9 de Julio is an avenue in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At 140 meters, is one of the world’s widest avenues. Its name honors Argentine Independence Day (July 9 1816).
The avenue runs from the embassy of France in the north to Constitución station in the south, roughly one kilometer to the west of the River Plate waterfront.
Its north end is connected to Libertador avenue, which serves northwards traffic, and its south end is connected to the 25 de Mayo toll freeway (serving the West side of Greater Buenos Aires as well as Ezeiza airport) and the 9 de Julio elevated toll freeway that connects to the main roads to the South (route 1 to La Plata and route 2 to Mar del Plata and Patagonia).
The main landmarks along the avenue are, north to south:
- French Embassy: The French government refused to move the embassy building (local preservationists opposed the move as well, as it is widely hailed as an architectural masterpiece). See this article (Spanish) for detail.
- Teatro Colón
- The western end of the Lavalle pedestrian street (the strip of movie theaters)
- The Obelisk and Plaza de la República
- Statue of Don Quixote in the intersection with Avenida de Mayo
- The former Ministry of Communications building (the only building sitting on the avenue itself), in the intersection with Moreno street.
- Constitución station and Plaza Constitución
The avenue's unusual width is due to the fact that it spans en entire cuadra, the distance between two streets in the checkboard pattern used in Buenos Aires. The distance between adjacent streets is roughly 110 meters, greater than the equivalent Manhattan distance. The street flanking 9 de Julio to the east is called Carlos Pellegrini (north of Rivadavia) and Bernardo de Irigoyen (south of Rivadavia). The street flanking 9 de Julio to the west is called Cerrito (north of Rivadavia) and Lima (south of Rivadavia). Those lateral streets (which actually just add lanes to the avenue) are included in the 140 meter calculation.
The avenue was first planned in 1888 with the name of Ayohuma, but works started the on 9 July 1937. The main stretch of the avenue was completed in the 1960s. The southern connections were completed in 1980 as part of the construction of the toll-road system, which required massive demolitions in the area next to Plaza Constitución (which thus became the only major traffic pike in the city center) combined with the forced relocation of thousands of residents.
Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro runs for a stretch under the avenue. Line A, Line B, Line D, and Line E have stations when their course intersects the avenue. Notably, lines B, C, and D share a station under the Obelisk, which is the focal point of the subway system and has the only underpass below the avenue, featuring a commercial gallery. The respective station names are Carlos Pellegrini, Diagonal Norte, and 9 de Julio.
Crossing the avenue at street level often requires several minutes, as all intersections have traffic lights and the pedestrian green lights don't last long enough to allow complete crossing under normal walking speed.
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