What's the most original intersection/interchange you've ever seen?

[roadman65]

I am waiting for the day New Jersey comes in with one like that using four jughandles at each corner of the intersection.

You mean an at-grade cloverleaf?  Toms River

No one that has the ramps coming in from the four corners into the middle of the intersection.  Almost like what US 22 at Washington Avenue in Greenbrook used to have for the U turn going WB but have the left turn go into the intersection.  At the former Greenbrook intersection you still had to travel to the end of the ramp at Washington to make the left.

Hey they still might do a SPUI with jughandles for the traditional ones someday, as it would still have three phases for the signal as only the left turn queue would be only replaced with the right side ramp.  They already have a reverse jughandle at NJ 70 and NJ 73 in Marlton for one of its movements with the jughandle tying into a ramp of NJ 73 to avoid a left turn lane under the NJ 73 overpass.  Anything is possible.

[authenticroadgeek]

Just to clarify, you mean the most creative or inventive designs for intersections (and interchanges)? (As opposed to the oldest ones still in service.)

Yes, the most creative designs.

[roadman65]

The Garden State Parkway, US 9, and NJ 440 in Woodbridge Township, NJ is certainly original.

[kkt]

The 405/520 interchange north of Bellevue, Washington is decently unique, though not for the right reasons. One of the heaviest directions could use a flyover, instead of the woefully inadequate loop currently in place (WB to SB). Some directional ramps for the 405 express lanes could help as well. Props to WSDOT for winding the NB to WB ramp back and forth all over the place, though -- it's as fun to drive as it would seem to be.

That NB to WB ramp was put in about the early 1990s, if I remember right.  It used to be a loop in the NE quadrant.  I think they were adding a lane to 405 at the same time.  Back then, 520 east of 405 got very little traffic.

[Mr_Northside]

The Squirrel Hill interchange is pretty unique.  At the mouth of the tunnel, it's also very antiquated and not conducive to smooth traffic flow (especially during heavy traffic times), but with it's "wrong-way" overpass and entanglement of ramps, it's certainly original.

[jakeroot]

The 405/520 interchange north of Bellevue, Washington is decently unique, though not for the right reasons. One of the heaviest directions could use a flyover, instead of the woefully inadequate loop currently in place (WB to SB). Some directional ramps for the 405 express lanes could help as well. Props to WSDOT for winding the NB to WB ramp back and forth all over the place, though -- it's as fun to drive as it would seem to be.

http://i.imgur.com/zcEVsz5.png

That NB to WB ramp was put in about the early 1990s, if I remember right.  It used to be a loop in the NE quadrant.  I think they were adding a lane to 405 at the same time.  Back then, 520 east of 405 got very little traffic.

After checking out historical aerials, it appears that the loop that was removed was the EB to NB movement, replaced by a flyover in the 90s (the sat-shot below is 1990). The NB to WB ramp has always been a back-and-forth movement, evidently. In addition, the NB to EB movement originally used the SB to EB loop (merging into the loop about halfway through). I think the original design was even more unique then the current one.

[kkt]

Yes, thank you.

[kurumi]

CT 17 at New London Turnpike, Glastonbury, CT.

New London Turnpike used to be CT 2 (then had a short swan song as SR 582 before being turned over to the town). That's the reason for the semidirectional SB to EB ramp.

[coatimundi]

Not sure it's the most interesting but, when I was a kid (obviously before internets), I recall being really interested in the Orange Crush interchange, before I knew it was called Orange Crush, but it took a few years before I finally got a detailed enough map to show how the ramps were configured. And it didn't disappoint when I finally saw it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7811973,-117.8798148,16z

I may have a picture of it but, when I lived in Shanghai in the late 90's, and they were building the Outer Ring Road, they put up a billboard showing the proposed interchange with Yanan West Road and it was, by far, the craziest thing I'd ever seen. Somewhere along the line, they obviously changed the design, because what they built isn't really very interesting by most standards.
https://www.google.com/maps/@31.1841595,121.3574529,16z

[national highway 1]

Nine Ways Roundabout in Kingsford, New South Wales
https://goo.gl/aeFKRJ
This intersection was noteworthy for me since my father had an accident there in 1994. He has an inherent disliking for this particular intersection - he is still hesitant today to drive through that intersection again!

[Rothman]

Not the most original, but this Y intersection with a missing leg causes a lot of head-shaking.  To go from US 9W NB to NY 32 SB (westbound on Delmar By-Pass, which is a ridiculous facility:  Four lanes, wide median and yet traffic lights far too often to justify it -- you speed up to 55 just to get stopped at a red light), you take Plank Road and then go through a traffic light to essentially do a U-turn.

[Henry]

Two words: Circle Interchange! 

[bzakharin]

Speaking of interchanges that utilize circles:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5260436,-74.3381799,16z

[cl94]

Not the most original, but this Y intersection with a missing leg causes a lot of head-shaking.  To go from US 9W NB to NY 32 SB (westbound on Delmar By-Pass, which is a ridiculous facility:  Four lanes, wide median and yet traffic lights far too often to justify it -- you speed up to 55 just to get stopped at a red light), you take Plank Road and then go through a traffic light to essentially do a U-turn.

It's just a jughandle

[theline]

Indiana Toll Road/I-65/US 12/US 20/Assorted local roads: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5916701,-87.305009,2705m/data=!3m1!1e3

[cl94]

I think this deserves a mention: I-90 (Mass Pike) at I-290/I-395/US 20/MA 12 in Auburn. While contorted, all but one movement is possible. Not bad considering that there are 2 freeways and 2 local streets.

[paulthemapguy]

Another interchange which intrigues me is the junction of I-70 and I-77 in Cambridge, OH, which was the largest interchange in the world as late as 1969 according to the ODOT State Highway Map.  The "helix" in the middle of the "diamond" looks graceful from above:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9970842,-81.5595985,1279m/data=!3m1!1e3

This design is also used at the junction of I-80 and I-57 near Chicago.  I think this design is an especially good choice when you have two freeways that cross at an angle-makes the interior "turbine" ramps a bit smoother, fostering easy 'left turns'.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5663251,-87.7445266,15.29z

[cl94]

Another interchange which intrigues me is the junction of I-70 and I-77 in Cambridge, OH, which was the largest interchange in the world as late as 1969 according to the ODOT State Highway Map.  The "helix" in the middle of the "diamond" looks graceful from above:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9970842,-81.5595985,1279m/data=!3m1!1e3

This design is also used at the junction of I-80 and I-57 near Chicago.  I think this design is an especially good choice when you have two freeways that cross at an angle-makes the interior "turbine" ramps a bit smoother, fostering easy 'left turns'.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5663251,-87.7445266,15.29z

In the 60s, it was a common design. I-96 and US 23 has this, but I-96 is being reconfigured to remove the left exits. That one was unique because there was a subdivision inside the interchange.

[jakeroot]

Another interchange which intrigues me is the junction of I-70 and I-77 in Cambridge, OH, which was the largest interchange in the world as late as 1969 according to the ODOT State Highway Map.  The "helix" in the middle of the "diamond" looks graceful from above:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9970842,-81.5595985,1279m/data=!3m1!1e3

This design is also used at the junction of I-80 and I-57 near Chicago.  I think this design is an especially good choice when you have two freeways that cross at an angle-makes the interior "turbine" ramps a bit smoother, fostering easy 'left turns'.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5663251,-87.7445266,15.29z

Reminds me of this interchange near Seattle. 5 at the 405/518 junction. Couple left exits, a cloverleaf, a flyover, HOV ramps... it's all here:

[tradephoric]

A combination of Median U-Turns & Superstreets along a corridor are original.  You only see this in Michigan.

[empirestate]

Just to clarify, you mean the most creative or inventive designs for intersections (and interchanges)? (As opposed to the oldest ones still in service.)

Yes, the most creative designs.

Well, the Can of Worms (I-490/I-590/NY 590) won some civil engineering award when it was rebuilt in the late 80s, which I think was at least partly for the achievement of jamming it into an existing, restricted space.

But in general, I think you have to go overseas to see real adventurous thinking in terms of interchange design. We're actually pretty conservative about it here in the U.S.

[paulthemapguy]

(This is kinda related to the response above)

If you want to see some crazy-complex interchange designs with over a dozen ramps each, look at the insane stuff Ontario's had to do with the 401, the busiest freeway in North America!  Throughout the Toronto area, 401 is split into express and local lanes, and when the 401 reaches another very important highway, access to and from that crossing highway is provided for BOTH the express and local lanes.  That leads to twice the number of ramps you'd expect at a typical freeway interchange.  And all of this grandiose construction is necessary--the highway still has a good share of traffic jams despite being 14-16 lanes wide at certain points.  Unique sets of challenges breed unique designs-
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7684244,-79.3418828,15z

[cl94]

(This is kinda related to the response above)

If you want to see some crazy-complex interchange designs with over a dozen ramps each, look at the insane stuff Ontario's had to do with the 401, the busiest freeway in North America!  Throughout the Toronto area, 401 is split into express and local lanes, and when the 401 reaches another very important highway, access to and from that crossing highway is provided for BOTH the express and local lanes.  That leads to twice the number of ramps you'd expect at a typical freeway interchange.  And all of this grandiose construction is necessary--the highway still has a good share of traffic jams despite being 14-16 lanes wide at certain points.  Unique sets of challenges breed unique designs-
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7684244,-79.3418828,15z

I was waiting for someone to post the 401/404/DVP interchange. It's as crazy in person as it looks from the air. And it's all done so you can get almost everywhere without weaving. There are still 2 movements that can't be done directly (404 SB to EB express and DVP NB to WB express).

[Henry]

The I-85/I-77 interchange in Charlotte also comes to mind. What makes it intriguing is the double-crossover that I-77 does there, allowing the two loop ramps (to I-85) and the two left-turn ramps (from I-85) to be placed in the middle.

And speaking of I-77 in Charlotte, the two junctions with I-277 (at the Brookshire and Belk Freeways) also make an interesting case of their own.

[tradephoric]

The I-85/I-77 interchange in Charlotte also comes to mind. What makes it intriguing is the double-crossover that I-77 does there, allowing the two loop ramps (to I-85) and the two left-turn ramps (from I-85) to be placed in the middle.

And speaking of I-77 in Charlotte, the two junctions with I-277 (at the Brookshire and Belk Freeways) also make an interesting case of their own.

^The Diverging Freeway Interchange.