Ah, Bingley, you wrote:

Traditionally to be a street, a thoroughfare had to have buildings on both sides, but that distinction is sadly declining. Oxford Street is a main shopping street in London, but when it leaves the city it used to be called the Oxford Road, until by bureaucratic whim it became the A40.

...

and it's just this kind of distinction that makes language so exciting and truly helpful. I regret that these kinds of distinctions die out for whatever reasons. They would do much good to those of us who have no sense of direction. If I were looking for Oak Street and were driving around on a road with buildings on one side, I'd have a most excellent clue that I wasn't in the right place!

Some good things do go by the wayside. Wonder what exactly was a wayside, come to think of it??

Best regards,
WanderingWonderer