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Tarkusian Cities (Update 107-08/23/2020-West Chemeketa Reconfig, Part 1)

Started by Tarkus, June 17, 2007, 08:31:07 PM

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calibanX

Nice update you have here. Good to see you back. I love the map!

Geoff
Where City and Country Flow Together

penguin007

Awesome work as always your road networks always provide a wealth of inspiration

Will

noahclem

Nice update again! Not sure how I missed it back in October  &mmm

The C/D setup came together really nice  &apls  I've been pondering somewhat similar setups in some areas since I hate weaving hazards and would like more ramps in really dense areas. As always I enjoy the step-by-step methodology of the progress in your updates. I'll look forward to more  ;D

sebes

Had great pleasure in watching some pages of Tarkusian art again today!!   

Although I miss some of the good old "drunk engineers" intersection bottlenecks in the makeovers  :P
Check my MD:               
Rhenen,NN

Tarkus

Hi everyone-

Well, after a nearly 4 month hiatus, Tarkusian Cities is at least temporarily back in action with the first update of 2011.  I don't know how regularly I'll be able to really update things after this--that'll largely depend on RL and how things are going on my various transit modding projects.  But I've undertaken quite a few "construction" projects in Chemeketa that I haven't shown yet, and some of which dovetail nicely with some of the new stuff we're developing on the NAM Team, so I felt it was time to finally bring some activity back here.

First off, I'm going to get to a few long-overdue replies.

RickD:  Thanks, I'm glad you found the mini-C/D to your liking!  I've been finding that sort of setup actually squeaks into a denser area pretty well, and I have a larger scale one that will make an appearance in a later update.

Jayster: Thanks for the kind words--the form my updates have taken is actually something that just kind of happened by accident, believe it or not. :D  But I've kept with it, as it allows for the creation of "storylines" that are very directly oriented to the game, and it fits with the very transport-centric (and road-centric in specific) way I play the game.

Haljackey:  Yes, and it's awoken for an even deeper sleep this time.  This MD's a regular Rip Van Winkle, I suppose. :D  Thanks for the congrats on 100k and the compliments on the construction!  It's kind of funny, a lot of times, when putting together updates, I actually ask myself, "have I done enough construction for this update?". 

mightygoose: Thanks for the kind words--and the white bordering is the result of Magnification/Minification Filter and Wrapping-type issues on the S3Ds on the puzzle piece tiles.  It's been fixed now, fortunately.  And for anyone wanting to avoid that issue in their own content, a little helpful tip--set the Magnification and Minification to "Bilinear", and Wrapping to "Clamb" (which is really supposed to be "Clamp"--and is if you're using one of the Reader 1.x) releases.  I've been going through and adjusting many of the RHW S3Ds over to that setting during the course of development on Version 4.2, though it's a long and tedious process.

Joan (Jmouse): Thanks for the compliments on the update and the interchange work!  Yeah, it was a pretty pricey project, but fortunately, ORDOT has a fair bit of funding to throw around, and the property taxes and Traffic Impact Fees off of all those skyscrapers downtown really raked in the revenue, too.  That particular interchange will likely get some use by passing-through motorists, as it accesses "the main drag" through downtown Chemeketa (the Division/Commerce couplet) as well as "the main drag" through Vivien Heights (Wallace Road).  However, it's largely been designed such that the surface street-to-freeway movements are more direct than the surface street-to-surface street connections, meaning that locals are the primary users of the more complicated movements through there.

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

bat: Thank you for the kind words--I'm glad the update was to your liking!

Arthur (art128): Thanks, I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed the construction and liked the RHW usage--plenty more of that sort of thing to come in future updates. :)

Nego: Thanks for the compliments on the construction--and the next update is finally here!

Battlecat: Thank you for the compliments--I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed the update, and congratulations on making it into the Hall of Fame!  It's great to have another fantastic road-oriented MD in the ranks here. :thumbsup:

Geoff (calibanX): Thanks for the kind words--I'm particularly glad to hear you enjoyed the map, and I hope you enjoy this latest update!

Will (penguin007): I'm glad I could provide inspiration on the road network side of things--thank you for the all-too-kind words!

Noah (noahclem): Thanks!  I kind of slipped in under the radar, I suppose. ::)  I'm glad to hear you like the C/D setup--I've really found them to be quite useful in areas where you need a lot of access to freeways, though they do require a fair bit of planning in advance.  I'll have another one to show in a future update that is of at least equal complexity.

sebes: Thank you for the kind words, my friend!  Glad you enjoyed reading through the latest developments here, and yeah, the old "drunk engineers" updates really bring back some good memories.  Good memories of fixing those roadways, and laughing at how off-the-wall some of my old pre-slope-mod setups were. :D  I've still got Argentum around--may have to do an "Argentum Re-revisited" series one of these days. ::)




Now onto the update itself.  We'll be looking at one of the final pieces of the Wallace Corridor Project--the Halvorson Road widening in South Chemeketa, marked as segment "E" on the good ol' project map. 



This will be a little bit smaller update to get back in the swing of things here.

Well, back for more on the Wallace Corridor Project--this time, we'll be taking a very brief look at the Halvorson Road widening project on the south end of the project bounds, marked "E" on the project map.

This is a fairly straightforward widening project, and will involve widening Halvorson from the Wallace/River Road intersection, to just south of 35th Avenue SW.  The existing roadway consists of 2 travel lanes, and will consist of 4 travel lanes plus a center turn lane upon completion.  Existing development left enough right-of-way (ROW) to allow this project to be constructed with minimal impact on surrounding development (primarily residential neighborhoods).  Additional funding has also been acquired to widen a short stretch of Halvorson south of the project bounds to accommodate a 2-lane facility with a landscaped median.

This is at the intersection with 31st Avenue (facing south).  As you can see, a temporary roadway corresponding to the width of the future roadway has been constructed, with traffic shifted onto it in parts, and the old roadway has been ground down to allow for reinforcement of the road base.  Access to nearby neighborhoods has been maintained during construction, though it involves braving a little bit of gravel.



A little farther north, at the 29th Avenue intersection. (facing south)



Fresh pavement is being applied over the old roadway. (facing south)



The finished roadway is in place on the south side of 35th Avenue. (facing south)



The 31st Avenue intersection after construction. (facing south)



At 29th Avenue, after construction. (facing south)



The "added" section south of the previous project bounds has been widened to its new width.  More in the way of "proper" landscaping will be added later.



Well, with the Wallace Corridor project mostly out of the way, "what's next?", you may be asking.  Well, we'll be headed up to North Chemeketa to finally tackle "Dangerous Intersection #1" as mentioned in Update 62--Highway 219 at 52nd Avenue--amongst other projects in that area.



I won't entirely give away what all will be happening with it yet, other than to say it'll be getting a very dramatic facelift that will tie into some longer-term regional plans for the roadway system in the Chemeketa Metro Area.

One last detail before I conclude this latest update . . . a lingering question asked by our friend Nick (citybuilderx):

Quote from: citybuilderx on July 27, 2010, 10:44:03 AM
Have you considered using road signs? I think it would make your pictures more realistic.

Argentum, back in the day--shortly after I just discovered custom content in early-2006, was signed to the hilt, with all custom stuff made using the old "GHDSP" set released by artforce1.  I've got some images somewhere, though they're pretty primitive compared to the signage standards of today.  Had just about everything signed up, but the signs quickly went out of date due to my frequent tearing up of the entire roadway system in that region. :D  I've intermittently played around with signage since then--you've probably noticed my Oregon-style speed limit signs in many updates, applied with the rough alpha of the old Signage Piece Mod (which is still in snail's pace development and has gotten a new name).  I got the bug to start playing around with what roadgeeks call "BGSes" ("big green signs"--self-explanatory name :D) again, and started playing around with some of the newer pre-made gantry sets over on the STEX, but wasn't really satisfied with the results.  So I took matters into my own hands.  I actually had built up an Inkscape-based "template" of sorts awhile back for signmaking purposes, so I whipped that together along with a new gantry I BATed myself (based on what the RL ODOT uses) and churned this out last night:



A bit rough perhaps, but I thought I'd share it here to see what Tarkusian Cities readers thought, since they may end up in future updates.  (I did that "exit gore" sign in the background awhile back as well . . . they're basically "Frankenstein" models I pieced out of the GHDSP--the scale is way off on them.  $%Grinno$%)

Anyways, thank you for all your support, my apologies for the lack of updates over the past few months, and I hope you enjoyed this long overdue installment!

Also, a congratulatory shoutout to Battlecat and Yan077 on making the SC4D Mayor's Diary Hall of Fame, with their MDs Adara and Corsica

-Alex

bat

The roadmap looks great!
Also fantastic new update there!
Looking forward to more... ;)

JoeST

Fantastic, glad to see you back :D

and yay to sideprojects like signs  ::)

Joe
Copperminds and Cuddleswarms

RickD

I already have several ideas how I would rebuild "Dangerous Intersection #1". I am sure you will come up with something really awesome. Maybe including some unreleased stuff?  ;)
My name is Raphael.
Visit my MD: Empire Bay (My old MD: Santa Barbara County)

penguin007


Ramona Brie

Nice work, Tarkus. May I ask where those blue-roofed homes came from? I need more homes to fit on 1x3 style lots because I often see the 2x3s gobbled up quicker...

Tarkus

Hi everyone-

Well, in true NAMite spirit, I have a surprise--the second update this week. :thumbsup:

But first, replies:

bat: Thanks, my friend--I'm glad you enjoyed the update and the map!

JoeST: Thanks--it's good to be back. :)  And things are going full steam ahead with the sideproject, of which you'll see some progress in coming updates.

Raphael (RickD):  Thanks for stopping in!  And yes, there will be at least a little unreleased stuff showcased as part of the Highway 219/52nd Avenue project--not what one might expect, either.

Will (penguin007: Thanks for the kind words--I'm sure your wish will be fulfilled here. :)

Raymie (Tracker): Thanks--I'm glad you enjoyed it!  To answer your question, that's Mattb325's Melrose.  There's two versions included, one with the blue roof.




Well, this is going to be a small update, and doesn't include any construction.  Instead, we'll be looking at the finished result of some of the upgrades to Highway 36 through downtown as part of the Wallace Corridor Project, in the form of a mosaic.  The thumbnail links to the full resolution version, which is almost as wide as it is high. (Yay 1366px screen!)



Hope you enjoy it!  We'll be putting on the hard hats again next update, and heading up to North Chemeketa.

-Alex

Ryan B.

Great mosaic, Alex!  The way the highway is surrounded by skyscrapers sort of reminds me of Dubai.  I don't know if that's quite what you were going for, but it's striking nonetheless.

I've got my hard hat and am ready to head north!


noahclem

A surprise indeed! Glad to see activity in Chemeketa again  :thumbsup:

The Halvorson/Wallace widening project worked out well and I like the view of downtown with the C/D system. I'm curious to see your solution to the problem intersection and look forward to some development dovetailing ;)

Battlecat

Well it's great to see you're back in business here!  That large image looks great, although a bit blurry at full zoom.  Doesn't take away from the great character your downtown area is developing though. 

Thanks for the kind welcome as well!

Nego

Nice updates, Tarkus! &apls Highway 36 is looking great and so is the rest of the construction. A suggestion for your future highway signs: Use cylinders instead of rectangular prisms in the BAT. It looks a lot nicer. ;) Can't wait for the next update! :thumbsup:

Tarkus

Hi everyone-

Well, I'm back for a third update this week . . . and we'll finally be getting down and dirty with a new construction project. 

But first, replies:

Ryan B:  Thanks for the compliments on the mosaic! :)  I can see the Dubai connection there . . . there's some very modernistic aspects to it, definitely.  There's also some very "Haljackian" aspects to it as well.  And I'm glad you've got your hard hat all ready to go!

bat: Thanks, my friend--I'm glad you enjoyed the mosaic!

Noah (noahclem): Thanks for the welcome back!  It's good to have Chemeketa up and going again.  I'm glad you liked the C/D system and I hope you find the problem intersection fix interesting. :)

Battlecat: Thanks--it's good to be back!  And thanks for the kind words on the downtown and the constructive feedback on the mosaic--I'll have to look into my JPG export settings. 

Nego: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the updates and the construction!  Thanks for the suggestion as well . . . I had debated on going with cylinders on the model, but I ended up going with a square design based on my inspiration.  That being said, I'd like to experiment around with that now. :)






The Northern Crossing Project consists of a series of major safety and capacity improvements centering around the vicinity of 52nd Avenue and Highway 219 in the northern section of Chemeketa, including the 52nd Avenue Bridge, over which Highway 221 crosses the Willamette River between Chemeketa and Vivien Heights.  The rough vicinity of the project bounds is shown on the map below:



With the explosive residential and high-tech sector growth in the region, the existing roadways are no longer adequate, with the signalized intersection at Highway 219/52nd Avenue being a primary chokepoint and safety hazard.  Statistics show that this intersection is currently the most dangerous in the entire Chemeketa Metro Area, operating at Level of Service F, with a Volume/Capacity (v/c) ratio of 1.06, failing to meet ORDOT standards.

The Chemeketa Metro Area Regional Transport (CMART) Plan, undertaken by the City of Chemeketa, with assistance from consultant VH1M Krill, includes a new expressway-grade roadway connecting Downtown and North Chemeketa up with Highway 15, the tentatively named Chemeketa Parkway.  Further studies and citizen involvement have shown that the most optimal routing of this new roadway uses a portion of the existing alignment of Highway 219, roughly between 33rd Avenue NE and 59th Avenue NE.  As the Northern Crossing Project area overlaps with this segment, a portion of the Chemeketa Parkway will be constructed as well during this project.

In this update, we'll be looking at the replacement of the 52nd Avenue Bridge and the start of work on the 52nd/Hwy 219 intersection.

Here's the infamous intersection, in all its substandard glory (facing south):



This is along Highway 219, as Chemeketa Parkway work begins (facing south):



Here's the intersection with some construction activity right now (facing south).  You should be able to get some idea of just what the improvements will entail from this view.



Now over to the 52nd Avenue Bridge.  A temporary bridge is going in place here while the new one is built, and traffic is being diverted onto it.  (facing south)





The old bridge is demolished (facing south)





Here's part of the old alignment of 52nd on the Vivien Heights side of the river, next to the temporary alignment and with the ground cleared in between for the new one. (facing south)



A little peak at the new twin 52nd Avenue bridges, with some tweaking of the connection to the temporary alignment (facing east)



The new bridge roadway is closer to being connected (facing east)



This is back on the west side of the river, where the new alignment is in place . . . and it's elevated. (facing east)  You can see the old alignment and the temporary alignment connection below.



The new elevated RHW section connected into the old Road-based section of 52nd Ave NW, at the intersection with Greenwich Avenue NW, which is also a bit of a chokepoint. (facing east)  We'll see what happens with that next time.



A look at the twin bridges (facing east).



And the twin bridges have been, at least for now, connected into the old intersection (facing east).



We'll see more of the improvements from both sides of the river next update--hope you enjoyed this latest installment.

We're also approaching the big #1100 here very soon--thank you for all your support!

-Alex

Ramona Brie

Ooh la la! The cranes are very nice. Are we going to see a grade separation there soon?

With that in mind, the current RHW-4/Avenue transition does not look good accompanied by those turn lanes. 

noahclem

Interesting developments! I'm very curious to see how the rest of the freeway alignment will go. Nice bridges, BTW  ;)

dedgren

Whoa, Alex!  A three-fer!

Stimulus money?  In any event, I'm sure the local residents consider it well-spent.

And TC's 1100th post, coming up in 10...9...8...7...


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
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I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren