Show us Your Interchanges!

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Wow, I didn't know that cars are overscaled! To that I say, wow, Maxis, wow...

And to that, I say: There's a gajillion more realism issues that can't be solved easily, either, and we just have to deal with a lot of them because they're either hardcoded or would take too long to fix.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

 

However, the countercritism to that is this: as unsafe as it may be, these kinds of things do, in fact, exist in real life, and as such, they have to be represented. This was something that Maarten himself sent me in response to my alternate implementation: https://www.google.nl/maps/@52.603678,4.731145,3a,19.6y,24.63h,89.41t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1saPMauB1yKCW895ZAOKPq-Q!2e0

 

I know that such onramps exist somewhere in the world, but I've never seen them myself. In response to that RL example, I'd say that that onramp is meeting the freeway at a much shallower angle than anything you can do with the RHW. There's also a sign showing that the left lane of the onramp merges directly into the right lane of the freeway, something that doesn't exist in the US. (Regardless, NORO is supposed to be an American-style region) Using Google Earth and a protractor, I found that a lot of ramps branch off freeways at an angle of around 10 degrees relative to the freeway. There are some RHW ramps that you can make this shallow, but not all of them.

 

These tapered entrances differ from region to region. For instance, in the Netherlands, they are most commonly found in Noord-Holland (whereas in Zuid-Holland, the solution Ganaram posted is  more common). They are also quite common in the UK, Denmark and Ontario, Canada. Taper entrances (or even exits) are less common in Belgium and Germany. So yeah, this thing differs quite a bit per region. And I like to think that NORO is set in a more Canadian styled region rather than US style...

 

Besides, I only use C-type ramps for tapers. Most of the other ramp types are usually "too tight" and leave an even more awfully short tapered area. But usually, I also add quite long merging lanes to my interchanges.

[timmie 988]

I use the 2xRHW4 to RHW6-S piece myself (it's usually the best looking solution, I try to make everything compact), but it has bothered me too, since as far as I now, tapered entrances simply don't exist in Belgium. There are a few tapered exits, but they are very uncommon.

[redfox85 659]

I posted this on another form earlier this year, but as I'm starting to explore simtrop again, figured I'll share this one here; the highway going Left is going towards downtown, the other highway is the city's ring road. As to why there is no traffic ? Annual Maintenance  .. And all those square green parks you see .. those each have 1500 jobs.

 

[henrys1996 127]

I posted this on another form earlier this year, but as I'm starting to explore simtrop again, figured I'll share this one here; the highway going Left is going towards downtown, the other highway is the city's ring road. As to why there is no traffic ? Annual Maintenance  .. And all those square green parks you see .. those each have 1500 jobs.

 

Honestly, I feel like your suburban anti-grid steals the show, but only because it's really nice and sets apart your suburbs a lot. I do, however, really like the weaving in the interchange, gives it some character and personality. I do have maybe 3 suggestions:

1. Avoid plopping anything too close to a FLEXRamp (doing so results in those ugly sidewalk textures) - you can also just replace the FLEXRamp with an old puzzle-piece ramp to avoid these textures from appearing.

2. The sharp elevated curves can be quite easily be substituted for smooth ground curves going below the RHW-6S mainline. That is make the overpass curves into underpass curves instead (This shouldn't be much of a problem, especially considering the RHW-4 is one of the most stable RHW networks).

3. Don't have a ramp curve right only to curve back left unless it is absolutely necessary. The on/off-ramps to/from the RHW-6S curve right, left, and right again (which can be a pain to drive through, especially knowing one left curve could've done the trick). Remember that Sims are traveling at high speeds, so it's a good idea to minimize the number of curves and make them as smooth as possible.

 

Other than that, it's definitely a decent interchange

[dubldrop 43]

Tried to post this last night but for some reason it refused to post with the image. Ohhh well, works now so no harm done. 

Trumpet interchange I constructed in advance of developing the outskirts of my CBD. Everything is RHW 4 for now, with room to widen to RHW 6 as needed. Pretty pleased with the result, I used a mix of smooth curves and FARHW to construct the loop. A20 enters the city thru the suburbs, bypasses the downtown core on its way out of the city, while A520 will bring commuters off A20 into the downtown core. 

[Durfsurn 539]

Well this is what I have been doing recently. It gives a little insight into my next project for my CJ as well . I did go against my general rule of not using those tight Pre-NAM32 transition pieces but I had limited space. I think it fits the area nicely. Further south there is a complex Volleyball/Roundabout Hybrid interchange of an expressway (East/West), a second expressway (further east East/West) and freeway (North/South). There a couple of missing links, namely you can't go northbound off the roundabout interchange continuing north but I figure most traffic will actually be heading North-West or East to the suburbs. It is also a medium sized mosiac and still clocks in at a tick under 4 MB (1333x1497) so warning there .

 

 

-Billy

 

EDIT: I realise I can make that missing connection I mentioned just looking at it now, so it is fixed.

[krenemo 81]

[henrys1996 127]

@Krenemo: Good job, although I think that the acceleration lanes on the mainline from the trumpet loop are far too short (or the second one is, rather). I don't find it to be a safe setup to have two lanes merge at once, nor is it a very realistic setup (precisely for that reason). And I can say the same for the deceleration lanes. But that is a simple fix: Just get rid of the 2nd width transition and widen the mainline to RHW-6S. Similarly, on the other direction of the highway, you use a Type B entrance for a ramp that can receive high traffic volume and can really become a bottleneck for traffic wanting to go east on your highway. I tend to follow these rules of thumb when building highway x highway interchanges:

1. Acceleration/deceleration lanes should be a MINIMUM of 300 ft (6 tiles).

2. AVOID using TYPE A/B/C entrances: while it may be OK for an interchange with a side street, this should NOT be acceptable for highway crossings. Ramps (at least in the United States) can be driven at anywhere between 25-35 MPH depending on how sharp the curves might be, which is well below typical highway speeds (55-65 MPH), so clearly, traffic needs to merge safely into the new highway.

3. Decorate interchanges with signs, cosmetic pieces, soundwalls, and lights. It adds some nice aesthetics to your interchanges. (But that one's just personal preference and be creative!)

[Compdude787 916]

@Krenemo: Good job, although I think that the acceleration lanes on the mainline from the trumpet loop are far too short (or the second one is, rather). I don't find it to be a safe setup to have two lanes merge at once, nor is it a very realistic setup (precisely for that reason). And I can say the same for the deceleration lanes. But that is a simple fix: Just get rid of the 2nd width transition and widen the mainline to RHW-6S. Similarly, on the other direction of the highway, you use a Type B entrance for a ramp that can receive high traffic volume and can really become a bottleneck for traffic wanting to go east on your highway. I tend to follow these rules of thumb when building highway x highway interchanges:

1. Acceleration/deceleration lanes should be a MINIMUM of 300 ft (6 tiles).

2. AVOID using TYPE A/B/C entrances: while it may be OK for an interchange with a side street, this should NOT be acceptable for highway crossings. Ramps (at least in the United States) can be driven at anywhere between 25-35 MPH depending on how sharp the curves might be, which is well below typical highway speeds (55-65 MPH), so clearly, traffic needs to merge safely into the new highway.

3. Decorate interchanges with signs, cosmetic pieces, soundwalls, and lights. It adds some nice aesthetics to your interchanges. (But that one's just personal preference and be creative!)

Good advice! I practice this myself when I build RHW interchanges; I always try and use fractional angle ramp pieces as often as possible so that people can go on and off the ramp at a reasonable speed.

[henrys1996 127]

 

@Krenemo: Good job, although I think that the acceleration lanes on the mainline from the trumpet loop are far too short (or the second one is, rather). I don't find it to be a safe setup to have two lanes merge at once, nor is it a very realistic setup (precisely for that reason). And I can say the same for the deceleration lanes. But that is a simple fix: Just get rid of the 2nd width transition and widen the mainline to RHW-6S. Similarly, on the other direction of the highway, you use a Type B entrance for a ramp that can receive high traffic volume and can really become a bottleneck for traffic wanting to go east on your highway. I tend to follow these rules of thumb when building highway x highway interchanges:

1. Acceleration/deceleration lanes should be a MINIMUM of 300 ft (6 tiles).

2. AVOID using TYPE A/B/C entrances: while it may be OK for an interchange with a side street, this should NOT be acceptable for highway crossings. Ramps (at least in the United States) can be driven at anywhere between 25-35 MPH depending on how sharp the curves might be, which is well below typical highway speeds (55-65 MPH), so clearly, traffic needs to merge safely into the new highway.

3. Decorate interchanges with signs, cosmetic pieces, soundwalls, and lights. It adds some nice aesthetics to your interchanges. (But that one's just personal preference and be creative!)

Good advice! I practice this myself when I build RHW interchanges; I always try and use fractional angle ramp pieces as often as possible so that people can go on and off the ramp at a reasonable speed.

 

Agreed, I feel that even the 45 degree smooth curve pieces are still a bit sharp, so I've began to make 45 degree curves as a orth. to FARHW transition followed by a FARHW to diagonal RHW transition.

[Compdude787 916]

 

 

@Krenemo: Good job, although I think that the acceleration lanes on the mainline from the trumpet loop are far too short (or the second one is, rather). I don't find it to be a safe setup to have two lanes merge at once, nor is it a very realistic setup (precisely for that reason). And I can say the same for the deceleration lanes. But that is a simple fix: Just get rid of the 2nd width transition and widen the mainline to RHW-6S. Similarly, on the other direction of the highway, you use a Type B entrance for a ramp that can receive high traffic volume and can really become a bottleneck for traffic wanting to go east on your highway. I tend to follow these rules of thumb when building highway x highway interchanges:

1. Acceleration/deceleration lanes should be a MINIMUM of 300 ft (6 tiles).

2. AVOID using TYPE A/B/C entrances: while it may be OK for an interchange with a side street, this should NOT be acceptable for highway crossings. Ramps (at least in the United States) can be driven at anywhere between 25-35 MPH depending on how sharp the curves might be, which is well below typical highway speeds (55-65 MPH), so clearly, traffic needs to merge safely into the new highway.

3. Decorate interchanges with signs, cosmetic pieces, soundwalls, and lights. It adds some nice aesthetics to your interchanges. (But that one's just personal preference and be creative!)

Good advice! I practice this myself when I build RHW interchanges; I always try and use fractional angle ramp pieces as often as possible so that people can go on and off the ramp at a reasonable speed.

 

Agreed, I feel that even the 45 degree smooth curve pieces are still a bit sharp, so I've began to make 45 degree curves as a orth. to FARHW transition followed by a FARHW to diagonal RHW transition.

 

Hehe, I often do that with roads, transitioning from ortho-> FAR-2 -> Diagonal, only when I have room of course. With RHW, I still like to make them reasonably compact, especially when I'm limited by the surrounding terrain. I do agree that doing a 45-degree ramp is highly unrealistic and I try to avoid this at all costs and only do it when there's an accel/decel lane for that ramp.

[dubldrop 43]

Agreed, I feel that even the 45 degree smooth curve pieces are still a bit sharp, so I've began to make 45 degree curves as a orth. to FARHW transition followed by a FARHW to diagonal RHW transition.

Yeah, I've recently been doing this as well when making my highway curve in general, not just when building interchanges. Not only is it more realistic, but it looks a lot nicer also

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Since I started my work in NORO, I tend not to use any A/B/E-style ramps and only occasionally D-styled ramps. FARHW ramps all the way here...

[dubldrop 43]

Mandelsoft: I like D ramps for when the offramp goes straight for 100-200m before joining or curving away from the freeway. For instance in a parclo where the MiS loops off the road/ave then continues on its own under the overpass before joining with the highway on the other side. I do this mostly to not have gaps in my cosmetic pieces where the overpass is. 

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Since I started my work in NORO, I tend not to use any A/B/E-style ramps and only occasionally D-styled ramps. FARHW ramps all the way here...

Mandelsoft: I like D ramps for when the offramp goes straight for 100-200m before joining or curving away from the freeway. For instance in a parclo where the MiS loops off the road/ave then continues on its own under the overpass before joining with the highway on the other side. I do this mostly to not have gaps in my cosmetic pieces where the overpass is.

You guys realise that Type Ax, Bx, and Cx refer to the ramps with lane splits, and Dx, Ex, and Fx refer to the ramps that allow for accel/decel lanes, right? This was rearranged ever since NAM Version 30.

 

Kinda irks me if people are using the old names for things, since all it does is breed confusion.

[Compdude787 916]

 

Since I started my work in NORO, I tend not to use any A/B/E-style ramps and only occasionally D-styled ramps. FARHW ramps all the way here...

Mandelsoft: I like D ramps for when the offramp goes straight for 100-200m before joining or curving away from the freeway. For instance in a parclo where the MiS loops off the road/ave then continues on its own under the overpass before joining with the highway on the other side. I do this mostly to not have gaps in my cosmetic pieces where the overpass is.

You guys realise that Type Ax, Bx, and Cx refer to the ramps with lane splits, and Dx, Ex, and Fx refer to the ramps that allow for accel/decel lanes, right? This was rearranged ever since NAM Version 30.

Oh that's good to know! I was just reading through the RHW manual and now I think I finally understand your whole naming scheme. I remember seeing an image somewhere that you made that was called the "Periodic Table of Ramp interfaces," but I don't recall where I saw it. (probably buried in the bottomless pit of the RHW thread at SC4D)

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

I remember seeing an image somewhere that you made that was called the "Periodic Table of Ramp interfaces," but I don't recall where I saw it. (probably buried in the bottomless pit of the RHW thread at SC4D)

You mean the naming scheme that I ultimately came up with? (Trust me; it'd be much messier if I didn't come up with the first PToRI.)

[Compdude787 916]

 

I remember seeing an image somewhere that you made that was called the "Periodic Table of Ramp interfaces," but I don't recall where I saw it. (probably buried in the bottomless pit of the RHW thread at SC4D)

You mean the naming scheme that I ultimately came up with? (Trust me; it'd be much messier if I didn't come up with the first PToRI.)

 

Yes, I do. But regardless, I think I am finally understanding your ramp naming scheme to the point where I don't need said periodic table anymore. I've finally figured out that A and D are ortho ramps, B and E are diagonal ramps, and C and F are FA ramps, with the numbers referring to how many lanes branch off via the ramp.

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

PRobably about as compact a diamond as can be: 

[zlotka 44]

PRobably about as compact a diamond as can be: 

Simple but effective, I use those myself a lot. It's a shame that at the crossing with the road there are no traffic lights, would be nice.

[Haljackey 17,270]

High-elevation diamond interchange.

 

Click for full size.

 

 

 

Location in the mountain range:

 

Transport map:

[47ply 1,100]

That's looking good Hal.

I'm working the same region and you are a lot further along then I, I like your idea of using the canyons for freeway connections do you have any commute time concerns? I have been mulling that concern as I develop  

[jmsepe 2,038]

All those space wasted.... just kidding! 

 

Nice interchanges but I still won't be using them for space concerns. It looks good for rural and suburban though since there are plenty of space to spare. 

[henrys1996 127]

High-elevation diamond interchange.

 

Click for full size.

 

 

 

Location in the mountain range:

 

Transport map:

LOL, I think this of the first interchanges not sandwiched between towering skyscrapers or handling the commute of half a million Sims that I've seen from you, Haljackey. And the fact that you use RHW-2 and use RHW-4 for the mainline are pretty good hints that this will still be a "middle of nowhere" type highway exit. Btw, I did get into building RHW interchanges since I watched pts. 48-51 (or 52, I don't quite remember in which part you finished building the airport expwy. interchange) of your Building a city from Scratch series on YouTube. I'm still amazed, though, that you can find a way to fit 21 million people in your region. My Redmund/Auburn metro area only has a population of about 1.5M (1.25M in Redumund, 250,000 in Auburn).

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

With help from Maarten I think I finally have a traditional T-intersection worth showing. Not the most advanced out there, but I think I managed to keep it somewhat smooth for it's size.

 

[Compdude787 916]

With help from Maarten I think I finally have a traditional T-intersection worth showing. Not the most advanced out there, but I think I managed to keep it somewhat smooth for it's size.

Where's the picture????

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

 

With help from Maarten I think I finally have a traditional T-intersection worth showing. Not the most advanced out there, but I think I managed to keep it somewhat smooth for it's size.

Where's the picture????

 

 

Holy crap, I forgot the picture! It's been fixed now, though.

[dubldrop 43]

 

Since I started my work in NORO, I tend not to use any A/B/E-style ramps and only occasionally D-styled ramps. FARHW ramps all the way here...

Mandelsoft: I like D ramps for when the offramp goes straight for 100-200m before joining or curving away from the freeway. For instance in a parclo where the MiS loops off the road/ave then continues on its own under the overpass before joining with the highway on the other side. I do this mostly to not have gaps in my cosmetic pieces where the overpass is.

You guys realise that Type Ax, Bx, and Cx refer to the ramps with lane splits, and Dx, Ex, and Fx refer to the ramps that allow for accel/decel lanes, right? This was rearranged ever since NAM Version 30.

 

Kinda irks me if people are using the old names for things, since all it does is breed confusion.

 

We know. The point was that we prefer to only use ramps with accel/decel lanes, but also prefer to only use the fractional angle ones except in specific circumstances that call for a ortho/diagonal ramp. 

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Another, less conventional interchange I made in about an hour. It took a lot of frustration, but at least I should sleep well tonight.