Incomprehensible Intersections
|
|
"QUANTUM SHOT" #40...and Spaghetti Junctions
Western drivers are understandably confounded and rightfully annoyed, when faced with such traffic-routing masterpieces as these: (see the whole list of them in Wikipedia here).

Tom Moreland Interchange, intersection of Interstate 85 and Interstate 285, Atlanta, Georgia, USA


The Central Motorway Junction - New Zealand State Highways 1 and 16, Auckland, New Zealand.

They are called the "Malfunction Junctions", or "Spaghetti Intersections", and they are located almost in every major city in the West. You can find the streets that end nowhere, streets that strangely allow traffic in both direction (without providing proper lanes), streets that change names more often than a communist Cold War spies.


wonders of image manipulation:

but this junction in Moscow wins the "Arrrrgh!" contest:
To make a left turn from Rosanov Street to the adjacent Khoroshev Street, you will have to embark on quite a journey:
follow the arrows on the picture

According to the Russian auto forums, this is not a unique occasion. Perhaps one day they will discover a junction so confusing and bizarre that it will curl upon itself in the fourth dimension and come out say... in Israel.
However in Israel some intersections are just as interesting:
For example, here is how you make a turn at Nesharim to Highway 6:
Going West:



Going East:


These directions are helpfully provided on the official Highway 6 web page. But if you are an "experienced driver" and never ask for directions, you may be out of luck :)

UPDATE:
Click here to see some ideas the traffic planning people could implement in the future :)
CONTINUE TO NEXT PAGE
Permanent Link...
READ LATEST POSTS:
|
May 8, 2008 - Quantum Shot #418 World's Smallest Cars, Part 2 Great things come in small packages |
|
May 9, 2008 - Biscotti Bits Mixed Links & Images incl. "Parkour, First Person View" |
COMMENTS:
|
|
SF ART & BOOK REVIEWS: Fiction Reviews: William Gibson Stories Novella Review: Charles Stross "Missile Gap" Rare Pulp Fiction: Apocalyptic Blockbusters |
MORE RECENT POSTS:
|
Soviet Futuristic Illustration: Oodles of Optimism Black-and-white rare series of images |
|
Funny Animals, Part 11 Natural hilarity reaches a new high |
|
Nightmare Playgrounds, Part 2 Manic-Depressive Creativity |
|
Shipwrecks & Sea Disasters The Beauty & the mystery of the wrecked ships |
|
Unforgettable Faces, Part 3 Cast your vote for the most entertaining expression |
|
The Tasty Art of Chocolate & Candy Never eat an Easter Chocolate Bunny Again |
|
The "Falling Towers" of New Chinese TV Center Radical architecture for outdated propaganda machine |
|
Out-of-This-World Fishing Big Fish Extravaganza, Part 2 |
|
Senseless Signage, Part 10 Don't try to figure these signs out. Get a GPS instead. |
|
Are You... You? The Wonderful World of Parasites |
|
Commercialized Clouds Lucy in the Sky with Logotypes |
|
You Know You Want This... Steampunk Gear Masterpieces plus interview with "Aaron Adding Machines" |
|
Smile! You're in Politics (Funny Pics) Politicians in paroxysms of thought and deliberation |
|
World's Strangest Vehicles, Part 4 Sheer Auto Adrenaline! |
|
Extreme Exploration: Russian Nuclear Research Facilities Deep under the mountain, or in the world's deepest lake |
|
Miniature Spy Guns, Part 2 Do not move while I destroy you, Mr Bond |
|
Never Give Up! (Funny Pics) Crazy Logistics, Issue 8 |
|
Most Beautiful Fractals Infinite possibilities for art |
|
Cool Ads, Issue 10 Visually arresting and deliciously weird |
|
Japanese Creative Barcodes Cut out your UPC label and... frame it! |
|
The Geekiest LEGOs & Rubik's Cubes The world of twisted dimensions |
|
Disturbing Wiring, Part 4 More Tangled Awesomeness |
|
Russian Nuclear Icebreakers: To the North Pole! Odyssey in the Arctic with Russian Icebreaker Fleet |
|
The Deadliest Creatures (Most Easy to Miss) The Real Terror Lurks in Quiet Darkness |
|
Strangest Christian Products & Signs Repent! the end of good taste is in sight! |
|
Lovely Ladies of Yesteryear, Part 2 Vintage eye-candy, guaranteed (very mildly nsfw) |
|
Fear & Loathing inside Abandoned Stalin's Mines Fire & Ice Underground |
|
Armenia: The Epic Land This kind of nature needs an IMAX |
|
Time Machine: World's Biggest Collider Have a loophole in time, will travel |
|
Airplane Oops! Situations Part 2 Aviation Safety for Dummies |
MORE OF THE RECENT POSTS:
FULL ARCHIVES (with previews, fast loading):
April 2008 -- March 2008
February 2008 -- January 2008 -- December 2007 -- November 2007
October 2007 -- September, 2007 -- August 2007 -- July 2007
June 2007 -- May 2007 -- April 2007 -- March 2007 -- February 2007
January 2007 -- December 2006 -- November 2006 -- October 2006
Link Latte archives
CATEGORIES:
airplanes | animals | architecture | art | auto | boats | books | cool ads | funny pics |
futurism | food | gadgets | health | history | humour | internet | link latte | military |
music | nature | photo | science | science fiction & fantasy | signs | space | sports |
technology | trains | travel | vintage | weird






























































































26 Comments:
Doesn't look "that" bad. Any highway looks complicated from above.
They look pretty from above :)
most are NOT that bad, and actually work if the signage is right.
that moscow situation tho, is REALLY screwed up. i bet a lot of drivers take the "short cut." no doubt, it is an illegal left turn.
Hmm... That seems a little complicated, they should do it the same way as in India:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9OoitJcNrA
I don't know about you, but that's just about the scariest, most disturbing thing I've ever seen...
I will never ever again complain about botched roundabouts.....
Aside from the difficulties these pose the driver, compare the amount of land used for these intersections compared to the land that is developed with buildings or left green. Infrastructure for private vehicles takes up a massive amount of space.
I knew about this one but forgot the name. It's in England:
http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm
I've never done it myself but it's almost worth a trip !
FYI dutchdropper
I have to frequent Swindon on a regular basis and one of my offices is on the other side of the magic roundabout. At first I was daunted about the task of tackling such a monstrosity, but I quickly realised it really works as it has a series of contraflow movements that keep the traffic moving and always give you an opportunity to circumnavigate around it. You can also go loads of different routes through it which boggles the mind sometimes.
Too bad it"s a fake! The last image, the one with "imagebank" in the bottom-right corner, is so obvious for a number or reasons - floating roads with no supports, inconsistent shadown, and for god"s sake, cut-and-rotate 35 degrees-and-paste! The world IS a fkd place, but geez, don"t believe everything you see.
Now thats interesting.
Another view of the supposedly fake interchange.
I found the original photo on imagebanksearch, and this alternate photo on fotosearch. Each photo was taken by a different photographer/group.
Nice view. Looks very tangled and complicated from above.
That one is fake...the interchange has been cut out and pasted over itself at a different angle. Note the lack of shadows and roads going over buildings (which is real in some parts but not in that photo).
LOL..
I interested with the last picture, the cartoon,
and I want to say if all of these idiot would just take the bus, so there will no confusing intersections..
好强的立交桥,呵呵.....彻底崩溃中....
Dam good post. Very cool pics.
Hence the reason why I avoid larger cities. I'm perfectly fine in my small town ;)
I've found the russian intersection in Google Maps - it is not so compact, but still the image looks convincing.
link
Doesn't look "that" bad. Any highway looks complicated from above
Road traffic accidents interesting video articles
I would take these "Spaghetti Highways of the West" over the confusing 1 way streets and insane drivers that Boston offers any day
These are the pyramids of our civilization. Those borne in the decades ahead will have something relatively permanent to remember their Fore Fathers and Moms. Perhaps they will understand how hard it is to let go of a steering wheel. A century from today, agriculture may be one of the few reasons people have to go outside.
Amazing pictures. Thanks
Nice thanks..
For those who didn't beleive the Moscow one:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Moscow&ie=UTF8&ll=55.773351,37.551548&spn=0.005998,0.019956&t=h&z=16&om=0
And because I post like an idiot:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?
f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Moscow&ie=UTF8
&ll=55.773351,37.551548&spn=
0.005998,0.019956&t=h&z=16&om=0
I live in Karachi one of the biggest city in the world.But such complex road networks are still lacking.
Post a Comment
<< Home