Road aesthetics in SimCity 3000

Contributor/author(s): Kyle D.J.

This article illustrates just some of the many things that can be constructed with road tiles:

This article does not discuss tunnels, bridges, highways, or rail.

The intent is to provide ideas for your road layout that are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and may even help reduce traffic congestion. They are alternatives to this familiar chaotic mess (often called "spaghetti roads"):

The more intersections you have, the worse the traffic congestion in your city will be. Some of the ideas in this article can help improve your traffic flow.

It is impractical to show every possibility in this article. Some have been deliberately left out for brevity. After examining the ideas shown here you will no doubt produce your own unique creations.

Many of the constructs in this article require a minimum number of road tiles. Use any less and they will look like the mess pictured above.For best results, ensure that your roads extend many tiles away from the construct you are creating. You will need to experiment to determine the minimum number of tiles required for each situation.

Many of these constructs will also form a chaotic mess if they are placed too close to each other. Again, you will need to experiment in each case. For the examples shown in this article that use multiple constructs, I have generally placed them as close together as possible in each situation.

This article mostly illustrates micro-level detail, and not how to make macro-level creations such town squares, neighbourhoods, or districts. And it does not discuss the planning options for your entire road network.There are simply too many possibilities. However, here is one tip: as you expand your city, first place some major roads (and rail) that connect and/or follow major geographic points-of-interest (rivers, harbours, hills, gullies, rural towns, landmarks, etc.). Then expand your city around them.This allows you to create realistic-looking cities with the major "historical" roads cutting across or winding through the city's street grid. This is effective for urban, suburban, and rural areas. And this is a good application for many of the ideas shown in this article.

Notes:

• Where necessary, sub-images are described left-to-right, top-to-bottom.
• Yellow dots are shown on some tile centres to guide you with construction.

Part A: Basic Roads

Stretches

1. "Straight" road (relative to the tile grid).
2. "Straight" road (relative to the tile grid).
3. "Diagonal" road (relative to the tile grid).
4. "Diagonal" road (relative to the tile grid).

Slopes

1. Minimum slope: 13m/tile.
2. Maximum slope: 26m/tile.

Turns

1. 90-degree turn.
2. 45-degree "sweeping" turn.
3. 45-degree "kinked" turn. Requires an obstruction as shown (structure or terrain).

Proximity of Sweeping Turns

Sweeping turns can be placed only so close together:

1. 90-degree sweeping turn.
2. Chicane in straight roads.
3. Chicane in diagonal roads.

Minimum Circles

1. Smallest possible circle.
2. Smallest circle with sweeping turns.
3. Smallest circle enclosing 1 tile.

3-Way Junctions

Basic 4-Way Junctions

Complex 4-Way Junctions

Miscellaneous

1. Basic 5-way junction.
2. Complex 5-way junction.
3. 4-way junction with additional lanes.
4. Adjacent roads that do not intersect.

Part B: Boulevards ("Double Roads")

Boulevards are created by placing two lines of road side-by-side. The trees appear automatically.

For the aesthetic constructs in this article, it is assumed that traffic flows in one direction only on each side of the boulevard's median strip (i.e., each side is one-way, much like highways). However, note that the simulation does not actually treat boulevards as such. Instead they are treated as two independent roads.

Stretches

1. Default boulevard.
2. "Treeless" boulevard formed using power lines.
3. Minimum slope: 13m/tile (note treeless).
4. Maximum slope: 26m/tile (note treeless).

You cannot automatically create diagonal boulevards (like diagonal roads). If you try you will get a chaotic string of intersections.But you can create diagonal boulevards manually, and this is described later.

Basic Turns

1. 90-degree turn.
2. Smallest "circle".

3-Way Junctions (Partial)

These are labelled "partial" because the junction does not allow traffic to turn in all directions.

1. Default (congested traffic).
2. As affected by power lines.
3. As affected by slopes.

Note that power lines and slopes can generally be used interchangeably to create the remaining constructs in this article.

4-Way Junctions (Partial)

These are labelled "partial" because the junction does not allow traffic to turn in all directions.

1. Default (not partial, but heavily congested traffic).
2. As affected by power lines.
3. As affected by slopes.

Junctions with Roads

1. 3-way (partial).
2. 4-way.
3. 3-way (partial).
4. 4-way.
5. 4-way (aesthetically messy; congested traffic).
6. 5-way.

Boulevard termination at a cross-road ("Y- or T-junction").

Transitions

1. ...to a single road.
2. ...to 2 roads via intersections.
3. ...to 2 roads ("Y-split").
4. ...to 2 parallel roads with intersections.
5. ...to 2 parallel roads via sweeping turns.
6. ...to a single road via a sweeping-turn complex.

Cul-de-Sac ("Dead End")

A bus-stop is shown (optional).

45-Degree Turns

You cannot automatically create a diagonal boulevard like you can create a diagonal road. If you try you will get a chaotic string of intersections. But you can create one manually by placing two diagonal roads parallel to each other and planting trees between them. To make a transition between such a manually created boulevard and an automatic one, use these 45-degree turns (planted trees not shown):

1. Kinked, with intersections.
2. Kinked (requires a structure as shown).
3. Sweeping turn into a very wide boulevard.
4. Sweeping turn into a narrow boulevard.

90-Degree Sweeping Turn

135-Degree Sweeping Turn

Complex Junctions

Unlike the partial junctions, these junctions allow traffic to turn in all directions. They may also have heavy traffic congestion.

1. 2-way traffic circle with sweeping turns.
2. 3-way junction with a road.
3. 3-way junction with a road, using sweeping turns.
4. 3-way traffic circle with sweeping turns.
5. 3-way junction.
6. 4-way junction with sweeping turns.

Part C: Miscellaneous

Parking Lot

Showing 2 access points and an encircling road. The smallest possible version requires road tiles covering a 4x4 area. This creation will have heavy traffic congestion, but isn't that normal for a parking lot?

See also
Create a road construction project
Avenues: form or functional?
An alternative to regular intersections