New West Road
| New Middle Palace Manor Road 中新大甬 | |
| Native name | 西新大甬 |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Metropolitan Board of Roads |
| Length | 5,450 m (17,880 ft) |
| Width | 70 m, 8 lanes |
| Construction | |
| Completion | Jun. 30, 1858 |
| Other | |
| Known for | Expensive real estate, famous houses |
| Status | Traffic calmed zone |
The New West Road is a major road in Kien-k'ang, Themiclesia. It connects the Great Northern Highway at the 'Reng-men roundabout and the eastern (Kien-k'ang) end of the New Northern Bridge (Bridge No. 15), in a roughly north-south direction. The road was commissioned by the City in the early 1850s for the convenience of a burgeoning neighbourhood based on serjeanty land concessions from the Middle Palace, where many wealthy and powerful individuals were migrating. Today, it is famed for its luscious landscaping in its medians, historic street lamps, and the generally expensive real estate on its side, often associated with famous personalities.
Route
Road design
New West Road today has eight vehicular lanes, divided into four carriageways. The two central carriageways are conventionally called the coach road, and the outer ones, wagon road. On both sides of the road, the coach and wagon roads are divided by medians 20 metres (66 ft) across. The two central carriageways, with traffic in opposite directions, are divided by a narrower median measuring 4 metres (13 ft) across. Beside the wagon road is the open gutter, which is 1 m deep and wide. Further to the side of the gutters are the gutter garden, bicycle lane, and pedestrian paths. The total width of the road is around 70 metres (230 ft).
New West Road was built as an imitation of the Royal Avenue (公右術), which led from the city's main ceremonial gate, the Vermillion Bird Gate, to the imperial palace. From the Medieval period, it was considered a road of dignity and political significance, and the buildings on the avenue were mostly residences of high-ranking ministers and nobility, doubling as their office when in government. This remained true until the 16th century when the nobility began spending more time in the countryside, particularly those sidelined by the throne. By the early 1800s, the trend had reversed itself as the crown lost power and prestige.
The physical design of the Royal Avenue reflected its status: for the royal coach there was a central reservation, on which commoners' vehicles were not allowed. The central reservation was flanked by trees, which grew to astounding height in the centuries they were left untended. Gutters were dug to prevent water from puddling on the reservation, and the centre of the road was raised to shed water. It was paved with slabs of stone quarried from the north of Themiclesia. The road was very nearly straight. These features contrasted with other streets in urban Kien-k'ang at that time, which were often discontinuous, dusty, narrow, and crooked.