The coolest transport interchanges in Europe and America. Porta Maggiore, Rome, Italy

Initially, car interchanges were created to make life easier for the driver, and then something went wrong. Some of them have become so confusing that they seem to perform another function, confusing the driver. If we compare these endings with Dante’s circles of hell, then they are certainly the last, final circle. Below we talk about the most complex road junctions in the world. We look and are glad that we are not there.

Gravelly Hill Interchange, Birmingham, UK

This junction has many nicknames, the most popular being “mixing tank” and “ball of spaghetti”. The fact is that when constructing this fork, the engineers did not take into account all the nuances and traffic on this section of roads. The “spaghetti ball” connects the A38 expressway and the M6 ​​highway. The name of the intersection was coined back in 1970 by journalist Roy Smith. The intersection has 18 traffic directions. For this purpose, 4 km of connecting roads, 6 levels of transport interchange, which is supported by 559 iron columns, were built. It is surprising that the height of some columns reaches almost 25 meters. Gravelly Hill Interchange is considered to be the most complex transport interchange in the UK today.

Puxi Viaduct, Shanghai

The only storage type interchange in the world. It has 6 levels, and its main feature is that part of the stripes is separated from one strip and flows in the same amount into another strip.

Judge Harry Pregerson Roundabout, Los Angeles, USA

The interchange allows traffic in all directions, but also includes passenger roads, Los Angeles Metro rail tracks and the Harbor Transit Road. It is from these components that such an impressive structure is formed. It opened in 1993 and is named after federal judge Harry Pregerson. The interchange is considered one of the most difficult in the world.

Magic Roundabout, Swindon, UK

If we literally decipher the name of the interchange, then the “magic carousel”, like nothing else, fully describes what drivers feel. Attached to the main turn of the interchange, where traffic goes counterclockwise, are five more small ones, the direction of which is clockwise. Local residents say that tourists are stunned by what they see.

Place Charles de Gaulle, Paris

The square where the Arc de Triomphe is located in Paris is reached by 12 roads from small streets. And here it’s up to the driver to choose how and where to move, who to let through and who to go. The markings on the ring are simply missing. It is interesting that most insurance companies, when writing a car insurance contract, refuse to recognize accidents on the square as an insured event.

Meskel Square, Addis Ababa

At Mexel Square in the Ethiopian capital, they apparently decided that there was no need for traffic lights. Local residents drive at their own risk, intuitively, but tourists are better off avoiding such road “surprises.” Each road has 8 lanes in one direction at a regular T-shaped intersection.

Nanpu Bridge Interchange, Shanghai, China

It’s not for nothing that the locals nicknamed this junction “The Tail of the Dragon”; it is very reminiscent of it! The roundabout shape of the interchange helps to divide the huge traffic flow into 3 tracks. Until 1991, this bridge was the only one that connected the Pudong and Puxi areas. Even then, from 14 to 17 thousand cars moved across the bridge daily, and already in 2006 this figure increased to 120 thousand vehicles per day.

Puxi, Shanghai

This is one of the most complex transport interchanges in Asia, and throughout the world. The capacity of such an interchange is thousands of cars per hour. There are five levels of bridges that connect two cities together, the most heavily loaded highways of these settlements. Thanks to this complex system, cars are not stuck in traffic jams for several hours.

Judge Harry Pregerson, Los Angeles

No less complex interchange than in Shanghai. This Los Angeles system is the most complex in the country. Thanks to the bridge complex, transport passes without any delays, so there are no traffic jams either. There are only four levels of bridges with one forbidden branch, on which only specialists can move. transport. The system was opened in 1993.

Gravelly Hill Interchange, Birmingham, England

This interchange is better known as a “ball of spaghetti” - indeed, from above the system looks exactly like spaghetti. This is a fairly old junction that has existed since the 70s of the last century. There are 18 paths in total, 6 different levels. All this is supported by 559 concrete pillars, up to 24.4 meters high. Below there are 2 railway lines, 3 canals, 2 rivers. One of the most complex transport systems in the UK.

Now let's look at the roads, which look very dangerous, although not as difficult as those described above.

Trollstigen, Norway

In general, the nature of these roads can be judged just from the picture. This system was created so that transport could climb high into the mountains, crossing to the other side. Only experienced drivers with nerves of steel can drive here - because if something goes wrong, the car goes straight down. The road is very narrow and some safety improvements were only made in 2005. In one place of this entire system you can even see a waterfall, its length is 320 meters.

Los Caracoles, Andes

This road is located between Chile and Argentina, and is a system of ledges along which cars climb up. There are no stops or posts on the side of the road that a car whose driver has lost control of can rest against. A wrong move and the vehicle goes down.

Yesterday I showed you one photo of this junction, and then I became interested in more detailed information. When was it built, what kind of name is that! It's interesting! I am sharing with you, I hope it will be interesting.

The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange is a stacked interchange near Athens and Watts in Los Angeles, California. It is located at the intersection of the following highways:

• I-105 (Glenn M. Anderson Freeway) - El Segundo, Los Angeles Airport, Norwalk
• I-110 (Harbor Highway) - San Pedro, Los Angeles

Although the interchange allows traffic in all directions (unlike the Hollywood Split, East Los Angeles Interchange), it also consists of passenger roads, the Los Angeles Metro Green Line, and the Harbor Transit Road. All this forms the tall, impressive structure that is the Judge Harry Pregerson roundabout.

It was opened in 1993. The roundabout was named after Judge Harry Pregerson. He served as a long-time federal judge and presided over the I-105 highway trial.

This junction is considered one of the most difficult in the world. It allows you to turn in all possible directions on any route. The main thing is not to miss this very turn you need :)

Vehicles entering an interchange on highways from different directions can leave it in all possible directions of travel (full interchange). However, passenger transport is limited on highways. Motorists entering the interchange from eastbound or westbound via I-105 will be able to access I-110. Motorists entering southbound on I-110 do not have direct access to I-105 and can simply continue north. Passenger vehicle drivers who wish to access a particular highway that does not have a direct connecting highway must exit the passenger vehicle lane at the designated entry/exit point before the interchange and move onto the main connecting highway as is normally done in all passenger lanes. in southern California.

The interchange is also home to the Harbor Freeway subway station, which is both the Los Angeles Metro Green Line and the Harbor Transit Bus Lane, which runs down the middle lanes of I-105 and I-110.

An article in the Los Angeles Times called the interchange (later dubbed the Expressway of the Century) "the largest, tallest, most expensive transportation structure ever built by the California Department of Transportation." " Journalists also noted that "for the first time, state transportation engineers have combined three transportation models - narrow-gauge trains, passenger transport and cars - into one giant intersection."

Soon after its discovery, the fork attracted the attention of many directors. So in 1994 the film “Speed” appeared. In one of the most famous scenes in the movie, the bus had to fly over an unfinished part of the building on an unfinished raised ramp that was still being completed. The construction of the fifth level of the overpass (from I-110 southbound to I-105 westbound) that the bus was jumping over had already been completed by that time, so computer graphics were used in the editing of this scene.

This is the moment of filming

In 1996, the Federal Highway Administration awarded Interstate 105/110 an "engineering marvel" for its superior roadway design. Thus, the government recognized that the project was implemented excellently: the number of traffic jams has decreased, traffic has become safer, and the air is cleaner.

Here are a few more endings:

Interchange upgrades at I-95 and I-695 near Washington

Here's the process...

Clickable

Automotive denouement, Shanghai, China

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) hosted a second meeting with the Circle Interchange Project Working Group (PWG)

For me, as a pedestrian, it all looks like THIS:

I like roads like this :-)

One of the best highways in Arizona. goes through downtown Phoenix. It is made below ground level, as if in a hole, and due to this there is no noise, dirt, and it does not divide the city into two parts. This is not a federal road - a state highway, but the quality and performance are at the highest level.

Unlike standard intersections, an interchange allows for the free flow of vehicles by allowing them to bypass intersections and traffic lights. But sometimes solutions can be extremely complex and consist of several levels. Below is a list of the ten most difficult road junctions in the world.

10 South Bay Interchange

9 A4 and E70

8 Xinzhuang interchange

7 Higashiosaka Loop

6 Interchange of I-695 and I-95

5 Kennedy Interchange

4 Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange

3 Tom Moreland Interchange

2 Gravelly Hill Interchange

1 Puxi Viaduct

It became denser, traffic directions increasingly intersected, and the need arose to manage traffic flows. At first, traffic lights coped with the task, and then, as highways developed and the need to increase their capacity, road junctions were required. Now there are a huge number of them on all continents, but still among these intersections there are unique ones. This is what we will talk about.

Gravelly Hill Interchange, Birmingham, UK

Thanks to this outcome, all the road intricacies of the planet received one succinct name - “a ball of spaghetti.” This is how Birmingham Evening Courier reporter Roy Smith described the Staffordshire Transport Hub project in 1965. The term has caught on, and now almost all more or less serious endings glorify Italian cuisine.

Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange, Los Angeles, USA

Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange, one of the most complex transportation hubs in the United States and the world, consists of 34 interchanges on five levels, one of which is occupied by a subway and transit bus route. More than 600,000 vehicles pass through the interchange every day.

What does the judge have to do with it? And despite the fact that Harry Pregerson, who was a federal judge in those years, is considered the father-parent of the denouement. If not for him, the numerous lawsuits that arose during the project would have stopped construction. Judge Harry is said to still be alive. He is 94 years old and lives in Los Angeles.

Springfield Interchange, Springfield, Virginia, USA

This interchange is one of the busiest road intersections in America. About half a million cars a day pass along it, including in the direction of the American capital Washington.

By the way, in relation to Springfield Interchange the name “mixing bowl” has stuck, and not some kind of “spaghetti”!

Oyamazaki Interchange, Osaka, Japan

The Oyamazaki transport hub is called . The fact is that before driving in the right direction, the driver has to cut several circles, which in the end completely disorients him.

Gate Tower Building, Osaka, Japan

The only overpass in the world that cuts a passage in a building at the level of the 4th-7th floors. Built in 1992. The road passes without touching the building. The building uses special technical solutions to protect it from noise and vibration.

The unique one makes it possible to distribute traffic flows in three directions and at the same time raise cars heading to the other side to the height level of the majestic cable-stayed bridge over the Huangpu River.

The huge intersection of Nanbei and Yanyan highways is located in Puxi, the historical center of Shanghai. This is one of the most complex transport interchanges in Asia, and throughout the world. The capacity of such an interchange is thousands of cars per hour. The bridges span six levels.

Porta Maggiore, Rome, Italy

More than once I had to pass through Porta Maggiore, in Russian - “Big Gate”. Luckily, by taxi. Every time I was surprised how the driver managed to find the right direction among the many arches and tram tracks.

Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

Twelve streets converge here, and among them is the main Parisian avenue - the Champs Elysees. Traffic around the Arc de Triomphe is chaotic. If it weren’t for the French speech and the Eiffel Tower on the horizon, you would think that you were somewhere in Southeast Asia. There are no traffic lights. More precisely, there are, but they are all at the exit from the square to give way to pedestrians.

It’s also not easy to drive through Taganskaya Square. Twelve streets also adjoin Taganka, however, half of them lead traffic flows to the square, and the second half receive them.