RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[nerdly_dood]

I'm really looking forward to v.21!  It looks like it'll be a lot better than v.20! (Not that v.20 isn't good, it is an excellent if incomplete mod)

[SimsReporter]

Wow This Is Amazing. I love the RHW V21, Will there be Elevated MIS Peices? So that you could make a Trumpet* Interchange


                                Very Great
                                       SimsReporter

[j-dub]

Hey Tarkus, I think I know where your going here. I'm glad to see some real hwy exits now, except, why the straight arrow? If you wanted to stay on the expressway why would you have gotten off the ramp to begin with?

[SimsReporter]

Because if there is a Road or Street in front of the Exit....Maybe

[Tarkus]

why the straight arrow? If you wanted to stay on the expressway why would you have gotten off the ramp to begin with?

Very good question.  Just about every ramp I've seen here in the Western US that's part of a diamond interchange has one lane that allows for travel straight back onto the freeway. [example]

There's three reasons generally for such a setup.  In that particular example, it's for people who take the wrong exit and want back on the freeway--that's generally the most common usage.  There aren't too many people who typically actually utilize that option, but it's there.   Also, sometimes the ramp continues on as a "surface" level C/D setup, when the ramp serves as access to multiple surface streets (fairly common in the Portland, Oregon Metro Area) [example], or, as SimsReporter pointed out, sometimes the opposite side of the intersection from the ramp, there will be a surface street [example]

Hope that answers your question, and thanks for asking.

SimsReporter, to answer your question . . . we'll see.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[j-dub]

Oh I see, I didn't know the next version would allow intersecting MIS accross to a different network. So what does this intersection with the surface street opposing the ramp look like in game?

[Swamper77]

Very good question.  Just about every ramp I've seen here in the Western US that's part of a diamond interchange has one lane that allows for travel straight back onto the freeway....In that particular example, it's for people who take the wrong exit and want back on the freeway--that's generally the most common usage.  There aren't too many people who typically actually utilize that option, but it's there.

-Alex (Tarkus)

I've used an exit once to get back on after a few minutes. One way to get a "bumper humper" off your tail when on the highway. Sadly, most new interchanges I see do not allow you to get back on after you get off. These new ones only have two directions at the end of the ramp: left or right.

-Swamper

[Tarkus]

Oh I see, I didn't know the next version would allow intersecting MIS accross to a different network. So what does this intersection with the surface street opposing the ramp look like in game?

Well, there isn't that option yet.  I merely wanted to show some RL examples of the straight arrow on ramps, but it could potentially be a new feature down the road.  It'd have to be limited in terms of what network the surface street opposite the ramp is, since it's not possible to intersect more than two different networks (a limitation of RUL 0x10000001).

I've used an exit once to get back on after a few minutes. One way to get a "bumper humper" off your tail when on the highway. Sadly, most new interchanges I see do not allow you to get back on after you get off. These new ones only have two directions at the end of the ramp: left or right.

That's pretty clever.  

Sounds like they must be building more Parclo-type intersections up in your area.  Of course, depending on how the have the ramp set up, WSDOT (or any other transportation department) could always consider allowing U-Turn movements from the left turn lane.  I don't think there'd really be any harm in doing so.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Swamper77]

Sounds like they must be building more Parclo-type intersections up in your area.  Of course, depending on how the have the ramp set up, WSDOT (or any other transportation department) could always consider allowing U-Turn movements from the left turn lane.  I don't think there'd really be any harm in doing so.

-Alex (Tarkus)

Not even those. They simply build a straight ramp, but don't allow you to cross the surface street to the ramp on the other side. Or they separate the turning traffic with a triangular island to force traffic to make left/right turns at the ramp end, and still have a ramp on the other side of the intersection with no access from the exit ramp:

George Hopper Road

On the other hand, I've been quite happy with the rebuilt 41st interchange in Everett. They have turned it into a SPUI. No access to the ramps across from the exit ramps, but you can make U-turns to turn around and head back the other way on I-5. The nice thing is that two left turns can be in the intersection at once without blocking each other. Great for high volume traffic periods.

-Swamper

[pilotdaryl]

I love the ideas you guys come up with I wonder if you could create an 'MIS split' (|/ split, \| split, and Y split); this could further increase user creativity with the MIS.

[Tarkus]

Not even those. They simply build a straight ramp, but don't allow you to cross the surface street to the ramp on the other side. Or they separate the turning traffic with a triangular island to force traffic to make left/right turns at the ramp end, and still have a ramp on the other side of the intersection with no access from the exit ramp

From my personal standpoint, that's a poorly designed interchange.  I really don't see why they need to restrict the straight-across traffic.  George Hopper Road is like a TLA-3 there, essentially--it's not like crossing it is going to be that dangerous or that much of a traffic delay from the looks of it.  And there's no real benefit to channelizing the ramp.  I'm guessing from the looks of it, the exit ramp is stop-controlled?  Why bother at that point? 

I love the ideas you guys come up with I wonder if you could create an 'MIS split' (|/ split, \| split, and Y split); this could further increase user creativity with the MIS.

Thanks, and to answer your question, the answer is a definite "yes".  There will be MIS splits in Version 21.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[j-dub]

@Tarkus Its too bad textures couldn't be done that way, but with the current setup, I had seen 3 types of network join at a 4 way intersection in mine. I don't know how, but I had the RHW 4 on one side, MIS ramp on the other, and an Avenue between. Somehow they all attached together, but it seems only if drawn in a particular order. On a technical note, thats 3 types of networks because one lane isn't two, but then again the MIS is RHW, which could be 2. Its confusing.

[Tarkus]

@Tarkus Its too bad textures couldn't be done that way, but with the current setup, I had seen 3 types of network join at a 4 way intersection in mine. I don't know how, but I had the RHW 4 on one side, MIS ramp on the other, and an Avenue between. Somehow they all attached together, but it seems only if drawn in a particular order. On a technical note, thats 3 types of networks because one lane isn't two, but then again the MIS is RHW, which could be 2. Its confusing.

Admittedly, it can get a little confusing.  Technically, if you've got both RHW-4 and MIS, those are both based of the RHW network, so you'd have two networks there.  That did just give me an idea, though, that may be the key to some sort of workaround for that sort of situation, though.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[j-dub]

Well I hope I just came across some sort of major secret.

[Pat]

J-dub you seem to be on a roll here lately!!! I wish I could give you a karma for it!!!! 

[bakerton]

That setup for an RHW exit is common in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (the Great Midwest) and here in Kenosha, Wisconsin at only one exit. We in Southeast Wisconsin (Racine / Kenosha Counties) have Frontage Roads on both sides of I-94 US 41. Alex, waiting patiently (on the verge of inpatiently) for the release. Keep the work up dude. JKB

[jgehrts]

I'm always surprised to see the ideas you guys come up with.  What blows my mind is that you're able to implement them, sacrificing neither functionality nor appearance.  Your work is excellent!

[Haljackey]

Well I might be a little late joining this discussion, but honestly I don't really care if the MIS intersection has a straight arrow or not.

However, consider what happens when you build an intersection that is three-way, and not four-way (which is what I do a lot).  That straight-thru arrow will look very out of place.  However, in a four way intersection, the straight-thru arrow won`t be missed much since the traffic is turning most of the time. 
-The odd exception comes when you want to continue a road past the interchange.  Here a straight-thru arrow is required, and will look out of place if it is not included.  However, these intersections are a rarity in RL, but are used more often in SC4 (I think), so it would be nice to seen them included. 

Although a little wordy, that explains the situation in a nutshell.  Heck, it doesn`t even apply to where I live, when intersections off interchanges look like this:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=42.937449,-81.179636&spn=0.00344,0.008454&z=18

Best,
-Haljackey

[Tarkus]

However, consider what happens when you build an intersection that is three-way, and not four-way (which is what I do a lot).  T

Problem solved.



This is just a quick and dirty alteration I did--this will get centered for the final version.  It's possible to differentiate intersections where the straight arrow isn't needed, as the + and T Intersections have different IIDs--sort of similar to what I did with the TLA-3 turn lanes.

I'll also point out that these will be set up just like the new RTL plugin, so you'll have options. There will actually likely be two or three different setups you can choose.

Hope that clears things up.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[videosean]

From my personal standpoint, that's a poorly designed interchange.

I agree with you on that one.  It made me think of this one... the first time I drove into this I was like Where's the Fries? (next time we'll wash your mouth out with soap)?
X interchange?
I can only assume that one is a "great design" for some reason.  For reference, the highway running east to west there is I-270 and runs in a circle around Columbus.  There's shopping & restaurants north and south of the interchange but nothing with road access on I-270.