INTERCHANGES

1. Diamond
The basic diamond is often the design of choice for lower-traffic
interchanges without special constraints.

It does not scale up well to heavy traffic on the surface street or ramps, or
if there is heavy left-turning traffic. Traffic signals can be installed at the
two points where the ramps meet the surface street, but high enough
traffic volumes can cause backups on the street and the ramps -- even
resulting in stopped traffic on the freeway. All ramps function to connect
the freeway to the surface street, as well as transition traffic from low
speeds, or a dead stop, to freeway speeds. If a ramp also has the task of
storing queued-up traffic, its length becomes a critical design factor.

Another problem: for higher traffic volumes, the surface street will need
left turn lanes for the entrance ramps. (or right turn lanes, for countries
where you drive on the left.) In a tight diamond, there's not much length
between ramps available for turn lanes. Having turn lanes for each
direction in parallel forces the roadway to be wider. If the surface road is
on a bridge, where lanes are expensive to add, each left turn lane takes
away a potential thru lane. In this case, the engineer can go for a solution
which doesn't require left turns from the surface street:

Example 1 shows a typical diamond interchange.

Example 2 illustrates the typical conflicts present at a diamond

interchange.

Example 3 shows a diamond – stack interchange combination.

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 Example 1: Typical diamond interchange
(Source: Internet)

Example 2: Typical conflicts at a diamond interchange

(Source: FHWA)

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 Example 3: Typical diamond-stack interchange in the US
(Source: Texas Transport Institute)

2. Partial Cloverleaf

The partial cloverleaf interchange is a modification of a cloverleaf

interchange. It was developed for the cloverleaf, removing the dangerous
weaving patterns from other interchanges and allowing for more
acceleration and deceleration space on the freeway. The design has been
well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-
arterial interchange designs.

Example 4: Typical 4-ramp partial cloverleaf

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The six-ramp partial cloverleaf allows traffic on the side street to flow
more smoothly than a plain diamond, since the only crossing traffic
comes off the two exit ramps. Each side of the street has an easy right
turn to either direction on the freeway. California engineers often call
them "three-quarters" interchanges, since six of eight possible ramps are
included.

Since no left-turn lanes are required on the surface street, all its lanes can
be used for through traffic; this is especially beneficial if the street passes
over the freeway.

There are infrequent instances of the modified six-ramp (bottom right),

where both loops are on one side of a road. This is usually done if
freeway traffic is lopsidedly heavy to and from one direction. This does
reintroduce weaving motions, but traffic on the side street is often slower
and conditioned to stop-and-go situations.

Example 5: 6-Ramp Partial Cloverleaf

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 Example 6: Partial cloverleafs in Los Angeles

Example 7: Magallanes Interchange

2. Trumpets and Other 3-Way Interchanges

2.1 Basic Trumpet

Like a cloverleaf, it requires only one or two bridges, and designing for
higher speed will take up more land. Alternatives to the trumpet, shown
below, usually involve more bridges but remove the loop ramp.

Often an interchange involving a toll freeway to another freeway will be a

double trumpet, with all connecting traffic stopping at a toll station
between the trumpets. Sometimes more roads join in.

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 Example 7: Typical trumpet interchange

2.2 Fused Trumpet

The four-way interchange is built from two trumpets fused together,

giving the appearance of a single trumpet undergoing cell division. The
fused trumpet would seem to serve interchanges where the mainlines
"bump" (i.e., intersect but do not cross).

Example 7: Fused trumpet

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 Example 8: Fused trumpets

2.3 Directional T

Directional T Informally known as the "New England Y," this design is

often seen in the urban United States, especially the northeast. It features
directional ramps (no loops, or weaving right to turn left) which can be
built fairly wide (multilane) in comparatively little space. Some designs
have two ramps and the "inside" thru road (on the same side as the
freeway that ends) crossing each other at a three-level bridge.

The bad thing about this design is the presence of left exits. On right-side
driving roads, it's better to have traffic enter and exit from the right side,
so high-speed thru traffic can drive on the left without interference.
Examples 9 and 10 illustrate typical directional T interchanges in Japan.

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 Example 9: Typical directional T interchange

Example 10: Multi-level directional T interchange

2.4 Semi-Directional T

Lacking the problem left exits; this design is a good choice for high
traffic junctions. The ramps can be made two or three lanes wide for more

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capacity. It's semi-directional, meaning cars veer right before crossing
both carriageways to the left, but the turns are gradual.

Example 11: Semi-directional T

3. Full Cloverleaf

The classic cloverleaf allows "non-stop" full access between two busy
roads. Traffic merges and weaves, but does not cross at-grade; unless the
interchange is too congested, no stopping is required. The colloquial
"cloverleaf" is the same as the more technical "full cloverleaf", as you can
omit ramps to get a partial one. The diagram in Example 12 shows the
layout of a full cloverleaf.

Typically a cloverleaf is used where a freeway intersects a busy surface

street, though many older freeway-freeway interchanges are also
cloverleafs. As we'll see, the full cloverleaf is not considered as
applicable in some situations now as it might have been a few decades
ago; in several places cloverleafs have been replaced with either
signalized interchanges or higher-capacity directional interchanges with
flyovers.

The cloverleaf is (on paper) the simplest way to connect two freeways.
The only bridges required are to separate the two roadways. If land is
expensive, so too can be the cloverleaf, which becomes a choice between

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tight turning radii (and lower design speed) or lots of consumed land.
You'll notice that most loop ramps are banked to counteract centrifugal
forces.

A small advantage that "falls out of the design" is the "second chance:" if
you miss the first ramp to the right, you can simply take three loops in a
row to get back on track.

Weaving
A disadvantage to the plain cloverleaf is the "weaving" process, where
drivers exiting one loop have to merge and cross other drivers entering
the next one. Weaving, which causes bottlenecks and accidents, is the
primary reason cloverleafs are now deprecated in designs for new or
revamped interchanges.

Examples 12: Diagram of a typical full cloverleaf

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 Example 13: Typical full cloverleaf

Example 14: Balintawak Interchange

5. Semi-Directional 4-way, or the Stack

Stack For the driver, the 4-level stack is the nice choice for two
intersecting freeways. Each road has a direct connection to the other
roadways, with no looping or weaving, and the ramps cross in a 4-level

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deck you can see for about a mile. If the ramps are two lanes wide, the
interchange has quite high capacity and drivers with good tires probably
won't even have to slow down.

Example 15: Typical stack interchange

Example 16: Typical stack interchange

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6. Adjacent Interchanges

Adjacent interchanges are present where several expressways, arterials

and other major roads converge.

Example 17: Adjacent interchange

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