The established association between residential proximity to major roadways and some negative health outcomes has been unequivocally substantiated. However, there is limited evidence regarding the association between residential proximity to major roadways and nonfatal cardiovascular disease (CVD). The research utilized an array of data sourced from the 2018 Chinese longitudinal healthy longevity survey. Ascertained the residential proximity to major roadways based on the participants' self-reports, and ascertained nonfatal CVD based on previous diagnosis of self-reports. This study implemented logistic regression to examine the associations between residential proximity to major roadways and nonfatal CVD. A total of 12,873 older adults (mean age = 85.27 ± 11.73 years) were included in this study. The study indicated that residential proximity to major roadways was significantly associated with nonfatal CVD, compared with those living < 50 m from major roadways, the OR (95% CI) of nonfatal CVD for those who living 50-100 m, 101-200 m, 201-300 m, and > 300 m were 0.37 (0.32, 0.45), 0.35 (0.29, 0.44), 0.45 (0.37, 0.56), 0.33 (0.28, 0.37), respectively. There is a significant and close association between residential proximity to major roadways and nonfatal CVD. Public and environmental health policies that keep residence away from major roadways can reduce the burden of nonfatal CVD.