RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[noahclem]

I think the main reason why freeways are so wide in America is that the vast majority of development besides old city cores has been planned around the car with long trip times to anywhere and exceptionally low population density, which severely limits opportunities for designing efficient public transport systems. Also, wide freeways can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: if traffic flows quickly people don't worry as much about how close to work they live, increasing congestion as cities grow and resulting in demand for a still wider freeway.

Maarten, I think your point does explain a bit of congestion which is why left-hand exits are being almost completely phased out in the States--so the left lanes are dedicated passing lanes, not merging lanes. The "pass-on-the-left" system generally exists there but is much less rigid than over here, especially when left-hand exits are a factor

And don't forget that if you don't like wider networks you can feel free not to use them 

[Highrise99]

I noticed in the progress report, version 4.05 is no longer recorded.  Is it complete, or is it now basically part of version 4.1, as the "east side issue" is now part of it.

[el_cozu]

I've visited this page for a long time, but i haven't seen this request... some splitters..........

RHW-10  ---> RHW6S/RHW4... or... RHW6C/RHW4.................

or it could be

RHW10 ----> RHW8C (or S) /RHW4

[deathtopumpkins]

Maybe it's because in Europe you may only overtake to the left lanes (or right lanes in the UK and Ireland). In the US you can overtake to the left lanes as well as the right lanes. In Europe this results that slow traffic stays on the outer lanes and faster traffic moves in the inner lanes, while in the US you can't see this system.

Best,
Maarten

Not true, actually. In the U.S. that is left up to the states to decide, and quite a few have made driving in the left lane illegal.  New Jersey comes to mind as really strict on it. It doesn't seem to matter to most drivers though.

As for everybody saying that these are solely eye-candy in SC4: If you develop a city to resemble an American one, it is actually quite easy to get these traffic volumes on a RHW. I do it all the time, and Vince (blue lightning) has actually maxed out the traffic volume on one (somewhere around 65,000 on the traffic query).

noahclem: Actually, that really has nothing to do with why the U.S. is phasing out left exits. The real main reason (from what I have read in DOT news items) is just that drivers are not used to exits on the left, and don't expect them, which is also why the 2009 MUTCD requires more prominent warnings of such an exit.
Though your last point is an excellent one... everyone should take that to heart.

[MandelSoft]

I've visited this page for a long time, but i haven't seen this request... some splitters..........

RHW-10  ---> RHW6S/RHW4...

You mean these?:
(pieces are at the left)
Still in development...

[el_cozu]

Indeed 

[Tarkus]

I noticed in the progress report, version 4.05 is no longer recorded.  Is it complete, or is it now basically part of version 4.1, as the "east side issue" is now part of it.

4.0.5 is now going to be a small-ish Version 4.1 release.

-Alex

[Sartoris]

I don't understand why the Freeways are so wide in America. Cities in Europe are on par with the population of Cities in the US, and our highways are usually half the width of US highways.

#1 reason is that people in the U.S. don't ride trains.

[canyonjumper]

Maarten, I may switch to Euro just for the AVE-MIS pieces

[MandelSoft]

Well, they are not released until Alex has made US Textures for my pieces 

[superhands]

folks check out this interchange in shanghai!

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.120942,121.38418&z=15&t=h&hl=en

[Haljackey]

folks check out this interchange in shanghai!

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.120942,121.38418&z=15&t=h&hl=en

I believe that was built for the Shanghai 2010 world expo. Crazy design nonetheless, thanks for sharing it!

[MandelSoft]

Errr... *gets confused  *

It would take a very long time before we can replicate this design in SC4 

[MattyFo]

Errr... *gets confused  *

It would take a very long time before we can replicate this design in SC4 

That being said, would it ever be possible to make a "double-decker" overpass?  or simply, an overpass over another overpass?  That interchange in Shainghai just itched my curiosity.

[pierrebaptiste]

Hello

This type of concrete wall : http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2046/sanstitrewp.png

exist for the RHW V3 , but there is a new version for the RHW V4 ?

[Blue Lightning]

pierrebaptiste: See HERE, first entry.

[el_cozu]

Is it necesary to have some development near the RHW to have the lights?... cuz normally our rural highways are at least 1 or 2 tiles from development

[MattyFo]

Is it necesary to have some development near the RHW to have the lights?... cuz normally our rural highways are at least 1 or 2 tiles from development

There are other ways to get highway lights.  You can simply place an empty or transparent lot,  if you have the Lot Editor you can go there, find the "Open Grass Area" lot I think is called (PZ 1X1 grass), then browse your textures and replace the lush green with something that matches your terrain mod and place those along the highway.  If you don't like the look of that, hide it with flora.  There are also plopabble street lights you can place along the highway.  I wish I could give you a link but I searched simtropolis for a while and couldn't find them.  Give the STEX and LEX a search and your bound to find them.  Also powerlines, and basically any building will do it.  I'm sure there's something I'm missing and I wish I had that link, but good luck!!

- Matt

[Tarkus]

Is it necesary to have some development near the RHW to have the lights?... cuz normally our rural highways are at least 1 or 2 tiles from development

The way Xyloxadoria's Lights and Barriers T21 mod is designed, it will cause the appropriate props to appear on any zone/wealth type, including no zoning/wealth.  Thus, it is not necessary to have development near the RHW.

-Alex

[io_bg]

I don't know whether it has been asked before but a few things that I'd really like to see are diagonal avenue to diagonal RHW 4 transition as well as FAR MIS/RHW 4 to diagonal MIS/RHW. I hope these will be included in a future RHW release