Favorite Interchange

[The High Plains Traveler]

The "Big I" (I-25/I-40) in Albuquerque. What elevates it above the typical 4-level stack is the adobe color with turquoise highlights that the bridges are painted.

[Ian]

Well, my official favorite interchange has always been I-787/US 9/US 20 in Albany, because of the contrast between its apparent orderliness when viewed from above, and the utter visual chaos it presents from ground level. In that way, it reflects the idealist aesthetic of city planning from its period, the new urbanism of le Corbusier, also seen in the nearby Empire State Plaza. Such design is notable in how harmonious and satisfying it is when taken theoretically (as with the aerial view), but how it stands apart from the human element, isolates and excludes it, when everyday interaction comes into play.

http://empirestateroads.com/week/week7.html

That said, the more I get to know the GWB/Henry Hudson interchange, the more fascinated I am by it. And for similar reasons to the Albany example, as well as for sheer engineering prowess, I am also intrigued by the Highbridge Interchange (I-87/I-95), but again, until the massive reconstruction project is complete there, my appreciation will remain strictly theoretical for that one!

I agree fully with you on both of those interchanges. I'm also a huge fan over the Bruckner Interchange (I-95/I-278/I-678/I-295/Hutchinson River Parkway).

[Alps]

Agreed, agreed, yes.  But I'm a geek, and I want to know what it's called.  An inside modified cloverleaf??? 

It's basically a pair of trumpets with a few ramps braided.

Yeah I'd call it an inside double trumpet.

[kphoger]

Thanks.  It really helped to think of it as two connected three-way interchanges, rather than one four-way interchange.

[xcellntbuy]

One of the most free-flowing interchanges is Interstate 75/Interstate 595/FL 869 Sawgrass Expressway.  It is one of my favorites since the interchange has mostly 2- and 3-lane ramps that can be driven at 65-70 mph, quickly and efficiently, is well signed and now well lit.  It used to be completely dark, and being on the edge of the Everglades where there is nothing but razor-sharp sawgrass, water and BIG power lines, dark means pitch black.

[kurumi]

Agreed, agreed, yes.  But I'm a geek, and I want to know what it's called.  An inside modified cloverleaf??? 

A spread double trumpet, or "strumpet".

[Grzrd]

A spread double trumpet, or "strumpet".

How much is the toll for this strumpet?

[blawp]

I-10 and I-605 is a great choice by the OP. Two major interstates intersecting and yet the design is so simple and elegant.

[Bickendan]

Agreed, agreed, yes.  But I'm a geek, and I want to know what it's called.  An inside modified cloverleaf??? 

It's basically a pair of trumpets with a few ramps braided.

Yeah I'd call it an inside double trumpet.

I say name it a flügelhorn interchange and call it a day

[kphoger]

A spread double trumpet, or "strumpet".

How much is the toll for this strumpet?

If you refer to the toll booth just to west of the interchange, here is the GMSV of the tolls, listed out by vehicle type in pesos:
http://g.co/maps/2gd9d

[nexus73]

In Oregon it's the I-5/38-99 interchange.  That's due to it meaning I'm on the way home or heading out for something interesting and maybe even fun...LOL! 

If I am just looking at interchanges as interchanges, I always liked the I-215/I-10 interchange between Riverside and San Bernardino.  It was first driven by me in June 1974 when it was I-10/I-15-US 395 and I was on my way to March AFB.  A clean design with the ability to handle the volume without a lot of slowing down and changing lanes, it looked better than any interchange in Oregon did at that time to my eyes.

Rick

[Takumi]

Mine are the aforementioned 95-895-150 interchange and the revamped Springfield Interchange.

[intelati49]

Springfield Interchange.

???
http://www.6065interchange.com/

[pianocello]

???
http://www.6065interchange.com/

Try this link instead: http://www.6065interchange.org/

[Takumi]

No, this one.

[qguy]

I-95/I-476/MacDade Blvd., southwest of Philadelphia. Brian Polodoro once called it the Squid Interchange. Can't think of a name even close to as good as that.

http://binged.it/xaUkB5

[bugo]

One of my favorites is the I-244/I-444/US 75/US 412 interchange in Tulsa at the northeast corner of the IDL.  This is the northern 244/75 interchange and the northern/eastern terminus of the secret I-444.  It's especially cool going north on 444/75.

[thenetwork]

I always liked the intersection of I-96/I-275/I-696/M-5 (nee M-102 nee BL-96) in Metro Detroit  (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=novi,+mi&hl=en&ll=42.479947,-83.423395&spn=0.037538,0.104628&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.139534,107.138672&hnear=Novi,+Oakland,+Michigan&t=h&z=14) just for the sheer size of this interchange. 

IIRC, at one time this was the biggest interchange in the country.

[dfilpus]

I always liked the intersection of I-96/I-275/I-696/M-5 (nee M-102 nee BL-96) in Metro Detroit  (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=novi,+mi&hl=en&ll=42.479947,-83.423395&spn=0.037538,0.104628&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.139534,107.138672&hnear=Novi,+Oakland,+Michigan&t=h&z=14) just for the sheer size of this interchange. 

IIRC, at one time this was the biggest interchange in the country.

Back in the 1970's, before the northbound M-5 ramps were built, the eastbound I-96 ramp was this long smooth ramp with woods on either side. One night, during an a winter storm, I was surprised to encounter headlights facing me on this ramp. Multiple cars had spun out on the ramp and were facing backwards on both sides of the ramp.

[Bickendan]

I-95/I-476/MacDade Blvd., southwest of Philadelphia. Brian Polodoro once called it the Squid Interchange. Can't think of a name even close to as good as that.

http://binged.it/xaUkB5

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu ftangh!

[qguy]

I-95/I-476/MacDade Blvd., southwest of Philadelphia. Brian Polodoro once called it the Squid Interchange. Can't think of a name even close to as good as that.

http://binged.it/xaUkB5

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu ftangh!

Wha?

[elsmere241]

Well I can't choose only 1 so I'll give a few.

The I-95/I-295/I-495/US 202/DE 141 "Megachange" in Newport, DE:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=39.703555,-75.594435&spn=0.033083,0.076904&t=h&z=14

DelDOT wants to upgrade it: http://www.deldot.gov/information/projects/sr141_i95/index.shtml

Among other things, this has to be finished first: http://www.deldot.gov/information/projects/br_1-501/

[OCGuy81]

I like the infamous "Orange Crush" interchange.  The meeting of the 5, 22, and 57.  It can be a pain in the ass driving through there sometimes, especially given tourist traffic caused by Disneyland just to the north.  What I like about it is looking at it on google maps is rich.  It literally looks like a mess of noodles, ramps going every which way. :-)

[hm insulators]

I like the infamous "Orange Crush" interchange.  The meeting of the 5, 22, and 57.  It can be a pain in the ass driving through there sometimes, especially given tourist traffic caused by Disneyland just to the north.  What I like about it is looking at it on google maps is rich.  It literally looks like a mess of noodles, ramps going every which way. :-)

If you like that one, try the Newhall Interchange, where I-5, I-210 and California 14 all meet on the north edge of the San Fernando Valley. It's really three interchanges in one: Coming from the south on I-5, first you hit the 210 which comes in from the east, then a mile or so farther, you hit California 14, which comes in from the northeast, so that's two. The third interchange is composed of the separate I-5 and California 14 truck bypass lanes that hook into each other off the mainline interchanges. And even as I type this, Caltrans is working on a major project at the Newhall Interchange to hook separate carpool lane connectors to each other at the 5 and 14, and when that little task is completed, the Newhall Interchange will be four interchanges in one!

That interchange is also a pain in the neck to drive in, as it's right at a narrow mountain pass that really is the only way to get from downtown Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley or LAX and the various beach communities west of downtown Los Angeles to Santa Clarita, the Palmdale/Lancaster area, or points north, including Sacramento. It's on the shortest route to the Bay Area, too.


The Newhall Interchange also has a bizarre history, courtesy of the two earthquakes (1971 and 1994) that knocked down some of the transition ramps.

[agentsteel53]

I'd never really thought of the 210 as being part of the Newhall.  Just independent: 5 hits 14, 210, 405, 118, 170 in fairly short order.