Why are most turnpike interchanges are trumpets?

[cpzilliacus]

Yes, but many will still leave them in place rather then spend millions to replace.  The newer ones will be diamonds or folded diamonds or even parclos cause they are spending anyway.

As toll roads permanently transition away from cash toll collection, I can assure you that none of them will construct trumpet interchanges in the future.  They may leave trumpets in place for now, but over time, I think they will be replaced by conventional interchanges.

MD-200 and 407 ETR were designed from the beginning as cashless toll roads and there is one trumpet on 200 (at its western terminus) and one on 407 (at its eastern terminus).

[plain]

I kinda dig the uniqueness of the systems in place for the Maine Turnpike, as well as the Turner and Will Rogers Turnpikes in OK.

[hbelkins]

It allows for a closed system, where you pay to enter and exit at every interchange. This is opposed to Kentucky's system, where not every exit was tolled and it was possible for some traffic to use sections of the toll road without paying a toll.

Wasn't most of Kentucky's toll interchanges a bowtie?

Yes, or a modified version (like the KY 52 exit on the BG Parkway) or where there was a partial exit (like Exit 46 on the Mountain Parkway). There were some mainline plazas not at an interchange (two on the Mountain Parkway, one on the Daniel Boone, and one on the Cumberland). Possibly some others on the parkways in the western part of the state.

[Mr_Northside]

One thing about trumpets: In theory, even with all-electronic tolling a trumpet has a mild advantage in reducing the amount of ETC equipment the agency has to install, though whether that would outweigh the added cost of an overpass in a new interchange is a separate question. I suspect it would not.

Can't vouch for other toll agencies, but the last I've heard/read, the PTC is planning on putting gantries to read transponders and take plate pictures in between interchanges.

As toll roads permanently transition away from cash toll collection, I can assure you that none of them will construct trumpet interchanges in the future.  They may leave trumpets in place for now, but over time, I think they will be replaced by conventional interchanges.

Ironically, IF the PTC & PennDOT ever build a direct connection between US-219 & the Turnpike  (which I wouldn't bet a penny of ya'lls money on) the only feasible option is probably to put a double-trumpet in (most likely in the SE quadrant of their crossing, with the service plazas just west of the crossing)
Otherwise, I suspect they will replace some other trumpets with more conventional interchanges (Beaver Valley is supposed to become a diamond (one side folded) when they rebuild the Beaver River bridge), but I suspect some will be there forever (or at least as long as I'm alive), like Allegheny Valley, Donegal, and Somerset (to name the ones that stand out to me).   
Not going to go to the well of local connections to freeways (Breezewood and such) in this thread, other than my above opinion on US-219 and trumpets)

[spooky]

Quad trumpet! I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike) at I-91 and US 5 in West Springfield, MA

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1577301,-72.6403763,2241m/data=!3m1!1e3

If you click on Street View, you can see that the toll booths have been removed following the Pike's conversion to AET.

[ethanhopkin14]

This thread will always make me think of this.  I think it's funny the Dallas/Ft. Worth Turnpike has been toll free for almost 40 years and still this trumpet exists, and it was for the same reason; to have one toll building for four directions of traffic.

[Rothman]

Quad trumpet! I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike) at I-91 and US 5 in West Springfield, MA

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1577301,-72.6403763,2241m/data=!3m1!1e3

If you click on Street View, you can see that the toll booths have been removed following the Pike's conversion to AET.

A long time ago on here, I said that was a confusing interchange to drive through.  Without a map, it is difficult to visualize how all the ramps get you from A to B.

Someone remarked something like, "It's just a trumpet."

[spooky]

Quad trumpet! I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike) at I-91 and US 5 in West Springfield, MA

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1577301,-72.6403763,2241m/data=!3m1!1e3

If you click on Street View, you can see that the toll booths have been removed following the Pike's conversion to AET.

A long time ago on here, I said that was a confusing interchange to drive through.  Without a map, it is difficult to visualize how all the ramps get you from A to B.

Someone remarked something like, "It's just a trumpet."

It's an embedded if(then) statement. I drove it infrequently and never knew how to position myself for my destination, leading to lane changes or merges in very short distances.

[kphoger]

This thread will always make me think of this.  I think it's funny the Dallas/Ft. Worth Turnpike has been toll free for almost 40 years and still this trumpet exists, and it was for the same reason; to have one toll building for four directions of traffic.

Why change it?

[NE2]

As toll roads permanently transition away from cash toll collection, I can assure you that none of them will construct trumpet interchanges in the future.

I see you've mastered the art of proving a negative.

[J N Winkler]

Yeah, but that one actually makes sense, because they needed a way to connect the interchange to the new casino.  As for Exits 202 and 204, I don't see any reason whatsoever for making that change.

I can think of several.

*  These two interchanges, which both serve Lawrence, were renovated as part of the Kansas River bridge replacement, itself part of widening the Turnpike from four to six lanes.  It was cheaper and less disruptive to redo them with the bridge rather than separately.

*  Removing the trumpets allowed link ramps to be substituted for loop ramps at the Exit 202 I-70 westbound entry and the Exit 204 I-70 westbound exit.  This greatly improves traffic operations.  Other ramps rebuilt in their existing configurations received easier curves.  (A modest amount of new right-of-way was acquired to accommodate the changed ramp footprints, including a triangular parcel of undeveloped land in the northwest quadrant at Exit 204 and possibly part of what appears to be a rental storage facility in the northwest quadrant at Exit 202.)

The only road users who really lose out as part of the improvements to Exit 202 and 204 are drivers of long combination vehicles, who now have to off-track onto truck aprons at roundabouts rather than simply gliding along trumpet ramps.

[ethanhopkin14]

This thread will always make me think of this.  I think it's funny the Dallas/Ft. Worth Turnpike has been toll free for almost 40 years and still this trumpet exists, and it was for the same reason; to have one toll building for four directions of traffic.

Why change it?

Because Texas is Notorious for taking anything deemed to be slightly outdated and upgrading it just to upgrade it.

[MCRoads]

This thread will always make me think of this.  I think it's funny the Dallas/Ft. Worth Turnpike has been toll free for almost 40 years and still this trumpet exists, and it was for the same reason; to have one toll building for four directions of traffic.

Why change it?

Because Texas is Notorious for taking anything deemed to be slightly outdated and upgrading it just to upgrade it.

5-level stack for you, 4 level stack for you, 6 level stack for you! EVRYONE GETS A STACK!

[kphoger]

Because Texas is Notorious

Sounds like the name of a community action group...

[SkyPesos]

This thread will always make me think of this.  I think it's funny the Dallas/Ft. Worth Turnpike has been toll free for almost 40 years and still this trumpet exists, and it was for the same reason; to have one toll building for four directions of traffic.

Why change it?

Because Texas is Notorious for taking anything deemed to be slightly outdated and upgrading it just to upgrade it.

5-level stack for you, 4 level stack for you, 6 level stack for you! EVRYONE GETS A STACK!

Illinois: Nah, we pass.

[Ned Weasel]

I can think of several.

That's good information.  I have one quibble, though--

The only road users who really lose out as part of the improvements to Exit 202 and 204 are drivers of long combination vehicles, who now have to off-track onto truck aprons at roundabouts rather than simply gliding along trumpet ramps.

I'd argue everyone exiting from westbound I-70 loses out with this redesign, because westbound exiting traffic now has to yield to westbound entering traffic.  This conflict point that exists in each roundabout didn't exist in either of the trumpets.

If loop ramps were really what much of a problem, did they at least consider lengthening the westbound exit lane at Exit 204 and lengthening the westbound entrance lane at Exit 202?  It's certainly possible to design a trumpet that has a pre- or post-loop lane running parallel to but separated from the mainline for as much of a distance as is needed to adequately slow down or speed up.

Also, why did they decide to keep loop ramps at Exits 127 and 177 when those were reconfigured/rebuilt?  Keep in mind, Exit 127 used to have a loop ramp for the entering movement, but it now has a loop ramp for the exiting movement.

[cpzilliacus]

The West Virginia Turnpike (still a toll road) at Mabscott (Exit 42, WV-16 and WV-97 (and also WV-121)) is no longer a tolled interchange, but the double trumpet remains.

[plain]

The West Virginia Turnpike (still a toll road) at Mabscott (Exit 42, WV-16 and WV-97 (and also WV-121)) is no longer a tolled interchange, but the double trumpet remains.

Oddly enough that interchange was added during the switch from a ticket based system to a barrier based one. Gotta love WV 

Also interesting is this original toll office still in place by today's Exit 44, which is now a diamond.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MnjTjR6ztALs89oB8