Incomprehensible Intersections

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11787852.post-57131347322019634242006-11-23T11:57:00.002-08:002008-03-21T20:35:20.284-07:00Incomprehensible Intersections<img style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 41px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/93/267507258_9b2177cb6a.jpg" alt="" border="0" />"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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malfunction_Junction">here</a>). <a href="http://static.flickr.com/120/305046201_4d690df997_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/120/305046201_4d690df997.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> Tom Moreland Interchange, intersection of Interstate 85 and Interstate 285, Atlanta, Georgia, USA <a href="http://static.flickr.com/102/304983375_b59a552e72_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/102/304983375_b59a552e72.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://static.flickr.com/111/304387942_f48b4aa9b8_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/111/304387942_f48b4aa9b8.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> The Central Motorway Junction - New Zealand State Highways 1 and 16, Auckland, New Zealand. <a href="http://static.flickr.com/111/305575136_09571dd687_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/111/305575136_09571dd687.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> 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. <a href="http://static.flickr.com/101/304387853_b664051cde_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/101/304387853_b664051cde.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://static.flickr.com/113/304387913_825fd70640_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/113/304387913_825fd70640.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> wonders of image manipulation: <a href="http://static.flickr.com/120/304387877_3fb38f8156_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/120/304387877_3fb38f8156.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> 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 <a href="http://static.flickr.com/103/304387953_3e41e86945_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/103/304387953_3e41e86945.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> 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: <a href="http://static.flickr.com/121/304428348_4469a1653d_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/121/304428348_4469a1653d_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://static.flickr.com/120/304428350_0b49e981de_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/120/304428350_0b49e981de_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://static.flickr.com/104/304428353_26b0401159_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/104/304428353_26b0401159_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> Going East: <a href="http://static.flickr.com/121/304428348_4469a1653d_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/121/304428348_4469a1653d_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://static.flickr.com/121/304428354_600f1c385a_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; " src="http://static.flickr.com/121/304428354_600f1c385a_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> These directions are helpfully provided on <a href="http://www.kvish6.co.il/flash/maps/nesharim.html">the official Highway 6 web page</a>. But if you are an "experienced driver" and never ask for directions, you may be out of luck :) <a href="http://static.flickr.com/122/305193596_5e0105ba07_o.jpg"><img style="margin:10px 10px 0px 0px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; width:360px" src="http://static.flickr.com/122/305193596_5e0105ba07.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> UPDATE: Click <a href="http://static.flickr.com/119/307161181_6d16ea5578_o.jpg">here</a> to see some ideas the traffic planning people could implement in the future :) <a href="http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/03/worlds-worst-intersections-traffic-jams.html">CONTINUE TO NEXT PAGE</a>  <a href="http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2006/11/incomprehensible-intersections.html">Permanent Link</a>...Avi Abramshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12550929795356812957noreply@blogger.com