The New Patrician Showcase: Tour the Pockets of Beauty Cradled by the Sleepy Cities in the Hillss

[Patricius Maximus 236]

HALTER'S COASTLINE AND IMPENDING REDEVELOPMENT

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REPLIES:

CrushedCar: I'm saying they are more upscale than the previous inhabitants, not necessarily relative to the median income.

Skimbo: I'm glad you like the Showcase, and I hope you'll return.

TmiguelT: Thanks.

Korot:  1) Currently the people in the area you mention just have a surface street connection, not a freeway connection. I have no set plans, but there is room for a freeway bridge.

2) The new waste is being recycled. Actually garbage levels are pretty stable.

3) I like that slogan. I think I'll use it in the future for the city.

---

Immediately north of Flinnsburg and 4 kilometers north of North Kenneth is the City of Halter. This update will focus on the area of Halter east of Lake Vetinari and west of the principal freeway, which is called the Halter Coast. The update will also hint at new development.

Coming in from the south via Flinnsburg, Halter Coast begins with a cluster of residential high-rises, connected with the freeway via a diamond interchange:

Below is a view from the coast, which perhaps better illustrates the description:

This area also can boast of the first application of the 6-lane medianless avenue in Patian County.

Between this area and a business district to the north exists a woodland, with a noise barrier crossing through it parallel to the avenue:

Briefly panning to the east, there is a high-tech industrial district, wind turbines, and a landfill:

To the north of this exists a trumpet interchange built at a diagonal, which provides the only access to the business district, which employs most of the city's population:

Notice the orthoganal-over-diagonal bridge, something that was not possible before RHW 4.0.

The Halter Coast is at it's narrowest point in this area, and this also marks the end of the high-rises at the present time in the coast:

And here is the high-tech area, existing north of a diamond interchange between the freeway and twin four-lane one-way roads, which will be further elaborated upon in the next update:

Lastly, I would like to present this:

It is Brownville, a pre-existing city tile in the inland areas of Patian County, some kilometers southwest of Lake Vetinari. This town exists at the edge of current development in the area, and I have decided to expand and completely redevelop and revamp the town.

I have yet to decide what exact form it will take, but it will be quite different than what exists now.

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Also, June 1 marks the start of the designated hurricane season in the North Atlantic Ocean. The conditions in this upcoming season are perhaps the most favorable for hurricane formation in recorded history -- there is a weakening El Nino event and possible La Nina developing, wind shear is at low levels, and sea surface temperatures are the highest ever recorded for this time of year.

These conditions are even more favorable than the conditions preceding the infamous 2005 hurricane season by a large margin. The 2005 season was so infamous because it produced a record 28 tropical storms, including a record 4 Category 5 hurricanes (the highest possible category). The season produced numerous monster storms which devastated large parts of the Atlantic coastline.

Forecasts are calling for 14 to 23 tropical storms in this season, and conditions are steadily getting more favorable, so it is possible that there could be more storms than in this range.

In honor of the extremely active season which is upcoming, I have changed my desktop wallpaper to this:

It is a picture of 2007's Category 5 Hurricane Felix, as seen from the ISS. I think this is one of the best hurricane pictures ever taken, and that is why I selected that one.

Please post comments, suggestions, and questions.

[Follarch 327]

I miss the times where my cities were connected by RHW... Those were more customized days. Now my main region is so developed, it'd take forever to rip up the maxis highway, remodel the paths and put down RHW. Shuckydarns!

I keep forgetting how much development there is in your showcase region! This is basically exactly what Zelgadis did, and you're well on your way.

[Korot 6]

To the north of this exists a trumpet interchange built at a diagonal, which provides the only access to the business district, which employs most of the city's population:quote>

If it is such an important connection, then why use the MIS, and not a RHW-4 for the ramps connecting to the CBD.

And here is the high-tech area, existing north of a diamond interchange between the freeway and twin four-lane one-way roads, which will be further elaborated upon in the next update:quote>

I'm counting five lanes on each OWR, not four. Quite nice interchange though.

I have yet to decide what exact form it will take, but it will be quite different than what exists now.

quote>

Skyscraper city? Or perhaps a large farm area? I surely have not seen one of those in this region.

In honor of the extremely active season which is upcoming, I have changed my desktop wallpaper to this:quote>

I wouldn't honour a season that is that destructive. The picture is nice though.

Originally posted by Archean, who seems to post ahead of me every single time:

Now my main region is so developed, it'd take forever to rip up the maxis highway, remodel the paths and put down RHW. Shuckydarns! quote>

Then why did you start building MHW to begin with?

Regards,

Korot

[SounderBruce 173]

Very nice trumpet! Love the city...looking forward to a hopefully calmer hurricane season!

[kj3400 178]

Looking good PM. Definitely like the separation of freeway from devlopment with trees. I usually use sound walls exclusively.

Originally posted by: Korot

Originally posted by Archean, who seems to post ahead of me every single time:

Now my main region is so developed, it'd take forever to rip up the maxis highway, remodel the paths and put down RHW. Shuckydarns! quote>

Then why did you start building MHW to begin with?

Regards,

Korot

quote>

Probably the same reason I do; while highly unrealistic, it's small and efficient. Or maybe it's simply because we couldn't be bothered with waiting for a RHW update like this one, though I'm starting to imcorporate using only RHW in newer cities.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

TEASER OF HARTLINE

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REPLIES:

Archean: Perhaps you could have a region sort of on the side where you could have RHWs.

Korot: Brownville will become neither of those, but it will be interesting nonetheless.

ComputerGuy: It will likely be less calm than 2009.

Kj3400: Using MHW at first and then transitioning to RHW was what I did in Patian County.

---

After languishing for nearly 2 months, the Showcase once again has come back from the dead. I will admit that I have completely neglected Brownville and focused on the northeast corner. I will also admit that after I show off some of what I have done in the northeast, I'll shift back to Brownville and redevelop it, with viewer input influencing the course of it.

This will be a teaser, but do not despair, there is more coming soon. First off, an overview of the region around a new city, Hartline, and surrounding tiles:

You can see that there is a long road stretching from Mesaville transitioning towards the west, where it will eventually merge with a preexisting Maxis highway in a river region northwest of Lake Vetinari. The road starts out as an expressway but then turns into a freeway.

Expressways in Patian County are like freeways, only they have far less strict standards concerning the prevention of weaving, usually have lower speed limits, and more at-grade intersections and small interchanges. They can also consist of networks outside of the RHW, including avenues and NWM variants to that effect.

In the coming updates, I will focus on this stretch of land, and then go back to Brownville as mentioned before. For now, a teaser of Hartline, the first full city the expressway passes through, will suffice:

When you see this area again, it will probably look better, and I would also like to call notice to several newer features, such as slip lanes and FLUPs.

That's all for now.

Please post your comments, suggestions, and questions.

[SounderBruce 173]

Love the areas...those slip lanes have real good use there!

[Mayorm 14]

very nice, i need to visit this cj more often.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

BROWNVILLE IS REVISTED AFTER ALL

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REPLIES:

ComputerGuy: Thank you.

Mayorm: So should everyone else.

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Well, I consider it ironic that since my last teaser, my focus has shifted from Hartline back to Brownville, a city which I had pretty much abandoned. It has since last contact been reinvigorated into a large suburban community, complete with freeways, rail lines, and other road planning methods.

We start in the northwest, where the freeway which runs through here intersects with the main avenue in these parts via a partial cloverleaf interchange:

The avenue moves south, and enters the main city of Brownville, along with the rail lines which connect with other cities, which enable the citizens to get to their jobs in an efficient manner:

Below is an overview of the aforementioned area:

Towards the east side, the freway merges into another, north-south freeway via a Directional-T interchange:

This freeway then connects with other roads over to the south, providing those near with yet another means of transportation:

There is also a spillover area of development east of the freeway, which might extend into another city soon to be made in the east:

Lastly, I would like to showcase two mosaics I made of the city, one of the above area, and the other of the mainline of the city at night. It may offer something different to behold than the usual stuff you'll find here.

Please post comments, suggestions, and questions.

[split mosaic to comply with size limit - Astronelson]

[Benedict 3,119]

Quite the update, there! I like the elevated part of the rail line (on brick viaduct, I think).

[Follarch 327]

Pat, you do realize the guidelines for mosaics in a CJ require them to be a combination of smaller images, rather than one large image. If you need help with mosaics, just PM me and I'll explain better.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

NORTH BROWNVILLE I

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REPLIES:

Benedict: Thanks.

Archean: Then it is not a true mosaic, so I will have to think of an alternative name for them .

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In the last 20 days, I have developed a city tile north of Brownville, called simply North Brownville. The red lines denote freeways:

Although not completely developed, North Brownville is even at this stage a vibrant center for the area's population. In the far west of the city, there exists a large residential area, consisting of low and medium density buildings. There is also a ground light rail and an avenue:

Below is a broader view, showing the southwestern area:

The aforementioned residential area is in the view. There is also a freeway running from east to west, interacting with the surface streets via a paperclip interchange (to the right) and a diamond interchange (to the left).

To the east of the residences, there is a landfill surrounded by parkland in order to diminish the negative effect its proximity to the residents has on living standards. There's also a recycling center:

Below is a view of the whole area with east at the top. At the center is an interchange between the ordinary rail line, which comes from Brownville to the south. The rail line continues under the river via a tunnel. The interchange works by having a rail line split off from the main one, then converting the passengers to ground light rail via a conversion station, and then sending them on their way via the GLR/elevated rail network:

Aside from the aforementioned east-west freeway, there is also a freeway which runs from north to south. It comes from Brownville towards the north as a full freeway from the neighbor connection all the way to the southern terminus.

When it enters North Brownville, it curves to the east:

North of this curve, the two freeways of North Brownville intersect, and they connect with each other through a rather beautiful stack interchange. The east-west freeway continues on its course as a Maxis highway:

Meanwhile, the north-south freeway continues across the river, but after this crossing it is a freeway for no longer -- it transitions to an ordinary divided highway, which intersects with an avenue. Farther north, it will serve as an arterial road for a pre-existing city:

There is also another development which is growing in the northwest, an extension of the developments in surrounding city tiles:

That's all for now.

Please post comments, suggestions, and questions.

[astronelson 339]

It looks like it's coming along quite nicely. Your skill with the RHW is amazing as always.

And the mosaic in the previous update has been fixed now.

[Legobuilder123 24]

Very good City Journal my friend! I'm eager to wait for that next update in a few days...lol

BTW you should develop some rural development after you filled in the Urban and Suburb areas first...and good luck!

!P.S I'm glad these things are still in the tread with all these city journals!)

Sincere, Legoubuildr123.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

ASSORTED PICTURES ONE YEAR AFTER

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REPLIES:

Astronelson: Good. And thanks for the mosaic fix.

Legobuilder123: The few days turned into a year. I've never been keen on rural development for Patian County. After the suburbs and downtowns are filled in, I'm inclined towards parks and natural preserves.

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One year after the last update, many things have changed in Patian County, although it has been an adding-on process as usual. The population of Patian County, after extensive development of the northern region, currently stands at an astonishing 10 394 796. That's over 10 million. As of the last update, it was around 8.2 million. Below is a regional view to orient yourself to its present state:

This update will feature assorted pictures from all over the region following no particular pattern.

First we will go to the city of Ashcroft, a new creation of mine, as are all of the cities featured in this update. This is a Semi-Directional T interchange, when it was newly constructed as part of the building of Ashcroft.

And here it is when developed, with commuter traffic flowing on it at night:

Below is the graduation at the university that is in the city:

And a new building being constructed:

Below is an early picture of a new city in the northern reaches, called Bachmann. At this time only the freeways and the central business district were built:

And lastly, a picture of a new suburban development, North Franklin:

The utter lack of much commercial or industrial development for 1 or 2 city tiles away demonstrates that sometimes Sims can commute farther than most think. The opposite phenomenon is also experienced.

Well, I think that is a good start to the renewal of the New Patrician Showcase.

Please post your comments, suggestions, and questions.

  Edited June 21, 2011 by Patricius Maximus  

[Patricius Maximus 236]

A NEW REGION - A NEW BEGINNING

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REPLIES:

Oh, wait. There aren't any. I would think there would be more interested in something as awesome as this CJ

.

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I have developed a new region, called Ventratus (you can

). It is a new concept, with mountainous areas interspersed with flatter areas that are good for building cities. The potential for large developments and beautiful scenery exists here. It also sports a bona fide coastline, something that Patian County lacks. I'll be transferring my efforts from Patian County to this region in the future. I'm not sure if I should start a new CJ for this place or not, but for now it will remain in here.

Below are preview shots:

I may also add that I have recently gotten wind of the new "SimCity" game coming out in 2013. If it's a worthy successor and improvement, and if all goes well with this (conditions that are far from certain), then you may see some material from that game by the beginning of 2014 or so.

Please post any comments you may have.

  Edited May 18, 2012 by Patricius Maximus  

[Benedict 3,119]

That's a unique and fantastic interchange to fit with the terrain - love it.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

THE END OF THE NEW BEGINNING

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REPLY:

Benedict: I thought it to be pretty innovative myself.

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In the long, long interim, I've tried to develop that new region but somehow it just doesn't seem to fit with me. I've also worked on another region, which has some good stuff in it, but I grew tired of trying to make a less urban scene. So I'm back to Patian County.

We start off with a new section of Patian County that has been languishing for years. For all that time I didn't really know what to do with it, but now I've finally gotten a handle on what to do with it. It's forming into a nice-looking urban center now. The names of the cities are in yellow and the RHW lines are in red. In case you're wondering, yes, that city is named for Mitt Romney. I'm no fan of Mitt Romney's politics or personality, but that whole section of Patian County is named for American politicians, especially new candidates. The next city to the north is Knowlesville, which is named for the movie actor Patric Knowles.

Below is what can be called Downtown Romney. The central business district is accessible from the main freeway by a well-designed Semi-Directional T interchange. The hill to the south serves to break up the urban monotony and also provides an excuse to not provide a straight avenue connection. The Sims tend to use that instead of my RHW's so I have to make every curve count

.

If you look very closely you will see that there are cosmetic RHW pieces. Yes, I've finally put them to full use. Below is a close-up of the residential area:

And here are the markings on the freeway. The new exit ramps for the RHW-10 make this a more viable option than ever for my cities, and I've put them to good use. I can't wait for a potential RHW-12 in the future. That will give us the option of splitting into two RHW-6's. The applications are endless, the most obvious of which are three-lane ramps for Directional T interchanges:

Speaking of Directional T's, here's a picture of one that provides access to the Downtown area:

This stretch of road was originally a rural RHW-6C, and some sections are still left even after I've converted most of it to other RHW types.

North of the interchange is my favorite picture showing off the RHW cosmetic pieces:

Below is a closer view of Downtown Romney:

The branch freeway features a roundabout interchange shortly after you enter from the western side. It works quite effectively for all types of Sim traffic:

Northward into the next city tile is Knowlesville. A three-level stacked roundabout is encountered here where the freeway interfaces with an important arterial road. Or spur if you prefer. Both terms are equally accurate for this route as it currently stands. This three-level stacked roundabout is intended to service a future bedroom community in the north side of this city tile;

To the north we see the skeleton of the new community, which will be serviced by this interchange. This is the most attractive Semi-Directional T I've ever constructed:

To the left is a new creation, a microwave power plant. Patian County has now put solar satellites into orbit to beam microwave power down to the surface. This new program will serve the immense power needs of the region:

All that is needed now in the already-developed areas is to put signage up.

Please post your comments, suggestions, and questions.

[simlink 1,098]

Looking good, I like the semi-directional T interchange.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

THE TRAMS OF RYANSVILLE

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REPLY:

Sim_link: Thanks.

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A neighboring city to what was previously shown is the newly-built city tile that I have christened "Ryansville", which is both an oblique reference to Haljackey (of Greater Terran Region fame) and Paul Ryan, the American Rep. who Mitt Romney hopes to be nominated as his running mate. Recently I have constructed quite a tram/light rail system there and this is simply a photo gallery to show it off. Without further ado:

Please post your comments, suggestions, and questions.

  Edited August 13, 2012 by Patricius Maximus  

[kj3400 178]

My only suggestion would be to download a light rail/tram skin, but otherwise it's looking good.

[vivapanda 422]

That's a nice public transport system!

The first picture is really complicated (yay!) but it actually makes perfect sense, great job =D

[Patricius Maximus 236]

NEW MAXIS HIGHWAYS

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REPLIES:

Kj3400: I'll look into downloading a new tram skin. I've already done that with my rail and monorail systems, to very satisfactory results.

Vivapanda: There is beauty in complexity that functions perfectly.

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I almost exclusively use RHW for my highways, so Maxis Highways (MHW) are a dying breed. Nevertheless, there are rare situations where they are suitable. Recently two such instances have emerged, and these are my first new MHW sections in about a year.

First is a new MHW bridge in the newer city of Frakesburg that carries a large volume of traffic across a river - this is part of a longer RHW-dominant road. The same road also contains my first RHW-3 sections, which I will reveal in a later update. RHW-3's, the SC4 counterpart of

2+1 roads, are surprisingly great for higher-capacity arterial roads in suburban and rural areas. You'll see more RHW-3's in the future in Patian County:

The second new road branches off from an earlier MHW ring road (built last year) and services Svenson, an older town, connecting it with a new urban center. A partial Y interchange starts a parallel surface road that provides access to the town and is the town's main avenue:

This access is essential because the new freeway tunnels under the old development in Svenson. Freeways tunneling under old development is a throwback to way back in 2007 when I was constructing some parts of the Southern Hills region. You can visit

PM's Older Regions to see some of the stuff from that old region:

This surface street connects to another freeway via a SPUI interchange, oddly enough:

This is when the main street leaves the town of Svenson:

And then the surface street reconnects with the main freeway:

Further on than this the MHW is converted into an RHW freeway.

Please post comments, suggestions, and questions.

[Schulmanator 5,815]

I think they work pretty well together

[crazychickensc12 84]

Your work with RHW is simply amazing and a huge inspiration because I've never worked with it. I also like how the MHW looks with those black asphalt textures might have to give those a shot! Great work in here looking forward to your next update!

[kj3400 178]

Ah it's good to see MHW's have not gone completely out of style. Although to be honest, when the RHW gets to the point where diagonal interchanges are an reality, I'm ditching it

[Patricius Maximus 236]

ON ROAD SIGNS AND SPEED LIMITS

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REPLIES:

Schulmanator: They do seem to.

Crazychickensc12: I'm glad you're inspired. Hopefully someday you'll be inspired enough to try it yourself. For the record I use the Highway Re-Styling Mod for the darker MHWs.

Kj3400: MHWs haven't gone completely out of style. In fact, subsequent to the last update I used a MHW to form an urban ring road, and I used a small section to alleviate congestion in a section of urban avenue. Other than those specialty uses, I strongly prefer RHW.

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This update will focus on some new road signs and Patian County's traffic laws. First up, I'd like to present a new map of the Patian County Freeway and Expressway System. F roads and E roads are included in the map below. East of the Prime Meridian the map is complete as of September 22, 2012, but west of the Meridian it's very incomplete; only F2 and its subsidiaries are marked. Click the image for full resolution.

The image below is a sign assembly that I created for the F6 route southbound in the city De Lauro, near the eastern terminus of F2-5. Two lanes continue towards the destination cities, and two lanes branch off to form the eastbound lanes of F2-5. I've also created another sign listing upcoming junctions. This type of sign is common in California and I find a junction list to be quite convenient in my experience as a motorist.

You can tell by the route shields alone that Patian County has American-style signage as a base, but also has European influences. Exit numbers are in kilometers primarily because city tiles in Simcity are based on kilometers and it's easy to use city tiles as a measuring stick

. Speed limit signs are in miles per hour. This is the sign assembly with the relevant speed signs added on. The speeds indicated are rather typical for this type of road:

Although most of the time congested traffic precludes 80 mph speeds, Patian County's traffic laws are lenient when it comes to drivers opening up on a stretch of unoccupied road or using their own judgment. Freeways are scrupulously maintained and free of potholes. Traffic congestion and curves are the only practical impediments. In urban areas curves tend to be rather tight, so they are well-marked with advisory signs. Every ramp is also well-marked, which enables the 80 mph motorist to gradually slow down to prudent speed for their exit ramp. Acceleration and deceleration lanes are used whenever possible on new highways (and this applies to Simcity as well ). When space permits, directional ramps are designed in such a way that motorists may not even need to slow down.

Freeways that go through suburban areas typically have speed limits ranging from 70 to 85 mph. Urban freeways have a standard speed limit of 70 mph, which can be reduced to as little as 55 mph depending on how densely packed the entrance and exit ramps are. Rural freeways do not have any speed restrictions, but advisory speed signs are commonly used to indicate maximum safe speeds on curves. The standard ramp speed signs are also posted, and since motorists can sometimes be traveling in excess of 100 mph, ramp and curve speeds are usually marked well in advance. On these unrestricted roads, advisory signs with recommended speeds will occasionally be posted. Curve signs like this may seem odd if you're used to a jurisdiction that never permits these speeds on straight sections, let alone curves:

The general minimum speed on a freeway is 55 mph if conditions permit (such as traffic congestion), since Patian County officials feel that vehicle that cannot or will not go at least 55 mph doesn't belong on the freeway. This is legally enforced where speed is restricted (such as the "Speed Limit 80, Minimum 55" sign, but in the unrestricted rural areas is only enforced if the slow vehicle is obstructing traffic. This situation is rare, because since rural roads are typically uncongested, passing a slow-poke is easy, and if it was congested the minimum wouldn't typically apply.

Among speed-restricted freeways, the only exception to the general 55 mph minimum is in the 55 mph-limited urban areas, where minimum speeds (if they are marked at all) are typically marked at 45 or 50 mph.

Surface streets in urban and suburban areas tend to follow the same lenient policy, though obviously posted speeds run lower than on freeways. Expressways and particularly high-quality arterial roads (E roads and some A roads) have speed limits similar to their freeway counterparts. The procedures for curve signs on all roads are likewise similar to freeways. Speed limits for straight arterial roads with few traffic lights are typically from 60-70 mph, and may be as high as 75 mph. Arterial roads with many traffic lights typically have speed limits from 50 to 60 mph, but due to traffic congestion and red lights prevailing speeds are usually much lower.

Undivided rural two or three lane roads, otherwise known as a typical rural road, are sometimes unrestricted, but most have speed limits ranging from 55 to 80 mph. The minimum speed for all of these roads is 20 mph. Curvy sections are appropriately marked. American-style speed limit signs are used in these cases, such as the ones below:

Of course there are very few rural roads in Patian County due to all the urbanization that goes on

. Separate speed limits for trucks or during nighttime are very rare. Distance and directional signs are very common on Patian County roads, including on surface streets. Freeway-style directional signs containing route numbers, road names, and destinations are very common.

That about sums up the vision I have for Patian County's road system, which is partially implemented in-game.

Please post your comments, suggestions, and questions. I'd also like for you fellow CJers and roadgeeks to tell about how your own road systems are designed, but I request explanations only and no disparaging of the system I've designed.

[Schulmanator 5,815]

The signs are well done. Nice work! Minimum 20 might be a bit slow though...

[Patricius Maximus 236]

I'd just like to point out that the speed limit signs and curve signs are actually from the Wikimedia Commons (relased into the public domain). Some user named Ltljltlj made them. The rest of it is my creation.

  Edited September 30, 2012 by Patricius Maximus  

[Patricius Maximus 236]

FALL FESTIVAL, ROADGEEK EDITION

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REPLIES:

Schulmanator: The 20 mph minimum is intended to provide a bare minimum, and to accomodate the odd vehicle that travels at 20 or 30 mph for short distances, like between intersections or from a house to a business, where accelerating to full speed would just be a waste. Oftentimes such high-speed routes are the only thoroughfare in the area. In practice, through traffic never travels less than 45 mph on such roads.

Patricius Maximus: Thanks for pointing that out

.

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-October has arrived, and in most places Autumn weather is in high gear, high enough to produce snow across Montana. The time is right for a Fall Festival, and here you'll see the roadgeek edition, with two new cities to showcase:

-Those would be Warmfoot and Kobach. Two freeways (F2, F5) and one expressway (E1-5) pass through this expanse. We'll start with Kobach. A pretty attractive higher-capacity diamond interchange provides the primary exit to the surface streets of the city. Notice the RHW-6C/8C network combined with fractional angle ramps, and the heavy usage of TuLEPs. The widespread usage of these methods is something new for me:

Slowly but surely, RHW, NWM, and related pieces are coming together in a beautiful confluence. Notice that the surface street in question is a TLA-7, a feature of the Network Widening Mod. Further down the road you can see the core of the city:

The rail line was built by me to relieve congestion, and it has done its job very well. Over 8000 commuters use the rail line, which takes most of the load off of the road network. The roads are still heavily used, though. Over to the east I have built more suburban development to provide for a smooth transition away from the inner city. Eventually I plan to have all of Kobach look something like this:

F2, the primary freeway in Kobach, starts to curve to the north, and at this point I have decided to take a foray into bigger, more realistic partial cloverleaf interchanges. Such interchanges have been showcased in interchange threads recently, and one was described as "a beast of a parclo", and "a beast" is a good description of these creatures. I am very pleased with how this bigger partial cloverleaf interchange turned out. There are two loop ramps on the north side because I plan for most of the traffic flow to go from this avenue to points south, and vice versa. Traffic coming in or going towards the north is expected to be light. Another reason I constructed this bigger version of a parclo is because there is a critical shift in lanes here, from a RHW-6C network to a RHW-6S network. With this new interchange the transition looks much more beautiful:

Also take note of more fractional angle ramps

. I'm now getting to the point where I use FARHW in most of my interchanges, and I consider this to be a change for the better. This sort of interchange wouldn't be practical without the newer RHW features, such as the RHW-8C network and ramps, and the Avenue-MIS ramp pieces.

Below is a snapshot of the belly of the beast

:

The last picture from Kobach is a rail interchange, providing access for commuters:

Next, we'll skip over to Warmfoot, and go right into the belly of that beast of a town:

E1-5 runs through town and provides the main artery. Also notice more extensive use of TuLEPs on the surface streets. If you look closely, every single road and intersection is a component of the NAM, NWM, or RHW mods with the exception of the street network. Maxis networks are becoming an endangered species, though I can't say the same for their buildings

.

To the south E1-5 intersects with F2 via a a full cloverleaf interchange. This cloverleaf is the first full cloverleaf I've built in what seems like years. However, since E1-5 is a lightly-used rural expressway, a cloverleaf makes sense in this situation, because weaving isn't a problem in light traffic flows, a diamond or partial cloverleaf interchange isn't free-flowing. Add in the collector/distributor roads on F2 to eliminate the weaving on the actual freeway, and I sold myself on the idea:

The cloverleaf also has a disadvantage, which in Simcity 4 mutates into an advantage: large land-take. Should the need ever arise (and knowing me it probably will), loop ramps can be replaced by directional ramps, and the footprint of this cloverleaf also accomodates cloverstacks and other hybrids.

Now it's road sign time

. Below is the sign you'd see approaching this interchange from the south:

Yes, those are real, in-game city names. For some weird reason all three control cities are named after Republicans

. Just after you pass the sign above you'll see this one over by the side, detailing the upcoming junctions. Remember Halter Avenue and Colder Avenue? They are in the city of Warmfoot. The E7-2 road, named Hogan Springs Drive, is located in the neighbor city to the north, Kingston Hill:

Moving away from road signs, over to the south of the cloverleaf interchange, there's a small industrial area:

Meanwhile, I believe I've discovered a case for RHW TuLEPs, a concept which has been discussed by the NAM Team and NAM users. This is an expressway-class road, which intersects two big avenues. I decided to make nice, long turning lanes for the expressway:

However, the problem is that they are avenue-based, and thus have an avenue's traffic capacity. This is far less than the RHW-4, and creates a traffic bottleneck. You can see the difference in the picture below:

With this, I've been sold on the case for RHW TuLEPs.

In other news, when you approach this intersection there is a sign advising you to reduce your speed to 50 mph through the intersection area:

The normal speed limit on this road is 70 mph through the rural southern areas, but this is reduced to an advisory speed limit of 50 mph through the intersections, then a hard limit of 65 mph through Kingston Hill.

I'll leave you with a picture of F5's southern terminus, at a high-capacity trumpet interchange that I intend to be heavily used one day:

That's all for the Roadgeek's Fall Festival. Please post your comments, suggestions, or questions. All viewers are encouraged to reply.