Difference between a court and a cul-de-sac

[Elliott Plack, USAR]

What is the difference between a court and a cul-de-sac?

And while we're on the subject, what is it called when a street makes a
90 degree turn and there's a sort of wide elbow road with more houses
on the outside corner?

Also what is it called when there is a divided one of the
aforementioned elbows, with say, a tree in the middle?

Just curious...

[John Lansford]

Post by Elliott Plack, USAR
What is the difference between a court and a cul-de-sac?
And while we're on the subject, what is it called when a street makes a
90 degree turn and there's a sort of wide elbow road with more houses
on the outside corner?
Also what is it called when there is a divided one of the
aforementioned elbows, with say, a tree in the middle?
Just curious...

A cul de sac has a means to turn a vehicle around at the end. The
turnaround can be circular or it can be "L" or "T" shaped and require
the vehicle to back up to turn around. There's not really a specific
definition for "court".

If there's a wide place on a curve that other homes are located on,
and the through traffic doesn't use it, I'd call that a cul de sac as
well.

John Lansford, PE
--
The unofficial I-26 Construction Webpage:
http://users.vnet.net/lansford/a10/

[Chris Bessert]

Post by John Lansford
A cul de sac has a means to turn a vehicle around at the end. The
turnaround can be circular or it can be "L" or "T" shaped and require
the vehicle to back up to turn around. There's not really a specific
definition for "court".

To echo John's sentiments, a cul-de-sac is a specific road feature,
while a court is a more nebuluous road naming convention. Kind of like
trying to tell the difference between a "Street" and an "Avenue" --
these days it's pretty much a naming convention (if that) rather
than actually differentiating between an actual type of roadway.
Another case-in-point is the next residential street south of mine
is called a "Boulevard," while it is no difference from my street --
it's not divided/has no median and is no different than any other
residential street. It's just that the person who originally named
it liked how "Boulevard" rounded out the name.

Later,
Chris

--
Chris Bessert
***@aol.com
http://www.michiganhighways.org
http://www.wisconsinhighways.org
http://www.ontariohighways.org

[Marc Fannin]

Post by Chris Bessert
Kind of like
trying to tell the difference between a "Street" and an "Avenue" --
these days it's pretty much a naming convention (if that) rather
than actually differentiating between an actual type of roadway.
Another case-in-point is the next residential street south of mine
is called a "Boulevard," while it is no difference from my street --
it's not divided/has no median and is no different than any other
residential street. It's just that the person who originally named
it liked how "Boulevard" rounded out the name.

This reminds me of an unusually-roadgeekly situation from late last
year: When the new name for the access road around the Denver Broncos'
football stadium (Invesco Field at Mile High) was being decided, it
could have had pretty much any designator ("Street", "Boulevard", etc.)
since this is the custom for these types of roads these days, but
"Drive" was chosen - "John Elway Drive" - because this has a double
meaning - it also refers to a famous set of plays that said quarterback
helped execute in a playoff game a while back which has become lore in
the team's history (as well as in the history of the opponent in the
game...I know the latter all too well, and know better not to bring it
up in conversation...).

"Mile High honor: Stadium street now Elway Drive" (9/26/04)
http://tinyurl.com/5p293
(www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3212236,00.html)

________________________________________________________________________
Marc Fannin|***@kent.edu or @hotmail.com| http://www.roadfan.com/

[Random Waftings Of Bunker Blasts]

John Elway's political views render him a topic of ridicule.

It's highly unfortunate that someone like John Elway who was once looked
up to by millions would disgrace himself by aligning himself with
extremists.

[Craig Holl]

Post by Marc Fannin
This reminds me of an unusually-roadgeekly situation from late last
year: When the new name for the access road around the Denver
Broncos' football stadium (Invesco Field at Mile High) was being
decided, it
could have had pretty much any designator ("Street", "Boulevard",
etc.) since this is the custom for these types of roads these days,
but "Drive" was chosen - "John Elway Drive" - because this has a
double
meaning - it also refers to a famous set of plays that said
quarterback helped execute in a playoff game a while back which has
become lore in
the team's history (as well as in the history of the opponent in the
game...I know the latter all too well, and know better not to bring it
up in conversation...).
"Mile High honor: Stadium street now Elway Drive" (9/26/04)
http://tinyurl.com/5p293
(www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3212236,00.html)

In Green Bay, (Ashwaubenon actually) there is Holmgren Way and Brett Favre
Pass. Mike Holmgren was actually asked what his preference for a designator
would be. His first choice was Boulevard, but the DPW didn't like that
because the street is not divided. So he settled for Way, which is
interesting because he actually didn't get his way and become GM/Head Coach
of the Packers. Brett Favre Pass, like the John Elway Drive, has a double
meaning, which is obvious. The street is very short and turns a couple
times and takes on another street name.

[Scott O. Kuznicki]

Post by Elliott Plack, USAR
What is the difference between a court and a cul-de-sac?
And while we're on the subject, what is it called when a street makes a
90 degree turn and there's a sort of wide elbow road with more houses
on the outside corner?

Most communities will address a cul-de-sac (a physical geometric feature at
the end of a roadway, see other responses in this thread) as a "court". But
not all "Courts" are cul-de-sacs (and, more than likely, not all cul-de-sacs
are called "Courts", either).

Chicago labels numbered east-west streets at half-blocks on the south side
"courts". So, you have 71st St, 71st Ct, 72nd St, 72nd Ct, and so on. The
numbered north south avenues on half-blocks in the near west suburbs are
labeled "places", as in 76th Av, 76th Pl, 77th Av, 77th Pl, and so on.

The numbered Avenues and Streets occur every 660 ft (a standard Chicago
fullblock, 8 blocks to a mile). When Places and Courts exist, they are
centered at 330 ft, between the full blocks. Any aerial photo reveals that
these half-block sections will occur either north-south or east-west, but
never at the same time. This arrangement is a master urban planning layout,
because it creates long streets with houses and short streets with no houses
and alley access, essentially creating friendly tree-lined streets lined
with houses and without driveways and "service" streets with alley access to
all driveways, dumpsters, and overhead utilities. It creates ideal lot
sizes for dense development (approximately 60x100) and allows for ample
parking on the short streets, because there is no demand on those streets
due to the lack of the need to park in front of residences.

The wide semi-circular area you refer to is somtimes called a "bay" and may
even be addressed as such, such as "Riverwoods Bay" When bays have an
island in them, they are often referred to as courts, because a circular
movement is encouraged by the geometrics.

[k***@lycos.com]

Post by Scott O. Kuznicki

Post by Elliott Plack, USAR
What is the difference between a court and a cul-de-sac?
And while we're on the subject, what is it called when a street makes a
90 degree turn and there's a sort of wide elbow road with more houses
on the outside corner?

Most communities will address a cul-de-sac (a physical geometric feature at
the end of a roadway, see other responses in this thread) as a

"court". But

Post by Scott O. Kuznicki
not all "Courts" are cul-de-sacs (and, more than likely, not all cul-de-sacs
are called "Courts", either).
Chicago labels numbered east-west streets at half-blocks on the south side
"courts". So, you have 71st St, 71st Ct, 72nd St, 72nd Ct, and so on. The
numbered north south avenues on half-blocks in the near west suburbs are
labeled "places", as in 76th Av, 76th Pl, 77th Av, 77th Pl, and so on.
The numbered Avenues and Streets occur every 660 ft (a standard Chicago
fullblock, 8 blocks to a mile). When Places and Courts exist, they are
centered at 330 ft, between the full blocks. Any aerial photo

reveals that

Post by Scott O. Kuznicki
these half-block sections will occur either north-south or east-west, but
never at the same time. This arrangement is a master urban planning layout,
because it creates long streets with houses and short streets with no houses
and alley access, essentially creating friendly tree-lined streets lined
with houses and without driveways and "service" streets with alley access to
all driveways, dumpsters, and overhead utilities. It creates ideal lot
sizes for dense development (approximately 60x100) and allows for ample
parking on the short streets, because there is no demand on those streets
due to the lack of the need to park in front of residences.
The wide semi-circular area you refer to is somtimes called a "bay" and may
even be addressed as such, such as "Riverwoods Bay" When bays have an
island in them, they are often referred to as courts, because a circular
movement is encouraged by the geometrics.

Denver metro area is similar; by agreement dating (I think) to the
1950s, street naming convention is generally this (there are of course
exceptions here and there):

East-West streets are dubbed "avenues."
North-South streets are dubbed "streets."
There are sequences of streets that go alphabetically, generally the
N-S streets outside the core city.

E-W streets that curve and connect at both ends to other streets are
dubbed "drive."
N-S streets that do so are dubbed "Way."

E-W cul-de-sacs are "place."
N-S cul-de-sacs are "court."

The name a street gets depends on its location in the grid. For
example, you might have as a N-S street: Albion Street, followed by a
cul-de-sac named Albion Court or a cut-through connected street in that
same block named Albion Way.

An E-W street might be: Saratoga Avenue, while the next E-W cul-de-sac
would be Sataroga Place. A cut-through connected street in that same
place on the grid would be Saratoga Drive.

So in response to the OP, "court" is simply a naming convention, as
Chris and John pointed out, while a cul-de-sac is a name of a road
feature.