Now you're just fucking with us.

"mkbruin, Atlas VP" (mkbruin) 05/10/2017 at 15:58 • Filed to: None

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This artsy-fartsy overcomplicated design. C’mon. There is no way whatsoever that this is the most efficient overpass/onramp/offramp design.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:00

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Why not? This design means no traffic has to cross oncoming traffic to enter or exit the freeway. That means things move quicker until morons start doing moronic things and screwing it up for everyone (see: round-a-bouts in america)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:02

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No, it is. Diverging Diamond >everything.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:03

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These really aren’t that bad. Since Americans can’t figure out roundabouts or cloverleafs, now we get these.

Tekamul > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:03

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My town’s about to shell out a few million for one of those!

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:05

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Those lane criss-crosses seem stupid but they work very well.

ttyymmnn > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:07

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They installed one of these north of Austin. It works exceedingly well. I was dubious, but it has improved traffic flow considerably.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:09

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Would you rather have this?:

bobbe17 > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:10

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This seems pretty awesome to me. I’d think a roundabout would work better, but the civil engineers must have a reason whether it be accident likelihood or vehicle volumes to go with this design. If the stop lights weren’t there on the off ramps, the only places you’d have to stop would be at the crossovers.

Mr. Plastics powered by GreyGoose > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:11

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Anytime you make people merge or turn, you get backups. This involves a lot of both.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:12

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When I have spoken with a traffic engineer who is familiar with the research, I was told that there is an upper limit of vehicle trips at which point this design does not work well, but it is pretty high, and the diverging diamond design is an extremely efficient use of land for the amount of traffic it can handle.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:14

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Looks like the contractor accidentally submitted his roller coaster blueprints.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/10/2017 at 16:15

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Now a grade separated diverging diamond ... *swoon*

Thomas Donohue > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:15

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It doesn’t appear that there is one in the video, but I’d spend a few bucks more and make sure there’s a divider on that bridge. People will gravitate to the right and/or get freaked out when they see oncoming cars on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.

(also, haven’t looked at it that much....but why are 45 degree traffic intersections any better than 90 degrees? You are still stopping traffic. Double-helix FTW)

Urambo Tauro > ttyymmnn 05/10/2017 at 16:17

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One went up on I-75 in Auburn Hills not too long ago. I like it!

Shift24 > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:19

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Yeah it’s confusing as shit and you really have to pay attention to the road signs. Look up Roberts road and I-270 for a real example

Dave the car guy , still here > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 05/10/2017 at 16:24

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I like roundabouts, drive through two of them almost every morning.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:24

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If the intersection of 3 roads can’t produce 12 opportunities for head-on collisions, I’m out.

Also, one direction on top of the other would fix this in a much narrower and smoother fit. But Boston proves man would still find a way to screw it up.

Klaus Schmoll > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:25

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Dafuq? I can’t see any benefits to the classic cloverleaf junction, besides using very little less land, but that seems to be negligible to the many stoplights where traffic streams have to cross.

#never cross streams!!!

Milky > Urambo Tauro 05/10/2017 at 16:28

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WAT, no one told me.

Censored > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:29

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It’s called a diverging diamond interchange. I have the pleasure of driving through the first one in the states and it is fantastic. It seems super convoluted, but it isn’t and it is super efficient. It alone shaved 10 minutes off my commute of now about 40. Don’t knock it until you have driven one multiple times, it also helps to have an idea of what the intersection was like prior. I was firmly in the naysayer camp until it saves me nearly an hour each week.

Aremmes > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:32

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If they’re putting traffic lights on each side of the overpass, then why not a diamond interchange? Traffic will have to stop anyway, so why not simplify and use something with which drivers are already familiar. If it were up to me, though, the on/off ramps would start/end at roundabouts, one on each side of the overpass. Either way, traffic wouldn’t have to cross over to the opposite side of the road.

Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:33

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We have one of those right close to our office. We lovingly refer to it as the double-death-diamond. We had a bet going on who many days before the first bad accident. It was months...

I will say, the intersection went from being the cities worst for crashes to one of the lowest.

Chariotoflove > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:33

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For the North Texas entry, I submit the High-Five interchange. At a cost of $261 million dollars, it was supposed to fix the ridiculous constriction around the intersection of I-635 and US75. It’s actually much more complicated to navigate than it looks:

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Thomas Donohue 05/10/2017 at 16:36

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It’s not that a diverging diamond does anything special by changing the angle, it’s that it does a number of specific things. 1: It makes all left turns take place *with the flow of traffic* rather than making a break - thus eliminating the need for a protected left from the cycle and shortening it. 2: It greatly extends the queueing zone for a left turn, reducing intra-lane backup that way and number of required lanes. 3: It gates between crossing road traffic and interstate-exiting traffic much better, because no requirement for leftbound traffic off a ramp to cross. 4: it extends the “effective exit ramp” length by being open more of the time going left and permitting a more protected left egress. 5: it improves timing due to having sets of active lanes in “cooperation”, and 6:It can make use of an existing highway bridge and has a very compact footprint.

All this without the loss in direction sense of a roundabout and with extremely efficient use of space. It works so much better than a standard set of double lights it’s unreal - I speak from personal experience of the one installed at Ashford-Dunwoody in north Atlanta. Daily for months without, and daily for several months with.

Tennessee Dreamer > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:38

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We have one of these about 20 mins from me in an area that’s often packed with tourist. It works surprisingly well. It takes some getting used to, but a definite improvement from having to turn left across traffic to get on the interstate.

ttyymmnn > Urambo Tauro 05/10/2017 at 16:39

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They’re supposed to start building one at a particularly bad intersection near my house. I can’t wait!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Censored 05/10/2017 at 16:45

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Was the first one in Springfield, MO?

Urambo Tauro > Milky 05/10/2017 at 16:48

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That’s the one!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:49

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Apparently they work, but I did almost get in a wreck at one. I was coming off the highway, planning to make a right turn (I believe I had a yield sign). I slowed down, looked left, saw clear lanes, and started to move on. At the last moment, I realized oncoming traffic was coming from THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD and stopped.

This was in Springfield, MO, and I was in the middle of a road trip. I knew the intersection was like this, but when you’re used to doing things the same way for 20+ years...

Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 16:53

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We have one in Round Rock, TX

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5582622,-97.6921025,18.08z?hl=en

Where have all the lightweights gone? > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 17:10

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Laugh now, but it 100% works. One of the worst interchanges along I-88, IL59 in Naperville, IL, just had this conversion done. Before the conversion, traffic trying to get onto 59 would back up onto the I-88, making traffic even worse. Traffic along 59 at I-88 would move along at a crawl, both before and after the lights.

After this change was made, traffic moves through a lot more freely, and the backups at this ramp are nowhere near as bad as they were before.

Textured Soy Protein > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 17:44

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This is a real, completed-last-year interchange between a highway and a major thoroughfare here in Madison. Both are divided. Satellite photos haven’t been updated yet. It looks very complicated but actually works rather well, inexplicably.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 17:46

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They just put one of those in near my house, makes my commute so much easier as I don’t have to turn across traffic to merge onto the interstate. Here is Vdots video of how it works and it seems to be doing fine so far.

TrackDayIdiot > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 18:15

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We have one of these in my city. It actually is really nice. Wouldn’t mind a few more even!

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 18:58

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NCDOT loves this shit. Most of the new sections of 485 have this garbage. As well as a bunch of interchanges in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties.

Perhaps a civil engineer can help shed some light?

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 19:42

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As someone who’s dealt with the horrific interchange that is Idylwyld and Circle North in Saskatoon, i.e. a light at both ends of the overpass, I agree with you completely. I once sat on one of those on-ramps for 45 minutes. The problem is that because you can’t fit more than about 20 cars on the overpass between the lights it takes so long for traffic to move that people get sick of waiting and then rush the intersection when they get the chance, meaning there’s nowhere for them to go and they end up blocking the intersection so no one can move at all until the light changes. Add to the mess that it’s also one of the busiest highways in western Canada, there’s a huge amount of truck traffic that really helps to snarl things up, because the corners are pretty tight. See above about people rushing into places that aren’t clear, like on the inside of a b-train.

Censored > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 05/10/2017 at 20:21

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Maryland Heights Mo. (suburb of STL). Its the intersection of 270 and Dorsett.

Censored > Censored 05/10/2017 at 20:23

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merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/10/2017 at 20:43

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Thank you for the info. And the opinion of someone with first hand experience. Very informative.

09GT - now boosted > mkbruin, Atlas VP 05/10/2017 at 21:49

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We have one of these near me. It allows you to turn on red (coming up the off ramp) both right AND left, and there is no turning into/against traffic. I think its pretty clever.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Censored 05/10/2017 at 22:06

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Bandana’s is tasty.

Go Cards!

Censored > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 05/10/2017 at 22:07

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I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m on a first name basis there.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Censored 05/10/2017 at 22:42

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Haha - nice.

pip bip - choose Corrour > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/11/2017 at 04:44

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i’d rather the mini roundabouts