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CSGdesign's NATURAL GROWTH

Started by CSGdesign, November 20, 2009, 12:50:42 AM

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ACEfanatic02

Quote from: emgmod on January 09, 2010, 04:19:08 PM
Trust me, I'm reading this, but I'm lurking.
Also keep in mind that this is a smaller community than ST.

That interchange at Hektor Way looks pretty good, but it's missing one thing:  a way to turn around.  To go from the Northward to Southward (I think?) lanes, you have to get off, go all the way into the city traffic grid, and get back on.  An overpass would solve that, or even extending the west offramp access road down to Hektor Way through the forest.

...Not to get all that anal about it or anything...  ::)

-ACE
日本語勉強中-最近読んだ本はこちらで見えます。
Python Enthusiast

soulchaser

I'm also watching every update, as I did on ST before ;)

Your MD is just great, your ideas awesome, your plans perfectly made.

:thumbsup:

Recently Iced

You might also visit my participitation in GRVII - Bordertown!

Nanami

I'm see the last update but, I didn't have time to comment it.
Anyway, both are nice!

rooker1

 I wouldn't worry too much about the number of comments you recieve.  I think you need to remember that you basically just got here and that it takes a bit to gather a fanbase.  If I take a look at the number of viewers you have (@3230) I see that a lot of people are visiting.  What you need to do is figure out how to get those people out of Lurker Mode.  ;)  Otherwise I would just sit back, relax and keep on posting....as long as you are enjoying yourself of course.
As for myself, even though I don't commment here much, I can tell you that I am enjoying myself.  You have great some pictures, ideas and the overall feeling I get from your MD is very enjoyable..

Also another tip would be to visit other MDs and comment there.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Call me Robin, please.

CSGdesign


Quote from: emgmod on January 09, 2010, 04:19:08 PM
Trust me, I'm reading this, but I'm lurking.
That's a very minimalistic interchange you have there. I'm not sure about the safety of them, but they work.
Oh good!  Lurkers very welcome!   ;D
Safety is less important to Boston City Council than Simoleans at this point.  Well, there's a balance, and spending big bickies making intersections ultra-well-planned is very low on the list of priorities.
I'd be curious how you feel they may be unsafe, specifically?  But I won't force you out of the comfort of lurking if that's what you prefer.
Hope you continue to read and enjoy my MD, and feel free to make any comment or ask any question you like.

Quote from: ACEfanatic02 on January 09, 2010, 05:51:22 PM
Also keep in mind that this is a smaller community than ST.

That interchange at Hektor Way looks pretty good, but it's missing one thing:  a way to turn around.  To go from the Northward to Southward (I think?) lanes, you have to get off, go all the way into the city traffic grid, and get back on.  An overpass would solve that, or even extending the west offramp access road down to Hektor Way through the forest.

...Not to get all that anal about it or anything...  ::)

-ACE
Oh I didn't realise there was more people on ST than here... odd considering the awesome content SC4D has...
Yes the in-bound to out-bound direction swap would be an awkward one at this particular intersection, although it would be pretty drop-dead-simple 500 meters down the road at the terminating round-about.  The out-bound ramp extended down to meet Hektor Way is a good idea... I'll revisit this and see if it has merit and can be done without too much impact.  An overpass is not possible without seriously increasing the infrastructure at this intersection, so the cost I feel is unjustified.

Quote from: soulchaser on January 10, 2010, 02:11:23 PM
I'm also watching every update, as I did on ST before ;)

Your MD is just great, your ideas awesome, your plans perfectly made.

:thumbsup:
Thankyou very much soulchaser - I'm very glad you are enjoying it!  Please feel free to drop a comment or a question here or there.

Quote from: 976 on January 11, 2010, 01:44:25 AM
I'm see the last update but, I didn't have time to comment it.
Anyway, both are nice!
We're a bit over half-way done with the posts that deal with the major intersection plans.
After that we'll resume the game as the development actually begins, and I'll stop in every now and then on entries to show the development, while focusing on other parts of the city too (busy busy busy, the city never sleeps!)

Quote from: rooker1 on January 11, 2010, 04:10:19 AM
I wouldn't worry too much about the number of comments you recieve.  I think you need to remember that you basically just got here and that it takes a bit to gather a fanbase.  If I take a look at the number of viewers you have (@3230) I see that a lot of people are visiting.  What you need to do is figure out how to get those people out of Lurker Mode.  ;)  Otherwise I would just sit back, relax and keep on posting....as long as you are enjoying yourself of course.
As for myself, even though I don't commment here much, I can tell you that I am enjoying myself.  You have great some pictures, ideas and the overall feeling I get from your MD is very enjoyable..

Also another tip would be to visit other MDs and comment there.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Thanks Robin, I'll keep that in mind.
I don't want to take anyone out of Lurker Mode if that's what makes them want to stay.  But I will say that I very much enjoy being asked questions or presented with ideas that spark my imagination and can be assimilated into my city.

I do visit other people's journals, both here and on ST.



One of the single most interesting intersections planned to date was the interchange that allowed traffic to enter and exit the Western Mountain Highway from the suburb of Oakland and its neighbours.  This interchange was further out of town than the main terminating end of the WMH, but it was none-the-less very important for the local area.

Making it doubly interesting was the awkwardness which the curves of the highway presented to the construction of exit and entry ramps.  The curves were necessary to reduce the resumptions and therefore the costs of the highway, but the end result was much more land being occupied in total by the ramp system.

This was a two-edged sword.
One one hand it provided a challenge to the design of the ramp system, but on the other hand it provided the Boston City Council with the opportunity to resume large amounts of farmland that was then able to be set up as a reserve for future highway expansion, all at a very low cost compared to for example an industrial or a commercial area being demolished to make way for the new infrastructure.



The area prior to development:


The area with the proposed development superimposed for reference:



The development plan:


Points of the Plan are:

1) In-Bound Exit Ramp - ramp will allow WMH in-bound traffic to exit the highway and access Oakland, Nanogram, Walruston, and other surrounding suburbs.

2) Ramp Intersection - Allows traffic exiting highway, traffic entering highway, and traffic re-entering highway to intersect.  Give way rules apply.

3) In-Bound On Ramp - ramp will allow traffic from Oakland and surrounding area to enter the highway.

4) Deshon Road Overpass - overpass will allow traffic to cross the highway, either for local access or to change direction of travel on the highway.

5) Out-Bound On Ramp - ramp will allow traffic from Oakland and surrounding area to enter the highway.

6) Out-Bound Off Ramp - ramp will allow traffic travelling away from the CBD to exit the highway and enter the local area's traffic system.


Any questions or comments are very welcome.

soulchaser

So this is something I can't just lurk!

The effect on highlighting the Interchange is just great. maybe I'll try this on pics of mine, one day. (if I'm allowed to  ;) )

Recently Iced

You might also visit my participitation in GRVII - Bordertown!

Battlecat

You're posting these updates very fast indeed!  From the looks of your plans, it's a good thing you've got those wide bands of farmland to build these highways through! 

I particularly like the interchange in the latest update, it's going to be very interesting to see how the highway affects the growth of the local communities! 

I like that superimposed development plan you've done in the last few updates, it's a great touch!

emgmod

Quote from: CSGdesign on January 11, 2010, 04:37:38 AM
I'd be curious how you feel they may be unsafe, specifically?  But I won't force you out of the comfort of lurking if that's what you prefer.
My thought was that cars would have to decelerate from freeway speeds, stop, then make a 180 degree turn to get off. The problem is, I don't think there's enough room to build a safer on ramp.

I liked how this intersection turned out. Would it be possible to reroute on ramp #5 to off ramp #6 with an RHW-2 - Dual MIS splitter? It might take up less space, and be a little more organized.

CSGdesign

#128


Quote from: soulchaser on January 11, 2010, 05:14:27 AM
So this is something I can't just lurk!

The effect on highlighting the Interchange is just great. maybe I'll try this on pics of mine, one day. (if I'm allowed to  ;) )
I don't claim ownership of anything I produce.
The only exception to that is I don't want people uploading or sharing any of my content (like my sea-walls and stuff) without giving me credit for it.
If you see something in my diary you like and want to use yourself - go for your life, I'd be very pleased to see your interpretation of it!
That red effect seems to be getting a lot of positive response lol... it was meant to be on one entry only as a bit of extra spice but I stuck to it becuase ppl seem to like it.

Quote from: Battlecat on January 11, 2010, 10:04:49 AM
You're posting these updates very fast indeed!  From the looks of your plans, it's a good thing you've got those wide bands of farmland to build these highways through! 

I particularly like the interchange in the latest update, it's going to be very interesting to see how the highway affects the growth of the local communities! 

I like that superimposed development plan you've done in the last few updates, it's a great touch!
I'm posting one per night, on average.  I want to get the planning stage out of the way as fast as possible so I can move on with the actual building and other stories in my city.  I'm not going to interrupt the planning for a random story though, it seems better if I carry through until the end, which should be around 5 or 7 entries away I suppose.

Quote from: emgmod on January 11, 2010, 11:41:35 PM
My thought was that cars would have to decelerate from freeway speeds, stop, then make a 180 degree turn to get off. The problem is, I don't think there's enough room to build a safer on ramp.

I liked how this intersection turned out. Would it be possible to reroute on ramp #5 to off ramp #6 with an RHW-2 - Dual MIS splitter? It might take up less space, and be a little more organized.
I see.  You are correct it is a fast stop, but I have seen this kind of stop often here.  The ramp distance is around 80 meters, plenty of time to halve your speed from 100kmph to 60kpmh, but you may be right... I'll have a look and see what else can be done, but short of moving the on-ramp further west (which will take up a LOT more space) I'm not sure if it's a good idea to do that.
Your MIS splitter idea is a nice one - I'll see if it allows it near that main curve in the highway... it might not be possible in that area without haggard sharp changes in the road width (which I hate).



As the Western Mountain Highway progresses further and further out of town (as with the other highways forming this project) it becomes less densely trafficked and therefore less money and effort needs to be spent on making elaborate intersections.

In fact, at some point, it becomes just like any other country road, except graded and curved to allow for a higher speed limit.

This plan deals with the last two intersections before the road becomes reduced to a two-lane highway passing through farmland and undeveloped state land.



The first intersection we come across is the Maynard Road intersection.  Maynard Road is the northern-western most main entrance into this city district, and will be intersected cleanly by the new highway.

Traffic on Maynard Road is currently very low (it is little more than a rural road between areas of farmland).  Traffic on the highway at this point will be comprised almost entirely of inter-city traffic (also expected to be quite low for the next 10 or 20 years), so a simple at-grade set of lights is deemed acceptable at this intersection.

It is important to note that only a few hundred meters west of this intersection the highway is reduced to two lanes and remains that way until it leaves the entire region.

The area prior to development:



The area with the proposed development superimposed for reference:


The next intersection we look at is a little further in towards the city, and is an overpass that will replace a road that will be completely truncated by the new WM Highway.  Without this overpass properties and businesses to the north of the new highway would be completely cut off.

Area prior to development:


Area with proposed development superimposed for reference:


Plan of the development:


Points of the Plan include:

1) Maynard Road Intersection - a same-grade intersection that will favour the highway traffic at a ratio of 3 to 1.  Clearly labelled entrances and lights will direct traffic to alternate between Maynard Road through traffic, Western Mountain Highway through traffic, traffic turning from Maynard Road into the WMH, and traffic turning from the WMH into Maynard Road.

2) Detail of Intersection - shows location of lights and lane direction allocation.

3) Hydralix Street Overpass
- replaces existing Hydralix Street to allow local through traffic.  Access to the highway is not permitted at this point... local traffic must either travel west to the Maynard Road intersection, or east to the Oakland Interchange.  Most local traffic is rural and light residential, and has main road access along Oakland Road to either highway access points.

As always I welcome the input and queries of you as a reader of this journal.  Your input and feedback are what inspires me and makes this journal take unexpected directions, so gimme yer best shot!

Tomas Neto

Very cool the way how you present your projects in your updates!!! Really fantastic!!!  :thumbsup:

Battlecat

Looks good for the initial freeway design on both counts.  I hope the city is clever enough to maintain some reserve land around the first intersection!  While traffic light intersections with highways work up to a certain volume, if the freeway traffic gets to high, there will be demand for a free flowing interchange.

We have that exact problem in the city I work for in the real world.  The highway through town has recently (last 15 years) exploded with traffic and we really need to upgrade our main intersection to a free flowing system.  Unfortunately businesses have grown up nearby which is going to make the design very challenging.  Makes me wish a couple of the buildings there had never been built! 

Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see what sort of approach your region takes regarding future capacity upgrades! 

bat

Nice updates there! Great work on the highway... :thumbsup:

CSGdesign



Quote from: Tomas Neto on January 12, 2010, 12:31:51 PM
Very cool the way how you present your projects in your updates!!! Really fantastic!!!  :thumbsup:
Ha, thanks Tomas, I'm very happy that you like it!
They might all start to look the same lately, but this will become just a brief set of updates in the long-term, which can be referred to as a cluster... we'll resume the normal random-story posting once this planning is completed.

Quote from: Battlecat on January 12, 2010, 01:27:12 PM
Looks good for the initial freeway design on both counts.  I hope the city is clever enough to maintain some reserve land around the first intersection!  While traffic light intersections with highways work up to a certain volume, if the freeway traffic gets to high, there will be demand for a free flowing interchange.

We have that exact problem in the city I work for in the real world.  The highway through town has recently (last 15 years) exploded with traffic and we really need to upgrade our main intersection to a free flowing system.  Unfortunately businesses have grown up nearby which is going to make the design very challenging.  Makes me wish a couple of the buildings there had never been built! 

Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see what sort of approach your region takes regarding future capacity upgrades! 
Most of these highways have large expanses of resumed farmland as corridors around them, and where council hasn't directly purchased the land, it has flagged it as "non-developpable" so that in future it will be much less expensive to resume for expansions.  Boston is planning ahead in this way, yes.  Still in a Natural Growth way... that is in a realistic way, not a grand-plan top-down master built way, but in a "the city is looking towards the future and can afford the investment now rather than a much larger investment being required later" kind of way.

Quote from: bat on January 13, 2010, 09:13:32 AM
Nice updates there! Great work on the highway... :thumbsup:
Thankyou very much bat, and welcome to my journal!  I hope you enjoy it!



The Kelly Bay Crossing was one of the more ambitious of the Eastern Sea-Board Highway proposals.
It involved not only crossing the Kelly Bay inlet with four lanes of fast-moving traffic at a height that allowed ferry and yacht access, but also involved the exchange of traffic with the local area, all within a very confined amount of space, and while minimising the impact to the budding region of Kelly Bay.

In the end the design was drafted that utilised the existing Kromagnom Bridge as part of the exchange, requiring traffic from either side of the river to cross over this bridge to gain access to the highway to continue travelling in the same direction.

This reduced the number of on-ramps from four to two, and effectively made the entire crossing one huge exchange, rather than having two seperate exchanges on either side of the crossing.

It was an ambitious project, but ultimately one which looked as though it would achieve its mandates.



The area prior to development:



The area showing the proposed development as an overlay for reference:


Plan of the Development:


Points of the Plan include:

1) North-Bound Highway Off-Ramp - allows traffic to exit the highway from an in-bound direction and integrate with the local traffic grid.

2) Buffin Street Overpass
- allows local traffic and highway exitting traffic to cross the highway in an east-west direction for local access.

3) South-Bound Highway On-Ramp - allows traffic to enter the highway from local area and travel in an out-bound direction.

4) Kelly Bay Crossing - a set of two double-lane bridges that provide highway traffic crossing over Kelly Bay Inlet, at a height which allows ferry and yacht access to Kelly Bay.

5) Jefferson Road Overpass - allows local traffic and highway exitting traffic to cross the highway in an east-west direction for local access.

6) North-Bound Highway On-Ramp - allows traffic to enter the highway from local area and travel in an in-bound direction.

7) South-Bound Highway Off-Ramp
- allows traffic to exit the highway from an out-bound direction and integrate with the local traffic grid.

A slightly more complex design than some of the other exchanges in the highway plan, but it served very well to link Kelly Bay to not only the heart of Boston, but to the rest of Simnation too.

mightygoose

nice use of hybrid junctions to split the interchange over the river, very efficient, i would recommend  upgrading the streets around the existing road bridge to cater for traffic looking to enter, exit the new freeway.
NAM + CAM + RAM + SAM, that's how I roll....

bat


Battlecat

Interesting setup, I can see how thats going to save money, but I expect that road bridge is going to see increased use as well!  Businesses along the road accessing the second bridge are going to be happy though, there will be a lot of traffic through town! 

canyonjumper

Wow! Nice setup. I like how you showed the proposed bridge as an overlay. 7

                   -Jordan
I'm the one who jumped across the Grand Canyon... and lived.

newsimaddict

Great work on the interchange work! Only further shows the thought and time you spend on your work... :)

Nanami


CSGdesign



Quote from: mightygoose on January 14, 2010, 06:00:20 AM
nice use of hybrid junctions to split the interchange over the river, very efficient, i would recommend  upgrading the streets around the existing road bridge to cater for traffic looking to enter, exit the new freeway.
The roads connecting to all of these intersections will be upgraded as required, but that's seperate to the planning of the intersection itself.  That will be more reactionary than planned.

Quote from: bat on January 14, 2010, 07:50:38 AM
That's really nice agian!  :thumbsup:
Thankyou - though many of your peers disagreed.

Quote from: Battlecat on January 14, 2010, 08:22:49 AM
Interesting setup, I can see how thats going to save money, but I expect that road bridge is going to see increased use as well!  Businesses along the road accessing the second bridge are going to be happy though, there will be a lot of traffic through town! 
That was the plan - that way I go back to the reactionary city building that this journal is more about than the planning this highway is forcing on me.  Reacting to traffic is how I like to build and how I get random and chaotic form to my suburbs, so where-ever possible I leave that element unchecked.

Quote from: canyonjumper on January 14, 2010, 04:02:25 PM
Wow! Nice setup. I like how you showed the proposed bridge as an overlay. 7

                   -Jordan
Thankyou Jordan, and welcome to my diary - I hope you enjoy it.
That overlay effect seems to be quite popular.

Quote from: newsimaddict on January 14, 2010, 05:07:19 PM
Great work on the interchange work! Only further shows the thought and time you spend on your work... :)
Thanks newsimaddict... I'm most of the way through the highway planning now - soon I can begin the building, which I'll only feature at milestones while I post other stories in my previous random focus style.

Quote from: 976 on January 14, 2010, 05:48:49 PM
Great job!
Thanks 976!  However many other ppl at Simtropolis disagreed, which is the reason for the following entry.  ;D



Well the Kelly Bay Crossing proposal for the Eastern Sea-Board Highway south was a fail.
In fact, it was so much of a fail that to this day council fears planning major infrastructure anywhere near Kelly Bay.  Strictly street upgrades and city beautification only please, those Kelly Bay residents BIGHT.



The plans to build a crossing over Kelly Bay Inlet through the centre of Kelly Bay itself was met not only with protest, but with the biggest and most aggressive protest in Boston history.



Fortunately the crowd didn't riot, but it was definately touch-and-go for awhile.  When the councillor conceded that it was only a plan and would be revisited the crowd was somewhat pleased, and put several cars down that they were considering chucking into the river, which was nice of them.  Eventually everyone went home for pizza and TV, but what a day!

A new route for the highway was proposed.  One which bypassed Kelly Bay altogether to the west (which would cost about the same if as the crossing anyway), and north of Tunnings Quarry and the rest of the mining district to the south-west.



The engineer that had originally proposed the Kelly Bay Crossing, and had spent several months planning the exercise, vanished shortly afterwards, never to be heard from again.

Some say he was so depressed and rejected that he moved to Adelaide (it's considered a worse self-punishment than suicide), and others swear that he became a shaman teaching voodoo ways of removing fungal rot from toe-nails living in a hut on in the distant Western Mountain Range.



Nobody really knows for sure, but one thing is for certain - Kelly Bay Inlet will not be being crossed by a highway in the immediate future.