The Prime Road Avenue (PRA) Project

[kbieniu7]

In my opinion lanes are too narrow

[z]

Are they any narrower than on the Maxis highways?  If so, by how much?

[Patricius Maximus]

I really like this project, and I have great uses for this concept, so keep progressing on it. You're doing good work here.

[just_a_guy]

Hello everyone!

I've gone ahead and tried making some US textures for the initial textures. Here's a pic with them together:


I'd be interested in doing more textures for this awesome project so let me know if you like them or what I should change on them.

Keep up the great work!

[MandelSoft]

@Just_a_guy: Nice textures. The only change I would make is removing the EXIT ONLY text, because it's a accelleration lane too (the piece can be mirrored).

@z: It's slightly wide than a MHW. Every lane of the Urban PRA set is 3.5m wide (which will also be the width of the Real Roads. I know some roads here with lanes of only 2m wide!) , and the Rural set will be even a bit wider.
ss
@RickD: Yes, in fact, this is the answer to dedgren's Real Road, only then for avenues 

@Moderator or Administrator: Can you move this thread to the NAM Creations section, please?

Best,
Maarten

[io_bg]

Maarten, can I ask you something - will there be diagonals?

[z]

@z: It's slightly wide than a MHW. Every lane of the Urban PRA set is 3.5m wide (which will also be the width of the Real Roads. I know some roads here with lanes of only 2m wide!) , and the Rural set will be even a bit wider.

Well, that should put an end to worries about lanes being so narrow that vehicles will crash into each other.

[Shadow Assassin]

In my opinion, I don't really see the point of having "Prime Road Avenues", when existing avenues and one-way roads could be RHW-ified with offramps, etc and corresponding TULEP sets... it just feels like a needless duplication of a already-perfectly functioning network, even if the lanes are narrower. That being said, though, it could be applied as an urban highway project where it could be used in inner-city areas, complete with compact interchanges, pretty much the whole shebang.

We'd be better off looking at expanding existing Maxis networks, tbh. Sorry if I sound a little discouraging, but hopefully these ideas should help you some.

[wallasey]

Now this is sexy 

I'll second that!

[nerdly_dood]

In my opinion, I don't really see the point of having "Prime Road Avenues", when existing avenues and one-way roads could be RHW-ified with offramps, etc and corresponding TULEP sets... it just feels like a needless duplication of a already-perfectly functioning network, even if the lanes are narrower. That being said, though, it could be applied as an urban highway project where it could be used in inner-city areas, complete with compact interchanges, pretty much the whole shebang.

We'd be better off looking at expanding existing Maxis networks, tbh. Sorry if I sound a little discouraging, but hopefully these ideas should help you some.

I'll second that.

[Korot]

I'll second that!

I have another definition of sexy, it looks good though.

Regards,
Korot

[j-dub]

My thoughts, the issue is that since the PRA ramps use MIS which is a good idea, its the issue that the main lanes (while the traffic still fits) are smaller in comparison to the MIS lanes side by side. Thats what makes this look odd. I also would like to point out how small the lane space is between two buses and freight trucks on this network.

Now if they were the closer to being the same size together instead, this would not seem as awkward, but MIS was here first, and has rights to the width its at already. The same way with how Maxis highways have ramps wider then the highway lanes themselves. It would seem like less pieces would have to be made if building off Avenues instead, and wouldn't be fighting for RUL space in the NAM controller as much this way. I understand pieces were already made, but its not too late to change.

However, I think Mrtnrln did hit it on the money with his American textures.

Below is a solution to the resolve the size of the lanes versus the MIS base off Just a Guy's style.

[RickD]

I agree to Maarten when he says that there is a network missing in between the RHW and the existing avenues.
In my current region I experiment with suburbs. I use the avenue as collector roads to lead traffic from local roads into the city center or to the RHW. But avenues just don't look good to me in this situation. I hate the median and the sidewalks. And the RHW looks too Interstate-like.
I would also love to have advanced intersections like the one above.

However, my main concern with this project is that it might be redundant to the NWM project .

[delta9]

Lump me in with the crowd that doesn't get it.  While I do understand what is being done here, and its purpose, it seems as though such a thing will be accomplished later on in what I see as an inevitable convergence of the NWM and the RHW.  I love the "RealRoads" concept, but I see extending it to avenues in this manner as a sort of limiting case of the NWM and future RHW updates and features.  Perhaps the demand for it justifies it being developed sooner rather than later, and I am just not familiar enough with the concept in real life to understand any real use for it (hell, I live in Texas, everything has ramps and slip lanes here, why do I not get this?  ).  However, I do understand that as to date, no actual interface or integration between RHW components and avenues, as depicted here, have been created or officially announced (though Tarkus did say that the idea had crossed his mind), so in a certain respect, I do see it as a viable stopgap solution to this supposed (by me only, I'm not saying it will happen) convergence further down the line.

So maybe I was wrong in what I said in the beginning of this post.  I like the idea on its own and do support it, but I think it should be developed in concert with the RHW and NWM, but I'm not sure which, since it seems to straddle both equally, in concept and in implementation... and heck, maybe if this can get finished quickly, whoever worked on it can start working on the NWM and get that out too 

Sorry if this is a bit nonsensical... my middle name is "beer" on Friday nights... and every other day that ends in "y" 

[citymax]

Wowowow 

EDIT: I think your texture are too clear

[nerdly_dood]

I entirely agree with J-Dub, and I think his wider version of the texture is much better (although I can see a bit of quality loss due to JPEG compression)

My preference for this would be something like a cross between avenues and RHW:
- RHW speed limit would probably be about 65mph, and i'd say avenues are 45mph - that would give this Prime Road/Avenue thing a speed limit of 55.
- RHW has a hard, paved shoulder; avenues have no shoulder - this would have a soft, gravel or dirt shoulder
- RHW has very few at-grade intersections; avenues only use at-grade intersections - this would use a combination of at-grade intersections with slip lanes for secondary roads or other PRAs, and some off/onramps for other PRA intersections with more traffic, or intersections with RHWs.

So pretty much this is my thinking - This is a step between RHW and avenues. RHWs are the equivalent of American Interstates, being for long-distance travel, or for urban freeways. Avenues are for shorter intra-city travel; roads are for local traffic, and streets are just side streets, with one-way roads being primarily for downtown areas where one must maximize efficiency however possible, since there isn't much room for expansion. So the PRA fills the gap between RHW and avenues, and would be most likely for regional intercity travel - typically distances under 200 miles.

[z]

- RHW speed limit would probably be about 65mph, and i'd say avenues are 45mph - that would give this Prime Road/Avenue thing a speed limit of 55.

In Simulator Z, avenues are 30 mph - the same as roads.  Avenues vary slightly in the other simulators, but in A and B they're also the same as roads.  This is necessary for NWM compatibility.  If the PRA is being built off the road or avenue network, it would have to have the same speed as well.  It's not possible to give it a speed between avenues and highways.

[Patricius Maximus]

To the detractors of the PRA Concept: You may have no use for this, but I do, and so do many others. The function that arterial roads fill is a vital one in many regions, yet there is no good network for arterial roads -- avenues are too intracity-ish, and RHW, well, that is for freeways, something that arterial roads are not. The PRA fills this role nicely, and I encourage the developers to do this, especially since the NWM is frozen at the moment.

[metasmurf]

Keep doing what you are doing, I will surely use it

[wallasey]

I wish to second what Patricius Maximus wrote; This is the missing piece of the jigsaw as far as I am concerned with regards to a region's road network.

A big well done to the progress that has been made so far.