RHW Interchange Guide - Moved To A New Home! (See the Child Board Above)

[Terring7]

Section 13: Volleyball Interchanges



This is a rare interchange that is better known as the 3-level diamond or split-level diamond. All turning motions are handled in an intermediate square structure connecting the eight ramps. Turning traffic travels around the square in the same direction as a roundabout in that country. Through traffic can proceed on either intersecting road without stopping.



Here is an example. Suppose you live in a right-hand driving nation, like U.S.A., and want to exit northbound on the thick black ramp of the above image. To go east, simply take the blue ramp: a simple right turn. To go west however, you would take the green route, which involves merging and crossing other traffic!

Advantages of the volleyball interchange include the ability to locate in it a narrow space along the two rights of way: more capacity than a diamond, and less space than a full cloverleaf. The volleyball's disadvantages however include a large number of bridges and low capacity compared to more directional interchanges. Because of the above reasons, Volleyball Interchanges are rare.

Section 13.1: Basic Volleyball Interchange

For this tutorial, we're going to build an avenue -  R.H.W.-4 interchange. Tutorials for extra variations are coming soon. First, build the R.H.W.-4 and the avenue as the picture shows.



With the one-ways, build the central roundabout. There should be a 5 tiles gap between the one-way and the avenue, as you can see with the red dots. Same with the R.H.W.-4. You'll end up with 4 5x5 squares. But which is the best route to drag the one-way? The roundabout should be clockwise if you have a Left Hand Driving game. If you have a Right Hand Driving game, make the roundabout anti-clockwise.



Drag the one-ways with the right direction at least 1 tile from the crossing (brown dots).



Time to build the avenue ramps. We'll use one-ways again. In later tutorials, we'll use other variations. Build a 2 tiles straight one-way (red dots) and a diagonal to the avenue. The avenue - one-ways intersections will be 6 tiles (purple dots) away from the roundabout.



By using Fl.U.P.s, built one-ways underpasses under the R.H.W.-4. Make sure that the exits and the entrances were added in the right direction. We can use one-way overpasses as well, while the underpasses will make your interchange more elegant.



Remove the flat avenue and make in elevated, to built an avenue overpass.



Time to connect the highway with the interchange. This is tricky, so be careful. Add R.W.H.-4 started pieces at least one tile (green dot) away from the one-ways crossing. Make sure that the arrows of those pieces looks in the right direction (yellow arrows).



Drag the one-way for only 1 tile and then drag the R.H.W.-4 to build a connection.



The speed of the cars in the highway will be larger than the speed of the cars in the avenue, so they need a smoother ramp. Build smooth R.W.H.-4 corners as you can see in the picture.



Connect the ramp with the highway by using R.H.W.-6/Dual R.H.W.-4 Splitter Ramp (5x3). Use the R.H.W.-4 fillers to build the ramps. The highway itself looks a little messy. Don't worry, we'll fix it.



In the in-the-interchange side of the highway, remove some R.H.W.-6 parts and replace them with R.H.W.-4. Be careful, don't remove the parts that are too close to the ramps or the underpasses.



As about the other side, make a 3 tiles gap (blue dots).



Built a R.H.W.-4 to R.H.W.-6 transition. A good idea is to use a nice one from the "cosmetic pieces".



Sit back and enjoy

[Haljackey]

Looks good Elias! I've added it to the list. Volleyball interchanges have always been somewhat of a mystery to me. I was never sure why they are designed the way they are. You could almost call it a double-diamond because you essentially have two diamond interchanges intersecting with each other.

One thing that strikes me on the diagram and your guide is the lack of connections without the use of an intersection. It would be easy to have right turn slip lanes (RHD) on each of the four corners, creating a "star" shape. In addition the interchange doesn't have to be three levels either, you could have all the under/overpasses on the second/underground level.



That guide completes all of the RHW to Road or Avenue sections of the RHW Interchange Guide. While some of these sections are still a little light, all have at least one entry in them. If anyone would like to suggest additional RHW to road or avenue interchanges I'm all for it. Be sure to attach a diagram and/or real world example as well.

[BigSlark]

Looks good Elias! I've added it to the list. Volleyball interchanges have always been somewhat of a mystery to me. I was never sure why they are designed the way they are. You could almost call it a double-diamond because you essentially have two diamond interchanges intersecting with each other.

The solution is really quite simple, it's all about the cost vs. benefit analysis for designing an interchange. These work decently for handling a moderate amount of traffic without interrupting the flow on the mainlines. Texas likes to use these when rural divided highways/expressways intersect with the provisions for adding flyovers at a later date if traffic warrants their construction. Check out this intersection of US 59 and TX Loop 589 in Lufkin, Texas for an example: http://goo.gl/maps/PLRt.

Cheers,
Kevin

[jdenm8]

Volleyball interchanges are weird... Though, they do have their places. The only one in QLD I know of is where the motorway is coming off a hill and the slope is continued across the Arterial Road and Interchange.

Old Cleveland Road vs. Gateway Motorway/Arterial if you're interested.

Some of the ramps are two-way and there are Exiting Lane slip ramps all around... If you don't know it, it's very confusing to use.

[gooper1]

Section Twelve: Turbine Interchanges

I have a few questions:

• First, that interchange is WAY too big to be practical.
• Second, can't you just remove the RHW overpass (and the RHW under it) in the middle and replace it with two tunnels that go all the way through the interchange? Tunnels can pass over/under each other...
• Third, this interchange is designed for left-turning (right-turning in LHD) traffic (it has 2 exit lanes)--right-turning traffic (left in LHD) only has a one-lane exit. However, this can easily be rectified by using RHW-6S>dual RHW-4 splitters (instead of MIS style A or B ramps) and placing RHW-6S>RHW-4 transitions where needed.

Great job, though. 

-Gooper1

[Terring7]

One thing that strikes me on the diagram and your guide is the lack of connections without the use of an intersection. It would be easy to have right turn slip lanes (RHD) on each of the four corners, creating a "star" shape.

Good catch . And there is also an another version that use small roundabouts than crossings. I'm going to make tutorials for those variations soon.

[MandelSoft]

First, that interchange is WAY too big to be practical.

Get used to it. Interchanges ARE large, even in RL. I use this interchange once in a large city tile and it looks great!

Second, can't you just remove the RHW overpass (and the RHW under it) in the middle and replace it with two tunnels that go all the way through the interchange? Tunnels can pass over/under each other...

I know, but tunnels are very expensive in RL. That's why I left the middle open. Also, I wanted an underpass in the middle of the interchanges, but the hole diggers wouldn't allow be to build so low (probably because I would end up under sea level), so I built an overpass.

Third, this interchange is designed for left-turning (right-turning in LHD) traffic (it has 2 exit lanes)--right-turning traffic (left in LHD) only has a one-lane exit. However, this can easily be rectified by using RHW-6S>dual RHW-4 splitters (instead of MIS style A or B ramps) and placing RHW-6S>RHW-4 transitions where needed.

Wrong! It's designed for RHD (I'm dutch, so I have the RHD version of SC4)! However, I do agree there might be better designs than this, but this would make this interchange even larger and unpractical. Above that there are some yet unexisting RHW-pieces that I need to make an improved version of this interchange...

Best,
Maarten

[Moonraker0]

Section 14.1: Standard Directional-T Interchange

This guide will help you create a high-capacity, free-flowing, high-speed, and compact three-way interchange known as the directional T interchange.  Directional T's are also called full Y interchanges.  The semi-directional T is a variation on this type of interchange, with outer (in the right-hand drive case, right) exits instead of inner (left) exits like this one.  This type of interchange has faster speed limits than those of a trumpet interchange, as no loops ramps are used and the curves are more direct and gradual.  However, this has the disadvantage of having more bridges, which some people don't like to see.


This guide uses an interchange between two RHW-8S highways, but the same concepts apply to RHW-6S.  All ramps in this tutorial are RHW-4; no MIS ramps are used, which gives the turning movements a high capacity.  Click on the images for to see their full versions.

First of all, place two RHW-8 dual RHW-4 splitter puzzle pieces next to each other like shown.  This will be your terminating highway.

NOTE:  You can use the 45° curved splitters here, but you would need to push back the curves and take up a lot of additional space for the interchange if you do that.

Next, place a RHW-4 ground-to-elevated transition with the starter stub shared with that of the splitter, as shown:


Drag a ground RHW-4 45° curve to the right as shown, connecting it to the inner stub of the other splitter puzzle piece (first picture), then drag a curve to the left starting after making an overpass for the flyover ramp, as shown in this picture (the brown highlighted one):


NOTE:  To drag an ERHW over a diagonal ground RHW, drag the ERHW halfway over the diagonal ground RHW (only one tile of the diagonal), then do the same, starting from the other side, for the other half; do not drag the ERHW-4 all the way over the ground RHW-4 in one stroke.

Then plop a RHW-4 ground-to-elevated transition to end the curve.


Plop a RHW-4 ground-to-elevated transition in the location shown, and drag ground RHW out from it halfway under the ERHW-4.


Next, plop a 45° RHW-8 to dual RHW-4 splitter, noting the tile arrangement if you want to have a continuous curve like in the picture.  Drag RHW out from the orthogonal starter stub under the other half of the elevated RHW.  Also plop a smooth 45° RHW-4 curve to complete the 90° right turn, connecting the curve's end stub with the starter stub of the RHW-8 splitter you placed earlier.


Now continue the diagonal RHW you made earlier.  Make sure you drag it to the same length as I did in the picture, or else the overpass you will soon build won't work.


Then plop a RHW-8 dual RHW-4 splitter a few tiles away from the end of the diagonal, to the east, and finish that part by connecting the diagonal to the inner starter stub of the splitter:


You will need to click (but don't drag) once at this place to get the entire diagonal RHW to change to RHW-4:


Plop another RHW-4 ground-to-elevated transition on the diagonal's other side, and drag the two halves separately over the diagonal ground RHW, similar to the first overpass you made.  Plop a RHW-8 dual RHW-4 splitter with it and the ramp sharing a starter stub, then create RHW-4 45° smooth curves as close as possible to the already-existing diagonal RHW-4.  Connect these curves to the nearby starter stubs from the RHW-8 splitters, and connect them together with diagonal RHW-4 filler pieces.


Plop another RHW-8 splitter on the other side of the interchange, after the ground-to-elevated RHW-4 transition, and connect the through route between the two splitter pieces.


So there you have it, a compact directional T-interchange.

[rooker1]

 I don't comment in here very often, but I do like that intersection.  Great work Moonraker0, I'll have to give that one a try.

Robin 

[MandelSoft]

Wow, that's one sweet interchange, Moonraker! Even from the point of view of an experienced interchange builder it's a clever design. I like it  

[Death50]

Nice! Another compact interchange!

[Haljackey]

Excellent tutorial Moonraker! I've added it to the list.

[Moonraker0]

Thanks guys, I am happy people are liking my tutorial!

[gooper1]

Nice job Moonraker0!   
However, that's not a Directional T, it's a Full Y, and the picture Haljackey posted as a reserve image for a Full Y is a Directional T. The main difference is that Directional T's are usually 3-level (making them hard to build with the current RHW), and Full Y's are almost always 2 levels.
-Gooper1

[Haljackey]

We already have a Full-Y interchange piece in SC4 for the ground highway and avenue. A guide how to make one for the RHW has not been made yet.

In addition, there is a difference between a directional and semi-directional-T.

I've modified the list to reflect this. Does anyone have a diagram of a Full-Y interchange like the avenue and ground highway setups in SC4? I can't seem to find one.

I'm working on a three-level cloverstack guide.

[Monorail Master]

Well, let me contribute one. I call it a "Clover-bout" It is a mid-size interchange for EL-RHW4 intersecting with an avenue. Useful for heavily-traveled districts. I got the design from one of the interchanges on the game Saints Row 2 while watching my brother play it. This basically contains 2 AVE-Roundabouts, an EL-RHW4, and a stretch of AVE.

Guide for interchange: (Yes, I did it in MS Paint) But the blue is the AVE, blue dots= AVE Roundabout, Black: EL-RHW4/MIS. Feel free to make a diagram of it. I stink at photoshop...

Step one: Have a section of EL-RHW4


Step two: Place 2 AVE roundabouts both 6 tiles away from the RHW. Then add AVE tips to the tops of the roundabouts followed with RHW-4 to MIS conversions.


Step three: Place 4 MIS Flex-Fly like you are going to build a clover-leaf.


Step four: Place 2 EL-MIS to MIS on and off conversions next to the Flex-Fly pieces. Then drag EL-MIS from both Flex-Fly and MIS conversions to the EL-RHW4.


Step five: Build the EL-RHW4 On/off ramps.


FINISHED! And the finished result should be as shown above.

[MandelSoft]

I don't see the point of this interchange. In fact, a cloverleaf using curved MIS El-2-ground-transistions takes up less space...

[Haljackey]

I don't see the point of this interchange. In fact, a cloverleaf using curved MIS El-2-ground-transistions takes up less space...

Seconded. In addition, you did not follow the procedure set up for contributing a new tutorial to this guide (see the sticky post, please). That will have to be corrected before it can be added. What section of the guide would this tutorial belong in? Also, why such small pictures and a blurry diagram?

[Haljackey]

Placeholder. (Page load time / organizational issue.)

[Haljackey]

Section 11.3: Three-Level Cloverstack Interchange

When it comes to full highway exchanges in Simcity 4, the three-level cloverstack is among the best ways to hook up any two intersecting RHWs.

With the release of RHW 4.1, the three-level cloverstack is able to become much more compact and thus more justifiable and practical. Cloverstacks made with previous releases are gargantuan to say the least.

Although I will try to be as simplistic as possible, this will be my most complicated tutorial in the RHW Interchange guide to date. I hope you are all able to follow along! If not, please let me know where you are having trouble in the guide and I can explain those steps in greater detail.

Also, make sure you are familiar with filler puzzle pieces as they need to be used in this guide.

You will need hole digging lots for this guide. Using a slope mod is highly recommended as well. I will be using the RHW slope mod for this tutorial.



Let's start out simple. Drag some RHW. Make sure you delete the starter pieces.
-For this guide, I am using RHW-4 with a 0 tile median.


And here's where things get different. We are going to make our two MIS flyover ramps from the get-go. Getting the centre part done now will make the rest of the interchange easier to build. Plop diagonal-MIS over RHW-4 filler pieces just as shown. Be sure to rotate to make sure the lines meet up.
-If you encounter some alignment/lining errors, bulldoze the area and try again. This may require a some trial and error. That's why we're getting this step done first. 


Plot a course for your perpendicular RHW. Since the flyovers create a 3x2 rectangle in the centre, the interchange will not be completely symmetrical (unless you include a 1 time median for one of the RHWs or between the flyovers). Your RHW can run either to the north or south of centre. In this example I am routing it slightly south.
-Just use road stubs for now. This route will ultimately tunnel under the centre of the junction.
-Leave three tiles empty on either side of the north/south RHW.


Plop your MIS to elevated MIS transitions. Use the grid and/or road stubs to properly align your pieces as shown. Do not use the "starterless" versions.
-You don't need the "on" transitions yet... you can use a el-MIS starter piece in its place. I am using the transitions for the moment so it is easier to follow along.


Drag elevated MIS from the transitions towards the centre of the interchange like so. They will not fully connect, so don't worry about it for now.


Place diagonal MIS filler pieces to hook everything up. Again, be sure the lines match up for a proper connection.




Congratulations, you just built the flyover ramps!

Save your game. That way you won't lose all that hard work if Simcity suddenly crashes.



Delete your road stubs. Place hole digging lots 4 tiles away from the north/south RHW.
-For this example I am using hole diggers for avenue.


Drag avenue for one tile to activate the lots so they depress the ground.


Delete your hole digging lots. Drag avenue from one side to the other to create an avenue tunnel.
-If your elevated MIS glitches like shown, simply redraw the affected area.


Flatten the terrain around the tunnel to create a depressed section.


Place road stubs to extend the depression. You'll want a design as shown (4x2 rectangle followed by a mirrored 4x4 square.)


Delete all the stubs. Place RHW-4 starter pieces in the trench.


Delete all the starter piece tiles except those right next to the avenue.


Drag RHW-4 from the avenue towards the edge of the trench like so.


Create a mirrored pair of RHW-4 type "B" ramps in the trench using the drag method. (see sticky post video #1). In additon, delete your MIS to elevated MIS "on" pieces and place a road stub at the edge and line it up with the flyover ramps.
-Things are starting to get tricky now, eh?. Don't worry, I'll guide you through this as simply as I can. 


Create another mirrored pair of RHW-4 type "B" ramps on the north-south RHW as close to the centre of the interchange as possible. Again, use the drag method.
-Your RHW might start to hate you and become glitchy. Just ignore that for now, we'll fix it later. 


Create the loop ramps. Try to make them as shown.


Now its time to plop the "real" MIS to elevated MIS "on" transitions. This time, use the "starterless" version so you can get as close as possible.
-If your elevated MIS starts to glitch like shown below, simply redraw the network to fix it.


Use elevated MIS over diagonal MIS fller pieces to finish the reconstruction of your flyovers. Once again make sure your lines match up. It may take a bit of trial and error.




Congrats! You have now completed the central part of the interchange. It's finally starting to come together, isn't it?

Save your game. This is a very intricate part of the junction and it would be sad to see it vanish if Simcity 4 suddenly crashed. Also, if you demolish a part of the interchange by mistake you can always exit and come back to this save point.



Two overpasses left to go. Create "on-slope" ground to elevated MIS transitions near the exits to the loop ramps. Demolish the road stub placeholder to place the elevated to ground on-slope transitions.


There will be one tile of empty space in the trench you built. Drag elevated MIS from the on-slope transition to cover this tile.


Now once again use elevated MIS over diagonal MIS filler pieces to complete the overpasses. Once again make sure the lines match up to create a proper connection.


Drag your RHW out of the trench. Plop a mirrored pair of RHW-4 type "Wide-A" ramps where your RHW reaches level terrain and connect it to the overpasses you just made. I know there are other ways you can connect the MIS to your RHW but I want to keep it simple for this tutorial.
-Sorry about the sidebar.


Its now time to start making your outer ramps. Drag MIS from the stub time of the "Wide-A" ramp diagonally towards the north/south RHW.


You can now drag MIS towards the flyover ramps. Use MIS filler pieces to connect the "starterless" MIS to elevated MIS transitions with your MIS ramps.


You're almost done! It's time to create your last two outer ramps. Create a mirrored pair of RHW-4 type "B" ramps on the east-west RHW just before it slopes down into the trench.


Drag these ramps diagonally towards the north/south RHW. Finish off the interchange by plopping two more RHW-4 type "B" ramps where the diagonal MIS meets the RHW.




...And you're finally done! Give yourself a pat on the back. You've built a three-level coloverstack interchange! Congratulations! 

Of course there are many ways you can modify this design to make it more realistic, such as adding smooth curves.

I hope you all enjoyed this guide and found it useful. I know it's quite long, but I'm hoping all those steps and images helped you follow along.

All the best,
-Ryan (Haljackey)