Smaller-scale stack interchanges

Started by TheStranger, July 17, 2024, 04:52:35 PM

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TheStranger

Another offshoot about my recent postings about US 101's Santa Ana Freway segment in Los Angeles is the western terminus of that named highway, the iconic Four-Level Interchange at the north edge of downtown.

Wikipedia has an unsourced quote that says the following:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Level_Interchange

"The interchange was constructed as a stack interchange because surrounding buildings and terrain made construction of a cloverleaf interchange impractical."

The Four Level has ramp speeds of only 35 MPH as well, very different from modern stack and stack-derived interchanges such as Dallas' High Five. 

By the first decade of the Interstate era, practically all stack interchanges were designed to be high speed connectors, with the right of way needs increasing in turn.

Are there any other examples of stack junctions that are more concerned with minimal right of way usage than pure traffic capacity or full freeway-speed geometry?  (For that matter, are there any other stack interchanges since then with the highest level being a through road, as US 101 is on its transition from the Hollywood to Santa Ana freeways?)  Part of what's on my mind here is the thread on the Milwaukee paperclip interchange design - in which the discussion has centered around trying to maintain the free flow of cloverleaf while using less ROW and eliminating merge points, which the Four Level basically successfully accomplished.

Chris Sampang


wanderer2575

I-96/M-39 interchange in Detroit.  Not only low-speed curves and steep inclines but also the whole thing is bridges, which makes for a real hoot in winter.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ou7jSEPqR59ipyvC8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EXDC6SWnmExCob5Y9

roadman65

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Chris19001


lepidopteran

In Baltimore, the mini-stack of I-83 and W 28th/W 29th/Druid Park Lake Dr. is like this.  It's a matter of the interchange being shoehorned in between a lake/park, the Jones Falls river, and the light-rail line.

lepidopteran

There's the 4-level stack interchange on I-75 at US-35 in Dayton.  While some of the merge areas were improved recently to allow for faster speeds, the tight curves of the flyover ramps keep things slow.  It was built that way as a result of being hemmed in between the river, industry, and some diverging railroads -- including a rail spur that crossed under the highway to the south; it has since been removed and its bridges filled in with the recent rebuild.

TheStranger

Quote from: lepidopteran on July 24, 2024, 12:14:00 AMIn Baltimore, the mini-stack of I-83 and W 28th/W 29th/Druid Park Lake Dr. is like this.  It's a matter of the interchange being shoehorned in between a lake/park, the Jones Falls river, and the light-rail line.

Would this and I-696/Mound Road in Warren, MI be the only two stack/stack-type interchanges out there with surface streets?
Chris Sampang

Henry

#7
Quote from: TheStranger on July 24, 2024, 12:53:01 AM
Quote from: lepidopteran on July 24, 2024, 12:14:00 AMIn Baltimore, the mini-stack of I-83 and W 28th/W 29th/Druid Park Lake Dr. is like this.  It's a matter of the interchange being shoehorned in between a lake/park, the Jones Falls river, and the light-rail line.

Would this and I-696/Mound Road in Warren, MI be the only two stack/stack-type interchanges out there with surface streets?
I'd like to think so, although most of Mound Road was built with a very large median that could accommodate a future freeway. The I-83 example might give off the impression that a freeway was once planned for the 28th/29th Street corridor, which would never happen with the NIMBY neighborhood in its path.

In Chicago, the Dan Ryan/Stevenson junction (I-90/I-94 at I-55 for the uninformed) is sort of like this. It's a bit unusual in that the ramps are posted at 30 MPH due to their steep nature, a rarity for all-Interstate connections. But given that it hasn't been updated much since it was built 60 years ago, it would certainly qualify.
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