RHW Interchange Guide

[tahill79 13]

thanx for the ideas. i really havent started playing with the new RHW yet. these will be great for when i start. keep em comn!!!

[futurama2506sim 7]

Cool stuff so far. I've had alot of trouble with RHW's, so I'll definitely come back to this thread.

[Vahr 341]

Very nice stuff so far. You deserve a cookie! Here: ( : : )

I'm guessing cloverleaf will be the next one.

Maybe we will get to spagettii interchanges sometime

[bluemoose 223]

Awesome. I was trying to figure out how to make a SPUI. any way a SPUI would be possible with right exits?

I personally think the inner lanes should be reserved for express traffic, but to each his own.

[jimbo_jj 1]

I'm going to start a new region soon. These will really come in handy! I can't wait to see some larger interchanges like the trumpet and such.

[Haljackey 17,305]

Originally posted by: bluemoose

I personally think the inner lanes should be reserved for express traffic, but to each his own.quote>

Indeed.  Let me post something I said over at the SC4D thread that has to do with this.  You may find it interesting!

---

Link to post: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6843.msg217787#msg217787

As for left exit diamonds, you can take the concepts I applied and just use them for left exits instead of right exits.  Perhaps I will show a few examples using the left exits before I leave diamond interchanges and begin a new interchange type.

Personally, I don't like left exits at all.  Although quite useful, they are very unsafe compared to right exits since you are exiting/entering into the inside (passing) lane, which is usually the fastest lane of traffic opposed to the outside which is usually the slowest.  It can also catch drivers offguard since they are not the norm and may unintentionally use it or miss it.

Anyways, that's it for my little rant.  I will show a few left exit diamonds in the next guide.

Best,

-Haljackeyquote>

[Korot 6]

It's just a pity that SC4D had exceeded it's bandwidth, it would allow me to see the whole guide, including left exits.

BTW: They are right exits for those who drive on the left (=wrong) side of the road.

[Haljackey 17,305]

Korot: The whole guide is posted here as well.

I have posted the guide in three places for easy viewing and incase a site goes down

-SC4D

-Simtropolis

-SC4 Wiki

[Boycey08 0]

Are all of these achievable using the left hand drive installation haljackey?

And as always keep up the nice work

[Tarkus 6,932]

Originally posted by: Boycey08 Are all of these achievable using the left hand drive installation haljackey?quote>

Yes, they are.  One of the conditions for the release of NAM Content is that it is both RHD and LHD compatible.

-Tarkus

[Boycey08 0]

Thanks Tarkus, Im gonna have a fiddle over the weekend and hopefully post some pictures, although i cant see them being half as good as what ive already seen from some rhw 3 users, nice work creating it though Tarkus and the rest of your team

[Haljackey 17,305]

Hmm... it seems that the Photobucket account I used to make the first guide has exceeded its monthly bandwitdth.  Don't worry, I use multiple accounts, so not all guides are affected.

For the time being though, there's a way around this.  If you have the Firefox browser, simply right click the "bandwidth exceeded" image and select "view image".  The actual image should appear rather than the bandwidth meter.

---

Section Two:  Parclo Interchanges

As many of you know, Parclo Interchanges are my preferred interchange type.  Growing up in Ontario, Canada, the place where the Parclo Interchange was invented, its easy to see why I have a certain affinity to them.  They are used everywhere, and are only compromised if there is not enough room to accommodate them.

The term Parclo means partial cloverleaf, which is essentially what this interchange type is.  It's pretty much a cloverleaf interchange, but with two of the loop ramps removed, eliminating any weaving altogether.  The empty space where the removed loop ramps should be allow room for long acceleration/deceleration lanes and can straighten and elongate the outer ramps, greatly improving flow and safety features. 

The award-winning Parclo interchange has been well received, and is now used all over the world.  Parclos are difficult to construct for a ground/elevated highway in SC4, but the RHW is able to take advantage of this great interchange type.  I will show you several parclo setups throughout this guide.

---

Section 2.1:  The Parclo A-2 interchange.

The parclo A-2 is a interchange type consisting of 4 ramps, and is ideal to use in both rural and suburban areas.  Loop ramps are used to connect the arterial road to the highway, and long, straight ramps connect the highway to the arterial road, allowing for a smooth deceleration in speed off the highway instead of breaking to use the loop ramps.

-The parclo A-2 is designed to be easily upgraded to a Parclo A-4, which I will explain in a future guide.

---

Since I used the RHW-4 for all the diamond interchange guides, I'll do something different and use the RHW-6C for this guide. 

Getting the basic stuff out of the way...

Place your starter piece...

Drag the RHW using the RHW tool...

(Optional) Delete the starter pieces to create a RHW without any overrides.

And drag the stable network over it.

That's what a RHW-6C looks like.  Neat eh?

---

Parclo A-2 Interchange

First thing's first, construct your overpass:

Next, place your RHW-6C type "B" ramps like so:

And then extend the MIS ramps to loop around and intersect with the road:

The next thing that needs to be done is to draw RHW-2s next to the loop ramps you made.

Now place some more RHW-6C type "B" ramps to connect with the RHW-2s, changing them into the MIS.

...And there you go!  A parclo A-2 interchange!

---

Other combinations

Unlike diamonds, the parclo A-2 interchanges follow a standard design and thus are not as diverse.  The concept will remain the same for all variations.  However, I will show you some ways to diversify them, by changing the way they intersect with the road.

The easiest thing you can do is replace the last few tiles of the offramps with one-way roads before the intersection.  This will create an extra lane so exiting traffic now has right and left turning lanes.

You can also use the RHW-2/MIS splitter piece to make the ramps join together.

And you can also create turning lanes and traffic lights by replacing the last tile of the RHW-2 with a road.

---

Anyways, that will do it for the Parclo A-2.  There are many more parclo interchanges to come!

All the best,

-Haljackey

[futurama2506sim 7]

Cool, that's actually the first kind of RHW interchange I ever made. Also, I know this wasn't included in the pictures, another good idea is to use the hole ground raiser and onslope piece to move the road over the RHW.

[charactersnotpermitted 3]

Nice tutorials halijackey! Keeo it up, ther very useful..

[Patricius Maximus 236]

I'm liking it. I use many parclos myself.

[Bombshoo 3]

Love this thread. Very useful.

[068664663 2]

It's a great to see Ontario's invention here at Simtropolis!   But it seems that this guide and its interchanges are even better than those in real-life here in Toronto! You're doing an absolutely wonderful job with this guide. Keep up the great work! 

[Haljackey 17,305]

Again, I would like to thank you all for your continued support!  

And now I present to you my favorite interchange to make in SC4...

---

Section 2.2:  The Parclo A-4 interchange.

The parclo A-4 is a interchange type consisting of 6 ramps, and is ideal to use in both urban and suburban areas.  Dedicated ramps are used to connect the arterial road to the highway for each direction, and long, straight ramps connect the highway to the arterial road, allowing for a smooth deceleration in speed off the highway instead of breaking to use the loop ramps.

-The parclo A-2 is designed to be easily upgraded to a Parclo A-4, which is done frequently in real life.

This interchange is among the safest designs in the world, and one of the most economical to construct.   Invented in the 1970s, this interchange type is still being constructed on new highways today all over the world.

This interchange also looks fantastic in SC4, and is easy to construct.  How easy?  You'll see as I show a few ways to make one in this guide.

---

Let's mix it up a bit.  The Parclo A-4 is designed for urban and subrban use, so lets build a massive RHW-10 with a one tile median to display it!

Getting the basic stuff out of the way...

Place your starter pieces...

Drag the RHW using the RHW tool...

(Optional) Delete the starter pieces to create a RHW without any overrides.

And drag the stable network over it.

That's the RHW-10.  What a beast!

---

Parclo A-4 Interchange

The Parclo A-4 follows a very similar construction process compared to the Parclo A-2, but with some minor extensions which make it larger, safer, and of higher capacity.

Firstly, lets start by constructing your overpass.

Then, like the Parclo A-2, add entering RHW-10 type "B" ramps at the edge of the overpass like so:

Then just loop the MIS to connect with the avenue to complete the loop ramps.

Next, its time to make the offramps.  Extend the RHW-2, following the loop ramps you just constructed.

Then place the RHW-10 type "B" ramps at the edge of the RHW-2.

Now all you have to do is connect everything together.

---

There.  If you finished at this point, you'd have another complete Parclo A-2 interchange.  But we're not done yet, we gotta make it in to a Parclo A-4!

For the final two ramps, there are a number of locations where it can go.  Some perfer to place the entrance at/before the offramp intersections along the avenue, others want to save space and put it as close as possible.  I will show both examples in this guide.

---

Setup 1:  Standard

Extend the MIS leading from the offramp and angle it towards the highway like so:

Then just plop another two RHW-10 type "B" ramps to finish everything up!

---

Setup 2:  Space-Saver

-At the edge of the overpass, drag another pair of RHW-2s like so:

Then, add some more RHW-10 type "B" ramps at the edge.

Then just connect everything up!

That's a space-saving Parclo A-4!

---

Other Intersections

Here, I will show you some other intersection types you can make for the Parclo A-4.  There's really no guide to follow, just use your mind to create whatever you desire!

Using one-way roads to create signaled intersection as well as direct on-ramps to the RHW.

The same junction, but used with avenue intersections instead to create two full intersections.

---

I'll end this post now for organizational purposes but I'm not done with the Parclo A-4.  The next part of this guide will show you how to make a tight Parclo A-4 interchange.  Its complicated, but is much smaller in size compared to this!

Best,

-Haljackey

[Haljackey 17,305]

Continuing right onwards from the last post

Tight Parclo A-4 Interchange

Constructing the Parclo A-4 interchange smaller is possible, but the construction method is unlike anything I've displayed in this guide before.  That is why I have split this up into a separate post, but will still follow in the Parclo-A4 interchange guide for organizational purposes. 

We're going to start like this.  Place your avenue within 1 tile of the RHW-10, and plop a pair of RHW-10 type "A" ramps like so:

Then you are to immediately create a tight loop ramp exactly as displayed. 

-Do not curve the MIS until it has completely finished crossing the avenue or else you will not be able to construct an overpass.

Now, carefully construct your overpass.  Make sure your ave-over-MIS puzzle pieces match correctly or the interchange will not work.

With that done its now time to construct the offramps.  Just like outlined in the last post, construct a RHW-2 that follows the loop ramps you made.

Then place RHW-10 type "B" ramps at the edges.

And connect everything up.

All right, you now technically have a tight Parclo A-2 interchange.  Lets go and complete it.

---

As I already showed you two different ways to construct the final two ramps in the last post, I'll use the space-saver design only to keep this guide shorter in length.

At the edge of the overpass, of the existing onramps, construct two more RHW-10 type "B" ramps.

The last step involves simply dragging the MIS from the ramps to the avenue.

And there you have it!  A tight Parclo A-4 interchange!

---

Anyways, I hope this guide helps you out in one way or another.

All the best,

-Haljackey

[Boycey08 0]

5* guide in my opinion, im definitely gonna be trying these today

edit: attemped something a little more basic, wasnt as good but it gave me a good feel for the rhw, will be attempting each thing shown in the guide, one thing i fail to see though

although very good to look at, i dont really know how much space to leave from an RHW setup before i start laying roads and zones, do buildings interact with the RHW or will it be the same as with a highway right next to a building

[bluemoose 223]

how about space saver parclo(i don't know all of the number/letter system stuff)

we have one down at Montoursville on I-180

Its like this

[Tarkus 6,932]

bluemoose, I believe that's technically called a "Parclo-AB".  Fairly common in Oregon as well.  I tend to build them a fair amount in my cities as well.

Haljackey, great work as always with this guide.  It's excellent and useful information for both new and experienced users of the RHW!

-Tarkus

[IsaacTham 0]

Great work! Um, the photos of your first post cannot be seen.

[TwelveToneMusic 0]

Great stuff, Hal! Thanks a ton!

[Jayster 7]

How come you can't get normal elevated RHW to go over anything bigger than RHW 4? i wanted it to go over RHW 6, or RHW 8, but it wouldn't let me.

[Tarkus 6,932]

Originally posted by: Jayster How come you can't get normal elevated RHW to go over anything bigger than RHW 4? i wanted it to go over RHW 6, or RHW 8, but it wouldn't let me.quote>

Because that feature is not in place yet.   The RHW mod is a continual work-in-progress.  That functionality will be added into a near future release, though.

-Tarkus

[Patricius Maximus 236]

how about space saver parclo(i don't know all of the number/letter system stuff)

we have one down at Montoursville on I-180

Its like this

 quote>

Under the Ontario parclo classification, it is a Parclo AB2. Under my classification that I devised for the Patrician Showcase, it would be a A20. Below is the system itself:

First Character:

‘A’ is used if there is 2 full loop ramps in opposite quadrants.

‘B’ is used if there is 2 full loop ramps in adjacent quadrants.

‘C’ is used if there is only 1 full loop ramp.

Second Character:

1, 2, 3, or 4 is how many quadrants the interchange contains.

Third Character:

0, 1, 2, or 3 is how many quadrants contain only directional ramps and no loop ramps.quote>

Back on the original topic, I like those parclos. I'm sure many people will benefit from this.

[Interchange 0]

How about doing a trumpet interchange? Is that at all possible with the RHW?

[phoenix7 3]

Yes Voyager, but there is also a ploppable trumpet for the old-school Maxis Ground Hwys in the newest NAM.

[Haljackey 17,305]

Originally posted by: Boycey08

edit: attemped something a little more basic, wasnt as good but it gave me a good feel for the rhw, will be attempting each thing shown in the guide, one thing i fail to see though

although very good to look at, i dont really know how much space to leave from an RHW setup before i start laying roads and zones, do buildings interact with the RHW or will it be the same as with a highway right next to a buildingquote>

Well, practice makes perfect.  Again, these are just guides to help you, you don't need to follow every step if you don't want to.

No, the RHW is like a ground/elevated highway.  Buildings will not grow right next to it.  It's best to treat it as a limited access highway like I have displayed.

---

Originally posted by: bluemoose how about space saver parclo(i don't know all of the number/letter system stuff)

we have one down at Montoursville on I-180

Its like this

quote>

That would be a Parclo AB-2.  This guide is a work in progress, so yes I will be getting to that.  However, you can always use the concepts I outlined in the previous Parclo guides to make something like this.

---

Originally posted by: Interchange How about doing a trumpet interchange? Is that at all possible with the RHW?quote>

Stay cool, this guide is still young.  I will be getting to other interchanges as time goes on.

-In the meantime though, see This Guide which shows how to build the perfect Trumpet.

---

Anyways, I should have a new guide up sometime soon.  All of the images have been restored except for the first guide so far, and that one should be restored soon. 

Sorry for the bandwidth problems... I'm going to blame you the viewer for looking at my pics way too much! 

Best,

-Haljackey