# Widest or Biggest - roads or interchanges



## FM 2258

kaunaz said:


> The widest street or highway in the world? In single lanes way, not combinated.



What do you mean by combinated? That's not even in the dictionary.


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## staff

The avenue outside the Forbidden City (between Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square) in Beijing is really, really wide. And it's not even separated by a fence in the middle.


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## Onur

Dumlupınar Avenue-Antalya is the widest road of Mediterranean and Mid-East. It's 10 lanes and 100m wide. Sorry for the bad pic  








BTW widest road in the world is in Brazil and it's wider than 200m


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## kaunaz

FM 2258 said:


> What do you mean by combinated? That's not even in the dictionary.


I mean that for example this Toronto 20 lanes higway is divided: 5+5/5+5, so I wanna see 10 lanes in unique way. 10/10 or something like this. I hope you will understand me.  Sorry for my poor english... :bash:


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## edolen1

As far as I know, the widest avenue in the world is in Brasilia, Brazil.


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## RKS

that's right, it's 250 meters wide


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## kaunaz

That Brasilian avenue has only 4 lanes, so it isn't interesting. I'm asking for the widest stret which has the most *lanes* in the world. Please post pics of the biggest cities streets with most lanes.


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## 909

I don't know if this one is the widest in the world, neither could i find good pictures.



> *El Toro Y*
> 
> The El Toro "Y" is a freeway interchange in southern Orange County, California where the Santa Ana Freeway, Interstate 5, and the San Diego Freeway, Interstate 405 merge. South of that point, it retains the name "San Diego Freeway" but the highway designation "Interstate 5." The junction, located in southeastern Irvine, is named for the El Toro region, itself named after the nearby Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. (The base closed in 1999 and much of the area incorporated as the City of Lake Forest).
> 
> The "Y" is one of the busiest interchanges in the world; from 1975 to 2002, daily traffic surged from 102,000 to 356,000 vehicles a day.[1] By the early 1990s it had also become one of the most congested, its severe overcrowding fed by a housing boom in southern Orange County.
> 
> In November 1990, Orange County voters approved Measure M, a half-cent increase in the county sales tax to finance transportation improvements. In 1993, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) began a massive expansion project, adding a new interchange at Bake Parkway, new collector/distributor lanes, and new carpool lanes and connectors. The $166-million project also vastly increased regular traffic lanes. *After the project was completed in 1997, the El Toro Y stood as the widest roads in the world, at 26 traffic lanes wide.*
> 
> The traffic delays at the interchange sparked the construction of several parallel bypass toll roads. The San Joaquin Hills Toll Road, designated California State Highway 73, opened in November 1996 and connects San Juan Capistrano and Costa Mesa. An extension to California State Highway 241, the Foothill Toll Road, is under development. It would bypass the El Toro Y to the east and connect to I-5 in northern San Diego County.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Toro_'Y'


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## Jue

The under-construction I-10 Katy Freeway in Houston will be one of the widest freeways in the world upon completion, possibly busiest too. No renders though, but here is a schematic:

http://www.katyfreeway.org/images/schematics_pdf/70.pdf

That is 12 lanes on each side (24 altogether); 9 mainlanes and 3 frontage road lanes. The maximum (non-sustained) width is at the N. Post Oak intersection, with 15 lanes on each side.


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## FM 2258

^^

I go to Houston alot and I can't wait for that project to be done. It's spectacular.


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## kaunaz

Jue said:


> The under-construction I-10 Katy Freeway in Houston will be one of the widest freeways in the world upon completion, possibly busiest too. No renders though, but here is a schematic:
> 
> http://www.katyfreeway.org/images/schematics_pdf/70.pdf
> 
> That is 12 lanes on each side (24 altogether); 9 mainlanes and 3 frontage road lanes. The maximum (non-sustained) width is at the N. Post Oak intersection, with 15 lanes on each side.


Thanks. :cheers: It's great. So the widest is 9 lanes. 9/9 :runaway: :cheers:


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## Bitxofo

RKS said:


> that's right, it's 250 meters wide


In Canberra, capital of Australia, there is an avenue which is 250 metres wide, too!


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## Saab

*Worlds largest freeway interchange*

where is the world's largest interchange and what does it look like?


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## Æsahættr

East LA?


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## Handsome

Shanghai indeed has some huge ones,but dont know the biggest.


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## Naga_Solidus

It's probably this one betweeen the Century Freeway and the 110:










Sry I couldn't find a better pic.

Californian forumers: plz post some more shots of this interchange.


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## Jackhammer

I don't have pictures or statistics, but the Highway 400/401 Interchange in Toronto, Ontario apprently has the highest volume in North America.


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## Giorgio

Naga_Solidus said:


> It's probably this one betweeen the Century Freeway and the 110:
> 
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> Sry I couldn't find a better pic.
> 
> Californian forumers: plz post some more shots of this interchange.


I love looking at pics of such complicated interchanges!


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## ChicagoSkyline

Someone said:
"The I-110/I-105 interchange in Los Angeles, California. Quite possibly the world's largest freeway interchange, in terms of ramp height. This is a five-level stack interchange with the tallest ramp reaching a height of 110 feet."

I think that this could be it for now! Eventho, here in chicago SW suburb we also have a super highway interchange that handles 3 different highways! The sight and occupying areas also very shocking!









This is LA, I-110/I-105 interchange:








:runaway:  :cheers:


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## DrJoe

Jackhammer said:


> I don't have pictures or statistics, but the Highway 400/401 Interchange in Toronto, Ontario apprently has the highest volume in North America.


Yes it is the busiest in North America but not largest (whatever largest is being based on?)


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## D'Transporter

Here is another view of 110/105 interchange, I hope this helps
Looks like it has six levels.


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## i_am_hydrogen

The Marquette Interchange in Milwaukee is pretty insane. It is currently undergoing a 4-year, $810 million reconstruction project, scheduled to end in 2008

Old









New


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## Saab

Dallas hi 5 is bigger than that. At the moment it would be the dallas hi 5 or the 110/105. 

What about the springfield interchange? any pics of that?


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## soup or man

There is also the East LA Interchange (the 5, 101, 10, and the 60 freeways meet)

















The Orange Crush (the 5, 22, and 57 freeways meet)









El Toro Y (the 405 and 55 freeways meet)









^ The El Toro Y is 26 (!) lanes across.


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## ChicagoSkyline

Saab said:


> Dallas hi 5 is bigger than that. At the moment it would be the dallas hi 5 or the 110/105.
> 
> What about the springfield interchange? any pics of that?


Just curious, you have any aerial shot of Dallas I-5?
Which springfield interchange are u talking about? :cheers:


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## Jue

Dallas High-Five:










http://www.dallashighfive.org/images/lbj_north.gif

I don't have any live photos. Never thought of taking pictures of a highway interchange.


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## Saab

the one being reconstructed in Virginia near washington DC


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## Mosaic

D'Transporter said:


> Here is another view of 110/105 interchange, I hope this helps
> Looks like it has six levels.


This one is..... mg:


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## PotatoGuy

The LA interchange is pretty awesome.. it just looks like shit, they need to like seriously like reconstruct every inch of the damn thing, it´s the ugliest thing ever...


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## ChicagoSkyline

Here in chicago area, we have 4 large & major highway interchanges

I-88, I-290, I-294, US 20, IL 38, and IL 64 of hillside:









I-88, I-355, and US 34 of downers groveI travel thru this interchange every time from SW suburb to Chicago)









I-90, I-190, and I-294 of park ridge:









I-90, I-94, and I-290 of Chicago:









:runaway: :eek2:


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## Saab

PotatoGuy said:


> The LA interchange is pretty awesome.. it just looks like shit, they need to like seriously like reconstruct every inch of the damn thing, it´s the ugliest thing ever...


yep, I know they need to replace the loop with a proper semi-directional ramp


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## ChicagoSkyline

How about this one in Miami beach, FL? :runaway:  
I-95, Florida's Turnpike, US 441, FL 9, and FL 826


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## Jue

Saab said:


> yep, I know they need to replace the loop with a proper semi-directional ramp


It'd be fun if they increase the banking angle of the loop until it's 45 degrees. Then have people barrel down the thing at 80 mph, like in Nascar. :lol:


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## Handsome




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## ChicagoSkyline

Jue said:


> It'd be fun if they increase the banking angle of the loop until it's 45 degrees. Then have people barrel down the thing at 80 mph, like in Nascar. :lol:


LOL, I guess every states have different tastes on their interchange ambition!
For LA, they like them stacks, here in Chicago, we love follow thru with mini stack!  :runaway:


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## jmancuso

who else hates driving on those things...especially during rush hour. and if a car breaks down on one, forget it, you're fucked becuase they typically are only one lane wide with a negligable shoulder.


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## j4893k

PotatoGuy said:


> The LA interchange is pretty awesome.. it just looks like shit, they need to like seriously like reconstruct every inch of the damn thing, it´s the ugliest thing ever...


Naaa... I think this pic takes the cake lol









Yum... :naughty: hey good lookin!


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## Saab

Handsome said:


>


awesome they come in fun size aswell!


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## Saab

j4893k said:


> Naaa... I think this pic takes the cake lol
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> Yum... :naughty: hey good lookin!


nah, I'm pretty sure the Dallas high5 is larger


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## datilguy

Giloolies Interchange in Johannesburg S. Af. is the largest interchange in the southern hemisphere. Looking for pictures....


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## Saab

datilguy, try google earth if you have it 

I think the M7/M4 stack in Sydney or the M1/Eastlink spaghetti in Melbourne might be the largest in the southern hemisphere. Don't know for sure though.

interchange U/C in MElbourne


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## Jue

Saab said:


> awesome they come in fun size aswell!


Haha. Shanghai interchanges aren't that big, and neither are their highways themselves. No wonder they are jammed half the day.


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## 909

The El Toro Y in greater Los Angeles could be the worlds largest interchange:



> *El Toro Y*
> 
> The El Toro "Y" is a freeway interchange in southern Orange County, California where the Santa Ana Freeway, Interstate 5, and the San Diego Freeway, Interstate 405 merge. South of that point, it retains the name "San Diego Freeway" but the highway designation "Interstate 5." The junction, located in southeastern Irvine, is named for the El Toro region, itself named after the nearby Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. (The base closed in 1999 and much of the area incorporated as the City of Lake Forest).
> 
> *The "Y" is one of the busiest interchanges in the world; from 1975 to 2002, daily traffic surged from 102,000 to 356,000 vehicles a day.*[1] By the early 1990s it had also become one of the most congested, its severe overcrowding fed by a housing boom in southern Orange County.
> 
> In November 1990, Orange County voters approved Measure M, a half-cent increase in the county sales tax to finance transportation improvements. In 1993, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) began a massive expansion project, adding a new interchange at Bake Parkway, new collector/distributor lanes, and new carpool lanes and connectors. The $166-million project also vastly increased regular traffic lanes. *After the project was completed in 1997, the El Toro Y stood as the widest roads in the world, at 26 traffic lanes wide.*
> 
> The traffic delays at the interchange sparked the construction of several parallel bypass toll roads. The San Joaquin Hills Toll Road, designated California State Highway 73, opened in November 1996 and connects San Juan Capistrano and Costa Mesa. An extension to California State Highway 241, the Foothill Toll Road, is under development. It would bypass the El Toro Y to the east and connect to I-5 in northern San Diego County.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Toro_'Y'


Pictures of El Toro Y, taken with Google Earth:














































Yes, it's very massive...


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## Jimmy James

God I wish they had more of these in Australia - we don't even have that many cloverleafs.


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## Saab

cloverleafs are outdated so it's good that we don't have many of them. Some countries are even replacing them with diamonds!!! Mellbourne has a modified cloverleaf and I think Brisbane has a couple.


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## 909

Not as massive but almost as busy as El Toro Y is Europe's busiest interchange: the Frankfurter Kreuz. 

But there is one thing i don't understand. Why do Americans need a 26 lane expressway to handle 356,000 vehicles a day while an Autobahn with less lanes can handle relatively more cars? 



> *Frankfurter Kreuz*
> 
> The Frankfurter Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange in the city of Frankfurt in Hesse, Germany where the autobahns A3 and A5 meet. The interchange was originally to be built from 1931 to 1933, but due to World War II construction was not finished until 1957. It underwent massive remodeling in the 1990s, as it had been frequently overloaded due to excess traffic. Today, both autobahns have ten lanes.
> 
> Two tunnels of the Cologne - Frankfurt high-speed railway line have been put below the Kreuz. The Kreuz is situated at the northeastern corner of Frankfurt International Airport.
> 
> Along with the airport and the airport's railway station, the Frankfurter Kreuz is commonly seen as a symbol of Frankfurt's good connections to the world.
> 
> *With 300,000 cars daily it is the most heavily used interchange in Europe, followed by the Kamener Kreuz.*
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Kreuz


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## D'Transporter

Probably the speed limit that is being imposed and millions of sunday drivers


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## Bertez

Great pics all around


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## great prairie




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## j4893k

Saab said:


> nah, I'm pretty sure the Dallas high5 is larger


Well I was actually talking about ugliness but sure... Dallas high5 is larger.


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## rise_against

Kind of an old pic now...but fun to look at none the less. This is a pic of the toronto airport.


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## LEAFS FANATIC

^^

Having driven there, I can say it is simply amazing....


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## DGM

The Golden Glades Interchange in the very car dominated Miami. 

EDIT- Just realised that someone already posted it. I'll leave it up anyways.


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## Paddington

ChicagoSkyline said:


> LOL, I guess every states have different tastes on their interchange ambition!
> For LA, they like them stacks, here in Chicago, we love follow thru with mini stack!  :runaway:


Stack interchanges are problematic in any place that tends to get weather below freezing, because bridges always ice up so quickly, compared to roads at are part of the ground. That's why there are very few in the northern U.S. (although Cleveland conspicuously has 3 of them). Even Atlanta doesn't have any full 4 level stack interchanges, if I'm not mistaken. It's just not practical for most of the country.

That said, what Northern interchanges lack in height they make up in horizontal size. Ohio is building a lot of interchanges like the new one under construction at I-70 I-75 in Dayton, which has 3 flyovers and one loop, eliminating weaving, and allowing traffic to move through more quickly than a 4 level stack (where the speed limits on ramps are something like 40mph).


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## Æsahættr

Minneapolis needs a stack interchange, we don't even have ONE.


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## ChicagoSkyline

Paddington said:


> Stack interchanges are problematic in any place that tends to get weather below freezing, because bridges always ice up so quickly, compared to roads at are part of the ground. That's why there are very few in the northern U.S. (although Cleveland conspicuously has 3 of them). Even Atlanta doesn't have any full 4 level stack interchanges, if I'm not mistaken. It's just not practical for most of the country.
> 
> That said, what Northern interchanges lack in height they make up in horizontal size. Ohio is building a lot of interchanges like the new one under construction at I-70 I-75 in Dayton, which has 3 flyovers and one loop, eliminating weaving, and allowing traffic to move through more quickly than a 4 level stack (where the speed limits on ramps are something like 40mph).


Good stuff, and very true!


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## DrJoe

Montreal and Toronto have numerous 4 level stacks and the cold weather never seems to cause problems.


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## 3Ironhead3

*Dallas High Five*

I've got a good shot of the High Five in Dallas on my desktop.Trying to figure out how to post it here.I don't see an attach option.Any suggestions?


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## ChicagoSkyline

I would say this one in Miami gotta be the king or queen?
:runaway: 


ChicagoSkyline said:


> How about this one in Miami beach, FL? :runaway:
> I-95, Florida's Turnpike, US 441, FL 9, and FL 826


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## Jue

909 said:


> Not as massive but almost as busy as El Toro Y is Europe's busiest interchange: the Frankfurter Kreuz.
> 
> But there is one thing i don't understand. Why do Americans need a 26 lane expressway to handle 356,000 vehicles a day while an Autobahn with less lanes can handle relatively more cars?


Americans are significantly worse drivers. Given the same number of lanes, an American expressway will become congested with fewer vehicles. Even with a surplus of lanes, traffic jams may still occur due to driver stupidity.


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## ChicagoSkyline

Jue said:


> Americans are significantly worse drivers. Given the same number of lanes, an American expressway will become congested with fewer vehicles. Even with a surplus of lanes, traffic jams may still occur due to driver stupidity.


LOL, true!
And don't forget that American cars are overall larger and with some stupid drivers, it is very likely that he/she is occupying two lanes.....  :sleepy: :cheers:


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## Jue

ChicagoSkyline said:


> LOL, true!
> And don't forget that American cars are overall larger and with some stupid drivers, it is very likely that he/she is occupying two lanes.....  :sleepy: :cheers:


It's not lane occupancy that is a problem. Most traffic jams are caused by illegal or otherwise dangerous lane changes. An illegal lane change causes everybody behind that vehicle, in both lanes, to slam on the brakes. Americans also have bad habits such as passing on the right.


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## ChicagoSkyline

Jue said:


> It's not lane occupancy that is a problem. Most traffic jams are caused by illegal or otherwise dangerous lane changes. An illegal lane change causes everybody behind that vehicle, in both lanes, to slam on the brakes. Americans also have bad habits such as passing on the right.


LOL, tell me about it!
I have seem worst in Asian cities!


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## Jue

ChicagoSkyline said:


> LOL, tell me about it!
> I have seem worst in Asian cities!


That's Asia's problem. But it is compensated by daring. Drivers in Shanghai pay attention, as opposed to eat and talk on the phone simultaneously while driving. It allows for some very fast reflexes among veteran drivers. By Chinese standards, America doesn't even _have_ veteran drivers outside of New York. We've only been through boot camp, not war.


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## DrJoe

couple other big ones in Toronto.


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## Paddington

DrJoe said:


> Montreal and Toronto have numerous 4 level stacks and the cold weather never seems to cause problems.


They might have a couple like Cleveland, but I doubt they have that many. Also, if you take a close look at them they might not even be 4 level stacks.

Of the ones you posted above, look at how horizontally spread out the ramps are. That's to minimize the length of the bridges, and minimize the need for having multiple bridges all flying over eachother. They all look like 3 level interchanges tops.


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## KB

*Shanghai CHINA*

:shocked: mg: How do find your way out? and what happens if you enter the wrong way?










Shanghai, China.


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## sbarn

Jue said:


> Americans also have bad habits such as passing on the right.


... or driving slow on the left. one of my pet-peeves! :rant:

cool pix, that stack in LA is definitely the most impressive, although that one in Shanghai is pretty sweet.


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## sbarn

Here's a couple of my pix from Shanghai in January:


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## DrJoe

Paddington said:


> They might have a couple like Cleveland, but I doubt they have that many. Also, if you take a close look at them they might not even be 4 level stacks.
> 
> Of the ones you posted above, look at how horizontally spread out the ramps are. That's to minimize the length of the bridges, and minimize the need for having multiple bridges all flying over eachother. They all look like 3 level interchanges tops.


Here is one right here.


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## Paddington

DrJoe said:


> Here is one right here.


Yup that's one. Dallas and Houston have like 15 each.


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## great prairie

Paddington said:


> That said, what Northern interchanges lack in height they make up in horizontal size. Ohio is building a lot of interchanges like the new one under construction at I-70 I-75 in Dayton, which has 3 flyovers and one loop, eliminating weaving, and *allowing traffic to move through more quickly than a 4 level stack* (where the speed limits on ramps are something like 40mph).


I think that older stacks are slower but newer ones like the Dallas high 5, the 190(35E, DNT, 75, 635) interchanges, 35W/30 and the BW8 stacks are probably as fast if not faster.



> Yup that's one. Dallas and Houston have like 15 each.


They also have interchanges where the service roads create 5 level stacks. The 635/75 interchange is levelled like

US75
service road box
I635
flyovers
flyovers


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## centralized pandemonium

Holy crap!! How do people find their way through all those monstorous exchanges. Damn I hate cars!!!


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## Jue

centralized-pandemonium said:


> Holy crap!! How do people find their way through all those monstorous exchanges. Damn I hate cars!!!


It's quite easy. Easier than finding my way through Xujiahui subway station.


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## miamicanes

Golden Glades in Miami is an obsolete disaster built back when Florida was still the American equivalent of a third-world country, its government gave thanks daily for Mississippi's existence so it didn't have to be _last_ at anything, and FDOT was insane enough to think having 3 freeways and 2 major highways collide within the same square mile area was actually a _good_ idea. 

The big flyover for I-95's HOV lanes is fun to drive south on (one of Miami's two "postcard" vantage points... the other being northbound I-95 right after it splits off from US-1 and makes a hard left to the north, leaving the downtown skyscrapers laid out in front of you), but was a horrible waste of money. For what FDOT spent building it, they could have widened the mainline by TWO lanes in each direction AND built proper ramps from eastbound 826 to northbound 95, north and southbound 95 to westbound 826, and a few other directions.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the I-75/I-595/Sawgrass Expressway interchange in western Broward County is the _geographically_ largest interchange east of the Mississippi river. Not number of lanes, just total square meters of ramps and right-of-way. It's _huge_. From first split to last merge, it's more than a mile both east-to-west and north-to-south.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...21939,-80.3407&spn=0.057952,0.090809&t=k&om=1


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## great prairie

miamicanes said:


> It's _huge_. From first split to last merge, it's more than a mile both east-to-west and north-to-south.
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...21939,-80.3407&spn=0.057952,0.090809&t=k&om=1


according to Texasfreeway.com the ramps going west on 635 at the high five are 1.4 miles and that is just one side

http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/images/2004-12_dfw_update/high_five_C_2004-12-19_1000.jpg

http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/2004-12_dfw_update.aspx

ramps going north on US75
http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/images/2004-12_dfw_update/high_five_K_2004-12-19_1000.jpg


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## TexasBoi

I thought that the Dallas hi 5 is the largest interchange in the world. But Pegasus will be much bigger than that just to the south of that. Ill try to find pictures.


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## TexasBoi

This is just part of it. Great Prarie, you would know more than me on this one.


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## TexasBoi

I lived by this one Chicago Skyline at Hillside.








Also i fear for my life everytime I'm on the Golden Glades in Miami.


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## TexasBoi

Here's another picture of that Hi-Five in Dallas.


















And pegasus is suppose to be bigger than this?


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## trentthomson

Here's the M1 in Queensland, Australia. This road starts in Brisbane, the state capital and runs south, forming part of the main route between Brisbane and Sydney.


























Trent.


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## degnaw

Penhorn said:


> Best, not "most congested" .


That's why I posted this (and managed to do it before the 401 was) :lol: 


degnaw said:


> I just wanted to post this before somebody posted the 401
> Honestly, any rural "freeway" like this is better than an 18 or so lane monstrosity (in my opinion)


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## Paddington

This seems to be devolving into another "widest expressway" thread. Wider does not mean better. :bash: 

Then again the term "best" is really meaningless. The best roads in the U.S. are probably boring 4-6 lane expressways that are well kept and efficiently get people where they need to go with minimal slowdown, like I-80/I-90 in Ohio.


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## rantanamo

superb geometrics


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## kulani

I don't have very good pictures, but this will give you an idea of how freeways in South Africa looks like. 

This is the M1 on the west of Johannesburg



















This is the N1 highway, from Johannesburg (hub of SA economy) heading to Pretoria (Capital city).





































Highway from OR Tambo international airport heading to Johannesburg


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## kulani

Other end of the N1 highway now in Cape Town (some 1400 kilometers from Johannesburg)


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## kulani

M1 (south bound), M2 (east bound) and M1 (north bound), Johanneburg in the background


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## kulani




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## lindenthaler

In Serbia the best one are the highway+magistral Belgrade-Subotica:


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## huaxia-zhonghua

Armon said:


> The 16 lane monster of Atlanta



I think there are some problems with the highway of atlanta.On the 285, the exit-only lane is for entrances and exits at the same time.when cars enter the 285,drivers find they are on the exit-only lane then they have to merge to the non-exit lanes.but those cars which want to get off the highway have to change to the exit lane becaue exit is about 1-2 miles after the entrance.


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## Nephasto

huaxia-zhonghua said:


> I think there are some problems with the highway of atlanta.On the 285, the exit-only lane is for entrances and exits at the same time.when cars enter the 285,drivers find they are on the exit-only lane then they have to merge to the non-exit lanes.but those cars which want to get off the highway have to change to the exit lane becaue exit is about 1-2 miles after the entrance.


And what is the problem with that? I mean, is ther an 1-2 mile entry/exit lane? If it is really 1-2 miles long, drivers willl have no problem to merge the rest of the trafic (if they are entering) or to go to the entry/exit lane (if they are exiting by that exit).

The only problem with those lanes that serve as entry lanes and exit lanes at the same time is if they are short and the traffic is heavy, in which case it can be confusing and jam the trafic.


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## BJSH

China's express ways


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## trentthomson

^^^ And your point is...

This thread is about the best freeway in your country, not maps of China's road system. Doesn't anybody read the thread titles anymore?


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## la bestia kuit

Panamerican freeway, Buenos Aires, Argentina


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## Keith P.

It seems odd that so many of these roads seem to have no breakdown or pullover lanes, which I would have thought would be a requirement.


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## Küsel

A2 - Leventina (that's what I call a HIGHway :lol: )


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## Rodrigo_BSB

In Brazil, the freeway I like most is Anchieta-Imigrantes (between São Paulo and Santos):


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## KB

The lahore-Islamabad motorway






































Not exactly the best but some damn amazing landscape.


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## Amit

*India: Delhi-Gurgaon expressway*


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## Armon

kbboy said:


> Not exactly the best but some damn amazing landscape.


Wow that looks like a highway running through grand canyon.


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## AUchamps

I sincerely hope that the proper work and engineering along with materials are used so that the incident on the I-90 east stretch of tunnel NEVER happens again.

The Big Dig will only be repeated once we the world see that it can stand up for the long haul and that goes by making sure that the most quality materials and competent contractors are used.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

No VMS or signalisation in the Big Dig? That's a pity. You guys need it in such a busy tunnel. We had this kind of stuff even in the seventies!


----------



## Verso

The Big Dig is also the longest tunnel in the US (4.2 km/2.6 mi), if I'm not mistaken, which is extremely surprising for such a vast country.


----------



## Patrick

My fav in Germany is the A3 between Cologne and Frankfurt!

I like it that the South Africans use the DIN1451-Font on their signs


----------



## Gaeus

AUchamps said:


> I sincerely hope that the proper work and engineering along with materials are used so that the incident on the I-90 east stretch of tunnel NEVER happens again.
> 
> The Big Dig will only be repeated once we the world see that it can stand up for the long haul and that goes by making sure that the most quality materials and competent contractors are used.


Big Dig is just an experiment for a very congested city. I hope it will be successful because there are a lot of cities that has the same problem like Boston. New York is one of cities studying and monitoring this complex system. If it will be successful, then they will build one for the Big Apple.


----------



## radi6404

Patrick said:


> My fav in Germany is the A3 between Cologne and Frankfurt!
> 
> I like it that the South Africans use the DIN1451-Font on their signs


German motorways and roads have very old asphalt, it is not damaged but very old


----------



## pwalker

Gaeus said:


> Big Dig is just an experiment for a very congested city. I hope it will be successful because there are a lot of cities that has the same problem like Boston. New York is one of cities studying and monitoring this complex system. If it will be successful, then they will build one for the Big Apple.


Well, let's just hope that if and when NYC tries a project like this they will have found ways to minimize the cost-overuns, the miscues of construction, and the overall mismanagement that the Big Dig was. Big Dig = Big disaster.

I guess in the end, Boston has their new underground freeway. But at what cost?


----------



## CrazyAboutCities

Great thread! :cheers: 

I am wondering if parkways can be counted on this thread too? I have some pictures of one of nicest parkways even I seen in many cities that I want to share.


----------



## Gaeus

pwalker said:


> Well, let's just hope that if and when NYC tries a project like this they will have found ways to minimize the cost-overuns, the miscues of construction, and the overall mismanagement that the Big Dig was. Big Dig = Big disaster.
> 
> I guess in the end, Boston has their new underground freeway. But at what cost?



14.6 US billion dollars and counting. There are rumors that some money were misused or went to someone's pocket. That could be the reason why the greatest project in US History was mishandled.


----------



## Paddington

Gaeus said:


> 14.6 US billion dollars and counting. There are rumors that some money were misused or went to someone's pocket. That could be the reason why the greatest project in US History was mishandled.


That's $14.6 billion of national money, not local money. The whole thing was funded by Congress.


----------



## AUchamps

Paddington said:


> That's $14.6 billion of national money, not local money. The whole thing was funded by Congress.


Which then means we all chipped in more then a penny or 2. More like a dime or 15 cents per person(the majority of that collected from our pain at the pump(gas taxes) and income taxes).


----------



## ADCS

AUchamps said:


> Which then means we all chipped in more then a penny or 2. More like a dime or 15 cents per person(the majority of that collected from our pain at the pump(gas taxes) and income taxes).


It ends up being somewhere closer to $100 a person if you factor in both the taxable population (i.e. those who are employed) and those who own a car.

90% of which are never going to use the thing.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

ADCS said:


> 90% of which are never going to use the thing.


That is usual by federal funding. 90% also never uses the I-45 in Texas.


----------



## Jaxom92

I've heard that most of the cost overruns on the big dig were/are caused by corruption. I.e. the mafia.


----------



## CrazyAboutCities

CrazyAboutCities said:


> Great thread! :cheers:
> 
> I am wondering if parkways can be counted on this thread too? I have some pictures of one of nicest parkways even I seen in many cities that I want to share.


Alright I guess parkways are not counted on this thread.


----------



## Verso

^ I think they are (as long as they are at least 4-laned), so please show us that parkway with some nice scenery. :cheers:


----------



## ADCS

Chris1491 said:


> That is usual by federal funding. 90% also never uses the I-45 in Texas.


Ahh, but how much freight, particularly oil, is shipped by that route? This has a cumulative benefit for the entire nation. I'm not sure you could say the same about the Big Dig.


----------



## Kane007

Busiest Interchange in New Zealand.

Part of Auckland's CMJ.


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> OK, this one was unnecessary.  Radi6404, what's scary?


I don´t know if it is unneccessary, some roads in bulgaria, sebia and other countries there are just not motorways but roads like this but are newer and have better asphalt than for example German autobahns, a good example for this is the E-79 in bulgaria from blagoevgrad to dupnica and a bit more (15 km after dupnica the real thing starts)


----------



## Verso

^ Yeah, I know, but I still think we should focus on at least 4-lane freeways/motorways/blah blah blah...


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ Yeah, I know, but I still think we should focus on at least 4-lane freeways/motorways/blah blah blah...


me too because you cant compare driving on a two lame road with driving on a real motorway, there are worlds between them.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

ADCS said:


> Ahh, but how much freight, particularly oil, is shipped by that route? This has a cumulative benefit for the entire nation. I'm not sure you could say the same about the Big Dig.


Yeah but the economy of Boston is important too. Traffic jams costs loads of money. 

In my small country, traffic jams costs the society annually 3.4 billion dollars. 

Count that for several years, and you've spend the same amount of money on nothing, whil you could build something like the big dig or something like that.


----------



## SkyLerm

Impressive aerials :O


----------



## Blackraven

North America (USA and Canada) is a car-centered continent so it's a given that they are KING of highways/freeways/motorways/expressways (to make up for their lack of rail transit).

Not even the Autobahn or any road in Europe can beat them in that area.


----------



## Danger! 50000 volts

^^ Yet the car centred countries of North America have such shit slow speed limits on their freeways while a lot of European autobahns are non restricted, shame really cos I'd love to blast thru some of those elevated freeways at 150+ with my knee inches from the deck without the risk of smokey busting my ass!


----------



## KIWIKAAS

^^
Only in Germany mate. Everywhere else they'll bust ya.


----------



## dommeltje

The Busiest Interchange in the city of Utrecht the center of the Netherlands.


----------



## RSG

They are some major intersections. Are there similar intersections in built up areas of Europe. I do not remember seeing any but I am sure there would need to be.


----------



## mgk920

RSG said:


> They are some major intersections. Are there similar intersections in built up areas of Europe. I do not remember seeing any but I am sure there would need to be.


Oh yea there are. Just go to Google Maps and zoom in on some of the larger European cities. In the areas immediately surrounding their 'old town' zones, there will be many very complex road junctions. Some places that I know of for that include Paris (especially along the Periferique(sp?)), central Berlin (along the A-100), The Rhine-Ruhr metroplex, Barcelona, Madrid and along the French and Italian Riviera (some of these are mind-blowing in their locations and complexity).

Enjoy!



Mike


----------



## mgk920

Danger! 50 said:


> ^^ Yet the car centred countries of North America have such shit slow speed limits on their freeways while a lot of European autobahns are non restricted, shame really cos I'd love to blast thru some of those elevated freeways at 150+ with my knee inches from the deck without the risk of smokey busting my ass!


Interestingly, it is not at all unusual for traffic to flow along at speeds well above the posted limits in much of the USA. Some of the most absurdly slow speed limits that I have seen, when compared with clear traffic flow, are on the expressways in Chicagoland. Many are posted at about 80 km/h (the signs say "50 mph"), but when traffic is flowing unimpeded EVERYONE will fly along at 130-140 km/h, if not faster (1.5 x the posted limit or faster).

The problem here is that many state legislators are all in knots at the thought of even a slight (10 km/h) increase in posted limits, even when traffic is flowing much faster - "it will be too dangerous and hurt our children and be the end of civilization and...".

hno: 

Mike


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

Do they still follow the 85% rule?


----------



## mgk920

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> Do they still follow the 85% rule?


Sadly, few do.

Mike


----------



## sonysnob

While certainly not the largest interchange in the world, it is still quite a large interchange. It is of the 403, QEW and 427 in Ontario

http://www.onthighways.com/QEW_images/QEW_cl_99-5_TB_lg.jpg

http://www.onthighways.com/QEW_images/QEW_ar_2_lg.jpg


----------



## Bartolo

Thats actually of the 403, 407, QEW in Burlington


----------



## sonysnob

Bartolo said:


> Thats actually of the 403, 407, QEW in Burlington


Oops, typo, I took the photos, I guess I should know the location :cheers:


----------



## ssiguy2

In terms of speeds in Canada there is a HUGE difference. 
Vancouverites drive so SLOW and actually often drive lower than the speed limit of 100km/hr. 
In Tor/Mon where the speed limit is the same people really drive fast. Basically many drive as fast as their car will go. 
In all of Ont/Que/Alb rural freeways travelling speeds are very fast but even on rural freeways in BC they still drive very slow.


----------



## FastFerrari

great prairie said:


>


Everythings is bigger in TeXaS....here a lil bit of San Antonio's interchanges
New 410 and IH-10 interchange due 2008



IH-10 & IH-35 the "Y"

Loop 1604 & IH-10

IH-35 & IH-37

u/c Loop 410 & US Hwy 281 due 2008 4 stack


----------



## huahuahua_321

*Imigrantes highway- São Paulo, Brazil*

The pics I like the most:


































For some notion of descending... 15km with declivity of 6º from which 8km are tunnels on the 2nd Imigrantes line (built on 2002):












The location:


----------



## Nephasto

^^That freeway is very beautifull! kay:


PS: Declividade?!? :hilarious

Diz-se simplesmente declive, em bom português! :colgate:

Hehe! :runaway:


----------



## DanielFigFoz

I don't have any pics of the A23 hno:


----------



## Racingfreak

My favorite freeway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH3jLTC3KEY


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Do you call that racing? Everybody here in the northeast drives that speed.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Do you call that racing? *Everybody everywhere* drives that speed


----------



## LtBk

DFM said:


> Do you call that racing? *Everybody everywhere* drives that speed


Not in the US.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

No, you fell asleep driving a car in the rural US :lol:


----------



## LtBk

Chris1491 said:


> No, you fell asleep driving a car in the rural US :lol:


I know, i was talking about urban freeways(at least in MD).


----------



## Minato ku

Only 140.  .


----------



## Cruise

huahuahua_321 that is the most amazing freeway!!!


----------



## growingup

Talking about the Big Dig, other cities have already started (and nearly finished) projects similar to this one to re-organize its congested inner traffic, for example Madrid. However, I think Boston's Big Dig is a way more complicated project than Madrid's one. Anyway, both of them, Boston and Madrid's projects are breath-taking.

From Discovery Channel Megabuilders: 
Madrid's Inner Ring-Road, The M30.

Madrid is currently suffering a traffic crisis that needs to be solved quickly and efficiently, as the city has expanded rapidly in recent years and dangerous congestion is becoming an almost constant problem. Madrid’s inner ring road, the Calle 30, is the worst offender. The busiest road in Spain, running close to the Manzanares River, it is famous for its traffic jams and pollution.
The M30 project aims to solve the problems of gridlock on Madrid’s roads by refurbishing the road and running major sections of it beneath the city, creating new parkland and riverside above. A total of 99km of new road and 56km of tunnel will have been constructed by the time the project is completed. With an estimated budget of €3.7 billion and completion date (already behind) of mid-2007, this is a major undertaking!
The M30 Madrid Project is so massive that no less than seven Earth Pressure Balanced (EPB) Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) of various specifications have been specially ordered for the 15 separate projects around the city.

Here's a video showing major sections of the M30 beneath ground. Have a look at it:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

How busy is that M30 exactly? I heard it is about the busiest road of Europe.


----------



## growingup

Well, actually I don't know if M30 is the busiest road in Europe but it is among them, and for sure is Spain's busiest road. I think is very difficult to say which is the best freeway/highway (BTW, what's the difference?) in any european country... but I'll bet for those constructed recently xD.


----------



## ssiguy2

I wish I had some computer savey or I would post more Canadian photos. 
The 401 is great and a hoot to drive on but there are so many freeway roads in Canada that aren't getting on. 
Many of those pictures have beautiful freeways and yet don't have to much traffic. If only Canadian roads had that kind of light traffic.


----------



## isaidso

The Coquihalla in BC is probably the best if best means beautiful rather than busy.


----------



## fetg_

*Cloverleaf intersections and issues*

Cloverleafs is IMO the most rational intersection. It only requires one single bridge and can handle more traffic than any bridge based roundabout, while it's a lot cheaper to build. There's two main arguments against cloverleafs.

Weaving and space-requirement.

*Weaving*
Weaving can be isolated on a CD road, the problem decrease a lot just by that.
There's lot's of ways to combat the actual weaving for heavy congested CLs. One way would be to build a banana like CD road connection with the leaf instead of a straight one. This would make it possible for incoming earlier and lose enough speed to make it possible for earlier, controlled weaving with the outgoing traffic. Another way is to apply roundabout rules/connections which make possible for outgoing traffic to exit safely while incoming traffic has to wait(cloverleafs is like 4 half circle-roads).

*Lot's of space is taken*
It can be designed to take less space. Just build the outer(right-90-degree-turning) ramps closer to the inner and the problem is solved.

This is some solutions in how to remake cloverleafs without destroying it's original 4 270 degree turns. Complete CLs also looks a lot better than 6 ramps partial CLs.


----------



## Paddington

What about American stack interchanges, they eliminate weaving entirely:




























The biggest downside is that they can be dangerous in cold weather, since the many long bridges can freeze. But then again Cleveland has three 4-level stack interchanges. :cheers: 

There's also this style of interchange, currently unnamed but a number of which that are currently under construction in Ohio:










As you can see, it's a modified cloverleaf, with three of the loops taken out and replaced with flyovers to eliminate weaving. Also, the length and number of bridges is minimized compared to a stack interchange, making it safer in cold weather places. This design also allows faster speeds on the ramps. It's major downside compared to a stack is the amount of horizontal space it takes up (stack interchanges are great in urban areas), but it's far superior to any cloverleaf.

And for surface road/expressway interchanges, there's the SPUI!










Here's one in Columbus: Single Point Urban Interchange


----------



## fetg_

Paddington said:


> What about American stack interchanges, they eliminate weaving entirely:
> 
> The biggest downside is that they can be dangerous in cold weather, since the many long bridges can freeze. But then again Cleveland has three 4-level stack interchanges. :cheers:


1. They cost too much to build. 
2. The many bridges destroy the sight for the drivers.



Paddington said:


> There's also this style of interchange, currently unnamed but a number of which that are currently under construction in Ohio:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As you can see, it's a modified cloverleaf, with three of the loops taken out and replaced with flyovers to eliminate weaving. Also, the length and number of bridges is minimized compared to a stack interchange, making it safer in cold weather places. This design also allows faster speeds on the ramps. It's major downside compared to a stack is the amount of horizontal space it takes up (stack interchanges are great in urban areas), but it's far superior to any cloverleaf.


Well, if you want to eliminate weaving with flyovers, only two is required. But adding flyovers isn't the only way to combat weaving.



Paddington said:


> And for surface road/expressway interchanges, there's the SPUI!


Hmm.. don't get the point, it stops traffic, not only for those that wants to enter to the left, but also on the upper road. Wouldn't an ordinary cloverleaf work better here?



Paddington said:


> Here's one in Columbus: Single Point Urban Interchange


Should be upgraded into a CL. It seems that it barely can handle the traffic. Having traffic lights in a congested intersection doesn't make any sense.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Cloverleafs are okay for quiet intersections, with no great loads of traffic. 

When traffic increases, you can build a parallel road for the weaving traffic. 

It also depends on traffic patterns, when there is a lot of exiting traffic or TOTSO's (Turn Off To Stay On [roadnumber]), you might wanna extend the cloverleaf with some flyovers for some directions.

When you have very busy freeways intersectioning, the 4 level stack is a good option. It is more expensive, but a better flow guaranteed.


----------



## ChrisH

Actually I'm not sure that a cloverleaf can carry a lot more traffic than a typical British roundabout interchange, which requires a lot less land (although two bridges). Does anyone have figures?


----------



## fetg_

Chris1491 said:


> Cloverleafs are okay for quiet intersections, with no great loads of traffic.
> 
> When traffic increases, you can build a parallel road for the weaving traffic.
> 
> It also depends on traffic patterns, when there is a lot of exiting traffic or TOTSO's (Turn Off To Stay On [roadnumber]), you might wanna extend the cloverleaf with some flyovers for some directions.


I agree that one or two flyovers can be built for TOTSO roads(two is enough to eliminate weaving). However I try to figure out how, converting a CL into six ramp interchange makes any sense. Apart from that. What is roundabout interchanges major advantage over CLs, except the space a traditional CL use? A CL is cheaper to build since it requires less bridges. It can pump more traffic, it's easier to upgrade and it's probably also safer.



Chris1491 said:


> When you have very busy freeways intersectioning, the 4 level stack is a good option. It is more expensive, but a better flow guaranteed.


Well as I've allready noted, two flyovers is enough to eliminate weaving. Building more than two saves some time for the drivers, but it's expensive and it doesn't increase safety, nor capacity.


----------



## fetg_

chrishillcoat said:


> Actually I'm not sure that a cloverleaf can carry a lot more traffic than a typical British roundabout interchange, which requires a lot less land (although two bridges). Does anyone have figures?


The major traffic is often staying on both roads. A simple two-bridge-roundabout-interchange force one of the road to slowdown and enter a roundabout. There's also 10 kinds of traffic that have to share the roundabout. Even a more complex M-way roundabout-interchange is can't compete with a CL. One of the more famous such can be found in Manchester. Here is it. The reason is that traffic there's four kind of traffics that share the roundabout(not eight as it might have been when the IC was new). 

M66-south -> M62-west
M62-east -> M62-south
M66-north -> M62-east
M62-west -> M66-north

In a CL, you would have four lanes for each of those traffics, so they don't have to share.


----------



## Paddington

fetg_ said:


> 1. They cost too much to build.


America is a rich country. :cheers: 



> 2. The many bridges destroy the sight for the drivers.


I've never heard that one before. :nuts: What do you need to look up at the sky at all times or something? The road visibility is just fine on a stack interchange.




> Hmm.. don't get the point, it stops traffic, not only for those that wants to enter to the left, but also on the upper road. Wouldn't an ordinary cloverleaf work better here?
> 
> 
> Should be upgraded into a CL. It seems that it barely can handle the traffic. Having traffic lights in a congested intersection doesn't make any sense.


Not really. Many cloverleafs (connecting city roads and expressways) in the U.S. have been replaced with SPUI interchanges. A SPUI does have the drawback of one traffic light on the surface road (and lights on the left turn lanes of the ramps), but it allows for concurrent left turns. It takes up much less space than a cloverleaf, and moves traffic faster than a typical diamond interchange and perhaps faster than a cloverleaf in certain situations (high traffic areas with lots of weaving). SPUI interchanges are also better for pedestrians than cloverleafs.


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

Paddington said:


> America is a rich country. :cheers:


I bet you won't give this reason to your boss in order to explain the cost of your proposed project :lol:


----------



## Paddington

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> I bet you won't give this reason to your boss in order to explain the cost of your proposed project :lol:


They spent a few dollars on this one:










:happy:


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

We are still talking about cost vs. benefits, right? For instance, Bay Area's I-80 and I-880 junction had to be stack interchange because there was no other alternatives. Therefore, I think neither you nor fetg_ are right arguing about different things. You have to look at each particular case to decide what will be better.


----------



## ADCS

Cloverleafs have too many inherent points of conflict, even with C/D roads. More modern designs are superior. Stacks have their drawbacks, but they are the best for throughput.


----------



## Paddington

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> We are still talking about cost vs. benefits, right? For instance, Bay Area's I-80 and I-880 junction had to be stack interchange because there was no other alternatives. Therefore, I think neither you nor fetg_ are right arguing about different things. You have to look at each particular case to decide what will be better.


That's true, but what I do know is that we build very few cloverleafs today and are replacing many of the old ones. Back in the 1950's and 1960's almost all interchanges were cloverleafs. These days, the most common surface road-expressway interchange is the diamond, especially in the suburban areas where most of the growth is. For expressway-expressway interchanges, symmetric four level stacks are popular in the South West, and elsewhere in the country cloverleaf-flyover combinations and asymmetric flyover-stack hybrids are more typical of modern construction.

A lot of the old cloverleafs are being replaced with partial cloverleafs and SPUI's where they interchange with city roads, and cloverleaf-flyover combinations where they interchange with other expressways.


----------



## Rail Claimore

I hate cloverleafs with a passion. If it were up to me, every interchange in urban areas would be either a stack, modified stack, or SPUI. Diamond interchanges work fine in rural areas.


----------



## fetg_

Paddington said:


> America is a rich country. :cheers:


But Americans doesn't like to pay taxes 



Paddington said:


> I've never heard that one before. :nuts: What do you need to look up at the sky at all times or something? The road visibility is just fine on a stack interchange.


Better sight by more more space.



Paddington said:


> Not really. Many cloverleafs (connecting city roads and expressways) in the U.S. have been replaced with SPUI interchanges. A SPUI does have the drawback of one traffic light on the surface road (and lights on the left turn lanes of the ramps), but it allows for concurrent left turns. It takes up much less space than a cloverleaf, and moves traffic faster than a typical diamond interchange and perhaps faster than a cloverleaf in certain situations (high traffic areas with lots of weaving). SPUI interchanges are also better for pedestrians than cloverleafs.


Better than diamonds, but are they really half as good as CLs? Considering that traffic light is used, it wastes time for drivers and create traffic stocks. Only a minority of the traffic use the loops. Why not put up traffic light in an existing CL instead?


----------



## fetg_

ADCS said:


> Cloverleafs have too many inherent points of conflict, even with C/D roads. More modern designs are superior. Stacks have their drawbacks, but they are the best for throughput.


You may replace extremely busy loops with one flyover. It's possible to eliminate all weaving with just two flyovers.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Rail Claimore said:


> Diamond interchanges work fine in rural areas.


I hope you mean exits, and not interchanging freeways. 

We have some grade interchanges, and they cause a lot of traffic jams and pollution.

Cloverleafs have one advantage, when an outside connecting road is closed (for roadworks/accidents), you can go 3 times through the "leaf" and still go to the right direction. With flyovers, you can't, and have to turn on the next exit.


----------



## ADCS

fetg_ said:


> You may replace extremely busy loops with one flyover. It's possible to eliminate all weaving with just two flyovers.


Let's not forget the problem of big trucks flipping over on loops due to excess speed. The extremely low speed that they must navigate the interchange at is a significant problem that can only be addressed by lengthening the distance traveled through the interchange.

Chris: In the US, "interchange" is often used to mean any intersection with a freeway, regardless of the type of road.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

how do you call an interchange between Freeways? Intersection? Junction?


----------



## fetg_

Chris1491 said:


> Cloverleafs have one advantage, when an outside connecting road is closed (for roadworks/accidents), you can go 3 times through the "leaf" and still go to the right direction. With flyovers, you can't, and have to turn on the next exit.


Exactly.. not to mention that by building stacks, you get kinda locked for future expansion plans.

Anyway, I have three suggestions for how to modifie cloverleafs in order to make them fit better(I'm no artist, so they might not look perfect, but they should be simple to understand). If something is unclear, I can make a new image with greater details.

1. Space saving cloverleaf. This can replace daimonds and SPUs that face capacity problems. Might not handle capacity as well as a traditional cloverleaf. It's a diamond with the extra feature of inner roads. It can also replace traditional CLs when space is needed and when traffic is low.


2. Cloverleaf roundabout. I've only drawed the C/D roads/ramps. This is a cloverleaf with roundabout-rules applied to the four loops where incoming traffic will enter. So there will be no weaving issues. This is better than any roundabout interchange that exists today and because you only pass one ingoing roads, instead of three, as with the Manchesters famous M-way rouandabout. That, apart from the fact that it's way cheaper to build.


3. Cloverleaf with two flyovers. This is the alternative that can take the same capacity as a four-level stack, but is cheaper to build, cheaper to extend and looks better.


----------



## fetg_

ADCS said:


> Let's not forget the problem of big trucks flipping over on loops due to excess speed. The extremely low speed that they must navigate the interchange at is a significant problem that can only be addressed by lengthening the distance traveled through the interchange.


Than make the loops to lean inwards. Problem solved.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Those loops have not such a good capacity. You might get stuck in a traffic jam when a lot of weaving exists.

However, i've never seen a loop with more than 1 lane.


----------



## fetg_

Chris1491 said:


> Those loops have not such a good capacity. You might get stuck in a traffic jam when a lot of weaving exists.
> 
> However, i've never seen a loop with more than 1 lane.


Well, two lane loops can exist as long as there is flyovers to prevent weaving. See my third suggestion.

The cloverabout(second suggestion) handles weaving by making the cloverleaf with roundabout design and roundabout rules. Such can have 2-3 lines. The entrances/exits can be wider, since they are more important.


----------



## mgk920

Rail Claimore said:


> I hate cloverleafs with a passion. If it were up to me, every interchange in urban areas would be either a stack, modified stack, or SPUI. Diamond interchanges work fine in rural areas.


IMHO, the worst 'urban' cloverleaf interchange is I-90 (Northwest Tollway)/290/IL 53 in Schaumburg, IL. Two 8 lane highways meet there.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.057641,-88.0301&spn=0.032947,0.058365&t=k&z=14&om=1

A couple of other not-so-good ones are I-39/90/90/US 151 in Madison, WI (WisDOT recently added collector/distributor lanes to the interstate side of that interchange to take care of a bad weaving safety problem there) and I-39/43/90/WI 81 in Beloit, WI (that one needs flyovers and a better separation from local streets).

For the most part, cloverleafs can and do work very well for freeway-freeway junctions in more rural places where most of the vehicles stay on the routes that they are already on.

A few examples of this are I-35/90 at Albert Lea, MN, I-35/US 20 at Williams, IA, I-43/US 12 at Elkhorn, WI, I-39/80 at LaSalle-Peru, IL and I-39/88 (Reagan Tollway) at Rochelle, IL.


----------



## ADCS

Chris1491 said:


> how do you call an interchange between Freeways? Intersection? Junction?


Usually that is just called an interchange as well.

Oh, and superelevating the curves on a cloverleaf? That doesn't really help, either. The circumference of the curves is simply too small for many trucks to navigate them safely, and given the weight of many trucks, the superelevation can be even more dangerous.


----------



## fetg_

ADCS said:


> Oh, and superelevating the curves on a cloverleaf? That doesn't really help, either.


Yes it does help, since the truck can drive faster and still keep the truck on the road.



ADCS said:


> The circumference of the curves is simply too small for many trucks to navigate them safely, and given the weight of many trucks, the superelevation can be even more dangerous.


If that's a problem for trucks, then what about standard trumpet interchanges? You have the same loop there. The solution is usually to drive slower. But according to the solution above, it's possible to drive the same speed more secure.


----------



## ADCS

fetg_ said:


> If that's a problem for trucks, then what about standard trumpet interchanges? You have the same loop there. The solution is usually to drive slower. But according to the solution above, it's possible to drive the same speed more secure.


The loops on trumpets cover a greater distance than on cloverleafs. To get them that large on cloverleafs would require an unreasonable amount of space. Not only that, but trumpets are not as great an idea in cities due to once again, the space concern.


----------



## Bartolo

I have never driven through a CL interchange. In Ontario they don't exist, well they do, but there are very very few, and when new interchanges are made they are made to Parclo's. And most CL's here are being changed over to parclo's. One of the worst interchanges ive been on though is in Fredericton, NB between #8 and #7 http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.935274,-66.651092&spn=0.010879,0.028667&t=k&z=16&om=1


----------



## pwalker

Of course, there are cities that built interchanges based on a certain traffic level that existed at the time of construction. Very short-sided for sure, but reality in many cities, including Seattle. While that city is slowly trying to improve and re-build these interchanges, still many exist. For example, you still see a lot of off-ramp/on-ramp duplicate single lanes on Seattle freeways. Just an example of how highway construction must be built for future needs, not current needs. Seattle doesn't seem to undertand this concept, even with new and projected designs!...how short-sided!


----------



## Æsahættr

Almost all access-controlled interchanges and even non-access controlled road interchanges are CLOVERLEAVES here. 
I don't understand why, this cloverleaf between an arterial road and a freeway just got reconstructed from a space saving cloverleaf to... ANOTHER CLOVERLEAF. W.T.F.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

lotrfan55345 said:


> Almost all access-controlled interchanges and even non-access controlled road interchanges are CLOVERLEAVES here.


I saw that a lot in Spain yeah. Quite a luxury in Dutch view, where we only have diamond exits. 

Spain has much better infrastructure anyway.


----------



## eomer

fetg_ said:


> Cloverleafs is IMO the most rational intersection. It only requires one single bridge and can handle more traffic than any bridge based roundabout, while it's a lot cheaper to build. There's two main arguments against cloverleafs.


Cloverleaf was very rational in the 1970' but it can be used now: it's too dangerous because theire is a way out just after an entry.
Half stack is more rational. Full stack is the best intersection but it's a bit expensive.
half stack
http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=q&hl=f....619252&spn=0.013052,0.022488&z=15&iwloc=addr


----------



## fetg_

ADCS said:


> The loops on trumpets cover a greater distance than on cloverleafs. To get them that large on cloverleafs would require an unreasonable amount of space. Not only that, but trumpets are not as great an idea in cities due to once again, the space concern.


Really? I compared the diameter of some trumpets and CLs and found out that the loops diameter is pretty much similar. Point is that traffic do the same 270 degree turn in both loops.

Well you're right that it's no good idea to build a cloverleaf in areas where land is expensive. But stack interchanges consumes a lot space too, if not more. The best alternative for inner-cities is British roundabout interchanges. They are small, can handle more traffic than SPUIs and does not require any traffic lights.



Bartolo said:


> I have never driven through a CL interchange. In Ontario they don't exist, well they do, but there are very very few, and when new interchanges are made they are made to Parclo's. And most CL's here are being changed over to parclo's. One of the worst interchanges ive been on though is in Fredericton, NB between #8 and #7 http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.935274,-66.651092&spn=0.010879,0.028667&t=k&z=16&om=1


I can't see any advantage for Parclos, other than that it's cheaper to build and that it's eliminating weaving. However, is weaving really that big issue? How can replacing weaving with putting two traffic lights in the interchange be any good. Can someone explain that? Is there some study that has compared CLs with Parclos?


----------



## fetg_

What about this:


It has sharp curves, so it's not feasable on M-ways, but it can be implemented in congested cities. The design saves space and eliminate weaving, pretty much. The disadvantage is the tight curves, which is normal in urban environments.

I havn't seen anyone like that, tough it's more similar to old style CLs than to modern.

The out-lane can end before the inlane. Therefore there will be no weaving.


----------



## SkyView

Cloverleaf without weaving : the Frankfurter Kreuz


----------



## Bartolo

What are you talking about, traffic lights r needed and better than having the weaving, in a parclo, a parclo is a partial cloverleaf. This is a parclo between highway 25 and highway 401. http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.528389,-79.903919&spn=0.005671,0.014334&t=k&z=17&om=1
and this is a parclo between the 410 and 407 http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=43.669501,-79.693773&spn=0.011315,0.028667&z=16


----------



## fetg_

Bartolo said:


> What are you talking about, traffic lights r needed and better than having the weaving, in a parclo, a parclo is a partial cloverleaf. This is a parclo between highway 25 and highway 401. http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.528389,-79.903919&spn=0.005671,0.014334&t=k&z=17&om=1
> and this is a parclo between the 410 and 407 http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=43.669501,-79.693773&spn=0.011315,0.028667&z=16


Stopping traffic with red lights does is one of the worst way of eliminating weaving (which is exaggerated). That's because most of the traffic stay on their lines. One car on a parclo can stop like 5-20 cars/trucks just because the lack of loops. Then even a CL without C/Ds is a better alternative.

Is there any data that proves that parclos is better in some cases?


----------



## Tom 958

Bartolo said:


> What are you talking about, traffic lights r needed and better than having the weaving, in a parclo, a parclo is a partial cloverleaf. This is a parclo between highway 25 and highway 401. http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.528389,-79.903919&spn=0.005671,0.014334&t=k&z=17&om=1
> and this is a parclo between the 410 and 407 http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=43.669501,-79.693773&spn=0.011315,0.028667&z=16


Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the context I've seen the term parclo refers to service (i.e. freeway-to-not-freeway) interchanges, and generally means a souped-up diamond interchange. Therefore, the one at 410 and 407 isn't what's properly called a parclo (I'd call it a half stack, and to me it looks like a dandy interchange for that location). The one at 25 and 401 is a proper parclo. 

Here's a parclo on GA 120 at I-75 near Atlanta that has two loop ramps yet still needs a CD to avoid weaving on the freeway: http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=33.941295,-84.504733&spn=0.004201,0.009484&t=k&z=16&om=0. It was built that way because there was plenty of undeveloped land on the east side of I-75, and weaving isn't much of a problem because eastbound to northbound traffic is very light. Only one traffic signal is needed, which is a plus. The bridge over I-75 was widened, but the original structure c. 1965 or so remains; the CD was placed between the end bent and the abutment where a paved sloped had been before, so the whole thing was comparatively cheap. All in all not a bad interchange; it jams up at rush hour, but no worse than everything else in Atlanta.


----------



## radi6404

I just wanted sa, that only one motorway in bulgaria can be qualified as Autobahn, you know that Germany was the develooper of the real Autobahn and only the Struma Autobahn can wear the name Autobahn


----------



## Verso

Bulgarian guys are after you! :rofl:


----------



## julesstoop

I don't have any pictures from it myself, but south of Rotterdam we have an very wide and busy stretch of freeway in the Netherlands where our A15 and A16 roads run combined. I founds these pics on autosnelwegen.nl



















Edit: Thanks Chris. Problem solved now.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

You can't deeplink from autosnelwegen.nl


----------



## Dudly

They may all look amazing from the air, but they can definetely make a neighborhood look like shit.....


----------



## Xelebes

It's funny how Edmonton got rid of the Rathole by the Alberta Legislature to only get the Ratmaze, an interchange at Anthony Henday and Queen Elizabeth II. It's the only 3-stack we've got in this city.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Dudly said:


> They may all look amazing from the air, but they can definetely make a neighborhood look like shit.....


Without the interchange it would be even shittier, jammed roads all day long.


----------



## Jota Pe

airsound said:


> I think it has 18 lanes but i'm not sure


Yes, Ian, it has 18 lanes, you can count them right here:










'Acceso Norte' Highway ('Northern Access' Highway), Buenos Aires. With 18 lanes is the widest highway in Argentina :yes:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Near Atlanta is a freeway with 8 lanes in one direction in one piece. (no parallel roads). You need a telescope to see the exit signage :lol:


----------



## AUchamps

miamicanes said:


> Golden Glades in Miami is an obsolete disaster built back when Florida was still the American equivalent of a third-world country, its government gave thanks daily for Mississippi's existence so it didn't have to be _last_ at anything, and FDOT was insane enough to think having 3 freeways and 2 major highways collide within the same square mile area was actually a _good_ idea.
> 
> The big flyover for I-95's HOV lanes is fun to drive south on (one of Miami's two "postcard" vantage points... the other being northbound I-95 right after it splits off from US-1 and makes a hard left to the north, leaving the downtown skyscrapers laid out in front of you), but was a horrible waste of money. For what FDOT spent building it, they could have widened the mainline by TWO lanes in each direction AND built proper ramps from eastbound 826 to northbound 95, north and southbound 95 to westbound 826, and a few other directions.
> 
> I'm not 100% sure, but I think the I-75/I-595/Sawgrass Expressway interchange in western Broward County is the _geographically_ largest interchange east of the Mississippi river. Not number of lanes, just total square meters of ramps and right-of-way. It's _huge_. From first split to last merge, it's more than a mile both east-to-west and north-to-south.
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...21939,-80.3407&spn=0.057952,0.090809&t=k&om=1


To be fair, is Florida really much different from a Third World Country, at least in the "New York South" area of the state? To me, the Line between "South Georgian/South Alabamaian/Lost Mississippian and Louisiana Swamp-rat Cajun Florida" and "Yankee Florida" is just south of Ocala and the area between Gainesville and Ocala is like a DMZ.

It's funny because some of the biggest ******** east of LSU Country are in Florida, some of the highest concentrations of New Yorkers and Ontarioians are in Florida, and of course the Cubans and Haitians.

And I say all this being someone that was born in Florida. Personally I'll take the ******* Rivera anyday(and besides Pensacola, Destin, and Panama City should belong to Alabama; it's a lot better then Miami or Tampa anyway).


----------



## AUchamps

Paddington said:


> Stack interchanges are problematic in any place that tends to get weather below freezing, because bridges always ice up so quickly, compared to roads at are part of the ground. That's why there are very few in the northern U.S. (although Cleveland conspicuously has 3 of them). *Even Atlanta doesn't have any full 4 level stack interchanges, if I'm not mistaken.* It's just not practical for most of the country.
> 
> That said, what Northern interchanges lack in height they make up in horizontal size. Ohio is building a lot of interchanges like the new one under construction at I-70 I-75 in Dayton, which has 3 flyovers and one loop, eliminating weaving, and allowing traffic to move through more quickly than a 4 level stack (where the speed limits on ramps are something like 40mph).


You are mistaken. Spaghetti Junction(I-285 at I-85 NE of Atlanta):


----------



## RKC

this is meant to be a realy early one (birmingham, uk) looks nice too.


----------



## AUchamps

RKC, it's funny you post the Birmingham Spaghetti Junction because that was where Atlanta got the nickname for their Spaghetti Junction(it opened in 1984 and took 4 years to be built. Believe it or not it used to be a simple cloverleaf interchange between the 2 interstates.

Here's the main interchange in Birmingham, Alabama that connects I-65 with I-20/59(the 2 interstates overlap from Birmingham down south to Meridian, Mississippi): http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Birmi...79,-86.826518&spn=0.006082,0.020084&z=16&om=1

We call it Malfunction Junction and it's well known for the sheer number of accidents and truck fires that melt bridges on the intersection. I should mention it's the single most busy interchange in the state of Alabama.


----------



## trainrover

*Retrying:*

Does a four-level interchange count (only five percent of its rights of way is level; the rest, sloping)?


----------



## Bartolo

LordMandeep said:


> i heard also the 401/410/403 will become one when the 401 is rebuilt and widened in that section westward.


Its going to be a nightmare trying to re-build that considering the sheer number of ramps needed, you need and if they end rebuilding that section, MTO might as well widen, redesign the entire 401 from just east of the 409 to where ever they stop the Collectors and Express lanes in the west. Also are they going to create ramps to go from the 401 E to the 403 W, Considering they don't at the moment


----------



## Tom 958

AUchamps said:


> RKC, it's funny you post the Birmingham Spaghetti Junction because that was where Atlanta got the nickname for their Spaghetti Junction(it opened in 1984 and took 4 years to be built. Believe it or not it used to be a simple cloverleaf interchange between the 2 interstates.
> 
> Here's the main interchange in Birmingham, Alabama that connects I-65 with I-20/59(the 2 interstates overlap from Birmingham down south to Meridian, Mississippi): http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Birmi...79,-86.826518&spn=0.006082,0.020084&z=16&om=1
> 
> We call it Malfunction Junction and it's well known for the sheer number of accidents and truck fires that melt bridges on the intersection. I should mention it's the single most busy interchange in the state of Alabama.


Actually, Atlanta's Spaghetti Junction was completed in 1987. I was commuting through it at the time. One radio station joked that motorists were camped out waiting for the last flyover ramp to open. It greatly improved traffic conditions on I-285-- for about three weeks. After that, traffic jammed up going out of the interchange instead of going in. Well, whatd'ya want for $100 million? OK, I'm being unfair-- if it were still a cloverleaf it's be impassable 24-7. But I often go from the Perimeter Center area to my home up 85 north, and if I can't get through it by 3:30 pm, I take backroads.

Birmingham still managed to build a four-level stack (or was it two?) before Atlanta did, out on 459.

Birmingham's Spaghetti Junction truly belongs in the Bad Interchange Design Hall of Fame. Any talk of rebuilding it?


----------



## AUchamps

Tom Marney said:


> Actually, Atlanta's Spaghetti Junction was completed in 1987. I was commuting through it at the time. One radio station joked that motorists were camped out waiting for the last flyover ramp to open. It greatly improved traffic conditions on I-285-- for about three weeks. After that, traffic jammed up going out of the interchange instead of going in. Well, whatd'ya want for $100 million? OK, I'm being unfair-- if it were still a cloverleaf it's be impassable 24-7. But I often go from the Perimeter Center area to my home up 85 north, and if I can't get through it by 3:30 pm, I take backroads.
> 
> Birmingham still managed to build a four-level stack (or was it two?) before Atlanta did, out on 459.
> 
> Birmingham's Spaghetti Junction truly belongs in the Bad Interchange Design Hall of Fame. Any talk of rebuilding it?


In regards to Birmingham, possibly when another tanker truck or 5 hits the bridges and melts the entire interchange.

In regards to the I-459 stack interchanges at I-20 and I-65, those were built in the Early 80s when George Wallace finally decided to build the unfinished connections to Birmingham Interstates. I want to say that 65 south between Highway 31 in Vestavia Hills and Highway 31 in Alabaster was opened in 1981 or so, I-20 between Crestwood Blvd. and Leeds was opened by 1983-1984, and I-65 between Highway 31 in Fultondale and Highway 31 in Morris was opened by 1986.

In regards to Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta, everything I read on it said that construction began in 1979-1980 and was finished by 1984(roughly the same time that Gwinnett Place Mall was built). I know that may parents said while they were at Auburn in the early 80s, 285 and 85 down around the Atlanta airport was also hell to drive through the entire time they were in school and today that interchange is still something to look at from the sky or at ground level.


----------



## trainrover

*Big* announcements have been made here in Montreal regarding the ages-old practice of elevating expressways and interchanges -- supposedly, the city's going to look, feel and drive differently -- raised structures are going to be raized (question here is when). So I was both puzzled and startled to see some L-A interchanges under construction with roadways perched atop stilts (earlier on in this thread) . . .


----------



## sonysnob

LordMandeep said:


> in Toronto there is only one 4 level interchange.
> 
> A second is planned.


There are a few 4-level interchanges in and around Toronto, granted not too many compared to a lot of similar US cities.

The 427/407 interchange is already a 4-level interchange, as is the 427/QEW and the 400/407 interchange. The 401/403/410 interchange is also 4-levels high. The extension of the collector lanes along the 401 west of the 403 shouldn't really change the 401/403/410 interchange too much, though it will be interesting to see if any of the ramps to and from the 410 are connected directly to the express lanes, and if the 'missing-ramps' between the 401 and 403 are filled in.


----------



## Bartolo

sonysnob said:


> There are a few 4-level interchanges in and around Toronto, granted not too many compared to a lot of similar US cities.
> 
> The 427/407 interchange is already a 4-level interchange, as is the 427/QEW and the 400/407 interchange. The 401/403/410 interchange is also 4-levels high. The extension of the collector lanes along the 401 west of the 403 shouldn't really change the 401/403/410 interchange too much, though it will be interesting to see if any of the ramps to and from the 410 are connected directly to the express lanes, and if the 'missing-ramps' between the 401 and 403 are filled in.


But the only Stack interchange is at the 407/400, whereas the rest are partial stacks


----------



## LordMandeep

thats because most of the interchanges aren't full 4-way interchanges.


----------



## miamicanes

Coming in a few years to Miami (SR836/Dolphin at SR826/Palmetto). Finally, we'll have a Texas-sized stack to brag about. It's about time... the current interchange is so dysfunctional, it doesn't even have a proper ramp from northbound 826 to westbound 836 (I think there's an extra-toasty spot in Hell reserved for the idiot(s) who came up with _that_ bright idea...)


----------



## sonysnob

So I take it that the thought is that the 407/427 interchange will be reconstructed as a full stack interchange when the highway is extended? Does anyone have a reliable source for this, because I have to say it seems more like the work of an overzealous wikipedia contributor then a press release from the MTO.


----------



## Bartolo

The original plan was to create stacks for all of the 407/400-series highways, but the owners couldn't "afford" it, or so ive read, but wtf do i know


----------



## sonysnob

Bartolo said:


> The original plan was to create stacks for all of the 407/400-series highways, but the owners couldn't "afford" it, or so ive read, but wtf do i know


The owners were the MTO until 1999. I have heard this rumour before (wikipedia), but I would love to know of a reliable source or this information.


----------



## Paddington

Bartolo said:


> The original plan was to create stacks for all of the 407/400-series highways, but the owners couldn't "afford" it, or so ive read, but wtf do i know


Like I said before, 4 level stack interchanges tend to be dangerous at the higher latitudes. It's not that they don't exist (Cleveland has 3 of them). The problem is that the long flyovers will ice up quickly in frosty weather.

There are more suitable designs for the frostbelt, though they take up more space horizontally.


----------



## Bartolo

Paddington said:


> Like I said before, 4 level stack interchanges tend to be dangerous at the higher latitudes. It's not that they don't exist (Cleveland has 3 of them). The problem is that the long flyovers will ice up quickly in frosty weather.
> 
> There are more suitable designs for the frostbelt, though they take up more space horizontally.


I am aware of that fact, hence why most freeway to freeway interchanges here are just partial stacks, because the bridges can freeze much quicker than ramps located on the ground.


----------



## Bori427

Seriously how is there so much money for freeways in the US?


----------



## Paddington

Bori427 said:


> Seriously how is there so much money for freeways in the US?


GDP of $10 trillion that's how. :cheers:


----------



## Verso

^ Is this the same road?


Chriszwolle said:


>


In which part of Tallinn (north, south...) is it?


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^Yes, the same. It's in...here
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=...03&sspn=0.042039,0.1157&ie=UTF8&t=k&z=13&om=1


----------



## Stifler

Verso said:


> I believe this is better.


Wow. I knew there were really wide roads in Buenos Aires but I didn't expect that much.

I think this one is the widest in Spain. M-30 in Madrid.


----------



## Bitxofo

There are 12/14 lanes avenues in Barcelona, too.
:yes:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Bitxofo said:


> There are 12/14 lanes avenues in Barcelona, too.
> :yes:


The Diagonal?


----------



## Jeroen669

Widest stretch in Holland is de A16 at Ridderkerk with 4+4+4+4 lanes. Can't find a picture of it at this moment...


----------



## Skybean

vs.


toronto









5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 2 + 2


----------



## isaidso

Um, you can't count the +2 on each side. They are exit/on ramps. The 401 is 20 lanes here, but is officially listed at 18 lanes. Regardless, it's still the widest and, by far, busiest highway on the planet.


----------



## gladisimo

^^ I'm confused... I only count 18


----------



## asif iqbal

^^^^ yeah the side lanes dont count its a 18 laner for sure, but man thats one hell of a road!

so whats the longest continous road- i mean even this one has a break in it in either direction i would called this a 5+4-5+4 is there 9-9 for example?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ One page back, you'll see a 9 lane motorway. However, it's very short, i think 2x7 in Atlanta is one of the widest continued motorways.


----------



## algonquin

asif iqbal said:


> ^^^^ yeah the side lanes dont count its a 18 laner for sure, but man thats one hell of a road!
> 
> so whats the longest continous road- i mean even this one has a break in it in either direction i would called this a 5+4-5+4 is there 9-9 for example?


The 401 is a minimum of 12 lanes total for an approximate length of 43km through Toronto... which doesn't include the 18-lane stretch pictured below. I don't know if that's the longest continuous stretch in the world though.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Sana'a, Yemen:










The equivalent of over 30 lanes. However, only 10 lanes have actual road markings.


----------



## taiwanesedrummer36

Skybean said:


> toronto
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 2 + 2


HOLY COW! Everytime I see pictures of the 401, I am extremely impressed.

Sometimes I wish all highways were like that........


----------



## TheCat

asif iqbal said:


> ^^^^ yeah the side lanes dont count its a 18 laner for sure, but man thats one hell of a road!
> 
> so whats the longest continous road- i mean even this one has a break in it in either direction i would called this a 5+4-5+4 is there 9-9 for example?


That would be cool to see of course, but it is not practical in reality. Even that huge stretch of I-75 looks pretty insane to navigate/drive on. The 401 could have been built continuous, but changing across 9 lanes in heavy traffic is impractical.

Usually, such large freeways are split up into multiple carriageways. The way the 401 works is that the inner carriageways are express lanes, which don't have direct exits. Instead, you exit/enter the express lanes from the collector lanes (outer carriageway) in a similar way to exiting/entering a motorway. The benefit is that the express lanes have less interruptions, and often move faster than the collector (although often in rush hour the opposite happens). However, of course, you have to keep in mind that the express lanes only exit sparingly, i.e. not every exit is available, so you should stay in the collectors for short trips.

There are other motorways that use a similar configuration, like the New Jersey Turnpike, the 427 in Toronto (another short highway that connects the 401 to the QEW), the freeway from the Buenos Aires picture, and finally the M-30 in Madrid. In fact, you can see the collector->express merging lane on that picture of the M-30 at the top of this thread, which is more or less how it looks like on the 401 as well.


----------



## isaidso

asif iqbal said:


> ^^^^ yeah the side lanes dont count its a 18 laner for sure, but man thats one hell of a road!
> 
> so whats the longest continous road- i mean even this one has a break in it in either direction i would called this a 5+4-5+4 is there 9-9 for example?


Yeah, it's 18 lanes, not 20. It is officially listed at 18. When the 401 expanded over time, it was quickly recognized that it was too chaotic and dangerous to build the highway 9-9. Cars would swerve at 120-130 km/h from up to 8 lanes over. Cars doing the opposite maneuvre wouldn't see the inevitable high speed collision and the consequences were deadly. 

All 18 lanes of the 401 is the same highway, but each direction has been divided into 5-4. The outer lanes function as a normal freeway, the inner lanes are express lanes for cars that are travelling great distances with no intention of exiting for many kilometres.

This system is not only efficient, but much safer. The 401 has more lanes than any other freeway in the world, so no 9-9 example exists. I doubt any 9-9 freeway ever will, unless safety is deemed secondary.

Here's a nice pic of the 401 (not my photo) at a narrower section of the highway. It is only 14 lanes here, as opposed to 18 further along:



Grey Towers said:


>


----------



## Verso

Chriszwolle said:


> Sana'a, Yemen:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The equivalent of over 30 lanes. However, only 10 lanes have actual road markings.


I can't see.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This better?:


----------



## Verso

^ Wow, this is massive. But if you ask me, that's not 95.91 m. There's no way you could put in here 30 lanes, but 20.


----------



## Xusein

Chriszwolle said:


> Sana'a, Yemen:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The equivalent of over 30 lanes. However, only 10 lanes have actual road markings.


Wow, that's a wide ass road...compare it to the 4 lane road on the bottom :shocked:


----------



## ZZ-II

not the widest but at least one from germany :


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Yeah, Germany is not known for wide roads.


----------



## philvia

umm might i ask what is great about wide roads? lol seems to me wide roads would be bad


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I don't like very wide roads very much. I think it's better to make a parallel route when there are over 4 - 5 lanes per direction. 

Asphalted wide motorways look nice, but concrete motorways with 20 lanes just look ugly. But yes, sometimes it's nessesary to have such wide roads, imagine the traffic jams if the roads weren't all so wide... the extra pollution, the time-wasting, the economic reachability of a city detoriating...


----------



## xlchris

12 lanes?

And an other widest is coming in The Netherlands? A4 near Schiphol, becomes 3-4-4-3


----------



## ZZ-II

Chriszwolle said:


> Yeah, Germany is not known for wide roads.


unfortunately


----------



## isaidso

That German highway was half asphalt and half cement. Is there a reason why it was built like that?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

It was expanded later. It used to be 2x3 lanes i thought.


----------



## CborG

xlchrisij said:


> 12 lanes?


you mean 17 But that stretch doesn't count because it has 2 motorways running next to eachother, the A15&A16. The stretches of motorway in the Netherlands with more than 10 lanes are:

A4 near the Hague: 16 lanes, arguably because they barely form a straight stretch between two junctions
http://maps.google.nl/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.049013,4.360746&spn=0.0032,0.007296&t=k&z=17&om=1
A16 east of Rotterdam: 12-14 lanes
A4, Schiphol 12 lanes
A15 south of Rotterdam: 12 lanes
A12 south of Utrecht 10-12 lanes


----------



## SilesianSkyscraper

Edit


----------



## SilesianSkyscraper

A4 motorway in Katowice - 6 lanes
http://www.zumi.pl/namapie.html?qt=...long=19.0205873&lat=50.2462784&type=2&scale=1
Chorzowska Street in Katowice - 6 lanes
http://www.zumi.pl/namapie.html?qt=...long=19.0197014&lat=50.2651036&type=2&scale=2


----------



## Patrick

for Germany it could probably be the A5 in Frankfurt in the future. this part (length: only 9km) 4+4 now and here are some drawings for planned proposals:

























also, south of Frankfurt, the A5 has 4x4, but there is the A67 running pretty parallel to it, maybe 5km away for 20kms in length, if that was only 1 autobahn, this could be the widest in Germany. and this is probably the reason why there are not so many wide roads here: there are many parallel roads. you have for example three different autobahns between rhein-ruhr (köln-düsseldorf-dortmund) and rhein-main (frankfurt) (200km) which are mostly 3+3 or 2+3


----------



## Verso

Patrick said:


> if that was only 1 autobahn, this could be the widest in Germany.


Maybe, but I doubt they would make as many lanes as they have them now combined.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

That Frankfurt plan is interesting, because they build a similar thing near Utrecht; 2x3 in the middle and 2x2 parallel lanes for local traffic. Near Den Bosch, they are building 2+2+2+2 right now. Through traffic can only intersect at interchanges, local traffic can exit on alle exits. The A5 near Frankfurt is very congested, often from the Gambacher Kreuz.


----------



## Gaeus

*Brdige with most lanes*

I am not sure if the future Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Washington DC will become one of the widest bridge in the world. But I am pretty sure it will have 12 - 18 lanes including the 12 lanes in the bride itself.

http://www.wilsonbridge.com/po-projectDescription2.htm


----------



## Joey313

OnurT said:


> Dumlupınar Avenue-Antalya is the widest road of Mediterranean and Mid-East. It's 10 lanes and 100m wide. Sorry for the bad pic
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW widest road in the world is in Brazil and it's wider than 200m


uhhhh that looks only two lanes dont understan whats so amazing I see bigger roads than that in the desert.


----------



## Ballota

Chriszwolle said:


> Near Den Bosch, they are building *2+2+2+2* right now. Through traffic can only intersect at interchanges, local traffic can exit on alle exits.


Split has a similar solution:









It's also the widest street in the city... :cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

That's more like frontage road then a 2+2+2+2 motorway...


----------



## Ballota

Got any pics?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

It's only in early stages of construction, but here's an impression:










The parallel lanes have emergency lanes too, and also grade-seperated intersections. 

Another interesting project is only 20km to the south, where the now 2x3 Eindhoven beltway will be widened to 2+3+3+2 however, the 2 parallel lanes won't have complete motorway features. hno: a big mistake.


----------



## Verso

Those "service" roads running parallel to a motorway are nothing special, if they aren't motorway-like, there's plenty of them in my city. Only "tangenziale" like in Bologna, Verona, Udine or Bratislava, for example, count.


----------



## keber

Verso said:


> Those "service" roads running parallel to a motorway are nothing special, if they aren't motorway-like, there's plenty of them in my city. Only "tangenziale" like in Bologna, Verona, Udine or Bratislava, for example, count.


From all those cities I would count only Bologna with quite impressive system 2+2+2+2 (being widened to 2+3+3+2 - which is still congested as hell). Especially interesting is spaghetti mess in A14-A13-Bol. tangenziale intersection.


----------



## Verso

^ Bologna indeed has the most extensive tangenziale system, but if just talking about wide roads, other cities count as well; Verona and Udine already have 2+3+3+2 lanes. If anyone can explain to me why Udine needs a 10-lane highway, it would be great.


----------



## Tony Resta

a couple of extra lanes on the m25 wouldnt harm anyone, the traffic is terrible even out of rush hour times, and with london's population growing and growing, its bound to get worser


----------



## jamietoronto

I see a lot of highway pics here that are massive! I want to know how many of them actually stay that wide throguh the city. For example, here in Toronto, the 401 is 14 - 18 lanes wide all the way through Toronto, and even further east in Pickering, and furhter west in Mississauga. I think for a highway or road to get the title as the widest road, it should be a decent length, and not just a couple miles where two highways merge.


----------



## oliver999

beijing


----------



## SilesianSkyscraper

It's horrible!


----------



## taiwanesedrummer36

^^

Because it's China! They're Communist and they don't care; that's why they don't follow the Kyoto Protocol and everyone's scared of them (except for the Taiwanese).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

And those environmentalists fighting against a lane extra in the Netherlands... They´d better go to China, much more to win there...


----------



## Rebasepoiss

This is pointlessly wide - Laagna road in Tallinn, built by Soviet occupators- 4 lanes in both directions.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Can you figure out what the traffic volume is on that road?


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Chriszwolle said:


> Can you figure out what the traffic volume is on that road?


Unfortunately I can't, but it's 4+4 lanes only in a short section, otherwise it's 3+3 or even 2+2.
Here's another photo of this road:


----------



## Onur

Joey313 said:


> uhhhh that looks only two lanes dont understan whats so amazing I see bigger roads than that in the desert.


I took it with my old camera. The road got some renovations in 2 years currently it looks like that with my new camera;


----------



## System_Halted

^^ Way too much sarcastic!! :rofl:


----------



## Lindemann

9 de Julio Avenue, Buenos Aires (Argentina)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ Half of that street is greenery.


----------



## Lindemann

But it's a 16+4 lanes *urban street*. I think there aren't too many more in the world.


----------



## Bitxofo

Barcelona:

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes "cuts" Barcelona from river Llobregat to river Besòs in a straight line and it is 14-15 kilometres long, with 12 lanes in some sections:













^^Avinguda Diagonal "cuts" Barcelona in a diagonal straight line from mountains to the sea and it is 12-13 kilometres long, with 14 lanes in some sections.
:eek2:


----------



## LordMandeep

the 401 is not the widest but it is around from 8-20 lanes for at least 50km straight and is being widened more in the the more outer areas stretching to over 80km straight of 8-20 lanes of road!


----------



## sapmi1

Another pic of 9 de Julio Avenue.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Personally, i don't such wide urban streets are really a good solution. You easily loose overview when there are more than 3 lanes on urban streets per direction. It also creates a huge barrier between and in neighborhoods. Such a road as pictured above with controlled acces and non-grade intersections might be able to handle the same amount of traffic with half the number of lanes. 

I am also not in favor of joining multiple flows into one large flow. If an accident or incident occurs, many more people can be delayed, it's better to distribute the flow over multiple roads. 

Air quality is potentially very bad along this road, especially with the street canyon visible, pollution is not able to be taken or diluted by winds, it just "hangs" between the buildings. 

Also, noise pollution can be bad, because of the number of vehicles, and the street canyon reflects every noise. 

The sights of these streets however, are staggering. A huge number of lanes, incredible traffic flow and also a lot of greenery making this sight very urban. But i wouldn't want to live along or near such a street.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This is also kind of impressive, the C-17/C-33/C-58 overlap just north of Barcelona.

18 lanes across.


----------



## Lindemann

Chriszwolle said:


> Personally, i don't such wide urban streets are really a good solution. You easily loose overview when there are more than 3 lanes on urban streets per direction. It also creates a huge barrier between and in neighborhoods. Such a road as pictured above with controlled acces and non-grade intersections might be able to handle the same amount of traffic with half the number of lanes.
> 
> I am also not in favor of joining multiple flows into one large flow. If an accident or incident occurs, many more people can be delayed, it's better to distribute the flow over multiple roads.
> 
> Air quality is potentially very bad along this road, especially with the street canyon visible, pollution is not able to be taken or diluted by winds, it just "hangs" between the buildings.
> 
> Also, noise pollution can be bad, because of the number of vehicles, and the street canyon reflects every noise.
> 
> The sights of these streets however, are staggering. A huge number of lanes, incredible traffic flow and also a lot of greenery making this sight very urban. But i wouldn't want to live along or near such a street.


Yeah, and I don't like those streets, but they asked for wide streets/highways and I put here pictures of the widest street in BA, nothing more.


----------



## sturman

*Five-level flyover?*

Two-level junctions are commonplace, we may find it everywhere. Three-level ones are far and wide too. There is nothing unique in four-level flyovers, althow they definitely catch an eye. 

So, what about five levels? Is there such a beauty anywhere in the world?


----------



## Xusein

Do you mean something like this?

This monster is in Houston, between Beltway 8 and US route 290. They are everywhere in Texas. :cheers:


----------



## x-type

ain't that 4 level? ^^


----------



## keber

Five, if you count roads under all the motorway spaghetti.


----------



## Ballota

Yeah...but the roads that run under all that, realy run parallel to that northwest-southeast main way.
Boath of them are at 0 level.

+1 level is that southwst-northeast main way....and +2 and +3 are the flyovers... :cheers:


----------



## sturman

^^ No, I mean five levels one under one, in one sertain point of junction. This one in Houston gives just 4 levels, two upper for ramps and two lower for freeways themselves.


----------



## canadave87

This beast in Toronto might count, though I'm not entirely sure how many levels there are altogether, it's hard to tell. At least four, but there may be a fifth...

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.671938,-79.582129&spn=0.01521,0.032959&t=k&z=15&om=1


----------



## Paddington

The Los Angeles I-105/I-110 5-level stack interchange:


----------



## sturman

canadave87 said:


> This beast in Toronto might count, though I'm not entirely sure how many levels there are altogether, it's hard to tell. At least four, but there may be a fifth...
> 
> http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.671938,-79.582129&spn=0.01521,0.032959&t=k&z=15&om=1


^^ I count just 3 levs, sorry


----------



## sturman

The LA monster seems to be exactly what I mean, thanks 

And another one from China thread. No doubts here:


----------



## RON-E

dont forget the mega project "high five" in dallas : 





> A highway in Dallas, TX nicknamed "The High Five" is a masterpiece, say some experts.
> 
> "Driving it is like entering a surreal Piranesi drawing in which you are suddenly enveloped by ramps, arches, and columns that conflate mysterious shadows and melodramatic light into a motoring dreamscape," said writer David Dillon. "The bold Lone Stars on green and terra cotta columns, which architectural purists loathe, play against the bland facades of nearby office building, briefly making art out of sprawl and almost legitimizing it."
> 
> Dillon explains that Piranesi, an architect in the 18th century would probably see the traffic spinning against this backdrop as an aqueduct.
> 
> "The High Five" carries 500,000 vehicles a day over its artistic stretch of light and movement, according to Dillon.
> 
> Frank Lloyd Wright, considered a prophet by some, once predicted that these mass visions of highways would be labeled great architecture.
> 
> Though Dillon says that opinion might be an exaggeration he labels the busiest freeway interchange in the largest metro area in Texas a "heroic abstract."
> 
> There is a café, a self-storage, and a cycling facility all named after "The High Five" in Dallas.
> 
> The $100 million, 12-story-high freeway interchange was named a Public Works Project of the Year in July by the American Public Works Association. Finished in about 47 months the project replaced the three-level modified partial cloverleaf built in the 1960s.
> 
> Twenty-seven acres by "The High Five" were sold last month and an elaborate retail center will be built there possibly, according to reports. It is one of the most sought after areas in Dallas. The sale is scheduled to close next month. The property, bought by Westmount for an undisclosed amount, is at the northeast corner of Central Expressway and Forest Lane, south of LBJ Freeway/635 from Tri-State Theaters.
> 
> "The High Five" was the single largest construction contract that the Texas Department of Transportation has ever undertaken, awarded to the company, ZCC in 2002.
> 
> The structure widened Central Expressway from four to eight lanes and added a high-occupancy vehicle lane that connects to LBJ Freeway. One-third of the project work was done at night. It featured four lanes in each direction through the U.S. 75 interchange. It also included 43 bridges covering 2.3 million square-feet of deck, 710 columns, 680,000 square yards of concrete paving, and more than one million cubic yards of excavation and embankment.







































i have driven through this many times, it is like a highway lovers wet dream!


----------



## sturman

Cool, another one. Next?


----------



## canadave87

sturman said:


> ^^ I count just 3 levs, sorry


Hm, I still see four, but whatever.


----------



## TheCat

canadave87 said:


> This beast in Toronto might count, though I'm not entirely sure how many levels there are altogether, it's hard to tell. At least four, but there may be a fifth...
> 
> http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.671938,-79.582129&spn=0.01521,0.032959&t=k&z=15&om=1


Toronto doesn't have 5-level stacks. The 400-407 is the only 4-level stack interchange in Ontario.


----------



## Paddington

Houston I-610/U.S. 59 5-level symmetric stack interchange.


----------



## Paddington

You can look the other ones up yourself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_interchange



> Five-level stack
> 
> Five-level stacks may have the same configuration as four-level stacks, except that service roads may constitute the fifth level, often being placed at or below grade. U-turns are often possible on the below-grade service roads.
> 
> The Houston, Texas area has 5 five-level stack interchanges along Beltway 8: at Interstate 45 north of downtown, U.S. Highway 290, Interstate 10 west of downtown, U.S. Highway 59 southwest of downtown, and Interstate 45 southeast of downtown.[1] The newly-reconstructed interchange of Interstate 610 and U.S. 59, with the new I-610 northbound feeder road built underground and the new I-610 southbound feeder road overpass, is also a five-level stack interchange.[1] In Dallas, the award-winning High Five Interchange was completed in 2005 and features some ramps which are more than 12 stories above the ground.
> 
> An alternative configuration of a five-level stack exists for dedicated HOV lane intersections. An example of this configuration exists in Los Angeles, California between Interstate 110 and Interstate 105, where the intersection has a normal four-level configuration plus a fifth level for HOV-only traffic to transition from either direction on I-105 to I-110 northbound and from I-110 southbound to either direction on I-105. This configuration allows these HOVs to avoid the congested general use lanes and ramps, particularly on Interstate 110.
> 
> In the Atlanta area, a side ramp forms the fifth level of the Tom Moreland Interchange in DeKalb County, Georgia.
> 
> In theory, stacks with more than five levels are possible. However, the amount of land required for the highest ramps increases significantly as each level is added, in order for high speed traffic to maintain velocity during the climb to the top level of the stack.


----------



## MDguy

I don't know how many levels this is, but it looks huge and its, i think proposed, for baltimore. it looks pretty big even if it isn't 5 levels


----------



## TheCat

Ontario was the first to use parclo (partial cloverleaf) interchanges between motorways and main streets, but I think now they are the standard in many places around the world.


----------



## The Knowledgeable

You forgot the roundabout interchange!









Essentially the same as any roundabout, only that one motorway is grade-separated from the roundabout and the intersecting motorway. This type is extremely common in the UK. 
There is also an advanced variation of roundabout interchange, called three-level stacked interchange:









Where the two intersecting motorways as well as the roundabout itself are grade separated.

Both are considerably cheaper than their clover/stacked counterparts, however both have low capacity.









Lofthouse Interchange, Yorkshire, UK

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Braintree,+MA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.210235,-70.996732&spn=0.0036,0.007296&t=h&z=17&om=1
Pilgrims Hwy with Union St., Braintree, MA

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Gardner,+MA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.564156,-71.979353&spn=0.003429,0.003648&t=h&z=18&om=1
MA Route 2 with Pearson Blvd., Gardner, MA


----------



## noblergt

Here is a good page about different types of junctions:

http://www.cbrd.co.uk/reference/interchanges/

One of the only good things about the UK's motorway system is that we have never had any cloverleafs.


----------



## RV

But you have traffic light-controlled roundabouts instead...


----------



## CharlieP

CborG said:


> 1) Cloverleaf:
> 
> The cloverleaf is the most basic and cheapest to built because only one viaduct is required. *Left turns *are handled by loop ramps , Not suitable for busy crossings because the weaving lanes and tight corners reduce the road capacity. A half cloverleaf is used as a temporary solution when an extension of the connecting motorway is planned.
> ----------------
> 2) Trumpet:
> 
> Allways a 3-way junction. The *left turns *are handled by a loop ramp and a semi-directional ramp on the outside of the loop.
> ----------------
> 3) Star or Stack:
> 
> A star or stack is a four-way interchange in which *left turns* are handled by semi-directional flyover ramps which don't cross the center of the interchange.
> These types lack weaving lanes and have higher entrance speeds so they can handle much more traffic than a cloverleaf.
> ----------------


Don't forget countries where traffic drives on the left have motorways too...!


----------



## radi6404

The Knowledgeable said:


> You forgot the roundabout interchange!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Essentially the same as any roundabout, only that one motorway is grade-separated from the roundabout and the intersecting motorway. This type is extremely common in the UK.
> There is also an advanced variation of roundabout interchange, called three-level stacked interchange:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Where the two intersecting motorways as well as the roundabout itself are grade separated.
> 
> Both are considerably cheaper than their clover/stacked counterparts, however both have low capacity.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lofthouse Interchange, Yorkshire, UK
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Braintree,+MA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.210235,-70.996732&spn=0.0036,0.007296&t=h&z=17&om=1
> Pilgrims Hwy with Union St., Braintree, MA
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Gardner,+MA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.564156,-71.979353&spn=0.003429,0.003648&t=h&z=18&om=1
> MA Route 2 with Pearson Blvd., Gardner, MA


I like this a lot. It would also look nice if the roundabout thing was under the motorway and the motorway overpasses the roundabout.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Those roundabouts are outdated, and not suitable meeting todays traffic unless both motorways barely exchange traffic. 

Though these solutions are fine for ordinary exits, but not for motorway-to-motorway interchanges.


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> Those roundabouts are outdated, and not suitable meeting todays traffic unless both motorways barely exchange traffic.
> 
> Though these solutions are fine for ordinary exits, but not for motorway-to-motorway interchanges.


Ofcourse I was refering to ordinary extits.


----------



## x-type

roundabouts seem to be nice, but only for non congested exits. if this up would be congested exit/intersection, roundabout wouldn't be suitable because at the meeting point of exit ramp and roundabout speed drasticly falls and that would make waiting in a row at exit ramp. also, for motorway intersections they are totaly inappropriate. at medium and smaller exits they are very nice, but i guess in that case it is cheaper to make ordinary exit that roundabout. but they are nice indeed.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The busiest interchange in my city is a 3-lane roundabout with traffic lights. The motorway carries between 130.000 and 110.000 vehicles, while the N337 dumps about 45.000 vehicles a day on the roundabout. Yet this is not very congested.


----------



## Ballota

This reminds me of The Rotor in Zagreb... :hammer:


----------



## x-type

Ballota said:


> This reminds me of The Rotor in Zagreb... :hammer:


roundabouts here shown have larger radius that _the rotor_ and aren't so congested.


----------



## Chris_533976

The Knowledgeable said:


> You forgot the roundabout interchange!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Essentially the same as any roundabout, only that one motorway is grade-separated from the roundabout and the intersecting motorway. This type is extremely common in the UK.
> There is also an advanced variation of roundabout interchange, called three-level stacked interchange:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Where the two intersecting motorways as well as the roundabout itself are grade separated.
> 
> Both are considerably cheaper than their clover/stacked counterparts, however both have low capacity.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lofthouse Interchange, Yorkshire, UK
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Braintree,+MA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.210235,-70.996732&spn=0.0036,0.007296&t=h&z=17&om=1
> Pilgrims Hwy with Union St., Braintree, MA
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Gardner,+MA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.564156,-71.979353&spn=0.003429,0.003648&t=h&z=18&om=1
> MA Route 2 with Pearson Blvd., Gardner, MA



They're going to be building one of these fucking things at the future N18/17/6 interchange in Ireland  Three Level Stacked roundabouts - you'd have think they'd fucking learned by now.


----------



## Onur

Ah, In Turkey it's not higher than 3 level!


----------



## SkyView

*Houston...5 stack paradise*


----------



## mgk920

The I-43/94/794 'Marquette' interchange in downtown Milwaukee, WI (USA), currently under construction to replace its older version, is an irregular five levels.

http://www.mchange.org/page.jsp?&key=tni

Mike


----------



## scotdaliney

noblergt said:


> Here is a good page about different types of junctions:
> 
> http://www.cbrd.co.uk/reference/interchanges/
> 
> One of the only good things about the UK's motorway system is that we have never had any cloverleafs.


There is one near my old house in Redditch, Worcestershire. On the A441


----------



## Realek

Who can explain this junction? :crazy: :laugh:


----------



## urbanfan89

What kind of interchange does this count as?


----------



## Realek

That's not a single junction there :lol:

I see 2x semi-directional Ts, a half cloverleaf and elements of a parclo and a diamond...


----------



## pmaciej7

@ Realek: double trumpet.
@ urbanfan89 : spaghetti.


----------



## bgplayer19

urbanfan89 said:


> What kind of interchange does this count as?


That's the junction right next t0 YZZ right


----------



## Realek

pmaciej7 said:


> @ Realek: double trumpet.


Triple! 

But how does it work?


----------



## CborG

Realek said:


> Who can explain this junction? :crazy: :laugh:


:nuts: Where is this? I can't figure it out, it must have some same-grade crossings to be possible.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^Looks like Macedonia


----------



## Realek

CborG said:


> :nuts: Where is this? I can't figure it out, it must have some same-grade crossings to be possible.


Like bgplayer said, it's in Macedonia, east of the town of Stip.

It seems that it really has same grade crossings (it's not a freeway interchange after all). The east-west road should be a freeway in the future. Maybe they've built something recently and kept the old stuff too. This might be a temporary solution of some kind. But I still don't get it...


----------



## Majestic

^^Yeah, and how do you make a turn from south-east onto the road going north?


----------



## CborG

I've figured it out, it is grade-separated and complete, but it has to be the most unlogical junction i've ever seen:

I hope it's clear enough:


----------



## bgplayer19

OMG O_O!What kind of idiot could have build this!It hasn't got any sense!


----------



## Realek

CborG said:


> I've figured it out, it is grade-separated and complete, but it has to be the most unlogical junction i've ever seen:
> 
> I hope it's clear enough:


Got to hand it to you CborG... I almost hypnotized myself when I tried to "solve" it :laugh:





bgplayer19 said:


> OMG O_O!What kind of idiot could have build this!It hasn't got any sense!


:dunno: 

Probably there are factors that we are not aware of.


----------



## Bartolo

Realek said:


> Who can explain this junction? :crazy: :laugh:


I think one of the reason's its really messed up is because of the homes that line the road on the north side, east of where the 2 roads cross


----------



## Tom 958

I think it's clever-- it provides all movements without moving what must be a railroad or requiring more than one modest bridge over it. Good job, Macedonian highway engineers!

Here's one for you-- a trumpet with a traffic signal in the middle of it!









There's even a webpage about it with ground-level photos.

The trumpet itself is new, c.2003, along with the US 13 bypass running southeast from the interchange. The freeway segment of US 58 running to the northeast is from the late '70's-early '80's. To me, the interesting thing about this interchange is that it was obvious that the added US 13 link would be built at some point, but no provision for it was made in the design of the initial US 58 bypass.


----------



## Rodalvesdepaula

Castello Branco expressway junction, near city of Sorocaba (78 Km of São Paulo), and near my home!












Rodrigo Alves de Paula
Alumínio, São Paulo, Brazil


----------



## Chris_533976

This gem of an interchange will be opening soon near Waterford in Ireland. Its going to be the interchange between the under construction M9 (from the capital, Dublin) and a major east-west motorway/DC, the (under construction) M25 from Cork - Rosslare ports, basically. It'll also link to the N24, a route under construction from Limerick, another city. 

I propose a new junction name for this, namely "abject stupidity". It'll be jammed from day 1, mark my words.


----------



## Nexis

Realek said:


> Who can explain this junction? :crazy: :laugh:


The guy who designed that interchange, must have been Drunk!!


----------



## TheCat

Realek said:


> Who can explain this junction? :crazy: :laugh:
> 
> <picture_removed>


I think Tom 958 is right, it is actually quite simple. A way to build a complete interchange but having all the ramps on just one side of the road. Like he said, it allowed the corridor on the other side (probably a railway) to remain intact.


----------



## PLH

It's a pity they demolished this pre war semi cloverleaf 

Poland, A4 near Opole











There is now place for a toll booth


----------



## Ron2K

We have a variety of interchange types here in South Africa...

Stack - E.B. Cloete Interchange (aka "Spaghetti Junction"), Durban










Half stack - Kuils River Interchange, Cape Town










Cloverstack - Buccleuch Interchange, Johannesburg










Directional T and cloverleaf - Elands Interchange and Rand Airport Interchange, Johannesburg










Trumpet - not sure of the interchange name, but it's the northern N1/N4 interchange, located just north of Pretoria










And then, what would an interchange gallery be like without spaghetti? This interchange is located at the entrance to Johannesburg's airport:


----------



## PLH

Typical Polish junctions:

Trumpet:


















Cloverleaf:


















Combined:


----------



## bebe.2006

Realek said:


> Who can explain this junction? :crazy: :laugh:


It`s simple: this is a junction on the French-British border. So the cars have to change the trafic directions (from left to right and revers) :lol:


----------



## Tom 958

Realek said:


> Beautiful concept. You get all the real benefits of a stack, for a significantly lower price probably. Why the hell aren't there tons of these???


1. Left entrances and exits

2. Two dangerous reverse curves on the mainline in every direction, unless the mainline itself curves through the interchange, in which case the curves on one of the roadways get sharper.

3. Steep grades due to having over- and underpasses too close together.

There are two of these that I know about, both in the US (isn't there another in Saudi Arabia?). I'm too lazy to post pics, but here are the Google Map links:

I-65 at I-20/59, Birmingham, http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&ll=33.521576,-86.826625&spn=0.008909,0.01914&t=k&z=15

and I-95 at I-695, Baltimore, http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&ll=39.350859,-76.496558&spn=0.008263,0.01914&t=k&z=15


----------



## Patrick

Chriszwolle said:


> However, they are better than cloverleafs. I have never seen 2 lane cloverleafs (the 270 degrees turns) in the Netherlands.


do you mean one leaf or all 4 leafs?
here are some german ones:

here we have one "ear" with two lanes (north>east), well, it's a modified cloverleaf though









here all 4 ears begin with 2 lanes, but the left lanes disappear before reaching the collector lanes









here same as above, but only 2 ears (west>north, north>east)









the first one i found where 2 lanes reach the collector lane (east>south), but the oncoming traffic from north into the collector lanes has no lane going through


----------



## Patrick

Realek said:


> Beautiful concept. You get all the real benefits of a stack, for a significantly lower price probably. Why the hell aren't there tons of these???











i like it, too  you may think you're in england when you're in the middle of it

this one also has curves in the main direction:


----------



## H123Laci

Chriszwolle said:


> It goes about this:
> 
> low AADT, low number of exiting vehicles
> > Simple cloverleaf
> 
> medium AADT, high number of exiting vehicles
> > Cloverleaf with collector lanes
> 
> high AADT, medium number of exiting vehicles
> > Turbine
> 
> high AADT, high number of exiting vehicles
> > Stack
> 
> Ofcourse, there are various variants of interchanges.



interesting classification...

could you assign concrete numbers to these "low, medium, high" categories?


----------



## scotdaliney

Realek said:


> But they don't meet at a same area, so no need for 4 levels. If you have enough space, you can make this interchange both 2-level and with pleasant gradients. True, you need a lot of space if you want to make it really smooth, but the same goes for a stack, and the stack is still a 4-level interchange.
> 
> There are two minor disadvantages in this interchange, but they are totally not important IMO:
> -left exits
> -slightly longer distance when driving straight


Exiting on the left IS a bit problem, in my view. 
In Australia, they have quite a few exit/ entrances on the right (outside lane)(fast lane)(We drive on the left). It is a terrible compromise. Here they also often have the left lane (L1, inside lane) as the lane that ends if 3 lanes are merging into 2. The Law here also makes no distinction between L1 and L2, making it only illegal to drive in the right lane when not overtaking. Comparing this to Europe where L1 is the only legal lane unless overtaking. The differnce is massive in experience and fustration levles. The European model works so much better.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

H123Laci said:


> interesting classification...
> 
> could you assign concrete numbers to these "low, medium, high" categories?


> Simple cloverleaf
AADT up to 30,000

> Cloverleaf with collector lanes
AADT up to 80,000

> Turbine
AADT up to infinity, lots of exiting traffic

> Stackt
AADT up to infinity, infinitive number of exiting traffic.


----------



## H123Laci

Chriszwolle said:


> > Simple cloverleaf
> AADT up to 30,000
> 
> > Cloverleaf with collector lanes
> AADT up to 80,000


thanx.

I hate I am always right. :nuts:

(we are building a very busy motorway(M6) - aadt will be about 5.000 (yes: FIVE thousand) and we are building the M6xM9 cloverleaf IC with CD lanes.
the aadt of M9 is about 4.000...

and there is another cloverleaf: the M6xM8 interchange.
it is also a FULL cloverleaf w C/D lanes, but the M8 terminates at the M6, so it funtions only as a trumphet...

it is nice, isn't it? )


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Well, CD lanes are also safer. If a government opts to lower the traffic accidents, CD lanes are also a way to do that. And don't forget, the Netherlands also used to have very quiet motorways, however that's all changed now. Maybe it'll happen in Hungary too.


----------



## H123Laci

Chriszwolle said:


> Well, CD lanes are also safer. If a government opts to lower the traffic accidents, CD lanes are also a way to do that.


that's ok.

the problem is, that we have many poor quality 2lane roads with aadt of 20.000 or more, and we have many p.q. 2 lane roads with aadt of 10.000 or more crossing towns and villages...
but we have not enough money...

so if we want to improve safety (and decrease accident rate) we shouldn't spend the money for outsized motorway interchanges (and outsized motorways...), but we should spend for bypasses and main road improvements...


----------



## Patrick

omg, before the frankfurter kreuz has been modified some in 2000, it was a simple cloverleaf with collector lanes, and with an aadt of around 300000 (now 310000)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Yeah right... There is no such road with an AADT of 300,000 in Germany. Above 100,000 is already an exception. Unless you mean total AADT of all directions combined.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

A3: F-Flughafen - Frankfurter Kreuz 123,800
A3: Frankfurter Kreuz - F-Süd 127,000
A5: F-Niederrad - Frankfurter Kreuz 144,900
A5: Frankfurter Kreuz - Zeppelinheim 150,700

total divided by 2: 273,200 vehicles a day on the Frankfurter Kreuz.

However, it's also important how many vehicles actually use the exits, i think it's quite low for the traffic volumes, since there are alternatives nearby. (A66, A67, A661).


----------



## Patrick

ok, i see, to reach that high number the statistic includes the exit to the B43 (it is integrated in the collector lanes on the A5)


----------



## urbanjim

*Busiest interchange in your metro*

According to official statistics, what interchange in your metro area has the highest traffic count? 

In the St Louis metro, it's the I-70/I-270 interchange, northwest of the city. 
Per MoDot's website, it's also the busiest interchange in the state of Missouri. The total daily traffic count averages 290,000.


----------



## Skybean

*Canada - Toronto - Hwy-401 - Weston Rd.-Hwy-400 (Toronto-West)*
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) of over *425,000* in 2004


----------



## foadi

according to wikipedia its the east los angeles interchange wit 430,000 cars per day, but the 405/101 or the 405/10 interchanges are the ones that give me the most grief.


----------



## SlidellWeather

Causeway and I-10 In Metairie just to the west of New Orleans. Northshore traffic merges with I-10 toward the CBD here. According to the DOTD in 2005there were 134,567 cars passing through on an average day.

Here's a shot where southbound Causeway merges with westbound I-10.


----------



## Timon91

I have no idea (I live just south of Amsterdam). Maybe A2/A10. Perhaps Chris knows.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I don't know if topic starter meant AADT volume near an interchange, or the actual AADT on interchanges, like count all directions, and divide by 2.


----------



## Verso

70,000 AADT here.


----------



## Ron2K

Two that I can think of are the R21/R24 interchange right outside Johannesburg's main airport (I posted a pic of this in another thread, just can't remember which one), and the N1/M5 interchange in Cape Town.


----------



## x-type

trainrover said:


> ^^ You're recalling goofy signage, while the interchange itself comes across as being fine.


well, i'm very sensitive on left turns at motorways and interchange can be shiny and well signd the most in the world, but with left turns it all falls into the water. left turns + motorway = goofiness


----------



## brisavoine

For me the goofiest interchange in the world is between the A6 and the A86 in Greater Paris. There is simply no lane that goes from A6 southbound to A86 westbound (i.e. no lane that goes from central Paris to Versailles). Who is the fine engineer who made such a stupid interchange???!!! I once ended up way south of Paris because I wasn't able to take the A86 to Versailles thanks to that stupid interchange.

There are many other idiosyncracies in the Greater Paris freeways (like freeways without exits for miles and miles), but the A6/A86 interchange is just the most maddening.

A picture of the 'thing':


----------



## trainrover

x-type said:


> well, i'm very sensitive on left turns at motorways and interchange can be shiny and well signd the most in the world, but with left turns it all falls into the water. left turns + motorway = goofiness


I hear you. There are a few instances around the region here where traffic boards on the left whereafter about 100 metres traffic exits also on the left. The dumb thing about all this crap around here is it's not like the region's ever struggled for space (the island's massive enough itself).


----------



## gannman1975

Thanks Invincible for the tip, I'll edit my first posting and use that for future ones. Too bad we aren't allow to use Google Map's embed code.

Very nice to see quite a bit of activity here 

Here is another goofy one:

There is an interchange on Maryland State Route 100 with a local road in which you have to exit from the left lane and turn left to go under the other side of the highway whilst in the median. To get back on the same direction, the reverse is true. To make matters worse, if you need to get off at Exit 1A (just to the north), you don't have much room to get over 3 lanes.


----------



## sotavento

Some devilish and dangerous interchanges in Lisboa (Portugal):

In the interchange between A1/CRIL/ Vasco da Gama Bridge/Airport we get this kind of crap:



























Near setubal both roads continue to Lisboa (each one goes by a different bridge) ... can you read the sign over there ???









The A8 just outside of Lisboa is a sucession of a dozen interchangs (they don't even have gaps betweeen them):









^^ there are too many over here ... can't post them all ... but will try to get some aerial images of the worst. :lol:


----------



## gannman1975

8 interchanges one after another??? Do we even want to know what rush hour is like?


----------



## WonderlandPark

This is one of the most unique in the world:











This is where Hong Kong, left hand drive, crosses into Mainland China at Shenzen, right hand drive. HK is on the bottom. Just try to figure out how it works.


----------



## sotavento

gannman1975 said:


> 8 interchanges one after another??? Do we even want to know what rush hour is like?


^^ I just started to count and after hitting the 60 mark .. I gave up ... too many horrible highway intersections in a small section of 15x20km ... mostly are hurb by being both arterial streets and highways/motorways at the same time ... some are just an entry/exit lane that just pops out of nowhere into a major highway or into the back steets of some housing. 

I officialy designate the Lisboa highway/freeway hubs as a desaster area:










^^Over 100 interchanges inside that area and I'm still trying to find one that is not goofy enough to be on this list ... and notice that I'm only counting interchanges wich have highways/freeways ... not any street crossing over the dam'n devilish list. :lol:


----------



## gannman1975

^^
With that many to choose from, I'd say pick the ones that are either (1) the most deadly and/or (2) the most complex. Hopefully, that will narrow things down a bit.


----------



## aswnl

WonderlandPark said:


> This is where Hong Kong, left hand drive, crosses into Mainland China at Shenzen, right hand drive. HK is on the bottom. Just try to figure out how it works.


The switch right/left is west of this interchange. The central spiral part of the interchange is complete left hand drive. Only thing abnormal is that the bridge consists of 2 parallel roads.


----------



## ManRegio

The majority of the Monterrey Interchanges are very confusing for people from out of town, because my city has several interchanges with exits from the left. 
Basically I'm referring to this Interchange which was built around the 60's but nowadays it is insufficient and confusing, basically it's not enough for the amount of vehicles nowadays.


----------



## en1044

i cant find a picture, but the old Springfield Interchange in Springfield, VA was the worst intersection i have ever seen before they renovated it, not to mention it it was the busiest interchange on the US east coast


----------



## ggonza

*WORLD | Widest Avenues*

I opened this thread so we can add pictures of the widest avenues in the world. Atention!, no highways / motorways, just avenues.


Here i put the widest avenue in the world, the 9 of July avenue, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina:

_(8/14/08 I ADD MORE) :_























































--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




























--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANOTHER AVENUE IN BUENOS AIRES:


----------



## Schweden

That one was wide, indeed! mg:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

If it was grade-separated, you could do with half the number of lanes...


----------



## smokiboy

This is truly a monumental avenue. I wonder if someone from Buenos Aires can tell us what kind of effect it has on the city, etc.


----------



## keber

Chriszwolle said:


> If it was grade-separated, you could do with half the number of lanes...


Sure, but how you do military parades on grade-separated avenues?


----------



## skytrax

very nice!!


----------



## Timon91

keber said:


> Sure, but how you do military parades on grade-separated avenues?


Think of North Korea


----------



## H123Laci

ggonza said:


>


placing that obelisco in the middle of that avenue was not a good idea... :lol:


----------



## H123Laci

Chriszwolle said:


> If it was grade-separated, you could do with half the number of lanes...


or fewer... 

tipical misbelief of laymen that the jams on multilane town roads means the town is full, there is no place for more cars.

in fact building grade separated main roads in towns means 2 or 3 times more capacity on the same area...


----------



## jarbury

Yeah that'd be great for the city's vibrancy to have an elevated highway through the middle of the city.


----------



## H123Laci

smokiboy said:


> ...I wonder if someone from Buenos Aires can tell us what kind of effect it has on the city, etc.


i think the AIRES is not so BUENOS nowadays... :lol:


----------



## H123Laci

jarbury said:


> Yeah that'd be great for the city's vibrancy to have an elevated highway through the middle of the city.


who was talking about the middle of the city?
a city has not only a middle, it has some other parts... :lol:


what is the date of that quotation? 1950? :lol:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

jarbury said:


> Yeah that'd be great for the city's vibrancy to have an elevated highway through the middle of the city.


You think an elevated highway is the only solution for a grade separated road? Well, think again. 

They could've made it below grade, and make an urban park of the available lands, or even a cut & cover tunnel.


----------



## christos-greece

Avenue des Champs Elusées:


----------



## Thorin

Avenue Foch is even double broader than the Champs Elisées.


----------



## H123Laci

This is not too wide, but it is old. (about 100years old) 
Andrássy avenue, Budapest, Hungary


----------



## Sacré Coeur

Avenue Foch is 120m wide and 9 of July avenue is 20m wider


----------



## ggonza

christos-greece said:


> Avenue des Champs Elusées:


I NOTICED THAT ARGENTINE LANES ARE MUCH WIDER THAN THE ONES ON FRENCH AVENUES........


----------



## ggonza

AVENIDA DEL LIBERTADOR, BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA










2nd LONGEST AVENUE (AVENIDA RIVADAVIA) - BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA
It has 83 Bus Lines. It also passes by 106 Traffic Lights :nuts: lol....










Extension:


----------



## ggonza

H123Laci said:


> placing that obelisco in the middle of that avenue was not a good idea... :lol:


haha right, they should make a tunnel...


----------



## Morsue

Haha, there's a city outside BA that's called Moron


----------



## ggonza

Morsue said:


> Haha, there's a city outside BA that's called Moron


:lol::lol: I never payed attention to that!


----------



## lambersart2005

Does anybody have pics of avenue foch in paris? I think in Germany, the straße des 17. juni and its extension to the west (Ernst reuter platz) might be the widest. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures taken by me.


----------



## lambersart2005

how about this ringroad in moscou?




or this mega-roundabout in quezon city/ manila? 650m wide!!!!!!!


----------



## Dequal

lambersart2005 said:


> how about this ringroad in moscou?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> or this mega-roundabout in quezon city/ manila? 650m wide!!!!!!!


No bigger resolution available? hno:


----------



## diegodbs

Madrid. Paseo de la Castellana.


----------



## carfentanyl

ggonza said:


> LOOKS LIKE ARGENTINES HAVE AVENUE RECORDS. WE DONT JUST HAVE THE WIDEST AVENUE. WE ALSO HAVE THE LARGEST AVENUE...with 35km of extension.


I always learnt Yonge Street is the longest street in the world. From downtown Toronto it goes 56 km without changing name or type.


----------



## jarbury

The Diagonal is quite some boulevard! I think its length defines it as much as its width though, considering it seems to run across most of Barcelona.


----------



## tablemtn

This avenue in Sana'a, Yemen is among the widest in the world:



















Google Maps overview

I think it has a dual use as a military parade route, though.


----------



## nuck 2

Morsue said:


> Who put a giant ***** in the middle of the city??


The Agbar tower (Water company of Barcelona)


----------



## Junkie

Moscow second ring road is very wide also.


----------



## lpioe

tablemtn said:


> This avenue in Sana'a, Yemen is among the widest in the world:
> 
> I think it has a dual use as a military parade route, though.



Wow, this one is really wide.
Do you know how many lanes it has?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ It seems to be more a huge asphalt area than really a roadway:


----------



## ggonza

Chriszwolle said:


> ^^ It seems to be more a huge asphalt area than really a roadway:


but it's like 7 blocks long. Why would they do something such wide for that lenght?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Military parades I guess. Officials can watch from that stage.


----------



## Guest

I'm posting from Spain because it's the only country I know, sorry fot that!

*Zaragoza - Paseo de la Independencia*


----------



## gincan

christos-greece said:


> I see 3 or 4 lanes each driving direction ^^? Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris has 5 in each direction


Well this is not about number of lanes, but about the width.

Champs Elysées has a width of 60 meters and 70 meter.
Paseo de la Castellana has a width of 80 meters and 90 meters.


----------



## TheCat

frozen said:


> I'm posting from Spain because it's the only country I know, sorry fot that!
> 
> *Zaragoza - Paseo de la Independencia*
> ...


I really like the huge pedestrian sidewalks. It must be so easy to pass all the slow walkers out there (like 99% of the people) :lol:


----------



## ggonza

keber said:


> Sure, but how you do military parades on grade-separated avenues?


I don't think they do military parades at avenida 9 de Julio


----------



## ggonza

"NEW IMAGES OF THE WIDEST AVENUE IN THE FIRST POST"


----------



## willo

gincan said:


> Well this is not about number of lanes, but about the width.
> 
> Champs Elysées has a width of 60 meters and 70 meter.
> Paseo de la Castellana has a width of 80 meters and 90 meters.


Paseo de la Castellana in its widest parts is 120-130m wide but it's true that probably the most common width throughout the avenue is 90-100m


----------



## ggonza

9 de Julio Avenue Project:


----------



## Guest

More pics of Avenida Castellana, Madrid


----------



## ggonza

thanks frozen!!


----------



## Lijman

..


----------



## Onur

^^ Maybe a point for take photos of the road? :dunno:


----------



## sturman

Garden Ring, Moscow:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

What a mess, is that every day's business? Well, that happens in a city of 14 million with only one proper grade-separated ringroad. You can make that street 30 lanes wide and it still wouldn't make a difference.


----------



## ggonza

Lijman said:


> Isn't that high-rise building that juts out into the avenue the Argentine highway department? A bit ironic if it is!


^^ WHEN THEY BUILT THE AVENUE, THEY HAD TO DESTROY ALL THE BLOCKS ON THE WAY, AND THAT BUILDING WAS ALREADY THERE, SO THEY DIDNT HAVE A CHOICE...


----------



## JPBrazil

Avenida Paulista - São Paulo, Brazil




















Avenida Afonso Pena - Belo Horizonte, Brazil


----------



## LtBk

Are there any plans to upgrade all the Moscow rings into motorways?


----------



## xlchris

*Your Countries Intersections*

_I'm always interested in seeing nice intersections. I know the US has many big ones. The Netherlands also hase some nice and crazy intersections, here are a few. They are from the "Dutch Highways & Autosnelwegen Thread"._

Nijmeegseplein, Arnhem;










Kleinpolderplein, Rotterdam;



















Prins Clausplein, The Hague;










Ridderkerk-North/Ridderster, Rotterdam;










Vaanplein, Rotterdam;










_There are many more intersections in The Netherlands, but I think these ones are very nice. Show some more of your country._


----------



## Positronn

You guys forgot the Monumental Axis in Brasilia. Its the real largest avenue in the world : 250m. The ppl from Argentina, of course, call this an highway 










Brasilia is a different city, so is its avenues.


----------



## CborG

^^Made by me


----------



## Junkie

LtBk said:


> Are there any plans to upgrade all the Moscow rings into motorways?


Well the third and the fifth rings are motorways. In 2012 the fourth ring line will be complete. The garden ring (second ring road) is very huge and wide also. The Ring consists of 17 individually named streets and 15 squares. It has a circumference of 16 kilometers. At its narrowest point, Krymsky Bridge, the Ring has 6 lanes. Also its widest, Zubovskaya Square, it has 18 lanes.


----------



## shadyunltd

TheCat said:


> Hehe yeah that's true, and if you also count Highway 11, which is the extension of Yonge Street but without the name, it is 1896 km


Yonge Street is not the longest street in the world anymore. The title goes to Sepulveda Boulevard in LA.

As for the width of a street, how do you measure it? From sidewalk to sidewalk, from one extremity of the pavement to the other, from a building on one side to the other?


----------



## ggonza

Positronn said:


> You guys forgot the Monumental Axis in Brasilia. Its the real largest avenue in the world : 250m. The ppl from Argentina, of course, call this an highway
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Brasilia is a different city, so is its avenues.


FROM THAT POINT OF VIEW IT LOOKS LIKE A FREEWAY. COULD U SHOW ME MORE PICTURES?


----------



## Onur

I dunno what does Chris mean as Grade-seperate/at-grade :?


----------



## goschio

xlchrisij said:


> _I'm always interested in seeing nice intersections. I know the US has many big ones. The Netherlands also hase some nice and crazy intersections, here are a few. They are from the "Dutch Highways & Autosnelwegen Thread"._
> 
> Nijmeegseplein, Arnhem;


Wouldn't it be better to have a roundabout here? Too many traffic light 
s IMO.


----------



## ggonza

Onur said:


> I dunno what does Chris mean as Grade-seperate/at-grade :?


i dont even know what that means!!


----------



## HindenPeter

a few in Melbourne:


----------



## jarbury

Auckland's CMJ:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Intersections or interchanges?


----------



## jarbury

Good question Chris. Both have been posted above.


----------



## Patrick

i'd say we should stick to intersections here, because we have an interchange thread somewhere here


----------



## HindenPeter

I assumed he meant interchanges because intersections pretty much look the same anywhere in the world and are nothing special.


----------



## Positronn

ggonza said:


> FROM THAT POINT OF VIEW IT LOOKS LIKE A FREEWAY. COULD U SHOW ME MORE PICTURES?


Have you ever seen a freeway in the center of the city, with residential and comercial buildings around, with a plaza and metro/bus parades? If so, its surely not a freeway.


----------



## arriaca

Yes, I see one in Madrid


----------



## christos-greece

*Sygrou avenue - Athens, Greece*
4 lanes each drive-direction:









*Poseidonos avenue - near Pireaus, Greece*
4 lanes each drive-direction:


----------



## Onur

^^ WOW! Total 16 lanes!


----------



## ggonza

Positronn said:


> Have you ever seen a freeway in the center of the city, with residential and comercial buildings around, with a plaza and metro/bus parades? If so, its surely not a freeway.


that's cuz brazilia it's a planned city!!


----------



## Positronn

ggonza said:


> that's cuz brazilia it's a planned city!!


And?

Monumental Axis is still a big avenue. But 9 de Julio is the widest convetional avenue. Nothing in Brasilia seems convetional.


----------



## tvdxer

Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain, European Union, World:


----------



## xlchris

ChrisZwolle said:


> Intersections or interchanges?


I'm sorry. I didn't realy know. Both can be posted.


----------



## christos-greece

Athens-Thessaloniki Highway & Attiki Odos intersection, suburbs of Athens:


----------



## KONSTANTINOUPOLIS

Poseidonos Ave. , Southern Athens


















pic scanned by gm2263

Doukissis Plakentias , Northern Athens


----------



## ggonza

edit


----------



## AdmNorton

That's not an intersection! BTW, here is mine. Not the best Zagreb can offer, but it does look neat and there is also a tram intersection to the east.


----------



## xlchris

Those Greece ones, looks like they all have toll booths, why that?


----------



## shadyunltd

TheCat said:


> Hehe yeah that's true, and if you also count Highway 11, which is the extension of Yonge Street but without the name, it is 1896 km


Yonge Street is not the longest street in the world anymore. The title goes to Sepulveda Boulevard in LA.

As for the width of a street, how do you measure it? From sidewalk to sidewalk, from one extremity of the pavement to the other, from a building on one side to the other?


----------



## ggonza

shadyunltd said:


> Yonge Street is not the longest street in the world anymore. The title goes to Sepulveda Boulevard in LA.
> 
> As for the width of a street, how do you measure it? From sidewalk to sidewalk, from one extremity of the pavement to the other, from a building on one side to the other?


any photos from "Sepulveda"?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Sepulveda is not a very wide street, usually 6 lanes.

For instance here next to the 405:


----------



## ggonza

ChrisZwolle said:


> Sepulveda is not a very wide street, usually 6 lanes.
> 
> For instance here next to the 405:


thanks chris!


----------



## olahtipota

*athens avenues*


----------



## neuromancer

ChrisZwolle said:


> Sepulveda is not a very wide street, usually 6 lanes.
> 
> For instance here next to the 405:


Street???? and.... where is the city?


----------



## Aokromes

ChrisZwolle said:


> Sepulveda is not a very wide street, usually 6 lanes.
> 
> For instance here next to the 405:


Well, on this photo for me this don't looks a Street, for me looks a highway.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

neuromancer said:


> Street???? and.... where is the city?





Aokromes said:


> Well, on this photo for me this don't looks a Street, for me looks a highway.


This pic is taken on Sepulveda Pass. Everything within a 20 mile radius of here is urbanized. It's the road on the left, next to the more visible I-405 freeway.


----------



## scalziand

South of Hartford, Ct, I-91, I-691 and Ct 15 came together in this interchange:

Here's a fairly large interchange with I-91 and Ct 9:


Here's where Ct-8, Ct-25 and Ct-15 come together:


----------



## RoadUser

Gaeus said:


> I am not sure if I am right but are you supposed to include both the length and the width?


Well, my original question was: where is the biggest interchange "in terms of its length - how far you can drive and still be on it, and in terms of the area that it occupies"

This means that if it's long and thin then it still counts.

So, which is the biggest we've found so far?


----------



## sotonsi

M6/M42 junction is ~6.5km driving through on the M6.

More certain as being one interchange, you can drive over 4km (on the M61) at Worsley Braided Interchange (from where the A666(M) to Bolton slip goes off to the merge with the A580).


----------



## r-g-b

^^ M6 - M6 toll - M42 interchange


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The interchange mazes around the Pentagon are pretty big too.


----------



## Scion

The Chemist said:


> I know in Shanghai the biggest one has got to be the Xinzhuang interchange near the south edge of the city, which I measured in Google Maps at 900m from E to W and about the same from N to S. It has 3 freeways entering it - the A4, A8, and A20, as well as a major intracity expressway, with a total of five spokes radiating away from it.


Yeah that is a huge spaghetti junction, here's some pics


----------



## ggonza

nebunul said:


> Bucharest, Romania (2003)


You guys dont need to worry about parking places :lol:


----------



## Astralis

Still the most impressive wide avenues are the ones in Buenos Aires and Moscow kay:...


----------



## oliver999

Scion said:


> Yeah that is a huge spaghetti junction, here's some pics


the first pic looks like xujiahui junction in shanghai


----------



## hoosier

ChrisZwolle said:


> What a mess, is that every day's business? Well, that happens in a city of 14 million with only one proper grade-separated ringroad. You can make that street 30 lanes wide and it still wouldn't make a difference.


Moscow has two freeway ringroads. The ringroad to which you are referring is just a big boulevard.


----------



## Verso

Where's that boundary, when an interchange actually stops being... an interchange? I think there's a limit as of what we consider to be an interchange and what we don't consider to be an interchange any more. So the largest interchange would be the one just under the limit _we_ have set. Therefore I think it's more interesting seing complicated interchanges, rather than long ones.


----------



## el_cozu

there is also one in dubai... a full turbine... it is ready to be built...


----------



## commodore

A vision of what the future may look like:

(image credit: Syd Mead)


----------



## Verso

^^ I don't think so. But interesting pic. Are the highways properly connected, btw?


----------



## Timon91

That's the future of the Dutch Randstad I guess :lol:
Nice photoshop :cheers:


----------



## enschede-er

commodore said:


> A vision of what the future may look like:
> 
> (image credit: Syd Mead)


cool...... where's te ground :cheers:


----------



## Timon91

Yeah, I already thought something was missing


----------



## GENIUS LOCI

Some Milano big ones


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This Ankara one is also pretty big, and it's even unused.


----------



## christos-greece

Energy2003 said:


> throw stones on me  this is are our biggest 2´(but look interesting!)
> 
> urban pop. < 100.000
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> if interchange means "two big autobahns getting one" -> this happens just in Vienna .... the things i have above is "entry / exits" of autobahns


I see the different colours in this pic, its a project?
That road with the "rotonda" is under construction?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ We have one of them in the Netherlands too. The idea is okay as long as there are not a lot of 3/4th turns on the interchange.


----------



## scotdaliney

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ We have one of them in the Netherlands too. The idea is okay as long as there are not a lot of 3/4th turns on the interchange.


Which one do you mean the roundabout or cloverwhatever.
If roundabout, The government seems bend on making them even worse by putting lights on them, so you end up with traffic lights on a motorway to motorway interchange. :bash:
edit: closer reading you must mean roundabout


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The roundabout. The through lanes are grade separated, but if you want to change motorways, you'll need to take the roundabout. 

A right turn on such interchanges is no problem, since you mostly do not get onto the roundabout itself. But left turns, (three quarters round) are often problematic. This also translates to regular small roundabouts. The Dutch CROW road engineering publicist recommends to build a regular intersection (with or without traffic lights) if there are a lot of left turns (in Britain: right turns!) on roundabouts.


----------



## scotdaliney

or 
With traffic lights


----------



## city_thing

^^ I hate those bloody things.

Imagine having a house right beside it... the noise would drive you crazy.


----------



## scotdaliney

city_thing said:


> ^^ I hate those bloody things.
> 
> Imagine having a house right beside it... the noise would drive you crazy.


Most motorways/ freeways have noise walls, personally I think a standard traffic light intersection would be noisier. All the trucks starting from 0, and no barriers. 
If the roundabout doesn't have lights, at night it should be relately quiet, well as quiet as a motorway can be anyway.
I live about 400mtrs from a freeway an can honestly say I barely here it. The standard traffic lights in the other direction though, (same distance) can sometimes be loud.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Well, the interchange shown has the high speed lanes on the highest level, which means noise barriers don't work that well.


----------



## martien

Mexico can be a great space saver when it comes to building highway junctions. Unfortunately that makes no good to high speeds:

Trumpet in Tijuana










Roundabout in Monterrey










Diamond? in Monterrey










In San Luis Potosi










Cloverleaf in Mexico City


----------



## ChrisZwolle

They should make way more of these in the Netherlands. It can seriously increase the quality of the traffic flow, while it doesn't use a lot of space, and it's also below grade, so less noise.


----------



## Robosteve

Here's one that's always interested me - the intersection of the N2 and R300 (soon to be renumbered N21) freeways in Cape Town, South Africa:

http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-34.000749,18.634207&spn=0.010496,0.023754&t=k&z=16

It's some sort of hybrid between a stack, a turbine and a cloverleaf, I think.

Also, I wonder if anyone here can identify which type of interchange this one is (N1/M5 interchange in Cape Town). :lol:

http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.918203,18.481708&spn=0.010506,0.023754&t=k&z=16

Looks to me like half a trumpet, plus an extremely odd stack/turbine/windmill/cloverleaf hybrid.


----------



## Majestic

ChrisZwolle said:


> They should make way more of these in the Netherlands. It can seriously increase the quality of the traffic flow, while it doesn't use a lot of space, and it's also below grade, so less noise.


Yeah, I would LOVE more of those tunnels in Poland, especially on most major lights-controlled roundabouts. They don't disintegrate the surroundings as much as those bulky estacades/viaducts.


----------



## Ron2K

Robosteve said:


> Also, I wonder if anyone here can identify which type of interchange this one is (N1/M5 interchange in Cape Town). :lol:
> 
> http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.918203,18.481708&spn=0.010506,0.023754&t=k&z=16
> 
> Looks to me like half a trumpet, plus an extremely odd stack/turbine/windmill/cloverleaf hybrid.


That's the Koeberg interchange - having driven through that one numerous times, words that I can use to describe it are along the lines of "dumb" and "bloody mess". The design of that interchange leads to serious congestion.

Fortunately, it's currently getting a total makeover. Check this thread in the South Africa forum for all the details (although most of it deals with the Hospital Bend upgrade - which is another nasty bit of freeway, and I'm glad that's being sorted out too - there's some bit of stuff about the Koeberg interchange upgrade as well).


----------



## ManRegio

These are some of other "Space Saver" Interchanges in Mexico. 
Personally, I don't like this kind of junctions in busy Motorways due to the inneficiency function that they do in that cases, but I don't know why they are constantly built in here. You may find them very weird. 

Mexico City









Saltillo









Monterrey
My city has some kind of weird Interchanges, of course Space Savers:lol:.


----------



## enschede-er

near Springfield:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Which one? There are 34 Springfields in the USA. But I guess this is the one in Virginia.


----------



## wdw35

*List of stack interchanges in Europe*

I want to compile a list of four-level symmetrical stacks that are existing (or in construction) in Europe. These seem to be pretty rare here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_interchange
Interesting to know also: where is the easternmost stack?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*The Netherlands:*

Interchange Prins Clausplein, A4/A12 near The Hague (Den Haag)









Interchange Ridderkerk, A15/A16 near Rotterdam









unfinished:

Interchange Benelux, A4/A15 near Rotterdam


----------



## wdw35

Thx Chris. I'm trying to make a list of four-level symmetrical stacks only.
The second is not symmetrical (although is a four level thing).
As for the third, unless A4 will be extended south of A15 (going where?), this won't be a four-level symmetrical stacks.


----------



## enschede-er

No , its the one near Washington


----------



## Majestic

I guess you won't find many symetrical Texas-style stacks in Europe. Here's quite symetrical 4-level stack.

*A-1/M-40 in Madrid:*


----------



## sturman

How abour this one at MKAD / M-8 in Moscow? This one is stack and cloverleaf at the same time.


----------



## Robosteve

^^ Am I missing something here? What is the point of having two ways of executing left turns at an interchange, apart from catering to drivers who miss the first one?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Those flyovers were probably added later when the cloverleaf turned out the be insufficient.


----------



## sturman

It's a good question for me too. All MKAD interchanges that have additional ramp levels, also provide traditional cloverleaf exits. Before deep modernisation of MKAD in mid-90's this flyover was a regular cloverleaf:










As we can see, it was rebuilt completely, neither of original ramps remained. So there was no reason to make these double exits.


----------



## Verso

Strange.


----------



## PLH

How about turning round? Without normal cloverleaf it would have been impossible.


----------



## sturman

Well, there are another interchanges at both highways in each direction relatively close to this one. Even a special U-turn at M-8 (1,8 km north from MKAD).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Belgium*

They only have some hybrid stack look-a-likes. The fact Europe doesn't have a lot of stacks is probably because we have less of a grid freeway network. 

Interchange Machelen.









Interchange Groot-Bijgaarden.


----------



## H123Laci

wdw35 said:


> I want to compile a list of four-level symmetrical stacks that are existing (or in construction) in Europe. These seem to be pretty rare here.


why do you wonder? 
we are in europe, in the land of the sky high road, fuel and vehicle taxes... :lol:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ You'd think we had more money to invest in our infrastructure, right? :nuts:


----------



## Verso

I don't wanna be unproductive, but I can't think of any. I suppose there will be one between Polish A1 and A2, when the interchange between them gets built. One of probably quite a few is the one between A1 and A24 east of Rome, but I'm not sure that's what wdw35 meant.


----------



## PLH

^^ Unfortunately not full one:
http://siskom.waw.pl/autostrady/a2/a2-wezel-strykow.jpg

We also have two half-stack interchanges in Warsaw, one in Wrocław and that's it.


----------



## Tom 958

Prolly the flyovers are impassable when it's really cold. And maybe the flyunder floods. :lol:


----------



## Verso

PLH said:


> ^^ Unfortunately not full one:
> http://siskom.waw.pl/autostrady/a2/a2-wezel-strykow.jpg


Too bad. Isn't at least the direction Gdańsk->Warsaw a bit too important to do it with 40 km/h?


----------



## PLH

$$$ 
I can't think of nothing else...


----------



## Verso

^ Yeah, but roads are long-term objects. IMO the Polish A1 and A2 motorways will be a typical example of American grid system (with exception that you'll have expressways inbetween).


----------



## PLH

^^ This one is funny cause it looks like a negative of a European junction - concrete in general, asphalt on viaducts, the other way roaund over there.


----------



## HS

Stack interchanges "Mikołowska" in Katowice










"Murckowska" interchange


----------



## Verso

^^ These aren't stacks, if I'm right.


----------



## Majestic

@HS: Man, those are not stacks!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Those are regular overpasses, nothing more.


----------



## gramercy

does this count? 
its in madrid

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.401013,-3.569269&spn=0.026047,0.040855&z=15


----------



## PLH

It's a turbine.


----------



## Koesj

Germany: 

A45 and A480 near Wetzlar, pretty symmetrical:

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=50.596178,8.487582&spn=0.009385,0.019312&z=16

Nearly there but shouldn't count, A3 and B55a near Köln:

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=50.952777,7.037086&spn=0.009314,0.019312&z=16


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This is a stack:


----------



## Tom 958

enschede-er said:


> No , its the one near Washington


That _is_ the one in Virginia. 

Mexico has a lot of interesting interchanges, some impressive, some WTF? Here's a WTF?: http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=20.570961,-100.481172&spn=0.010085,0.017724&z=15 . 

And another: http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&ll=21.003032,-101.514702&spn=0.020112,0.035448&t=k&z=14


----------



## gramercy

are there any legit. AADTs elsewhere in europe that would deserve stacks?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

It largely depends on turning traffic. If two motorways cross eachother perpendicular, but there's few exiting traffic to the other motorway, a cloverleaf will do. For instance on Kreuz Feuchtwangen/Crailsheim (A6/A7) in central Southern Germany, the exiting traffic is probably low, thus a cloverleaf will do. 

But on interchanges with a lot of exiting traffic, a stack is better. A stack is more expensive, but contrary to popular belief does not necessarily takes up more space than a cloverleaf with collector lanes. For example Knooppunt Hoevelaken in the Netherlands (A1/A28) should be converted to a stack.


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> This is a stack:


You've been showing us turbines though (or whatever that was).



Koesj said:


> Germany:
> 
> A45 and A480 near Wetzlar, pretty symmetrical:
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=50.596178,8.487582&spn=0.009385,0.019312&z=16


Pretty odd, isn't it? The A480 doesn't look important to me at all.


----------



## Koesj

^^ The interchange has probably been constructed like a stack because of local height differences.


*Great Britain* 


London orbital motorway M25 - M23:

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.264144,-0.128231&spn=0.009251,0.019312&z=16

London orbital motorway M25 - M4:

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.494263,-0.494428&spn=0.018409,0.038624&z=15

M4 - M5 near Bristol, first stack interchange in the UK:

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.551152,-2.553163&spn=0.009193,0.019312&z=16


*Greece*


E75 - E94, Athens:

http://maps.google.nl/maps?hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=38.061929,23.749609&spn=0.00582,0.009656&t=k&z=17





Verso said:


> You've been showing us turbines though (or whatever that was).


The ones Chris showed are 1. a full stack, 2. a semi-directional T superimposed over a clovermill and 3. a partially constructed stack interchange :?


----------



## Koesj

Those Mexican interchanges seem to have very poor geometrics.


----------



## Verso

^^ The Greek one doesn't count, when you have to (almost) stop due to the toll stations.


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> Interchange Groot-Bijgaarden.


Is this really a stack interchange? You can't drive particularly fast in some of those curves...


----------



## Koesj

Verso said:


> Is this really a stack interchange? You can't drive particularly fast in some of those curves...


That would be a half-turbine half-stack interchange.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Those are called hybrids 

Why we don't have much stacks in Europe, is not only because we haven't got a real grid system, like I mentioned earlier, but European motorways tend to have often only the socalled "Dreieck" interchange. That means three directions on an interchange and not four. This is especially an issue in France for instance. Motorways that do cross eachother with 4 directions usually only have a cloverleaf interchange. 

Maybe we can compile a list of interchanges that better should've been stacks.

Netherlands

Interchange Hoevelaken A1/A28
Interchange Oudenrijn A2/A12
Interchange Lunetten A12/A27
Interchange Rijnsweerd A27/A28
Interchange Badhoevedorp A4/A9
Interchange Rottepolderplein A9/A200


----------



## Timon91

ChrisZwolle said:


> Interchange Oudenrijn A2/A12


There is not so much traffic from the A12 heading west to the A2 heading south, so that wouldn't be necessary. Traffic on the A12 heading for Den Bosch usually takes the A27 as a cut-off. A stack would look nicer though


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ That whole area around I/C Oudenrijn is subject to mass housing projects, in excess of 10,000 homes will be build besides the already megaproject of Leidsche Rijn. So, it might be necessary in the future. All other directions are busy, so it's better to build a stack at once.


----------



## Robosteve

ChrisZwolle said:


> Maybe we can compile a list of interchanges that better should've been stacks.


I know this isn't in Europe, but I think the Wingfield Interchange in Cape Town between the N1 and the N7 should have been a stack:

http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.88522,18.531682&spn=0.01051,0.023754&t=k&z=16

The N1 west heads to the CBD, so radial traffic from the north each morning must make a right turn here (South Africa drives on the left). Also, traffic from the Bellville area heading northward will usually come this way and then make a right turn onto the N7, although this will no longer be the case when the Peninsula Expressway is built.



Another horrible interchange (or rather, pair of interchanges) is that between the N2 and M5 and the N2 and M52 (all are freeways except the M52):

http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.944642,18.486578&spn=0.010502,0.023754&t=k&z=16

In my opinion, two cloverleafs should _never_ be placed this close to each other. Probably the best alternative here would have been to simply build a diamond interchange at the M52.



Finally, I think the intersection of the N7 and the N2 should have been built as a stack, with the N7 being completed as a 100 km/h freeway north to the N1, instead of the 60 km/h expressway it is today:

http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.955713,18.541381&spn=0.010501,0.023754&t=k&z=16


----------



## staff

What do you call this kind of interchange? It has four levels but clearly isn't a stack interchange..

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=55.641465,13.10463&spn=0.00838,0.043945&t=k&z=15


----------



## Robosteve

staff said:


> What do you call this kind of interchange? It has four levels but clearly isn't a stack interchange..
> 
> http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=55.641465,13.10463&spn=0.00838,0.043945&t=k&z=15


That's half a turbine plus a full diamond, if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## CborG

It's a double fork or an incomplete turbine with an integrated half cloverleaf/half diamond exit.


----------



## staff

^^
Thanks. :nuts:


----------



## Patrick

Verso said:


> Pretty odd, isn't it? The A480 doesn't look important to me at all.


It was built when it was planned to continue the existing A48 Luxemburg - Trier - Koblenz to Wetzlar / Gießen and close the gap in the northwest of Gießen and continue to Erfurt - Leipzig / Berlin - Dresden.


----------



## rejow

this one in Germany near Wurzburg looks pretty cool, although its unfinished. With A41 on the fourth level it can be really massive
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=49.746211,9.820704&spn=0.020354,0.05579&z=15


----------



## Koesj

^^ Yeah that one would fit in the same category as interchange Benelux near Rotterdam: when finished, a very large symmetrical stack with one of the thoroughfares at level 4.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Through lanes on the upper deck are not very common, though you'll see it from time to time. The first stack in the world (101/110 in Los Angeles) had this feature, but that was because of the geography and height differences in the direct area.


----------



## earthJoker

There is no stacked 4 way in Switzerland, there is only one 4-way intersection at all.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ Brütiseller Kreuz?

But there's also the Limattaler Kreuz...


----------



## Thorin

What's the name of this one?
http://maps.google.it/maps?hl=it&ie=UTF8&ll=45.408228,10.914874&spn=0.007894,0.019312&t=k&z=16

And this strange four ways interchange?
http://maps.google.it/maps?hl=it&ie=UTF8&ll=44.934608,8.5741&spn=0.015919,0.038624&t=k&z=15


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Brütiseller Kreuz?
> 
> But there's also the Limattaler Kreuz...


He probably meant the latter. But I've never noticed the Brüttisellen, I thought it was a Dreieck. Another 4-way interchange in Switzerland is Hagnau east of Basel (another invisible one).


----------



## Koesj

Thorin said:


> What's the name of this one?
> http://maps.google.it/maps?hl=it&ie=UTF8&ll=45.408228,10.914874&spn=0.007894,0.019312&t=k&z=16


I'd call it a windmill interchange with unusually large curve radii.



> And this strange four ways interchange?
> http://maps.google.it/maps?hl=it&ie=UTF8&ll=44.934608,8.5741&spn=0.015919,0.038624&t=k&z=15


A botched cloverleaf interchange with one direct connection.


----------



## Substructure

Here is a list of the different types of interchanges :
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Road_junction_diagrams


By the way, could someone tell me what kind of interchange this is ?
http://maps.google.fr/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.158544,5.701303&spn=0.004085,0.010986&t=k&z=17

I would say a turbine/cloverlead hybrid, but I'll Chris or Koesj answer.


----------



## Verso

earthJoker said:


> There is no stacked 4 way in Switzerland, there is only one 4-way intersection at all.


Hey, Limmattaler Kreuz is a stack interchange: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.411383,8.429207&spn=0.00522,0.009656&t=k&z=17


----------



## Koesj

^^ But you can count only 3 levels: semi-directional ramps, A3 and A4. The remaining ramps are inbetween the second and third level of the interchange.



Substructure said:


> By the way, could someone tell me what kind of interchange this is ? http://maps.google.fr/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.158544,5.701303&spn=0.004085,0.010986&t=k&z=17 I would say a turbine/cloverlead hybrid, but I'll Chris or Koesj answer.


I'd say it's indeed a half-turbine half-cloverleaf solution although only the turbine part (barely) grades as motorway standard because of bad geometrics.


----------



## Verso

Koesj said:


> ^^ But you can count only 3 levels: semi-directional ramps, A3 and A4. The remaining ramps are inbetween the second and third level of the interchange.


Hmm, I see four levels. Ok, there's a little sharp curve going from east to northeast, but other than that...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Athens, Greece, stack with toll plazas. This is actually an extremely compact stack.


----------



## J N Winkler

I define a stack as any interchange between two crossing roadways where (assuming traffic circulates on the right) all exits are to the right and all left-turning movements are handled by semidirectional direct connectors which do not cross in plan and thus trace the outline of a Maltese cross. The turning movements can exit or merge on their own ramps (as is the case with most movements at I-10/I-405 in Santa Monica) or on shared ramps (as at US 101/Calif. 110 in downtown Los Angeles).

There are several things I would like to do in the long term:

* Produce a complete list of four-level stacks in the world (not just the US and western Europe--there are stacks in Venezuela and China, for example).

* Obtain construction dates for each stack

* Classify stacks according to turning movements handled by common and independent ramps

In the absence of specific construction dates for the vast majority of US stacks, US 101/Calif. 110 in Los Angeles has to be regarded as the first stack with common ramps (simply because it is the first stack, full stop), while I suspect I-10/I-405 in Santa Monica is probably the first with a majority of movements served by independent ramps.

Independent-ramp stacks tend to be large, sprawling, and designed for high capacity, while stacks with common ramps can be very small and offer capacities not much higher than a cloverleaf with collector-distributor lanes. The original Four Level stack is so small that three of its four levels are actually on one reinforced concrete structure and share a common National Bridge Inventory number. The signed ramp advisory speeds are 30 or 35 MPH, while a more modern design with independent ramps will usually try to support speeds of 50 MPH or better.

I am not sure there is even one European stack with independent ramps (perhaps M-40/AP-1 near Madrid?).


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> Athens, Greece, stack with toll plazas. This is actually an extremely compact stack.


It's technically a stack, but does it count with those toll stations? You can't pass fast through them.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ Is your location this Oxford, or the better known one?


----------



## J N Winkler

^^ It is a stack. The tollbooths make a conceptual mockery of it, but it is still a stack.


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Is your location this Oxford, or the better known one?


About J N Winkler

City
Oxford
Country
Great Britain


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I see  I thought so because of his Kansas State Route avatar


----------



## Koesj

The Prins Clausplein interchange near the Hague also has independent ramps right?

By the way J N Winkler, what would you call the stacks on I-20 south of Dallas if not designed for high speeds _with_ common ramps?


----------



## Paddington

The search for the elusive stack interchange in Europe. Those stack interchanges gotta be hiding somewhere.


----------



## earthJoker

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Brütiseller Kreuz?
> 
> But there's also the Limattaler Kreuz...


Only the Limattaler Kreuz is a 4-way motorway crossing. The Brüttiseller Kreuz is unfinished and never will be, so it's only 3 way. One side is just heading to a normal road. There are other 3-way intersections in Switzerland that have a exit integrated into it (Reichenburg is one of them), but I would not call them 4-way intersections.



> ey, Limmattaler Kreuz is a stack interchange: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=4...09656&t=k&z=17


Well it's similar, but there are some differences. I would say it's semi-stacked


----------



## Koesj

We're all talking about stacks right? Then let's get some things out of the way: why not define full stacks as road interchanges in four directions with four levels of connecting roads within them?












In this scheme, loosely based on the BW-8 / I-45 south interchange in Houston, the two main directions of the highway are on levels 1 and 2. The left-turn connectors (or right turn if you're based in a left-driving country) are in this case above the main directions on levels 3 and 4. The main point is that at least four distinctive heightlevels of engineering works can be discerned.

This is not the case with the Limattaler Kreuz. The left turn conenctors from the A3 are _between_ levels 2 (east-west) and 3 (north-south) with the left turn connectors from the A4 on level 1. This makes the interchange at most a 3.5 level hybrid since no full fourth level of engineering works needed to be built.


----------



## Robosteve

J N Winkler said:


> * Produce a complete list of four-level stacks in the world (not just the US and western Europe--there are stacks in Venezuela and China, for example).
> 
> * Obtain construction dates for each stack
> 
> * Classify stacks according to turning movements handled by common and independent ramps


Here's my two cents:

Sydney has one stack interchange; I think it is the only 4-way stack in Australia that permits all turning movements, but I am open to correction here. It is called the Light Horse Interchange, and it was opened to traffic on December 16, 2005 with the M7 motorway (the M4, the other road running through the interchange, had its various sections built between the 1960s and the 1980s).

Google Maps link: http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.798372,150.855052&spn=0.01052,0.023754&t=k&z=16

The diamond interchange with Wallgrove Road had existed for many years before the construction of the interchange, and so the stack was simply built around it.


Also of interest, though not relevant to your list, is the interchange between the M31 and the M80 in Melbourne. It is a 3-way interchange in the form of half a stack, but I do not know why it was built that way and not as a trumpet, since the M80 to the east doesn't go anywhere important (in fact, it becomes single carriageway not far to the east of this junction), so the traffic movement from here onto the M31 would not be very large at all, and there doesn't appear to be any land reserved to extend the M31 any further south, which would be pointless anyway as there are other roads that perform that function.


----------



## Majestic

^^ The Light Horse looks more like a turbinestack. But I like the design.


----------



## staff

J N Winkler said:


> Produce a complete list of four-level stacks in the world ... [...] ... China


Good luck. 

China is probably already the country with the most stack interchanges in the world - and a couple of new ones are added every week or so. :lol:


----------



## Verso

Koesj said:


> This is not the case with the Limattaler Kreuz. The left turn conenctors from the A3 are _between_ levels 2 (east-west) and 3 (north-south) with the left turn connectors from the A4 on level 1. This makes the interchange at most a 3.5 level hybrid since no full fourth level of engineering works needed to be built.


You're right, it's not the same. You can count four levels, but not in true sense of a stack.


----------



## ADCS

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Is your location this Oxford, or the better known one?





> (simply because it is the first stack, *full stop*)


That also kinda gave it away


----------



## Koesj

So the final list according to the criteria in the OP should read:


*Germany*

A45 - A480 near Wetzlar: http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=50.596178,8.487582&spn=0.009385,0.019312&z=16


*Great Britain* 

M25 - M23, London orbital motorway : http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.264144,-0.128231&spn=0.009251,0.019312&z=16

M25 - M4, London orbital motorway : http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.494263,-0.494428&spn=0.018409,0.038624&z=16

M4 - M5 near Bristol: http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.551152,-2.553163&spn=0.009193,0.019312&z=16


*Greece*

E75 - E94, near Athens: http://maps.google.nl/maps?hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=38.061929,23.749609&spn=0.00582,0.009656&t=k&z=16


*The Netherlands*

Prins Clausplein (A4 - A12) near The Hague: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=52.062148,4.375734&spn=0.00909,0.019312&z=16


*Spain*

A1 - M40 near Madrid: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=40.509394,-3.656967&spn=0.011241,0.019312&z=16


_Note: these maps don't scale entirely well!_

Is this correct?


----------



## Majestic

Good job! Now *wdw35* could paste this into his 1st post so that information is easily accesible :cheers:


----------



## Verso

What about the one in Moscow? A bit strange, but...


----------



## wdw35

Majestic said:


> Good job! Now *wdw35* could paste this into his 1st post so that information is easily accesible :cheers:


I refuse to believe that this is all that we have. Come on...


----------



## Timon91

There are many more interchanges that are *almost* stacks, but if we're talking about real full stacks, this is probably it.


----------



## Koesj

wdw35 said:


> I refuse to believe that this is all that we have. Come on...


So let's do this systematically shall we? For example, which EU countries have got stack interchanges?

*Austria* - none
*Belgium* - none, although the Brussels ring road has got one fully functional hybrid turbine-stack interchange 
*Bulgaria* - none
*Cyprus* - none
*Czech Republic* - none
*Denmark* - none
*Estonia* - none 
*Finland* - There's a four-level interchange near Tampere but it's no full stack
*France* - surprisingly, none
*Germany* - One near Wetzlar, Kreuz Köln Ost gets an honorable mention
*Greece* - One near Athens
*Hungary* - none
*Ireland* - none
*Italy* - none
*Latvia* - none
*Lithuania* - none
*Luxembourg* - none
*Malta* - none
*Netherlands* - One near The Hague, there is a four-level interchange near Ridderkerk and a partially completed stack south-west of Rotterdam
*Poland* - none
*Portugal* - none
*Romania* - none
*Slovakia* - none
*Slovenia* - none
*Spain* - One near Madrid
*Sweden* - none
*United Kingdom* - Three full stacks, two on the M25 and one near Bristol


----------



## Verso

What about Russia? Isn't that a full stack on MKAD? The cloverleaf is just a supplement.


----------



## Koesj

^^ It's not very symmetrical though. I've seen it in real life and it doesn't give you the impression that you're driving through a stack interchange.


----------



## Verso

^ Yeah, it does look a bit strange. Especially driving from the bottom right of the picture to the bottom left is a bit too winding.


----------



## r-g-b

> Yeah I already had those...


sorry i did check but must have missed them, to much wine last night!


----------



## r-g-b

Deleted please see page 3 off this thread


----------



## r-g-b

Deleted please see page 3 off this thread


----------



## Robosteve

r-g-b, please use the edit button. It takes up much less space than quadruple posting.


----------



## r-g-b

> r-g-b, please use the edit button. It takes up much less space than quadruple posting.


can i just point out that on the previous page ChrisZwolle has 17 post in row. 

but i'll use the edit buttun in future.


----------



## Robosteve

r-g-b said:


> can i just point out that on the previous page ChrisZwolle has 17 post in row.


Yes, but they have more content than just ".............", or a single link.



r-g-b said:


> but i'll use the edit buttun in future.


Thanks.


----------



## r-g-b

Baton Rouge Louisanna

highway 64 running east west and I110 running north south 










for view of the wider area please click on the link below 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...1.15541&spn=0.013662,0.027895&z=16&iwloc=addr

San Diego California 

I8 running east west and I850 Running north south










for view of the wider area please click on the link below 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...7.13048&spn=0.013333,0.027895&z=16&iwloc=addr



> Yes, but they have more content than just ".............", or a single link.


is that better?


----------



## ttownfeen

Did you get the one near New Orleans (Louisiana) where I-310 intersects with US 61 (Airline Hwy)?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...494,-90.318818&spn=0.008625,0.027466&t=h&z=16


----------



## wdw35

Chris... come on... you have too much time on ur hands it seems 
Trying to make a list of full 4L staxx in US is like trying to make a list of roundabouts in our lame (infrastructurally speaking) EU.


----------



## Verso

Chris often makes much more unusual lists, like photos of signs of every village in the Netherlands.


----------



## bebe.2006

Spain


Cicerón said:


> *M-40 *and A-1 near Madrid:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## J N Winkler

Coming to this thread a little late (I was on vacation):

* Preparing a complete list of four-level stacks in the US is an eminently do-able task--I think the total number is between 50 and 60.

* In Louisiana, US 61 and I-310 doesn't qualify because it has opposite-facing DCs crossing in plan (i.e., is a stack/turban hybrid). A few examples cited for other states have this problem as well.

* My quick list of DFW stacks (13 in all):

I-30/I-820 (W)
I-30/I-820 (E)
I-20/SH 360
I-35E/PGBT
I-20/US 67
I-20/I-45
I-20/US 175
I-635/US 80
I-635/I-30
I-635/US 75 (the famous Dallas High Five)
US 75/PGBT
PGBT/DNT
I-20/I-35E

(PGBT = President George Bush Turnpike; DNT = Dallas North Tollway. These facilities are maintained and operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority rather than TxDOT, and so do not have state highway numbers as such.)

* Not all of Texas' stacks are in DFW and Houston. I count four in San Antonio (I-10/I-410 Crossroads, I-10/US 90/US 281, I-10/I-35/US 90, and I-37/I-410). I have a feeling Corpus Christi has a stack somewhere in its metropolitan area, but I can't see it. Counting DFW with 13, Houston with 10, and San Antonio with 4, Texas alone has at least 27 stacks. This is probably about half the total for the whole US.

* In addition to I-17/Loop 101 and US 60/Loop 202 (SuperRedTan Interchange), Arizona has I-10/I-17 (NW).

* Michigan actually has four stacks: I-69/I-475 (Flint), I-75/I-696, I-96/M-39, and I-94/I-96 (all Detroit). I-94/I-96 is an edge case since the ramps are pretzel-shaped, but opposite-facing DCs do not cross in plan and there are four levels, so it meets the definition of a stack.

* Florida has at least one stack--I-95/I-195 in Miami.

* Alabama has two stacks, both in Birmingham: I-20/I-459 and I-65/I-459.

Those are the ones I know about. I have been thumbtacking them in _Google Earth_ as I go along, but there are stacks I haven't documented yet--for instance, I still haven't thumbtacked New York State's three stacks.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ The NY stacks are in the first post


----------



## ChrisZwolle

wdw35 said:


> Chris... come on... you have too much time on ur hands it seems


Nah, I know the U.S. Freeway system pretty well, so I know where to look. This list didn't take that much time. Besides that, I work 80% so I have the luxury of some additional spare time


----------



## Koesj

Yes we already counted this one, by the way the pic looks a little bit dated or am I mistaken?


----------



## ManRegio

J N Winkler said:


> Coming to this thread a little late (I was on vacation):
> 
> * Preparing a complete list of four-level stacks in the US is an eminently do-able task--I think the total number is between 50 and 60.
> 
> * In Louisiana, US 61 and I-310 doesn't qualify because it has opposite-facing DCs crossing in plan (i.e., is a stack/turban hybrid). A few examples cited for other states have this problem as well.
> 
> * My quick list of DFW stacks (13 in all):
> 
> I-30/I-820 (W)
> I-30/I-820 (E)
> I-20/SH 360
> I-35E/PGBT
> I-20/US 67
> I-20/I-45
> I-20/US 175
> I-635/US 80
> I-635/I-30
> I-635/US 75 (the famous Dallas High Five)
> US 75/PGBT
> PGBT/DNT
> I-20/I-35E
> 
> (PGBT = President George Bush Turnpike; DNT = Dallas North Tollway. These facilities are maintained and operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority rather than TxDOT, and so do not have state highway numbers as such.)
> 
> * Not all of Texas' stacks are in DFW and Houston. * I count four in San Antonio (I-10/I-410 Crossroads, I-10/US 90/US 281, I-10/I-35/US 90, and I-37/I-410)*. I have a feeling Corpus Christi has a stack somewhere in its metropolitan area, but I can't see it. Counting DFW with 13, Houston with 10, and San Antonio with 4, Texas alone has at least 27 stacks. This is probably about half the total for the whole US.
> 
> * In addition to I-17/Loop 101 and US 60/Loop 202 (SuperRedTan Interchange), Arizona has I-10/I-17 (NW).
> 
> * Michigan actually has four stacks: I-69/I-475 (Flint), I-75/I-696, I-96/M-39, and I-94/I-96 (all Detroit). I-94/I-96 is an edge case since the ramps are pretzel-shaped, but opposite-facing DCs do not cross in plan and there are four levels, so it meets the definition of a stack.
> 
> * Florida has at least one stack--I-95/I-195 in Miami.
> 
> * Alabama has two stacks, both in Birmingham: I-20/I-459 and I-65/I-459.
> 
> Those are the ones I know about. I have been thumbtacking them in _Google Earth_ as I go along, but there are stacks I haven't documented yet--for instance, I still haven't thumbtacked New York State's three stacks.


Actually there are 5 stacks in San Antonio. There's a new one in I-410 and US-281. 
It was already open.


----------



## J N Winkler

^^ Many thanks--I had forgotten about I-410/US 281, and the _Google Earth_ mapping I looked at last night didn't seem to have it. This stack provides a direct interchange between the two freeways where previously the connection could be made only by using the frontage roads.


----------



## scalziand

ChrisZwolle said:


> *Texas:*
> I-10 and I-610 in Houston.


Looks like this one is about to become a 5-way junction.


----------



## ADCS

scalziand said:


> Looks like this one is about to become a 5-way junction.


Yep, the new US 90 Crosby Freeway is going to shoot off to the northeast from here.

Been in the plans since the mid-60s. The interchange was designed specifically to have this addition take place.


----------



## flierfy

wdw35 said:


> Chris... come on... you have too much time on ur hands it seems
> Trying to make a list of full 4L staxx in US is like trying to make a list of roundabouts in our lame (infrastructurally speaking) EU.


There's nothing lame about Europe. The EU has much more to offer in terms of transportation infrastructure than the USA.


----------



## FM 2258

ChrisZwolle said:


> That are concrete slabs. I hate those.


I love concrete slabs. Whistle and the "clack"....loved that sound ever since I was a kid.


----------



## wdw35

Ni3lS said:


> Pictures by QuantumX


1. Isn't that railway line a liiitle bit to close to the apartment building on the left?

2. Are the railways line piers actually founded *on top* of a building on the right?

3. I really don't remember seeing a railway on top of a road on top of a railway on top of a road before!!


----------



## gramercy

are these slabs produced on-site or in some remote factory?

maybe these slabs could really speed up the construction of regular highways: pre-produce the slabs, lay them, and then lay the asphalt on them


----------



## Ni3lS

The railway is probably too close to that apartment building yes  I would never buy a room or house so close to a railway :lol:


----------



## H123Laci

gramercy said:


> are these slabs produced on-site or in some remote factory?


of course on site... :lol:

its much more simple to bring the concrete in mixers and lay it with a finisher than move prefab 10-20t slabs...


----------



## hoosier

It's important to note that the construction of I-95 through DT Miami is one of the best examples of urban destruction by freeways in the U.S. The routing of I-95 completely decimated the most vibrant black neighborhood in the city.


----------



## brisavoine

ChrisZwolle said:


> Me too, I miss this kind of freeways in Europe, where you're driving through a skyline.


There are actually two places in Europe that I know where you have that. One is on the A2-A102 in London, with the view of Canary Wharf in the distance. The other one, even more impressive, is on the D914 in Paris between the A86 and La Défense (from the A86, do not take the tunnel that goes under La Défense, but take the D914 overground instead). It feels almost like driving towards the downtown of a large American city.


----------



## I-275westcoastfl

hoosier said:


> It's important to note that the construction of I-95 through DT Miami is one of the best examples of urban destruction by freeways in the U.S. The routing of I-95 completely decimated the most vibrant black neighborhood in the city.


Thats because with just about every city that happened to, it was because the whites fled to the suburbs and the land was cheapest in these vibrant working and lower class neighborhoods.


----------



## Teh_Mascot

Long time reader of SSC.. finally time to post up. 

it has been mentioned before.. but not in any Kind of detail. 

The I-95, I-395, I-495 Mixing bowl project was HUGE.. and is still ongoing. The capital Beltway around Washington DC is quite possibly the most congested highway i've ever driven on. Mixing 3 states and people to commute to jobs in between the three leads to massive backups and huge delays.. that was until the VA DOT implemented and constructed the following: 

You can see in this picture (Springfield Interchange) 









Those 3 ramps you see at the bottom of the image used to be only ONE ramp..The I-395/495/95 Interchange project is visible at the top of the image. 









in this picture, the cars facing you are ones coming south from DC.. and respectively the ones facing away from you are headed towards DC. You see the mess that construction made in this area. 

I would post all the pictures i've found on the subject but that would take me HOURS to do, so All i can do for now is post up the AFTER photos of the area. 










Springfield Interchange-Present










95/395/495 Interchange-Present. 

If you follow I-495 East.. about 7 miles away is the Woodrow Wilson Bridge 

Read more here: 

http://www.wilsonbridge.com/ps-beforeAfter.htm

Also.. they are widening I-495 and adding "HOT" lanes from the big interchange to go past the Dulles Airport (Rt. 267) interchange (HOT meaning High Occupancy Toll lanes). The toll lanes (this part I don't agree with) has an adjustable rate depending on the flow of traffic.. if its a low traffic day, the tolls are lower, if its a High flow of traffic, the toll goes up... then again if you have 3 people in your car you dont pay a cent. 

additonally.. for more photos of the 95/395/495 interchange please visit this site. 

http://www.capital-beltway.com/Springfield-Int-Proj-Photos.html


----------



## Paddington

Looks ugly.


----------



## Ni3lS

It looks awesome actually. Thanks for the information and pictures, and also: Welcome to the forums  Springfield is in Illnois right?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Lol, there is more than one Springfield. (Springfield, MA is also a larger place actually). This Springfield is a suburb of Washington D.C in Virginia.


----------



## Majestic

^^ There is also _The Simpsons_' Springfield. :lol:


----------



## AUchamps

In the USA, you have a high likelyhood of having a Springfield and/or Greenville in your state.


----------



## Teh_Mascot

Ni3lS said:


> It looks awesome actually. Thanks for the information and pictures, and also: Welcome to the forums  Springfield is in Illnois right?


Im sorry I forgot to mention that.. Yes, it's actually Springfield, VA (technically) about 15 miles south of Washington DC.


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> Lol, there is more than one Springfield. *(Springfield, MA is also a larger place actually).* This Springfield is a suburb of Washington D.C in Virginia.


Once two mormons from the US rang the bell of my home; one was from Colorado, and the other one from Boston. For some reason I couldn't exactly remember where it was at the moment, so I asked him, if it was the capital of Massachusetts. He replied 'no, I think that's Springfield'. If he doesn't know the capital of his own state (which is his own city), I wonder how the hell he got here. :lol:

PS: I forgot to turn off the tap in the kitchen, so I had a flood when they left. :lol:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Springfield is the capital of Illinois


----------



## Mafia Maçônica

ChrisZwolle said:


> Springfield is the capital of Illinois


I thought it was the Simpson's city.

:lol:


----------



## Timon91

Verso said:


> PS: I forgot to turn off the tap in the kitchen, so I had a flood when they left. :lol:


Beer tap?


----------



## Verso

Water tap. You know I like (cold) water. :lol:


----------



## Ron2K

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ You rather have 200,000 vehicles a day to stop at traffic lights?


200,000 vehicles a day is bad enough WITH proper grade-separated interchanges (just ask anyone who uses the N1 between Johannesburg and Pretoria). If it was intersections with traffic lights, travel between those two centres would be just about impossible.


----------



## I-275westcoastfl

viedumonde said:


> You people waste hell lot of land in making interchanges, which are built for a fickle reason that the drivers don't have to slow down or stop at the intersection. How foolish:bash:


You need to come to my city where we waste tons of time sitting at traffic lights because of our lack of highways and interchanges.


----------



## hoosier

craxzyd said:


> not the biggest freeway interchange but perhaps the biggest *MISTAKE !!!*
> 
> keep an eye on the brewey in the middle of the first picture, in the second pic it's on the left and third it is on the right.


Why was so much of the river reclaimed? Perth has plenty of room.


----------



## Red-Lion

^^ I agree. Can't see the big mistake.


----------



## H123Laci

viedumonde said:


> You people waste hell lot of land in making interchanges, which are built for a fickle reason that the drivers don't have to slow down or stop at the intersection. How foolish:bash:


atgrade intersections which could handle that volume would recquire the same space or more... :lol:


----------



## Vladivostok53

ChrisZwolle said:


> 9 adjacent lanes in Buenos Aires;


OMG :nuts:


----------



## Vladivostok53

Panamericana Buenos Aires, Argentina










Acceso Norte 










Aut. Richiery


----------



## Mauro Salta

OMG


----------



## Javier

Santiago de Chile hasn't wide streets, but it has some points where some ways gathers like this:

Costanera Norte and Autopista Central are joined by 1km, then they spread out again. The sum of the wide of two highways is 90m app.


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## Mauro Salta

Vladivostok53 said:


> Panamericana Buenos Aires, Argentina
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Acceso Norte
> 
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> Aut. Richiery


Buenos Aires


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## ..Polkator..

WOOOOOOOOOOOW :nuts:


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## Haljackey

Wow big bump!

May as well contribute.

401 during a winter storm:









Looks like a fun drive eh? :nuts:


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## jakefrusciante

^ Haha good ol' Kennedy Rd. and the Delta hotel. 401 could be a mess during the snowy/icy days of winter. I've seen enough cars skidding to other cars or the barriers. Luckily I haven't witnessed one that was fatal. But its width of 12-18 lanes for a long stretch goes to show its consistency as one of the widest highway in the world.


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## montesky

OMG these are awesome


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## isaidso

*Toronto's 401:* not only the widest, but the busiest highway on the planet.









http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9599/highway401missqj6.jpg

A narrower stretch:









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/141683919_a6799bbf58_b.jpg

A cool shot at sunset:









http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/2390817987_df29d02ebf.jpg?v=1223517663

Nothing quite like gazing over 17 lanes of traffic. Is that car way over there really on the same road as me? Cripes!









http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2522248451_c8ab4fac22.jpg?v=1211763211


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## Timon91

Imagine what would happen if that stretch of the 401 would close down during rush hour hno:


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## isaidso

Timon91 said:


> Imagine what would happen if that stretch of the 401 would close down during rush hour hno:


Even on a monster like the 401, gridlock does occasionally occur. Pile ups, tanker trucks tipped over, pigs running all over the place! It's very eerie when traffic comes to a standstill on this highway. You feel like you're in a parking lot at the mall. It's also not uncommon to go from 140 km/h to zero and back up to 140 km/h, then down to a crawl in just a few minutes.


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## Haljackey

isaidso said:


> Even on a monster like the 401, gridlock does occasionally occur. Pile ups, tanker trucks tipped over, pigs running all over the place! It's very eerie when traffic comes to a standstill on this highway. You feel like you're in a parking lot at the mall. It's also not uncommon to go from 140 km/h to zero and back up to 140 km/h, then down to a crawl in just a few minutes.


Gridlock happens nearly every day, like so:


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## isaidso

Haljackey said:


> Gridlock happens nearly every day, like so:


I consider gridlock to mean bumper to bumper with no movement at all. 'Get out and have a picnic on the tarmac time'.


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## Pansori

Some impressive pictures over here. Love wide roads kay:

Not as sick as some others in this thread but pretty impressive nonetheless: 
Bangkok-Chon Buri Motorway (Highway No.7) next to Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand. This is the road you normally take from the Airport to Bangkok city


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## SCWTC4

its' a toll station! 
cheater :lol:

anyway where is it?


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## iMiros

Worthy of attention is one of the streets of Sanaa, Yemen ... is 100 m wide, and about 1 km long.


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## Verso

^^ I think it's already in this thread somewhere.


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## iMiros

no, this is the first one


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## ChrisZwolle

iMiros said:


> no, this is the first one






ChrisZwolle said:


> Sana'a, Yemen:
> 
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> 
> The equivalent of over 30 lanes. However, only 10 lanes have actual road markings.


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## sotavento

Here in Lisboa (portugal) we have a couple of wide main streets/avenues ... dot as dense as those in BA but nonetheless:

(lanes/tracks from left to right)

Radial de Benfica:
- 2 way/lane bike road (ciclovia) 
- freeway 3+3 lanes with hard shoulders
- 4 track railway 
- 4 lanes road 
- add sidewalks , entrances,exits , gas stations and such
- very lightly used (no more than 100.000 vehicles/day)
= between 100m and 130m wide:



















2ª Circular (a comon designation for a couple of avenues converted to freeway standards)
- freeway/avenue (varies from 3+3 lanes to 21 lanes + parking , not counting hard shoulders and pedestrian/cicle lanes)
- a lot of paralel entrances/exits (it varies enormously in profile along it's 10km lenght)
- cicle lanes 
- some sections have more than 200.000 daily vehicles
= between 30m and 250m wide (notice that theres a gas station in the middle of the widest section) :cheers:










Campo grande (avenue):
- 12/16 lanes
- bus lanes
- metro tracks partially under the avenue
- bike lanes
- a lot of pedestrian-only roads 
- a huge park in the middle

Heres a picture os the 50's (notice that there were no urban areas to the north









Partial view of the avenue(northbound lanes):









The lake (I think we can fit most _"big"_ avenues inside here) :lol:









Pedestrian area in the middle:









Partial view (southbound lanes, notice the viaduct of the 2ª circular wich is 3+3 freeway on top + 4+4 at street level in that section )









Partial view (southbound lanes , end of the avenue in the Entrecampos roundabound, notice the tunnel entrances)









A crappy view of the avenue in its narrower section (notice the tunels and the side lanes)










It's hard to get good pictures of these streets. hno:

Anyway ... the routes with the biggest number of lanes in portugal (as far as I could count them) are the 2ª circular (see above) , the 25 de Abril tool avenue:

- 5/6 southbound freeflowing lanes 
- 16 northbound tollboots/lanes
= 21 lanes ... 120m wide 

And the biggest pair of them all ... 

the A1 tolls in Alverca (southernmost tolls) with:

-25 toll lanes 
- adjacent (local traffic) avenue with 3+2 lanes
= 30 lanes (only 160m wide) :cheers: 

The A1 tolls in Carvalhos (northernmost tolls) with:

- 12 sotuhbound toll lanes
- 20 northbound toll lanes
- 1 service lane 
= 33 lanes total

:cheers:


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## sotavento

Skybean said:


> vs.
> 
> 
> toronto
> 
> 
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> 
> 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 2 + 2



This setup only carries 400k/500k daily riders ??? hno:

This kind of road usually carries 200k daily vehicles over here in europe.


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## Mateusz

In Poland it would be A4 near interchange with DK86...sometthing like 2+4+4+3 I think


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## Indictable

craxzyd said:


> not the biggest freeway interchange but perhaps the biggest *MISTAKE !!!*
> 
> keep an eye on the brewey in the middle of the first picture, in the second pic it's on the left and third it is on the right.


Sure was a mistake! Was the land that is currently used for the junction part of Kings Park back in the day? Or was it part of West Perth?


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## KIWIKAAS

^^
According to the pics it was water


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## Haljackey

Here's the highway 400/407 junction in the Toronto area. It is Canada's only 4-level stack interchange.

It is also a textbook example of what a modern diamond stack should look like. 
-One of the flyover levels is actually below ground, making it appear much shorter if you were looking at on the ground. This decreases the NIMBY/eyesore factor for local residents.
-The connecting ramps are much longer than earlier designs, increasing the speed, efficiency and safety of the interchange. 
-However, this also increases its size, making it one of the largest stack interchanges out there.


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## ChrisZwolle

Stacks are not necessarily larger in ground area than cloverleafs with D/C lanes.


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## poshbakerloo

*Gravelly Hill Interchange*

I know England isn't know for its highways and big junctions etc

But here is a modest effort by us islanders lol


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## minneapolis-uptown

The craziest one in my area is the interchange of 3 highwaysmg: in downtown minneapolis; I-35w, I-94, and Minnesota 55:


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## ChrisZwolle

How about this tall stack? I-35/TX-45 in Austin, Texas


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## J N Winkler

It isn't actually one, although it is upgradable to one. The direct connectors on the south side of the interchange are missing.


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## piotrekmielec

One from Poland, currently under construction, called "Sośnica" - 2 motorways and 1 main road


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## Paddington

A lot of these stack interchanges are better to look at than to actually drive on. Many of the urban ones have very sharp ramps, as well as changes in height, that make merging unpleasant.


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## dl3000

Isn't one of the ones in LA the tallest? If not which is the tallest interchange? I thought it was a stack.


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## hoosier

Freeway construction is induced demand. It forces people to get cars to move around, destroys much more land than mass transit, and creates autocentric sprawling hellholes where walking is not possible, obesity rates are high, and social interaction is confined to inward focused mega malls surrounded by acres and acres of desolate parking lots.

But somehow fucking stupid conservatives like wdw35 think this is just fine and dandy, and make absurd accusation of communism when balance is advocated in transportation. People in Europe have a CHOICE as to how they get around, unlike in the U.S. where we held hostage to the automobile even though we can't make them profitably anymore.


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## scotdaliney

I've always thought this interchange gives alot of bang for your buck, very few bridges but free-flowing.


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## christos-greece

*Athens interchange roads, Greece*









http://www.airphotos.gr/photo1/1450.jpg









http://www.airphotos.gr/photo1/1452.jpg









http://www.airphotos.gr/photo2/2654.jpg









http://www.airphotos.gr/photo2/2644.jpg









http://www.airphotos.gr/photo4/4475.jpg


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## mdude

I'm pretty sure that even at its widest continuous point (excludes ramps that veer off the main road), the 401 is still not as wide as avenue 9 julio in buenos aires. avenue 9 julio is as wide as a buenos aires city block or about 110 meters (360 feet). 

the 401 is the widest highway, though. avenue 9 julio is not technically a highway.


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## Hasse78

:cripes:
Impressive pics. But I have to admit that I am no big fan of these monster highways.


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## SIMSI

Hasse78 said:


> :cripes:
> Impressive pics. But I have to admit that I am no big fan of these monster highways.


Right, that road in Toronto looks terriblehno:


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## Nexis

SIMSI said:


> Right, that road in Toronto looks terriblehno:


I got stuck on it during Rush hour , on my way my hotel , its terrible. Very slow and i would expect a highway of that size to move at a decent pace.


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## TheCat

SIMSI said:


> Right, that road in Toronto looks terriblehno:


It's not so bad - when you're on it, it feels more or less like any other large freeway. However, it does take a little bit of experience to drive on it (navigation-wise), mainly because sometimes you do get confused between the collectors and express. Even happened to me a while ago, I was talking to a friend and forgot to exit the express lanes, ending up missing my exit 

In my most recent (though not so recent ) video on Youtube I document a fairly long drive around this huge section of the 401:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUsZDzji81w


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## mubd

Warringah Freeway, Sydney.
The main road north from the Sydney Harbour Bridge (City West) and Tunnel (City East).
Notice the signs say BRIDGE and TUNNEL to save space.
At 16 lanes wide, it probably has the most lanes of any freeway in Australia.


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## mubd

CENTRAL MOTORWAY "SPAGHETTI" JUNCTION, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Overengineering much? Auckland only has 1.3 million residents.


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## ChrisZwolle

Overengineering? I don't think so, only one ramp of that interchange has 3 lanes, the rest has 1 or 2 lanes. The reason why there are more fly-overs than usual is that there are exits very close to this interchange, which raises the need for a separation of traffic before the interchange instead of after the interchange.


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## sotavento

Some interchanges in Lisboa (Portugal):

A12(VG bridge) + A1 (Lisboa-Porto motorway)+ A36 (CRIL) + IC2 









A8 + CRIL









25 de Abril bridge + A5 + IP7 + Radial de Benfica










Theres plenty more over here ... we got 44 A roads and a lot more without propper A numbering and a lot of hilly interchanges between them. hno:


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## poshbakerloo

*Show your motorway/highway interchanges (Google Maps)*

_Show your motorway/highway interchanges (Google Maps)_
Try to stick to Google Maps so that you can look at the similarities and differences equally. *I'm not sure on all the technical names for this junctions though...*Here are some interchanges in England...
You can see that the junction layouts, whilst similar to a lot of other countries, are much more compact...

M4 - M25, London










M40-M25, London










M60-M56-A34, Manchester










A60-A61-A666, Manchester










M60-M62-M66, Manchester










M60-M602-M62, Manchester










M62-A62, Leeds










M62-M6, Warrington










M6-A5125-A38, Birmingham (Gravelly Hill interchange)


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## Verso

There're all sorts of interchanges in this thread.


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## ed110220

N1 Table Bay Boulevard - N2 Eastern Boulevard interchange next to Cape Town city centre:










N2 Settlers Way - M3 Rhodes Drive interchange:










N1 Table Bay Boulevard - M5 Black River Parkway interchange. A particularly inadequately designed interchange from the 1960s that is now probably the busiest in the metro area. Fortunately it is being upgraded, you can see the new westbound N1 to southbound M5 and northbound M5 to eastbound N1 ramps under contruction.










N2 Settlers Way - M5 Black River Parkway/Kromboom Parkway interchange. The next interchange (Raapenberg Road) is really too close to be ideal. Interestingly the loop from the southbound M5 to westbound N2 was originally at the northern cloverleaf but was later removed and added to the southern one.










Wingfield Interchange: N1 - N7 - M7. This cloverleaf from the early 1960s could probably do with upgrading, though the collector-distributor lanes that have been added to the N1 help. 










N2 - R300 Kuils River Freeway/Cape Flats Freeway interchange. The newest of the interchanges, from the early 1990s. Note the loop on the eastbound N2 to southbound R300 is because the R300 curves round to the west south of the N2, therefore less traffic uses this direction.










N1 - R300 Kuils River Freeway interchange. This was originally going to be a 4-level stack with the R300 continuing north of the N1. The land has been left open but the northern part was never built. Note the ragged R300 end where it would continue.


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## redstone

ed110220 said:


>


Why not just make a clover junction?

In this design seems that certain changing of direction is impossible..


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## bogdymol

redstone said:


> Why not just make a clover junction?
> 
> In this design seems that certain changing of direction is impossible..


What is the problem with this interchange? Cars can go from any road to any direction...


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## ed110220

redstone said:


> Why not just make a clover junction?


This design is essentially a hybrid of a stack and a cloverleaf (three quarters stack and one quarter cloverleaf) and it combines the advantages of both. The stack element gives greater capacity, less weaving and faster speeds through semi-directional flyovers rather than cloverleaf loops. For the least used movement, money is saved by a cloverleaf loop rather than a semi-directional flyover.

You can see why the eastbound N2 to southbound R300 movement is much less used than the other three from this map, as in this direction traffic doubles back on itself:-


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## slpalejandro

this is not really big iterchange, but it worth to see it, is in san luis potosi mexico


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## slpalejandro

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5758998210


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## andrestm

401 has 22 active lanes at its widest. I-10 in Houston has 26. By almost any measure 1-10 is a bigger, wider highway than 401.

401 is still far busier, though. (And impossible as it may seem, I-10 DOES experience gridlock quite often.)

Notice the 150-meter width with only one non-concrete segment

(Note: this is not the segment with the most lanes, it's the widest segment)


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## ChrisZwolle

Frontage roads don't count in my opinion. They're not part of the freeway and have driveway access.


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## andrestm

The frontage road IS part of I-10. Houston labels it as "IH-10" and is always included in lane counts, as are all access roads for 401 and other highways. This as opposed to, for example, the frontage roads of Sam Houston Tollway, which are a completely different entity on its own called the Beltway 8.

Even if you don't want to count frontage lanes, this segment of I-10 is still the world's widest road by many measures. And like I said, it is perfectly valid to count them because they ARE part of Interstate Highway 10. Think of it this way: Both the Katy Freeway and the frontage roads are comprised within IH-10.

That said, you do make a good point. If I'm including frontage lanes I should say that it is the widest highway, not freeway.


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## ChrisZwolle

Frontage have no freeway design standards (traffic lights, driveway access, etc), so I don't think they should count  Many rural freeways in Texas have frontage roads as well, but I don't think people will say "that's an 8-lane freeway".


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## weava

20+ lanes at widest, Grandview Traingle interchange (Kansas City, MO: US71, US50,I-435, I-470)
This has to be one of the biggest for a city this size (metro 2.1 million)


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## mediar

This is the biggest and the most complicated interchange in Bulgaria:









It is situated in the southern part of Veliko Tarnovo and gathers five directions together, as written on the map. A few closer shots in direction Gabrovo -> Varna:









































































Map:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=43.073606,25.633249&spn=0.012148,0.02738&z=16

And a night shot:








Original


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## beto_chaves

Motorways A1/A10 interchange (near Lisbon, Portugal)


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## Pansori

I wonder if there were photos of this thing posted in this thread? If no then does anyone know how it's called and if there are any good photos online?


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## Ron2K

^^ I think that it's probably called "spaghetti"...


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## beto_chaves

^^

That's indeed a good nickname for it! :lol:


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## phantom23

piotrekmielec said:


> One from Poland, currently under construction, called "Sośnica" - 2 motorways and 1 main road


Finished over a year ago:


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## iloveinfrastructure

I HATE cars


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## ForteTwo

Pansori said:


> I wonder if there were photos of this thing posted in this thread? If no then does anyone know how it's called and if there are any good photos online?





Ron2K said:


> ^^ I think that it's probably called "spaghetti"...


Based on location, I'm going to go with 拉面 (lamian, ramen), although I imagine there are some sinicized Italian joints in the area...


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## diablo234

Not sure if someone has posted this already but the Downtown Connector (I-75/I-85) in Atlanta carries more than 272,000 vehicles per day and generally has 12-14 lanes including 2 HOV Lanes for each direction of traffic.


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## tradephoric

Street in Naypyitaw, Myanmar:


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## tradephoric

A video of the Naypyita street...


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## suburbicide

tradephoric said:


> Street in Naypyitaw, Myanmar:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Look at that idiot hogging the left lane...


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## poshbakerloo

^^ LOL thats insane


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## Verso

:sleepy:


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## AsHalt

I believe the top gear UK even played football /soccer there during the river kwai /Myanmar special


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## tradephoric

AsHalt said:


> I believe the top gear UK even played football /soccer there during the river kwai /Myanmar special


Great way to put it into perspective. Based on the dimensions, this street would be eligible to host a FIFA World Cup match (maximum width for an international match is 80 yards, this street is roughly 85 yards wide).


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