In a parallel universe, traffic engineering in the US has turned a corner, and we're starting to see street designs that prioritize walking, biking, and transit over a singular focus on the personal motor vehicle. And that universe exists in select, small pockets of the US but most places, traffic engineers are discovering ever more convoluted ways to save a few seconds of vehicle delay at the expense of having a livable urban environment. We're talking about intersections and interchanges you might design on Cities Skylines as a cruel joke but the joke is unfortunately all too real!

Today we're going on a field trip to find the most egregious examples of traffic engineering gone off the rails. We'll look at "innovative" interchange designs like the SinglePoint Urban Interchange (SPUI), the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI), and the Contraflow Left. We'll also dive into signalized intersections, including the Michigan Left, the Displaced Left, and an intersection treatment so absurdly misguided it actually hasn't been implemented anywhere (YET) the Bowtie.

Be forewarned every single treatment here simply works "better" if there aren't any pesky pedestrians or bikes, and that leads to some pretty shocking implementations. Hope you enjoy!



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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:
10 Most Ginormous Freeway Interchanges In the US:    • Top 10 GINORMOUS Freeway Interchanges...  



Resources:
https://www.virginiadot.org/info/inno...
https://files.ceqanet.opr.ca.gov/2694...



Images
Minnesota Freeway archival photo https://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/Rec...
   / vdotweb  
Green Valley Ranch By Brian Brake https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjbrake..., CC BYSA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
SPUI, Meridian, ID (Thumbnail) By MeridianIdaho Own work, CC BYSA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...



Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)



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