[Fluff time] How would you describe to someone the differences in streets that say ”dead end”, ”no outlet”, and ”not a through street”?

A “dead end” is just that; a bit down the road, it just ends. No cul-de-sac, no curb, just dirt beyond the asphalt.

“No Outlet” is put up when there would seem to be a way through a closed neighborhood. I have one near where I live; you turn off the main drag into a street that is essentially a big oblong loop, but the only way out of the neighborhood is the one street to get in.

“Not a Through Street” means the street does not continue.Try driving through Berkeley CA where they put planters at intersections to calm traffic by not having people be abel to rive through.

I think Dead End is the old way of saying Not a Through Street, but they are both still used. You see the sign when you’re on a road that seems like it is going to let you out, back to the main road, but there is no connection. Especially when the road system is a grid and most roads carry you through.

No Outlet is when a street winds around, and carries on for bit, often with intersections to other street, but to get out to the main road again you are going to have to turn around.

In a gated community you likely wouldn’t see these signs at all, but in a place that the public can easily, and often does drive through, you can find these signs. I don’t think there is a rule these signs have to be put up, or specifically what they need to say. Maybe some municipalities have a standard I don’t know?

They all have a “Here There Be Dragons” kind of feel to me…

Dead end: You will have to find a way to put it in reverse and turn around

No outlet: these streets are islanded and the only way out is the way you came in

No through traffic: please stop cutting through this residential area

It actually completely depends on the place; different places use different terms for different things. When I visited Phoenix, I noticed “dead end” is used on any street that does not go through, cul-de-sac or not. Around here, “not a through street” was preferred for that purpose and I almost never saw “dead end” anywhere (in fact, I cannot think of an example of “dead end” here in Palo Alto/Menlo Park/Atherton area).

“No outlet”,as @zenvelo points out, usually means that the street does go through to another street, but that there is no way out of that cluster of streets other than coming back out on the street with the “no outlet” sign. It doesn’t lead anywhere but back to itself.

That said, around here, “not a through street” signs have been replaced with “no outlet” signs. Thus, “no outlet” now means the same as “dead end” or means that it does go through, but you need to come back on that street. I find this stupid. I don’t know when the cities around here decided to do this, but I don’t like it!

“No through traffic” is the sign that I regularly ignore. Screw that. Those of us in the “know” will go through where we want. My own neighborhood had a sign like that and I didn’t care if people ignored it. The streets are congested enough and I don’t mind if some people find a better way around the usual thoroughfares.

I prefer Not A Through Street. Dead End always makes me think the road ends at a cemetery.