What is Digg?194 Comments
- JARSInc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+64http://xkcd.com/253/
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -5/+63Most of those look like they aren't even needed. Whats with having a road that leaves part of the highway, only to join the exact same highway a little further down the line?
- MatthewWilkes, on 10/10/2007, -4/+45Bah, it's too regular, spaghetti is random. Try the UK's spaghetti junction just outside birmingham: http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public&x=409595&y=290268&scale=10000&width=700&height=410
- Ryokurin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+24I cross it almost every day.
The lanes are there for several reasons. One is that if there is an accident on one of the exits there is still at least one way that traffic can be bypassed by it (if either 85 or 285 is blocked in Atlanta traffic for the entire metro is basically screwed until its fixed.) and another is to prevent people from having to try to cross up to 8 lanes of traffic just to get their exit. If you are not used to the road its very easy to think you are in the lane for 85 but you are actually still on 285 and vice versa. - fluidfoundation, on 10/10/2007, -0/+21You guys can't see it from this angle of the pic, but if you dont lke heights this is NOT the interchange for you.
Unfortunately the alternate (Buford hwy) is almost as bad for traffic AND you have to dodge mexican baby carriages every 2 feet. - pintomp3, on 10/10/2007, -2/+22those aren't roads. it's a monument of the FSM.
- roastedbagel, on 10/10/2007, -2/+22HOV/express lane lane. These are everywhere in Flroida
- noamsml, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18It's a sign! Hail his noodly appendages!
- SlamShut, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18Reminds me of the horror of Northern Virginia's "Mixing Bowl":
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=&city=Springfield&state=VA&zipcode=&country=US&location=mV2GTUIDxlyO2UenJjKy2quOdXhfUP6VkZhaaQXa9rrqnOOcXHcRo8g%2bJ%2bYSj6zBxOcIoyE0j3%2fEcu04kx8TeaiFYiQLU64vF8pXmIH5YUFt0YYbi0O3lw%3d%3d&ambiguity=1
That's a knot of the biggest major artery in and out of Washington DC, tied together with the beltway, snarled with exits for a ***** of other roads.
I drive through this madhouse every day on my way to work. - ArtificialAnus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17I wonder if you could fix that whole mess with a couple of roundabouts?
- Bhima, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17The is an exit you can't really see. But mostly it's for the fools that somehow get off when they didn't mean to.
- holygram, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14If this reminds you of Goatse....go outside.
- GlenLeafJr, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15There are access roads that parallel the interstates that makes it more complicated. There are no HOV lanes.
I think google maps makes it a little more clear.
http://tinyurl.com/2fplon - UtopiaInTheSky, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Atlanta is nowhereville?
- HenvY, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/images/richardwinskill/2005/08/12/spaghetti_junction.jpg
Spaghetti Junction Birmingham, UK...they look almost identical. - KeepSwinging, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Well, in Atlanta, when something needs to fixed concerning the roads they just put a huge metal plate over it, killing your tires and suspension, so no, probably not anytime soon.
- PaulOwen, on 10/10/2007, -4/+14It's still nothing compared to the mess that is the original spaghetti junction
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=birmingham,+uk&ie=UTF8&ll=52.510188,-1.865616&spn=0.008907,0.020084&t=k&z=16&om=1 - Disjunto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10was wondering who would bring that up :D have a cookie
- chedabob, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9You mean like the Swindon Magic Roundabout?
http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm - dawgma, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10My first thought too. Can anyone explain the purpose of those splits that don't go anywhere except further down the road?
- Arkz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9heres another pic... id say its pretty well used
http://times.johanesville.net/galerie/999/intersec.jpg - Uranium118, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I bet some kind of monster lives there.
- disord3r, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9This interchange is actually very tight and organized for what it's doing.
The seemingly pointless lanes are called "collector/distributor lanes" (C/D). The basic idea is to move all traffic that will be exiting from the main flow (or joining into the flow) OUT of the main flow. In those C/D lanes is where the mixing traffic will slow down, speed up, change lanes, cut people off, get into accidents, etc - all the things that make highway traffic grind to slow for no reason. The C/D lanes are there for the benefit of the MAIN flow of traffic - not necessarily for the people entering or leaving the main flow.
Ask a civil engineer and they will tell you that, for an interchange serving as much traffic as this one does, this is the most efficient means of traffic movement available. - robdowns, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8there's a road that parallels the highway. although it may look like it's part of the highway, it's not for people that take the wrong exit and need to get back on - two different roads.
- barnis, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11yeah seems like they just wanted a lane for those people that usually take an exit and then reverse up the ramp when they realize that they went the wrong way
- merreborn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Good call. They're actually adding these in northern California these days, so we have twice as many ramps as we used to in a lot of places.
- theshizzler, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9It looks like an inverted cloverleaf design. Nothing too special there except for a couple auxillary offramps. There are much worse traffic ***** out there.
- hwbehrens, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Another complex interchange, this time in Los Angeles:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=los+angeles&ie=UTF8&ll=33.928361,-118.279409&spn=0.006516,0.014334&t=k&z=17&om=1 - tommygun3, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8it is easy, that is intersection were I-85, I-285, burford hwy, pleastdale road, and northcrest rd. meet. and that fact it, everyone of those is need because if you didnt have those long access road, the people getting onto each road would get run over due to the fact we go 80 mph. the fact remains, this helps traffic a lot here.
- roastedbagel, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8I dont know why they didnt link in my above comment, sorry. Link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ft.+lauderdale,+fl&ie=UTF8&ll=25.927867,-80.209422&spn=0.009726,0.019956&t=k&z=16&om=1
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ft.+lauderdale,+fl&ie=UTF8&ll=26.085617,-80.20277&spn=0.004857,0.009978&t=k&z=17&om=1 - zapatar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7I live about 6 miles from there, and honestly this picture must have been taken on a Sunday morning (early Sunday morning), because other than that, its jam-packed with cars. One of the worst intersections I've ever see in terms of traffic.
- bwmdiym, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7dugg because only people that live in metro Atlanta would understand this comment
- hiro, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8And it's the original Spaghetti Junction
- merreborn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Here's Oakland, California's "The Maze":
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.823989,-122.293625&spn=0.015899,0.037208&t=k&z=15&om=1 - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7It's called "spaghetti junction". He didn't make up the name. Jackass.
- rootnik, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Traffic is crazy enough over there without slowing things down with roundabouts. I agree... they need something else, but roundabouts would not be the answer.
- SlamShut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Roundabouts at sixty miles an hour would be comical, but deadly.
- nedergras, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6What you don't see is the major thoroughfares such as Buford Hwy, Chamblee Tucker Rd, and Northcrest/Pleasantdale Rd that the other exits and onramps go to/come from.
- SlamShut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Waxoff's right-- it is a little better than it used to be. I've been living in and around DC for the better part of 30 years, and there's been construction on the Mixing Bowl area for most of that time, with the latest construction project just being completed a few weeks ago. It was a genuine shock a few weeks ago to drive through the Mixing Bowl and see no bulldozers, cranes, or construction equipment anywhere, and see big open expanses of new sod in the median area. It's been years since we've seen that.
The main problem with the bowl is not really the layout of the roads, though-- before the latest construction project, which added a few extra swooping exit ramps, we had this one-mile stretch of highway where people were entering and exiting the highway at sixty miles an hour, and most of them were trying to get from one side of the highway to the other in less than 5000 feet, fighting people who were trying to do the same thing in the other direction. I remember trying to teach my girlfriend how to navigate the Mixing Bowl back in the mid-90s, and what it boiled down to was that when you got to that one stretch of southbound 95 in the middle, you just had to drive like a maniac, winner take all, losers be damned. - hiPpymIck, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6theres this junction in UK - a large roundabout surrounded by five smaller roundabouts -schematic diagram
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Swindon_Magic_Roundabout_eng.png
the small roundabouts are clockwise..the large one anti-clockwise
- i think if you got lost or went round it too fast youd go dizzy - directedition, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Anything inside the Washington beltway is designed to get you lost and accidentally thrown onto toll roads. Save yourself the trouble, just take the subway. It goes everywhere.
- nedergras, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5lol (proper) city planning doesn't exist in alot of cities in the South.
- nedergras, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Biggest problem with traffic on the freeways in Atlanta is that everyone merging onto the freeway that want to go into the HOV lane screws traffic up big time since they pretty much have to merge left through 5 lanes or more to get to the HOV lane. The HOV lane may seem pretty convenient being placed in the furthest left side of the freeway next to the median, but its a terrible setup since theres no dedicated HOV exits or onramps, other than the couple in downtown.
- KevinWhite, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Toronto:
http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&ll=43.674266,-79.581656&spn=0.015954,0.029182&z=15
http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.684648,-79.607728&spn=0.007976,0.021629&t=k&z=16&om=0 - Red97Vette, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4traffic is a nightmare here, ...there is a reason atlanta has the 2nd deadliest commute in the country. i wish i didnt have to drive here all the time...
- mustluvdogs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4This place has some of the worst traffic and frequent accidents. Another example of why Atlanta is usually rated first or second on lists of cities with the worst traffic.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Anyone else know the song by outkast
- ajames01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Hey i live on buford highway... but you're right, seems mexicans don't understand the concept of crosswalks.
Though some of the ethnic resteraunts on bufard hwy are some of the best! - JQP123, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Sorry, your examples appear to have about the same or maybe even less complexity. One additional factor in the Atlanta case; this is located in the northeast corner of a circular beltway around the city. At just the point where the beltway itself switches from "north" to "west" or "east" to "south", depending on your direction of travel. Still, if you know *exactly* where it is you want to go, it's not *that* confusing from the ground. Everything is clearly marked with ample warning in every direction. Just follow the signs.
- Bokista, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Not to mention everybody thinks '85' is not only the road name but the speed limit.
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