highway ramp questions

[grandmasteroz 0]

hi guys, 2 quick questions for you...

1- how often do you place highway on/off ramps? I've tried to model it like my hometown of Houston (in between streets) but it seems a little cluttered as my streets are 8 tiles apart. I've also tried placing them only between my avenues (36 tiles between them- 4 streets in between each avenue) but I'm not sure how it will affect traffic congestion/flow.

2- more of a sunken network question but while I'm here I might as well ask it- how do you get the street connecting to the ramp to stay flat? I've seen it that way in many CJ's but cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it. I only want the highway itself to be sunken, not the highway ramp. I wish I had a picture to illustrate what I'm talking about but I'm sure everyone know what I mean.

Thanks ahead for the answers/advice!

[dietercl 5]

what i do is just make logical places to connect. at every larger town in the region + larger towns get more than 1 exit. but never closer than about 1km apart. which translates to about 60 tiles. closer to me seems unrealistic and i always try to use accel/decel lanes which in turn take quit a couple of tiles. so in between exits i minimally got 70 tiles. but remember it has to look good to you! so go with whatever is good for you.

try 'anchoring' the intersection between the mis and the road with road tiles this way it won't get lower. it's about as descriptive i can be without axeactly knowing what you mean.

hope to have helped.

[grandmasteroz 0]

dietercl,

not sure if this makes a difference, but I won't be using the RHW but the maxis highways- the RHW looks much better but has become quite a chore for me to try and do interchanges in a reasonable size space so I just figured I'd use the MHW instead for the custom interchanges. so i wont be using the MIS, just whatever ramps come with the MHW. since I'm trying to model it after Houston's system, there is a 1 way feeder road on each side of the hwy, so that is the ramp I use. I'm trying to get the ramp to lay on the top so the on and off ramps go up and down, and the 1 way road lays flat above. Hopefully that makes it a little more clear.

[Cob92 360]

If you want to model the system after Houston, look at the freeway system through the satellite view on Google Maps. The ramps aren't quite between every street. Also, search the STEX for the hole digger lots. Those will let you build a sunken freeway with the feeder roads at ground level. The whole freeway corridor will be 6 tiles wide: 2 for the main lanes, 1 on each side of sloped ground, and 1 on each side for the feeder road.

If you're having trouble keeping the ramps at the proper level, try building the freeway and the feeders first, then add in the ramps afterward.

[CaptCity 4,695]

2- more of a sunken network question but while I'm here I might as well ask it- how do you get the street connecting to the ramp to stay flat? I've seen it that way in many CJ's but cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it. I only want the highway itself to be sunken, not the highway ramp. I wish I had a picture to illustrate what I'm talking about but I'm sure everyone know what I mean.

I'm trying to get the ramp to lay on the top so the on and off ramps go up and down, and the 1 way road lays flat above. Hopefully that makes it a little more clear.

I think you're going for something like this?

A few things to check...

• Be sure you have the proper depth - Highway ramps need 15m.
  
• Make sure you're using the correct pieces - elevated and ground pieces look much alike.
  
• Since you're using one-ways, be sure you have selected the correct one-way pieces - because there's two directions, the number of one-way pieces are doubled.

[grandmasteroz 0]

captcity,

thats the exact picture i saw and was trying to model it after. i actually found the tutorial after a lot of searching on the omnibus so i followed it. when i placed the ramps though, it raised some of the land around the ramps up, so i couldnt get it to actually do what it shows in the pictures.... i even tried anchoring the sides with street tiles and it kept doing it. i kept it the way it is because it isnt THAT big of a deal for me. the only thing is the sunken walls im using 3ddz sunken highway eye candy set, and they seem a little steep with 15m down, but again not a big deal. thanks for the help everyone!

[CaptCity 4,695]

Perhaps if you could post a picture of yours, we could get things to straighten out for you. If I'm reading your post correctly, it sounds like the depth may not be right. Just a thought...

[x493x 446]

For question number 1: In an average grid-style city avenues are spaces 51 tiles apart from each other (1 mile). Now depending on the density of your city, highway ramps are places at every avenue or every other avenue. Hope that helps with the spacing issue.

[TheNachoFan 0]

I had the same problem and found this post. I am finally able to do this service road style stuff, thanks. The thing is I wonder where do the overpass piece and avenue's stonemade central divider and sidewalk come from like in the image shown. I can't even get the avenue across the one-way road. Is it found in a special package somewhere?

Other question, even though it might not be the right thread... do you know what the difference is between the Ground Highway Ramp-OneWayRoad Forward 01 and Ground Highway Ramp-OneWayRoad Forward 02?

[CaptCity 4,695]

...The thing is I wonder where do the overpass piece and avenue's stonemade central divider and sidewalk come from like in the image shown. I can't even get the avenue across the one-way road. Is it found in a special package somewhere?

The overpass pieces are part of the NAM. They are found under the Raised Avenue Pieces icon in the Roads menu. As for connecting the one-ways to the avenue, the avenue isn't dragged across the one-way. First, you need to be sure to use the Avenue "T" On-slope piece, not the regular Avenue On-slope piece. Once placed, there should be a short avenue section "hanging" over the sunken slope, and you should be able to drag the avenue away from the piece on the level ground. The one-ways will then drag across the piece. For the sidewalks and dividers, you'll need BuddyBud's under-bridge set.

Other question, even though it might not be the right thread... do you know what the difference is between the Ground Highway Ramp-OneWayRoad Forward 01 and Ground Highway Ramp-OneWayRoad Forward 02?

Because one-ways only go in only one direction, many more pieces are needed to cover all the possible layouts, including exit and entrance ramps. The 01 and 02 indicate the different direction the traffic can travel on the "lower" one-way portion of each piece (on or off). When laying the pieces on top of the one-way, they should align automatically if the direction is correct. If not, then try another piece.

A further note: The overpass in the picture was made before the newest NAM release, so there could be minor differences in appearance due to the new style of raised avenue pieces. Buddybud's pieces should still "cover" the avenue overpasses and give the appearance of sidewalks and dividers, but there could be other slight differences in some spots due to the change.

[TheNachoFan 0]

Thank you very much!