This is the way of writing now, not in ancient times. The word "Jie" has experienced many years of evolution, from Oracle Bone Inscriptions to Xiao Zhuan to Li Shu, and finally evolved into what we see. The specific evolution history and font are shown in the following figure (2, 3 is Li Shu).
The word "street" had the meaning of road a long time ago. For example, the word "street" next to the word "China Bank" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is like a road extending in all directions, which also implies that the meaning of the word "street" is related to roads. Since the Han Dynasty, the word "street" has been used to describe the avenues and markets in cities. These two meanings have lasted for a long time, and even now in some places in the south, it is still popular to call the market a street.