In the German language (in many respects, English's close cousin), the definite article is not used for street names (z.B Biegen Sie links ab auf Zellerstraße).

However, this does not hold true for major autoroutes and highways. That is because the word "highway" is implied in the context. One would say "Drive on the A8 towards München" (Fahren Sie auf die A8 nach München) but one can imagine it meaning "Drive on the A8 Autobahn to Munich" where the main noun is "autobahn" but omitted. Autobahn is a feminine gender noun in the accusative case in the example, hence "die".

Confused yet?