Dead end road

A dead end is a street with only one inlet/outlet. A dead end is also known as a cul-de-sac (/ˈkʌldəsæk/ or /ˈkʊldəsæk/, from French for cul ["bottom"] + de ["of"] + sac ["bag, sack"]) or no exit road in certain contexts and dialects.

The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology and traffic signs include many different alternatives. Some of these are used only regionally. In the United States and other countries, cul-de-sac is often not an exact synonym for dead end and refers to dead ends with a circular end, allowing for easy turning at the end of the road.

Dead ends are created in urban planning to limit through-traffic in residential areas. While some dead ends provide no possible passage except in and out of their road entry, others allow cyclists, pedestrians or other non-automotive traffic to pass through connecting easements or paths, an example of filtered permeability. Its application retains the dead end's primary function as a non-through road, but establishes complete pedestrian and bicycle network connectivity.

The earliest examples of dead ends were unearthed in the El-Lahun workers' village in Egypt, which was built circa 1885 BC. The village is laid out with straight streets that intersect at right angles; akin to a grid, but irregular. The western part of the excavated village, where the workers lived, shows fifteen narrow and short dead-ends laid out perpendicularly on either side of a wider, straight street; all terminate at the enclosing walls.

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