Redesigning the Transport Network

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Entry posted by sstyrnol · October 9, 2018

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Good Evening and Welcome to a New Installment of Genoa City!

A lot has happened during the last few days, so let's jump right into the action! First of all, I have changed the map theme to use @Ronyx69's Springwood map theme. I did this because while being an awesome set of textures, I thought the Colossal Hill map theme to harsh in its colors and having a too arid character for my liking, especially with the river going in the map.

Secondly, I did a major overhaul of the pre-existing road and rail network in the map.

I basically removed the rail line coming from the top of the screen and relocated it to the shore line, adjacent to the Coastal Highway. This way, in my mind, it makes a lot more sense going through the city. Also this way, the hillside behind the rail line can serve as a better backdrop for those long freight trains!

Right now, I am working on the road network. First of all I redid all the major highway intersections to look more realistic. This is still a work in progress. In the following I am showcasing, what I got so far. I subscribed to a bunch of prototype intersections from the workshop, especially those awesome intersections made by CreativeDEX. As with all premade intersections, the might not always fit the pre-existing situation, hence I merely plopped them somewhere as a guidance and then designed my own intersection based on the local situation.

The first intersection is on the northern edge of the map (remember, in my mind, on the image above, north is on the left!). The Coastal Highway diverges to the right, with the main highway transitioning into the City Bypass.

The City Bypass takes a sharp left turn to skirt the edge of the hillside to merge with the Inner City Highway further east. That interchange still has to be built. Just after the intersection above, there is an exit into the city, mainly serving the neighborhoods on the northern side of the river. You also can see the new train line, as it skirts the hillside and crosses the river.

After the river bridge, we reach the first main exit into the city. This one is a bit confusing, as several roads criss-cross each other.

The on- and off-ramps each merge into one-way roads that pass through what will once be the downtown area. These one-way roads end at the roundabout which can be seen on the right side of the image, which provides access to the beach boulevard and the beachside neighborhoods. The boulevard has been moved back from the shoreline a bit to make way for a beachside park with a few restaurants and such.

I have yet to fit the light rail line under the bridge and the intersection as well. It will probably (not decided yet), dive under the one-ways and the go up to run parallel to th boulevard.

This interchange further south connects the Innercity Highway with the Coastal Highway and also provides access to the downtown and the coastside neighborhoods.

All the interchanges above have yet to receive final terraforming and detailing.

This interchange is a work in progress. It will most likely (like 99%) be demolished. I am looking for a prototype, where I can have the on-/off-ramps merge into the one-way roads (these are the same ones from the interchange described above!).

Furthermore, I did some work on the remaining infrastructure and road layout. The redesign meant that I could move the trainstation to a much more sensible location in the midst of the future downtown area. West of the station will be a larger park, what you see here is just temporary, I played a bit with the park life assets...

As before, the station is being served by three tracks, two light rail tracks and one intercity track. All go underground to enter the station, saving valuable real estate. There is also an underground bus terminal, the entrance can be seend above as well. The relocation also means that the whole trackage can be made much more realistic.

Here we see the main "intersection" for the rail network. In the front is the mainline; the diverging track leads to the main station, the straight track is for freight service only and will lead to the freight yard / industrial area. Behind the front track is the light rail line serving the beach area, which will go under the Coastal Highway bridge as seen above. On the left, crossing over the mainline, we see the light rail line serving the eastern suburbs.

Behind, we can spot a s small rail yard, which will service light rail trains.