmed the upward trend and determined the premium that cul-de-sac streets command. The first found a 29% premium over the streets in a grid. The second, focused on trails and greenbelts, found that other amenities including cul-de-sac streets add significantly to the home value.

The positive feelings that a cul-de-sac street could evoke, that residents value, are expressed vividly by [[Allan Jacobs]] in describing [[Roslyn Place (street)|Roslyn Place]], a short ({{cvt|250|ft|m|disp=sqbr}}), narrow ({{cvt|60|ft|m|disp=sqbr}}), densely built ({{convert|14|/acre|/ha|abbr=off|disp=sqbr|adj=pre|du}}), and wood-paved<ref>{{cite web|last=Nelson |first=Diana |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2004/03/21/Shadyside-s-wooden-street-paves-its-way-to-greatness/stories/200403210204 |title=Shadyside's wooden street paves its way to greatness &#124; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |publisher=Post-gazette.com |date=2004-03-21 |access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref> cul-de-sac in the [[Shadyside (Pittsburgh)|Shadyside]] neighborhood of [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania:<ref>{{cite book |first=Allan B. |last=Jacobs |title=Great Streets |year=1993 |publisher=MIT press |isbn=0-262-10048-7 }}</ref> "Step into Roslyn Place and you are likely to sense, immediately, that you are in a ''place'', a special place, a handsome place, a safe place, a welcoming place, a place where you might wish to live." "narrowness and enclosure and intimacy bring a feeling of safety to Roslyn Place... 'Stay on our street' is all the kids have to know".

[[Gated community|Gated communities]], whose numbers are steadily increasing worldwide<!-- Citation? -->, use cul-de-sac and loop street networks because the dendrite structure reduces the number of through roads and thus the corresponding number of entries and exits that need to be controlled.

==Criticisms and discussion==
[[File:Lubuska-Swierzynska.siegacz.jpg|thumb|A cul-de-sac in [[Wrocław]], Poland]]
[[File:A short cul-de-sac and connecting path- Athens -Papagou.jpg|thumb|One of several short, narrow, connected cul-de-sac streets in Athens, Greece. The photos show the street (below) and the connecting footpath to the corresponding street (above).]]
[[File:Village Homes Street Network Diagram.jpg|thumb|A plan of [[Village Homes]] in [[Davis, California]], showing the street and path network with connected culs-de-sac]]

===Traffic safety===
Dead ends are traditionally considered safer traffic environments for children than normal streets, but research shows that areas with many dead ends in fact have higher rates of traffic accidents involving young children.<ref name="npr" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://bettercities.net/article/tomorrow%E2%80%99s-cities-tomorrow%E2%80%99s-suburbs |title=Tomorrow's Cities, Tomorrow's Suburbs &#124; Better! Cities & Towns Online |access-date=2019-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118041952/http://bettercities.net/article/tomorrow%E2%80%99s-cities-tomorrow%E2%80%99s-suburbs |archive-date=2017-01-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

This increased risk of death is due to multiple factors, including:<ref name="npr" />
* families living on dead end streets drive longer distances to reach their destinations,
* parents living on dead end streets spend less time teaching their children to be as wary of traffic, and
* an increased risk of the parents accidentally driving over the children in front of their own homes.

===Environmental effects===
Culs-de-sac are criticised by urban designers like those of the [[The Prince's Foundation for Building Community|Foundation for the Built Environment]] in the UK for encouraging car transport for even short distances, as more direct connections are precluded by the geometry, which necessitates long travel distances even to physically-nearby locations. This increases fuel consumption and vehicle emissions and has negative effects on health by reducing walking and cycling rates.<ref name="CHARLES">''[https://archive.today/20070213081417/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1364738.ece Charles: let’s kill off the cul-de-sac]'' – ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', February 11, 2007</ref> Related research in the United States by Richard Jackson has shown that people in car-based (cul-de-sac heavy) communities weigh on average {{convert|6|lb}} more than those in traditional towns (with open grid networks).<ref name="CHARLES"/>

===Health effects===
[[File:culdesac.jpg|thumb|A cul-de-sac sign in [[Dublin]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]]]
An extensive analysis of the research evidence by TRB,<ref>Does the built environment influence physical activity?: examining the evidence /Committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transportation, and Land Use, Transportation
Research Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (Special report; 282){{ISBN|0-309-09498-4}}</ref> however, shows only an association between the built environment and physical activity levels, not causal connections. The evidence also does not identify with certainty which characteristics of the built environment are most closely associated with physical activity behaviour. The study also warns against confusing inadequate physical activity with obesity which is the outcome of an energy imbalance. Many contemporary lifestyle trends, some inevitable (sedentary work) and some avoidable (frequent energy-rich food consumption or the watching of television [four hours per day]), contribute to the imbalance and must be considered in understanding and combating [[obesity]].

The impermeability deficiency of the typical cul-de-sac street can be addressed by applying a modified, improved version of it, mentioned above, that enables pedestrian and bicycle through-movement. While this more permeable version can be applied in new developments easily, modifying existing impermeable cul-de-sac streets is problematic as it encounters property ownership issues. Efforts in that direction are, however, being made. Because of the complicated legal process and the sheer number of existing cul-de-sac streets, however, such efforts would be slow to produce results and may have little impact in changing the landscape of existing districts.

Conversely, transforming existing streets that are part of a grid plan into permeable, linked culs-de-sac, as was done in [[Berkeley, California]], and [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], is physically and administratively easy due to the public ownership of the street right-of-way. However, residents on adjacent through roads may resent the potential traffic increase and delay the process. In Berkeley, the barriers used were permeable to both pedestrian and bicycle traffic and became a critical feature of the [[bicycle boulevard]] system in that region.

Increases in pedestrian and bicycle permeability may result in a displacement of local car trips for short-distance destinations,<ref name="Frank, L. 2008"/> and consequently a reduction in neighbourhood vehicle emissions. The impermeable cul-de-sac not only discourages walking and biking but also increases the length of car trips by the circuitous geometry of the dendrite network structure of which it is a part.

Research studies examined the influence of several variables on the amount of car travel that residents of several types of districts recorded. Results vary considerably among them, but there is general agreement on a number of key correlations:<ref name="ReferenceA">Taming the Flow—Better Traffic and Safer Neighbourhoods. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, July 2008</ref><ref>Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Urban Travel: Tool for Evaluating Neighbourhood Sustainability.Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2000</ref> a) the wealthier and the larger the family is, the more cars they own, and the more they drive, b) the farther away a family lives from the city centre, and the fewer the jobs in the vicinity, plus a slow bus service, the more they drive, and c) street patterns may add a 10% length to local trips, but the total VKTs are affected more by the "macro" urban than the "micro" neighbourhood structure.

===Safety and crime===
Culs-de-sac, especially those that also limit pedestrian routes instead of only road-traffic routes, have also been criticised for negative effects on safety because they decrease the amount of through-traffic (vehicular or pedestrian) that might notice an accident or crime victim in need of help. Proponents of culs-de-sac and [[gated communities]] have in turn countered that the reduction in through-traffic makes any "stranger" much more recognisable in the closed local environment and thus reduces crime danger. That view has in turn been characterized as unrealistic. It is argued that, since only very few of all non-locals passing through the area are potential criminals, increased traffic should increase rather than decrease safety.<ref>''Can Streets Be Made Safe?'' – Hillier, Bill; Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London</ref>

Research has expanded the discussion on the disputed issue. A 2008 study<ref>An evidence based approach to crime and urban design Or, can we have vitality, sustainability and security all at once? Bill Hillier, Ozlem Sahbaz. March 2008. Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London</ref> did extensive spatial analysis and correlated several building, site plan and social factors with crime frequencies and identified subtle nuances to the contrasting positions. The study looked at, among others, a) dwelling types, b) unit density (site density) c) movement on the street, d) culs-de-sac or grids, and e) the permeability of a residential area. Among its conclusions are, respectively, that a) flats are always safer than houses and the wealth of inhabitants matters, b) density is generally beneficial but more so at ground level, c) local movement is beneficial but larger-scale movement not so, d) relative affluence and the number of neighbours has a greater effect than either being on a cul-de-sac or being on a through-street. It also established again that simple, linear culs-de-sac with good numbers of dwellings that are joined to through streets tend to be safe. As for permeability, it suggests that residential areas should be permeable enough to allow movement in all directions but no more. The overprovision of poorly used permeability is a crime hazard.

===Isolation and connection===
[[File:Strangford (36), August 2009.JPG|thumb|A cul-de-sac sign in [[Strangford]], [[Northern Ireland]]]]
More generally, the [[New Urbanism]] movement has offered criticism of the cul-de-sac and crescent (loop) street types not intended to network with each other. It has been suggested that such street layouts can cause increased traffic on the collector streets. It is recognized that culs-de-sac and looped streets inherently remove car traffic through them and restrict access to residents only. Resident traffic is naturally channelled to minor residential collectors and to arterials that provide inter-neighbourhood and inter-district connectivity.

A study, reported in 1990,<ref>Traditional Neighborhood Development: Will the Traffic Work?Presentation by Walter Kulash at the 11th Annual Pedestrian Conference in Bellevue WA, October 1990</ref> compared the traffic performance in a {{convert|700|acre|km2 ha|adj=on}} development that was laid out using two approaches, one with and the other without hierarchy or cul-de-sac streets. It concluded that the non-hierarchical, traditional layout generally shows lower peak speed and shorter, more frequent intersection delays than the hierarchical pattern. The traditional pattern is not as conducive to long trips as the hierarchical but more conducive to short trips. Local trips in it are shorter in distance but about equivalent in time with the hierarchical layout. A later similar comparative traffic study<ref name="ReferenceA" /> of about {{convert|830|acre|km2 ha}} concluded that all types of layouts perform adequately in most land-use scenarios and that a refined hierarchical, dendrite network can improve traffic performance.

Anecdotal and research evidence suggests that navigation (especially on foot) in a disconnected network of cul-de-sac and looped streets is inconvenient and non-intuitive, particularly when combined with curvilinear geometry. Loss of orientation and sense of direction is also a common experience in older cities with cul-de-sac streets (Medina of Arab cities or [[Mediterranean hill town]]s) as well as in cities with highly-irregular block geometries and sizes and corresponding street alignments that produce a labyrinthine effect. The long history of such cities implies that an irregular, complicated street network that appears entirely illegible to a visitor is well understood and used by the inhabitants. More convincing about its workability for their permanent residents are the case histories of cities such as [[Regensburg]] that show a gradual transformation of an imported or imposed orthogonal, "legible" grid to the traditional "confusing" street networks.<ref>{{cite book |first=A. E. J. |last=Morris |year=1994 |title=History of Urban Form Before the Industrial Revolution |edition=Third |publisher=Pearson Education Limited |location=Harlow, UK |isbn=0-582-30154-8 }}</ref>

Cul-de-sac and loop streets can reduce the size of any given neighbourhood to a single street. Neighbourhoods can be defined by geographic boundaries but more often it is shared ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics that produce social cohesion irrespective of apparent physical "boundaries". Mehaffy ''et al.'' (2010), who propose a model for structuring an urban network, suggest that neighbourhoods cannot be designed into being.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Michael |last1=Mehaffy |first2=Sergio |last2=Porta |first3=Yodan |last3=Rofe |name-list-style=amp |first4=Nikos |last4=Salingaros |title=Urban nuclei and the geometry of streets: The 'emergent neighborhoods' model |year=2010 |journal=Urban Design International |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=22–46 [p. 45] |doi=10.1057/udi.2009.26 |s2cid=2588208 }}</ref> "Community" is viewed as a dynamic social and [[cultural construct]], especially in contemporary, open, multicultural cities. Residential area street configuration can assist its emergence only by reducing through-traffic and increasing local pedestrian movement{{Snd}}a design goal for which connected cul-de-sac and looped streets are suited.

Issues of pedestrian trip length and isolation are very evident in the back-to-front housing arrangement where the front of the house fronts onto the cul-de-sac street while the rear fronts onto the main roads. Some of the problems can be mitigated by the newer{{Clarify timeframe|date=August 2021}}<!-- What year has this practice been implemented since? --> practice of connecting the neighbouring roads and culs-de-sac with public pedestrian or cycle paths. In effect, this removes the discontinuity aspect for these modes of transport. Built examples of such connected culs-de-sac can be found in the [[United States]] (such as [[Radburn, New Jersey|Radburn]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Village Homes]], [[California]]), [[England]] (such as [[Milton Keynes]]), and [[Greece]] (such as [[Papagou]], a suburb of [[Athens]]). Acknowledging their use, [[Germany]], under the 2009 amendment to the Road Traffic Act, introduced an additional sign for culs-de-sac that are permeable to pedestrians and cyclists<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsa-95.de/VZ-Liste.htm |title=Richtlinien für die Sicherung von Arbeitsstellen an Straßen RSA-95 (Übersicht alte und neue Verkehrszeichen) |author=Uli Korsch |access-date=2012-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407043850/http://www.rsa-95.de/VZ-Liste.htm |archive-date=2013-04-07 }} – Zeichen 357, 357–50 und 357-51</ref> (see under signage below). A new system for organizing connected, permeable culs-de-sac into complete neighbourhoods, the [[fused grid]], has been developed by [[Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation]].

===Density===
[[File:MUTCD-TX W14-1T.svg|thumb|A cul-de-sac sign used in [[Texas]], [[United States]]]]
In the development context and planning literature of [[North America]], culs-de-sac have been associated with low-density residential development. [[Sustainable development]] theorists and proponents claim that to be, in some undefined way, inefficient. The increased prevalence of cul-de-sac streets occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of rapid economic and city expansion, when a detached house on a large lot meant an ideal form of habitation. The temporal coincidence of the wide adoption of a street type and an increasing demand for large lots and houses suggests a necessary relationship between street type and unit density.

Historically, however, the earliest systematic application of the cul-de-sac street type by Raymond Unwin (1909) had a unit density between {{convert|8|and|12|/acre|/ha|abbr=off|adj=pre|units}}, considerably higher than mid-to-late 20th century. Even in the 21st century, developments rarely achieve densities above {{convert|5|to|7|/acre|/ha|abbr=off|adj=pre|units}} in the suburbs. Conversely, early 1950s suburban developments that were laid out on a grid exhibit similar low densities. Evidently, street, network type and density are not linked causally; other factors, such as land scarcity and income, influence the outcome as, for example, in cities that are landlocked or that have low average incomes.

===Accessibility of services===
Another concern is often voiced by emergency services, which can have difficulty locating streets when a community consists of a large number of similarly named culs-de-sac; also, large fire response vehicles, in particular, can have great difficulty with turning around in a cul-de-sac.<ref name="HBR">{{cite journal|url=http://hbr.org/2010/05/back-to-the-city/sb1|title=Back to the City|journal=Harvard Business Review|access-date=16 July 2016|date=May 2010|last1=Wieckowski|first1=Ania G.}}</ref> However, confusing street naming is not a necessary outcome of street network design and can be improved. The practice of naming orthogonal networks by numbers and letters in the corresponding cardinal directions has been criticized by [[Camilo Sitte]] as lacking imagination. Nonetheless, police and fire departments now use advanced [[GPS navigation device|GPS]] systems that quickly locate the destination and the shortest path to follow.

School buses can also have a hard time turning around, which means that children who live in a cul-de-sac must often walk to a bus stop on a main through-road. However, research on obesity and urban planning suggests that to be a possible advantage because it enables children to get daily physical activity. Longer walking distances, however, reduce interest in using buses especially when a car is available.<ref name="HBR" /> This disincentive to walking to a school bus-stop can be overcome in planned cul-de-sac streets by regulating their maximum length to about {{convert|500|ft|m|abbr=on}}, as was recommended and practiced by R. Unwin and others.

===Regulation===
Weighing available evidence has led a few US cities including [[Austin, Texas]]; [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]; and [[Portland, Oregon]], to restrict and regulate the inclusion of cul-de-sac streets in new suburbs.<ref name="npr" /> However, a 2010 study<ref>{{cite web|url=http://works.bepress.com/lewyn/65|title=This work is no longer available|first=Berkeley Electronic|last=Press|website=works.bepress.com}}</ref> on sprawl in North America by a legal expert concludes that "neighborhoods dominated by culs-de-sac are less walkable than those that include street grids. On the other hand, culs-de-sac do have a countervailing public benefit: because of their very inaccessibility, they tend to have less automobile traffic.

Given the existence of important public policy goals on both sides, a city seeking to maximize [[walkability]] should not favor culs-de-sac over grids, but should also allow some culs-de-sac as a legitimate residential option.{{Nbsp}}In addition, there are "middle ground" alternatives between prohibiting culs-de-sac and mandating them. For example, a city could encourage culs-de-sac combined with pedestrian walkways." This design combination is shown in the Village Homes layout and is an integral part of the [[Fused Grid]].

==Terminology==
The expression ''cul-de-sac'' comes from French, where it originally meant "bottom of a sack".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/cul-de-sac|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107155834/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/cul-de-sac|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2014|title=cul-de-sac - Definition of cul-de-sac in US English by Oxford Dictionaries|website=Oxford Dictionaries - English}}</ref> It was first used in English in anatomy (since 1738). It was used for dead end streets since 1800 in English (since the 14th century in French).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/cul-de-sac|title=CUL-DE-SAC : Définition de CUL-DE-SAC|website=www.cnrtl.fr}}</ref> The often-heard erroneous folk etymology "arse/ass [buttocks] of the sack" is based on the modern meaning of ''cul'' in [[French language|French]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], and [[Occitan language|Occitan]], but ''cul'' does not have that meaning in ''cul-de-sac'', which is still used to refer to dead ends in modern French{{Snd}}although the terms {{lang|fr|impasse}} and {{lang|fr|voie sans issue}} are more common.

[[George Orwell]] wrote in his 1946 article "[[Politics and the English Language]]" that the term "cul de sac" is another foreign word used in English as pretentious diction and is unnecessary.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-02-16 |title=Politics and the English Language {{!}} The Orwell Foundation |url=https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=www.orwellfoundation.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] used the name [[Bag End]] as a translation of "cul-de-sac" to poke fun at the British use of French terms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shippey |first1=Tom |author-link1=Tom Shippey |title=[[The Road to Middle-Earth]] |date=1982 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=978-0-261-10275-0}}</ref>

The French term "cul-de-sac" and English synonyms or near-synonyms "dead end" and "no exit" have inspired metaphorical uses in literature and in culture, often with the result that a word or phrase seeming to have a negative connotation is replaced in street signs with a new coinage ("no outlet" is another alternative name used on street signs).

===Australia===
In Australia, dead end streets are signposted as and often referred to as a "no-through road". Suffixes for these types of streets include "court", "close" or "place".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www0.landgate.wa.gov.au/docvault.nsf/web/PS_LD/$file/Geographic-names-policies.pdf |title=Policies and Standards for Geographical Naming in Western Australia |publisher=Landgate, Government of Western Australia |date=January 2015 |pages=53–54 |access-date=14 September 2016 |archive-date=17 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117111211/https://www0.landgate.wa.gov.au/docvault.nsf/web/PS_LD/$file/Geographic-names-policies.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The term "cul-de-sac" generally only refers to a reasonably short street with a bulbous end, or even only to the end portion. A long road that is a no-through road and terminates abruptly is usually called a dead end. In older suburbs, dead-end streets are sometimes suffixed as 'crescent' or '[[Avenue (landscape)|avenue]]' on street signs.

===Canada===
In Canada, "cul-de-sac" is commonly used in speech but "no-exit" or "no-through road" is more common in road signs, especially in western Canada. In Quebec and Newfoundland, "cul-de-Sac" is in far more common use, although Quebec uses "impasse" too.

===Italy===
{{main|Roads in Italy}}

In Italy, terms commonly used in speech for dead-end street include ''strada senza uscita'' ("dead end road") and "cul-de-sac".<ref>{{Treccani|cul-de-sac|cul de sac|v=x}}</ref> Metaphorically, in Italy, the expression "cul-de-sac" is used to indicate an inextricable stalemate.<ref>{{Treccani|cul-de-sac_(Sinonimi-e-Contrari)|cul de sac (Sinonimi e Contrari)|v=x}}</ref><ref>{{Treccani|impasse|impasse|v=x}}</ref>

===New Zealand===
In New Zealand, dead end streets are sometimes signposted as "No Exit", but are often not signposted at all. The terms 'cul-de-sac' and 'dead end' have the same senses as in Australia. Similarly to Australia, residential culs-de-sac with bulbous ends are often suffixed with "Place", abbreviated to "Pl" on street signs.

===United Kingdom===
{{see also|List of closes on the Royal Mile}} However, as stated there, that article refers to closes as alleyways rather than dead end roads.
In British English, the phrase "close" is often used as a suffix for residential cul-de-sac roads, although several variants exist similar to those used in other Commonwealth countries.

===United States===
[[File:Cul-de-Sac cropped.jpg|thumb|A cul-de-sac in [[Sacramento, California]]]]
[[File:Dead end, Otay Mesa, San Diego.jpg|thumb|right|Dead end sign in English and Spanish in [[Otay Mesa, San Diego]]]]
US [[Federal Highway Administration]] rules state: "The ''Dead End'' sign may be used at the entrance of a single road or street that terminates in a dead end or cul-de-sac. The ''No Outlet'' sign may be used at the entrance to a road or road network from which there is no other exit." There is no federal regulation on "no exit".<ref name="wsnyt">{{cite news | last=Safire | first=William | author-link=William Safire | title=On Language: Dead End | work=New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/magazine/13wwln-safire-t.html | date=2008-07-13 | access-date=2008-12-04}}</ref>

The phrase "No Exit" is also preferred for [[Chicago]] signs, although "dead end" is still used there.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} [[New York City]] has favored "dead end" since at least the 1930s, when [[Sidney Kingsley]] used the phrase to title his Broadway play about poor, tough [[East Side (Manhattan)|East Side]] youths with lives of little promise, in contrast to the dead end streets of the nearby [[Sutton Place, Manhattan|Sutton Place]] neighborhood. (Similarly, French [[Existentialism|existentialist]] [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] titled a play about three damned sinners, ''[[Huis Clos]]'', translated into English as "[[No Exit]]".) Kingsley's play was later made into a movie, ''[[Dead End (1937 film)|Dead End]]'', which proved so popular that it spawned similar movies, many starring a group of recurring characters known as the [[Dead End Kids]]. The play and movies produced such a strong image of bleak futures and an unfair society that some municipalities changed the sign terminology for culs-de-sac, often to "no outlet" or "no exit". (The "dead end" signs currently at Sutton Place are bright yellow with black lettering.)<ref name="wsnyt"/>

In New York City, as of 2008, there were 4,659 "dead end" traffic signs, along with 160 "no outlet" signs. The city records, which go back to the 1960s, show only a couple{{Clarify|reason='Couple' means two. Does this actually mean there were two 'no exit' signs, or does it intend to mean 'a few'?|date=August 2021}} of "no exit" signs once existing near the approaches to the Midtown Tunnel, and which are no longer there. New York City Commissioner of Transportation [[Janette Sadik-Khan]] said in 2008: "We hear that some towns use 'no outlet' instead of 'dead end' because they think it sounds less morbid." "We tell New Yorkers the truth: it's a 'dead end', and we think that motorists get the point quickly."<ref name="wsnyt"/>

[[California]] uses the phrase ''Not a Through Street'' or ''Not a Through Road'' to mark roads or road systems that end in culs-de-sac. More recently, ''No Outlet'' has been shown on some signs as well (an example being Meyers Avenue south of Eureka Street in the [[Eureka, California|Pine Hills]] area).

Uniquely in the United States, a cul-de-sac is labeled a "cove" on street signs in the [[Memphis, Tennessee]], area.<ref name="Cove-NYT">{{cite news |last1=Dawan |first1=Shaila |title=As Renters Move In, Some Homeowners Fret |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/business/economy/as-renters-move-in-and-neighborhoods-change-homeowners-grumble.html |access-date=21 March 2025 |work=New York Times |date=August 28, 2013 |quote=In a small cul-de-sac near Hillshire — or what in Memphis is called a “cove” — Rusby Amador cooked dinner for her three sons while waiting for her husband, a tile layer, to get home.}}</ref><ref name="Cove-Shelby County">{{cite web |title=Street Naming Guide for Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee |url=https://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/system/files/mrln/mknowledge/main/Memphis%20Shelby%20County%20Street%20Naming%20Guide.pdf |website=Municipal Technical Advisory Service |publisher=University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service |access-date=21 March 2025}}</ref>

===Other uses===
In military parlance, a "cul-de-sac" refers to a situation where an army is "hemmed in on all sides but behind".<ref>OED, online edition, draft revision December 2007, entry for ''cul-de-sac, n<sup>2</sup>''</ref> "Cul-de-sac" is also used [[metaphorically]] to mean a line of thought or action that leads nowhere.

In medicine, the expression "cul-de-sac" is used to refer to the [[recto-uterine pouch]], also known as the Pouch of Douglas, the deepest point of the female [[peritoneal cavity]].

==Signage==
<gallery>
Image:Vienna Convention road sign G13-EA.svg|[[Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals|Vienna Convention]] sign (Most countries use a variant of this sign.)
</gallery>

<gallery>
Image:Philippines road sign S2-8A.svg|Australia & Philippines
Image:Hinweiszeichen 11.svg|Austria
Image:SADC road sign IN4.svg|[[Southern African Development Community]] countries (<small>[[Botswana|BW]], [[Lesotho|LS]], [[Malawi|MW]], [[Mozambique|MZ]], [[Namibia|NA]], [[South Africa|ZA]], [[Swaziland|SZ]], [[Tanzania|TZ]], [[Zambia|ZM]], [[Zimbabwe|ZW]]</small>)
Image:Brasil A-45.svg|Brazil 
Image:Ontario Wa-31.svg|Canada (Ontario)
Image:MUTCDC ID-31.svg|Canada (Prince Edward Island)
Image:Québec I-375-1.svg|Canada (Quebec)
Image:IE road sign F-350.svg|Ireland
Image:New Zealand road sign A40-1.svg|New Zealand
Image:AE road sign 409.svg|United Arab Emirates
Image:Dead End sign.svg|United States
Image:MUTCD_W14-2.svg|United States
Image:NYCDOT W14-5.SVG|United States
Image:Not a through street.svg|United States
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Fused grid]]
* [[Permeability (spatial and transport planning)]]
* [[Turnaround (road)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Culs-de-sac}}
* {{Wiktionary inline|cul-de-sac|dead end}}

{{Road types}}
{{Traffic signs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cul-De-Sac}}
[[Category:Types of streets]]