Pointlessly elaborate interchanges

[Beltway]

High-Five interchange in Dallas. Should've been a roundabout.

No, it should have been an at-grade intersection.  :-)

  A roundabout IS an at-grade intersection.  

At-grade, 4-way, signalized intersection ... :-)

[on_wisconsin]

High-Five interchange in Dallas. Should've been a roundabout.

No, it should have been an at-grade intersection.  :-)

  A roundabout IS an at-grade intersection.  

At-grade, 4-way, signalized intersection ... :-)

Nah a 4-way stop would be sufficient...

[colinstu]

High-Five interchange in Dallas. Should've been a roundabout.

No, it should have been an at-grade intersection.  :-)

  A roundabout IS an at-grade intersection.  

At-grade, 4-way, signalized intersection ... :-)

Nah a 4-way stop would be sufficient...

4-way.

(no stop. no yield). Have fun guys.

[Road Hog]

My only gripe with the High Five is how the flyovers taper down to one lane when they merge. It causes a huge backup at peak hours. Hopefully they can fix this problem as they rebuild LBJ.

[ftballfan]

http://goo.gl/maps/KrDf - M74 and A723 south of Glasgow, Scotland.

[OCGuy81]

I'd argue there might have been some way to simplify the interchange between I-10 and I-45 on Houston.  It seems to work, but for a driver from out of state there is a real "WTF?!" type response with I-45 running between the 10 EB and WB lanes with a left hand short ramp onto 45....Aggggh. A little too elaborate, especially in a city that has beautifully designed stacks at nearly every other freeway interchange. Didn't like that one, and that's coming from southern Califorina!

[colinstu]

http://goo.gl/maps/KrDf - M74 and A723 south of Glasgow, Scotland.

Not so much pointlessly elaborate but just a really twisted looking turbine interchange (and turning left + right is separated). Has probably something to do with having enough space to properly grade things, and remove the need to have more than two-levels of roads.

[english si]

Actually that 'octopus' is due to two motorway projects not happening (one north from that interchange to Cumbernauld, one SW from that interchange round the bottom of East Kilbride and ending on the M8 at Paisley).

It might look fairly normal for your North American eyes, where these things are common, but I can assure you that this is very over-elaborate for a British Motorway interchanging with an A road (IIRC it's the only fully freeflow full-access Motorway-A road junction in the country). That would be a standard roundabout interchange anywhere else, especially given that the road just peters out very soon after in each direction as it hits Motherwell and Hamilton town centres.

Even the A282/M25 interchange with the (6-8-lanes) A2 is a 3-level roundabout with two directional ramps linking North and East. Other junctions, including interchanges between motorways, aren't even lucky enough to have directional ramps.

[bugo]

When I drove on US 175 in Dallas, it had quite a bit of traffic on it, and it was a Saturday afternoon.  It wasn't choked but it wasn't empty either.  I can imagine it gets bad around the 175/310 interchange during rush hour.

[bugo]

If you're unfamiliar with the Texas High Five, here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN2qSe9V-1w

[US12]

The I 696 Mound Road interchange in Warren is a bit Elaborate. However when it was being built, Mound Road was planed to be built as a freeway.  https://maps.google.com/maps?q=warren+mi&ll=42.487669,-83.041964&spn=0.038293,0.104628&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Warren,+Macomb,+Michigan&gl=us&t=m&z=14

[national highway 1]

I-476, I-81 and US 6/11 in Pennsylvania
I-65, I-90 and US 12/20 in Gary, IN

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

US 61/I-310 in Louisiana. A stack interchange in the middle of the damn swamp. US 61 has been bypassed by I-10, I-310 is used from US 90 to I-10. I've NEVER seen anyone using the offramps.

Two words: Industrial access.

[drummer_evans_aki]

I'll just say any freeway to freeway interchange in Los Angeles, California.

[flowmotion]

SR 23 and SR 118 in Moorpark.

I live in California and still had to google this. OK, it's a joke (?), but map links are always appreciated.

[Bickendan]

I-10 at I-20.

[Roadsguy]

I-476, I-81 and US 6/11 in Pennsylvania

That's not really elaborate, but just a goofball design. If you want elaborate, go a few exits down 81, though that's all-freeway.

[hbelkins]

I-476, I-81 and US 6/11 in Pennsylvania

That's not really elaborate, but just a goofball design. If you want elaborate, go a few exits down 81, though that's all-freeway.

I was never on the 81/84/380/6 interchange until it was rebuilt, but it looks like drastic steps were taken to keep I-81 as the through route. I wonder what the traffic counts are here, and if most traffic heading north on I-81 continues east on I-84?

[hbelkins]

I-70, I-76 and US 30. 

[national highway 1]

I-10 at I-20.

What's wrong with that? It's just a simple Y interchange with a sharp 90^o ramp and a u-turn bay for the low traffic movements. Similar to the junction of the Hume Hwy (NH31) and the Federal Hwy (NH23) south of Goulburn which the traffic from Sydney to Canberra uses. Also this interchange between the Hume Hwy (NH31) and the Snowy Mountains Hwy (NR18) south of Gundagai.

[vdeane]

I think he's arguing that traffic counts are so low that those movements aren't even needed.

[TXtoNJ]

I-76 Schuylkill Expy, Oregon Ave, Passyunk Ave, and 26th St. in South Philly. You know it's special when the Interstate has the fewest number of through lanes passing through the center of the interchange.

[SteveG1988]

I-295/NJ42/I76/I676 in NJ, yes 676 ends outside of the main interchange, but is a contributing factor.

And the mess of I-78 and US1/NJTP at the newark NJ airport.

[roadman65]

How about near Paxtang, PA.  You have that I-83,I-283, and US 322 interchange that everyone has complained about at one time or another, but there are two southbound exits for Paxton Street on I-83.  If you exit at Eisehower Boulevard  exit that is signed as US 322 East  in addition to Derry Street  and also has Paxton Street on its sign.  The thing is its not another exit for the same, but if you take the US 322 exit to Paxton Street it will lead you back on to I-83 to exit at the other ramp that is for Paxton Street proper. It has no purpose as you are getting back on the same road in what you can do if you simply stay on it in the first place  Furthermore, there is no entrance ramp either from Paxton to Northbound I-83, the opposite way of this travel.   

Then in Mahwah, NJ there is no Northbound Exit to NJ 17 Southbound at least directly.  The NJ 17 South exit is a U Turn ramp that actually merges with the  very long Northbound NJ 17 to Southbound I-287 on ramp where it later merges with its southbound counterpart.  There you exit at the I-287 Southbound NJ 17 Southbound exit on the left side, where you must weave creating a safety concern as you merge from the right side of I-287 Southbound just south of the NY State Line.

[Bickendan]

I-10 at I-20.

What's wrong with that? It's just a simple Y interchange with a sharp 90^o ramp and a u-turn bay for the low traffic movements. Similar to the junction of the Hume Hwy (NH31) and the Federal Hwy (NH23) south of Goulburn which the traffic from Sydney to Canberra uses. Also this interchange between the Hume Hwy (NH31) and the Snowy Mountains Hwy (NR18) south of Gundagai.

It was a smart-ass post because I-10 and 20 is about as simple of a full directional limited-access interchange as you can get, though it's interesting to see two Australian examples brought up. I'm left wondering, though: The first interchange near Yarra is missing the EB 31 to SB 23 movement, and the second is missing the NB 18 to EB 31 movement...