3-way vs 4-way intersections

[baertooth 330]

I was looking at some of my older cities and noticed I had a tendancy with each new city to build fewer and fewer 4-way intersections. That includes the ground streets, avenues, and highways. The theory is it should reduce the amount of traffic that can flow into the intersection by 25%. The affect is my most dense areas when I have the traffic overlay filter on, there is a noticable reduction in congestion, though my commute times don't seem to have been effected as much. My newest cities have no 4-way intersections at all. It's a pain to have to place every zone instead of using the zone paint feature, but it seems worth it in the long run. Does anyone else do this? Is there other stratagies to reduce congestion concerning intersections?

[jeeper 14]

My city centers are usually grids, so there I have lots of 4-ways. But as I move out into the suburbs, I tend to have less symmetry, and therefore less 4-ways and more angular intersections to reduce the number of stops a car has to make.