Many of the main thoroughfares in Winnipeg are wide due to the spring soil conditions and the historical use of the Red River ox cart which created wide ruts in the (then) muddy roads. Portage Avenue has four lanes of traffic in each direction plus a central boulevard for much of its run through Winnipeg. Few thoroughfares, however, are as wide as the freeways seen in other Canadian cities (such as the 401 in Toronto or Deerfoot Trail in Calgary). Residential streets are commonly significantly narrower than streets in other Western Canadian cities, so narrow that parking is only possible on one side of the street.