Roads

Roads are essential and are the building blocks that your city is based on. In order to start your urban construction, you need to first build a road from the Regional Highway into your city site. This allows you to interact with neighboring cities and for Sims to enter your city and populate it.

Purchasing and Laying Down Roads

Roads are purchased from the Roads menu. There are several types of roads available, and each serves a purpose. Hover over each option to view its name, a description, and how many Simoleons it takes to lay this type of road by the meter. Select your preferred road, and then click and drag where you’d like to place it. How much the total stretch of road costs is shown above your cursor. Release the left button to build. The type of road can drastically change the zoning density in the city. The wider the road, the more Sims it can traffic, affecting how quickly your Sims can get to their destinations. Smoother traffic flow makes for happier Sims and more profitable businesses. Keep in mind the value and density of each zone as you lay down roads.

TIP: If you’re not satisfied with your road draw, press ESC or right-click before you release the left mouse button to cancel it. You can lay curved, arced, circular, and rectangular roads. Click the curve, arc, circle, or rectangle icons on the left side of the menu. The curve, circle, and arc tools allow you to build curved streets, while the rectangle tool can lay down entire city blocks. Select the road type, and click and drag along the ground to pave the road. Hold SHIFT to quickly constrain your tool. Remember to leave enough space for houses, businesses, and factories as you start creating city grids.

TIP: As you lay down roads, you’ll see white dotted lines appearing nearby. These lines are suggested guides for additional roads. Use them to help with spacing. The better planned out your roads are, the more organized your city. You can hold ALT to switch the guides on/off.

NOTE: Upgrading your roads is important because cluttered streets can cause problems, including slowing down fire or police services or delaying assistance from neighboring cities. Check out the Mass Transit menu to view various ways to improve your city’s traffic.

Road types

• Low Density Dirt Road
• Low Density Street
• Medium Density Street
• High Density Street
• Medium Density Avenue
• High Density Avenue
• High Density Streetcar Avenue

Tips

• Roads carry traffic, water, power and sewage.
• Road size controls the density of buildings.
• Road size impacts traffic capacity.
• Roads can be upgraded using the Road Upgrade tool
• Bridges can be built over water.
• Tunnels can be built through mountains.