Columbus Avenue

Columbus Avenue is an avenue in Grand Theft Auto IV, its episodes, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, located in Algonquin, Liberty City.

Description[]

The avenue starts in the north at an intersection with Uranium Street in East Holland, and runs directly south, passing through the areas of Middle Park, Star Junction, The Triangle, Lower Easton, Chinatown and coming to an end at an intersection with South Parkway running along the edge of The Exchange and Castle Gardens.

ColumbusAvenue-GTAIV-ColumbusCenter — Columbus Center.

Along the road are various landmarks, buildings and features, including the Columbus Center and Columbus Cathedral, the GetaLife Building, Grand Easton Terminal, Zirconium Building, The Triangle, The Libertonian, Live Central Music Venue, Middle Park and Yusuf Amir's penthouse.

ColumbusAvenue-GTAIV-ConstructionSouth — Construction work between Iron Street and Jade Street (Finished in 2009).

At the northern end of the road, a quick slope descends the road into the area of Middle Park at Topaz Street. Along the side of the road are trees bordering the park. The road is home to many luxury apartments and stores along the longitude of this neighborhood. After passing through the eastern fringe of Star Junction, where the bright lights of Burlesque and Denver-Exeter Avenue become visible, construction work between Jade Street and Iron Street essentially divides the road in two. From the north, traffic is diverted east along Jade Street, while at the south end, traffic is diverted west along Iron Street. In the under-construction portion is an operational newsagent, and the United Liberty Paper offices. A particular junction, Garnet Street, is very prone to traffic congestion due to the adjacent Burlesque intersection surrounding The Triangle Building. The short span between the two intersections causes congestion across Garnet Street, particularly down to the two intersections' traffic light systems being out of sync. The avenue quickly passes by Suffolk and Little Italy evidenced by the presence of small restaurants on the west side, before essentially being divided between Chinatown and City Hall; the Algonquin Municipal Building on the west dominates the City Hall skyline, while Chinatown's traditional restaurants on the east make for a colorful, contrasting backdrop. The avenue makes its final stop in The Exchange, home to some of the city's tallest office buildings. Castle Gardens is in plain view from this point looking south with the height of the road quickly descending down to South Parkway after Amethyst Street.

The entire street is a 4-lane road flowing in both directions and connects to 23 streets - almost all horizontal streets of the Algonquin alphabetical system, namely A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T and U, falling short of V, W and X.

Columbus Avenue is the longest continuously straight road in Liberty City, however Bismarck Avenue would be longer when combining its stretch. The construction works between Iron and Jade Street, however, does make the road harder to travel in one run.

It is likely based on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, given where it passes through, particularly in the Middle Park area of Algonquin, which appears to be based on Fifth Avenue's notable Central Park stretch.

Intersections[]

Location	Road	Direction
The Exchange	South Parkway	e/b toward Union Drive East w/b toward Denver Avenue & Union Drive West
	Amethyst Street	e/b toward Albany Avenue
	Barium Street	w/b toward Denver Avenue
Chinatown	Calcium Street	e/b toward Borlock Road
	Diamond Street	w/b toward Liberty Lane
	Emerald Street	e/b toward Privateer Road w/b towards Union Drive West
Lower Easton	Feldspar Street	w/b toward Union Drive West
Lower Easton	Garnet Street	e/b toward Union Drive East w/b toward Castle Drive & Union Drive West
The Triangle	Hematite Street	e/b toward Albany Avenue & Leaper's Bridge w/b toward Union Drive West.
	Iron Street	w/b toward Union Drive West.
	Jade Street	e/b toward Albany Avenue. Terminates and continues at Hematite Street.
Star Junction	Kunzite Street	e/b toward Algonquin - Dukes Expressway, Dukes Boulevard & Munsee Avenue
	Lorimar Street	w/b toward Galveston Avenue & West Way
	Manganese Street	e/b toward Albany Avenue & Union Drive East
Middle Park	Nickel Street	w/b toward Union Drive West
	Obsidian Street	e/b toward Union Drive East
	Pyrite Street	w/b toward Columbus Avenue
	Quartz Street	e/b toward Albany Avenue
	Ruby Street	e/b toward East Borough Bridge & Union Drive East
	Silicon Street	e/b toward Union Drive East
	Topaz Street	e/b toward Albany Avenue, San Juan Road & Union Drive East w/b toward Hickey Bridge & Union Drive West
East Holland	Uranium Street	e/b toward Bismarck Avenue w/b toward Galveston Avenue

Events of Grand Theft Auto IV[]

During Three Leaf Clover, the LCPD lock down the street and its surrounding areas when Niko, Packie and Derrick raid the Chinatown Bank of Liberty Branch. When one of the bank clerks activates the alarms, the LCPD respond and surround the bank. Police Stockades are used to block the road and NOOSE Cruisers are used in surrounding alleyways.

The Ballad of Gay Tony's introductory crossover commences with Luis being one of the hostages in the bank. After being let go, Luis walks free from the crime scene and walks down Columbus Avenue as his daily life resumes.

Prominent Appearances in Missions[]

Grand Theft Auto IV[]

Three Leaf Clover - the heist carried out on the Chinatown Bank of Liberty Branch takes place within the Chinatown district.

Side Missions

A Rebla can be stolen for Stevie's Car Thefts in Easton.

The Ballad of Gay Tony[]

Luis walks along the avenue during the GTA IV-crossover events of Three Leaf Clover during the game's introduction. Interestingly, traffic appears to be flowing as normal during this scene, while the entire area is shut down during the mission in GTA IV.

Landmarks[]

Algonquin Municipal Building (between Calcium Street and Emerald Street)
British Embassy
Columbus Center (corner of Manganese Street)
Columbus Cathedral (between Lorimar Street and Manganese Street)
Columbus Avenue-Jade Street Building (between Hematite Street and Iron Street)
Cleethorpes Tower (corner of Manganese Street)
Daily Globe Building (corner of Jade Street)
GetaLife Building (corner of Jade Street)
Grand Easton Terminal (corner of Hematite Street)

The Emissary (corner of Nickel Street)
The Libertonian (corner of Quartz Street)
Live Central Music Venue (corner of Lorimar Street)
Middle Park (between Nickel Street and Topaz Street
State Building (between Bismarck Avenue and Uranium Street)
Thomas Stubbs' office
Triangle Building (between Garnet Street and Hematite Street)
Yusuf Amir's penthouse (corner of Obsidian Street)
Zirconium Building (corner of Jade Street)

Notable Businesses[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Like other avenues of Algonquin, Columbus Avenue is named after a state capital of the United States, specifically Columbus, Ohio.
The Ruby Street intersection has pedestrian crossings misplaced, as if the intersection was a 2-lane wide road.