Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, proudly holds the Guinness Record for being the widest avenue in the world, spanning approximately 140 meters.
Avenida 9 de Julio’s roots can be traced to the time when Buenos Aires was known as the “Paris of South America.” Inspired by the Champs-Élysées in Paris, local officials started building an infrastructural a piece that would solidify this highly regarded name. But rather than simply replicating it, they set out to create something more spectacular, which resulted in an urban highway that divided the city in half and was twice as wide as the one in France. This enormous project took almost fifty years to complete and was finished in 1980. Avenida 9 de Julio remains the “widest avenue in the world.”
Constructing this broad avenue in the center of a busy city presented an enormous challenge. Just to finish the first segment, 60,000 square meters of urban real estate had to be demolished, and thousands of residents had to be relocated.
Avenida 9 de Julio has been even more packed and stunning at the same time since its opening in 1980. The avenue has sixteen lanes running from one side to the other, with four more lanes for public transportation buses, a pedestrian area in the middle, and seven pavements distributed between vehicle lanes. Getting across this street is no easy task.
A TikToker recently claimed to be strolling quicker than normal when he recorded his trek across Avenida 9 de Julio, recording an astonishing 4 minutes and 17 seconds. During that time, there were traffic signal waits. On the other hand, it normally takes only approximately 25 seconds to cross an ordinary avenue.
Interestingly, two nearby streets support Avenida 9 de Julio’s claim to be the “widest avenue in the world.” Carlos Pellegrini Street is on the east side, while Cerrito Street is on the west. These streets contribute a total of six lanes to the official measurement of 140 metres, so they serve as additional lanes for the avenue. The avenue would only be 120 meters wide without them.
