What you see in front of you in the title photo is nothing more than new concept intersection on the highway, which aims to eliminate the need for a left turn, thereby reducing the risk of serious accidents at times. We agree that at first glance, all this heap of lanes looks like complete chaos, but experts say that the future is behind such safe interchanges.
The concept is actually not new. For the first time, this type of interchange was proposed by an engineering student many years ago, in 2000 this type of interchange appeared on the pages of Gilbert Chlewicki's thesis, although, according to some sources, similar ones were previously built in France, albeit in small quantities.
Since then, interchanges of similar design have begun to appear experimentally on US roads. The experiment was expanded and at the moment there are more than 100 such interchanges in several states.
The largest of these is in Florida, where last year road workers completed a diverging diamond interchange (these huge intersections are so named due to the peculiar form of connection of internal roads) on University Boulevard on the Manatee and Sarasota County line, which at its widest point is up to 12 lanes movement. (A map of "diamond interchanges" around the world can be found here.)
What is the essence and meaning of such a denouement? The concept is pretty simple: fewer stopping points for drivers, greater capacity, less congestion, and the complete elimination of left turns that cross oncoming traffic. Here's the official video from the Florida Department of Transportation showing how it all works:
As you can see from the video, crossing two opposite directions of traffic under the bridge removes the need for a left turn against traffic.
True, those of the drivers who have already experienced all the delights of the new generation of automobile urbanization said that in order to understand where to go and how it all works, it is necessary to drive through a difficult intersection several times. It is very rare that someone is able to pass the test the first time and leave in the right direction.
The researchers, however, said that the so-called "diverging diamond decouplings" reduce fatal crashes by more than 60 percent and normal crashes by about 33 percent. They can also be designed with bicycle and pedestrian paths placed on them. This is demonstrated on the video.
How are things at the biggest interchange in Florida? Pretty good, according to a post on the website of America's Transportation Awards, an organization partially sponsored by the AAA and the US Chamber of Commerce.
Since its discovery, motorists using the service have experienced a 40 percent reduction in travel delays, up to 50 percent reduction in car accidents by reducing the number of so-called conflict points, and improved mobility.
What will the new outcomes give and will they appear not only in the USA, but in other countries of the world, for example, in Russia? Mainly, in our opinion, "diamond junctions" show a very important trend of modern major highways. Turning left sooner or later must completely leave them, including in the form of an arrow at a traffic light.
According to SP 34.13330.2012, intersections and junctions at different levels (traffic interchanges) should be taken in the following cases:
- - on roads of IA and 1B categories - with motor roads of all categories;
- - IB category - with roads, the estimated traffic intensity on which exceeds 1000 vehicles / day;
- – IB category with six or more lanes – with motor roads of all categories;
- - II and III categories - between themselves with a total estimated traffic intensity of more than 12,000 vehicles / day.
Intersections and junctions of roads in the plan are located on straight sections or on curves with radii of at least 2000 m on roads of categories IA, 1B, No. and II and with radii of at least 800 m on roads of categories III and IV.
Crossings and junctions on roads of category IA outside settlements are provided no more than 10 km, on roads of categories 1B and II - 5 km, and on roads of category III - 2 km, taking into account specific conditions (building, drawing the existing road network, etc. .d.).
Transport interchanges for highways ahs at different levels are classified according to the outline in the plan and methods of organizing movement on them.
By outline in plan transport interchanges can be divided into the following groups:
- - clover-shaped;
- - ring;
- - cruciform;
- – complex intersections with semi-straight and direct left-turn ramps;
- - junctions.
By way to organize a left turn(Figure 5.19):
- - indirect;
- - on the ring;
- - semi-straight;
- - straight.
In the practice of domestic design, clover-shaped intersections of roads with indirect left turns (Fig. 5.20) are most widely used.
In this case, there are decouplings of the type:
- - a full clover leaf, providing a complete decoupling of traffic in all directions (Fig. 5.20, but);
- - a compressed clover leaf, arranged in cramped conditions of urban development (Fig. 5.20, b).
Rice. 5.19.
but- indirect; b- on the ring; in- semi-straight; G- straight.
Rice. 5.20.
but– with eight single-track exits; b– with four double-track ramps
When crossing by the type of clover leaf, an overpass is arranged in the center. Intersecting roads are interconnected by ramps - single-track or double-track (see Fig. 5.20).
In the first case, the number of exits is eight. At the same time, four congresses serve for turns to the right and four - to the left. The ramps used for turning left are reminiscent of clover leaves, hence the name of the road junction.
In the second case, the number of exits is four, and each exit serves to turn both right and left.
Cloverleaf with eight single-track exits should be preferred over four double-track exits, as there is oncoming traffic at each double-track exit, which reduces traffic safety at the interchange.
When crossing a road of category I with roads of lower categories (III-V), as well as on roads of categories II-IV, intersections of the type of incomplete cloverleaf are used, allowing intersections of left-turn traffic flows in secondary directions at the same level (Fig. 5.21).
Rice. 5.21.
but– incomplete cloverleaf with four single-track ramps; 6 – with two double-track exits located in neighboring quarters; in- the same in cross-lying quarters; G– incomplete cloverleaf on the river bank
The following varieties of incomplete cloverleaf are possible:
- - with four single-track exits (Fig. 5.21, but);
- - two double-track exits located in neighboring quarters (Fig. 5.21, b);
- - two double-track exits located in crosswise lying quarters (Fig. 5.21, c);
- - in conditions of dense development in order to save the area allocated for the interchange, when the interchange is located parallel to the river, road or railway (Fig. 5.21, G).
All cloverleaf exits merge into the carriageways of intersecting roads on the right side, which is in full accordance with the main principle of highway design, according to which branches and junctions of roads on highways should be arranged on the right side (in the direction of travel).
The advantages of full clover intersections include ensuring the decoupling of traffic flows in all directions without crossing flows with two intersecting highways.
The construction cost of cloverleaf interchanges is low because they have one overpass. However, clover-shaped road intersections also have disadvantages that limit their scope:
- - large area occupied by the interchange;
- - cars make turns to the left at low speeds (no more than 50 km/h) with significant overruns (up to 0.5-0.9 km), while the time of travel through the junction increases;
- – due to the significant length of ramps, volumes and costs are relatively high earthworks and pavement;
- - the need for additional measures to ensure the safe movement of pedestrians.
It should be noted that cars leaving one of the intersecting roads along the left-turn exit No. 1 cannot be freely and unhindered included in the traffic flow on the other road, as they meet with cars heading to the adjacent left-turn exit No. 2 (Fig. 5.22) . As the traffic intensity increases on the loop of the left-turn exit No. 1, the number of cars on the inter-loop section of 1mp increases. As a result, the speed of movement on it does not exceed 50–60 km/h.
Rice. 5.22.:
1 – road; 2 – left turn exit No. 1; 3 – left-turn exit No. 2;
V 1 - speed on the main road; Vix - speed at the entrance to exit No. 2
There are four bottlenecks on the cloverleaf, called necks. Their presence leads to a decrease bandwidth left turn ramps and an increase in traffic accidents. As a result, the use of a cloverleaf turns out to be appropriate only in those cases where the intensity of the left-turn traffic is relatively small.
On highways, in the presence of one or more powerful left-turning traffic flows, when the construction of a conventional loop (indirect) exit causes unjustified losses associated with overrunning of cars, the reduction or elimination of overruns is achieved by constructing semi-direct or direct left-turning exits.
When using semi-direct left-turn exits (Fig. 5.23, but And 6) the car travels a much shorter distance than in non-straight turns and makes a turn first to the right and then to the left.
At the junction (Fig. 5.23, but) traffic flow on a semi-straight left-turn ramp sun takes place partly outside the interchange with more speed than on loop exits, since the radius of the curve is much larger. The disadvantage of this type of exit is the presence of two short reverse circular curves of small radius.
On fig. 5.23, b left-hand traffic sun carried out within the intersection. This option is preferable to the previous one, since there are no short reverse curves of small radii at the exit.
Left-turn movement (Fig. 5.23, in) done directly to the left. The turn is carried out in the shortest direction at high speed, as in right turns. However, in order to make a direct left turn, the intersecting roads must fork into two parts, which leads to the need for direct flows along curves.
Rice. 5.23.
a - with one semi-direct left-turn exit Sun. b– with one direct left-turn exit Sun. in– with two straight left-turn ramps sun And SW
Semi-direct and direct left-turn exits are found on more than 50% of traffic interchanges and allow you to increase the speed at these exits up to 80 km/h.
Achieved by the use of semi-direct and direct left-turn ramps, the reduction in overruns of transport leads to a significant increase in the construction cost of the traffic interchange due to the need to build two overpasses for each left-turn direction.
Ring intersections of highways are characterized by the greatest ease of traffic organization, however, they require the construction of two to seven overpasses, as well as a large area of land acquisition.
A distribution ring with five overpasses (Fig. 5.24) is possible at the intersections of roads of categories I and II with high traffic intensity and a significant proportion of cars turning left.
!!!
Rice. 5.24.
Ring with two overpasses (Fig. 5.25, a and b) it is used when crossing high category roads (I–II) with low category roads (III–V), while direct flows on a secondary road move along the ring. In cramped conditions, they arrange the "elongated ring" option (Fig. 5.25, b).
Rice. 5.25.
but- usual; b - stretched out in cramped conditions
On an improved type of distribution ring, left-turn traffic is directed to the ring not along right-turn exits, but along special left-turn exits located inside the ring (Fig. 5.26, but).
Rice. 5.26.
but- improved; b– turbine
The transition of left-turn traffic from the ring to the main road occurs at right-turn exits. The disadvantage of this type of intersection is the presence of short reverse curves of a small radius on left-turn exits.
In the turbine type of intersection (Fig. 5.26, b) left-turn flows are also directed along special spiral exits - similar to how water flows through a turbine, hence the name of the traffic intersection. At this interchange, four left-turn flows have their own exit with two additional oblique overpasses, which merges into the corresponding right-turn exits. At the roundabout, left-turn flows do not mix with right-turn flows, as at a distribution ring-type interchange. However, the mixing of flows is observed in the sections of right-turning exits. Turbine type crossing has seven overpasses.
Enhanced and turbine types of intersection have a higher construction cost compared to the conventional type of distribution ring.
If at the intersection of highways at different levels there is one or two powerful left-turn flows, then it is advisable to create for these flows Better conditions compared to the rest, i.e. arrange semi-direct and direct left-turn exits for them (Fig. 5.27).
On fig. 5.27, but the scheme of the interchange is shown according to the type of an extended distribution ring with one semi-straight left-hand turn exit located outside the ring. There are seven overpasses at the junction, and two of them are oblique (for making a left turn).
A pear-shaped junction, obtained by a combination of elements of a cloverleaf and a turbine type of intersection, is shown in fig. 5.27, b. Driving conditions on left turns in directions sun And D.B. much better than on directional turns AD And With A. The interchange has only four overpasses, one of which is oblique.
On fig. 5.27, in shows a road junction with two indirect (along loops) left turns in the directions AD And SA and two straight lines - in directions sun And B.D. The disadvantage of this decoupling is that the flows in straight directions branch out and move along curvilinear trajectories. The intersection has five overpasses, four of which are oblique.
Rice. five. 27.
but– extended distribution ring with one semi-straight left-hand turn exit; b– pear-shaped type of intersection with two straight left-turn ramps; in– extended cloverleaf with two straight left turns
With powerful four left-turn flows, schemes with direct left-turn exits are used: diamond-shaped intersections and the type of a curvilinear quadrangle (Fig. 5.28).
At the diamond-shaped intersection (Fig. 5.28, but) each flow turning left and right has its own exit, so there is no mixing of left-turn and right-turn flows within the interchange. All left-turn exits are straight - the turn is made directly to the left, the speeds at all exits are high, there are no overruns. The interchange is simple in configuration and easy for drivers to navigate. Disadvantage: a large number of overpasses - 9, of which 8 are oblique.
On the diagram according to the type of curvilinear quadrilateral (Fig. 5.28, 6) overpasses are arranged for each crossed direction on the main roads and on left-turn exits. In total, the intersection has 16 overpasses, of which 12 are oblique. This intersection has the largest number of overpasses of all options intersections on two levels. The decoupling, like the previous one, is simple in configuration. It has straight left-turn ramps that never cross right-turn directions.
Rice. 5.28.
but- rhomboid type; b- by the type of curvilinear quadrilateral
An intersection of the cross type with five overpasses (Fig. 5.29) is used in cramped conditions, such as urban development, when crossing equivalent highways with powerful traffic flows. In addition to the minimum area of occupied land, this type of intersection is characterized by minimal overruns for left- and right-turn traffic, however, it requires the construction of five overpasses (albeit of a smaller width than for a cloverleaf interchange) and excludes the possibility of a U-turn within the transport hub.
Road junctions at different levels are divided into complete, providing traffic interchange in all directions, and incomplete, having zones of intersection of traffic flows in one level or interweaving zones.
In the practice of domestic road design, junctions at different levels according to the type of pipe are most widely used (Fig. 5.30).
Rice. 5.29.
Rice. 5.30.
but – from the location of the left turn exit to the right of the overpass; 6 - to the left of the overpass
This type of abutment is based on the use of cloverleaf elements. Each turning stream has its own exit, but since the left-turning streams have a common subgrade with right-turning streams for a long distance, the exit on this section is double-tracked with traffic in opposite directions.
Left-hand traffic conditions at this interchange differ between left-hand traffic from the main road and traffic from an adjoining road.
Depending on the size of left-turn traffic on the main road and the adjacent road, left-turn ramps can be located on the right (Fig. 5.30, but) or to the left of the overpass (Fig. 5.30, b).
If the intensity of left-turn traffic from the main road to the adjoining one is greater than that of left-turn traffic going to the main road, then the scheme shown in Fig. 5.30 am but.
The junction of the type of pipe provides a decoupling of traffic in all directions with the alienation of a relatively small area of land and low construction cost.
The leaf-like type of junction (Fig. 5.31) is half a clover leaf. At this junction, as well as at the junction by pipe type, each turning flow has its own exit. This type of junction provides greater traffic safety than a junction of the pipe type, since there is no oncoming traffic along the entire length of the left-turn exits. Compared to a pipe-type junction, this interchange occupies a larger area.
At the junction, like a half of an incomplete clover leaf (Fig. 5.32), each turning stream has its own exit, all streams merge into the carriageways on the right side. Left-turn flows move by turning first to the left, then to the right. Disadvantage: there is one point of intersection of flows in one direction.
Rice. 5.32.
but– at a junction angle of 90° (T-shaped junction); b
The ring type of abutment is obtained based on the use of elements of the distribution ring (Fig. 5.33). All exits merge into the ring and the carriageway of the main road on the right side, the ring adjoins the right turn exit on the left side. On the ring, left-handed flows mix with each other. The traffic intersection has
Rice. 5.31.
but– at a contact angle of 90" (T-shaped abutment); b- with an acute contact angle (X-shaped contact)
simple shape and is easy to guide drivers. The junction has two overpasses.
Rice. 5.33.
but– at a junction angle of 90” (T-shaped junction); b- with an acute contact angle (X-shaped contact)
Adjacencies with a parallel arrangement of right- and left-turn exits are designed according to the type of T-shaped junction or X-shaped curvilinear triangle (Fig. 5.34). These junctions are similar to the diamond type of intersection (see Figure 5.28). Left-handed streams turn directly to the left. At the junction there is no mixing of left and right turning flows. With regard to the convenience and safety of traffic, these interchanges are the best of all possible. Transport interchanges have three oblique overpasses.
Rice. 5.34.
but- according to the type of T-shaped triangle; b- according to the type of X-shaped curvilinear triangle
- Gokhman V.A. Crossings and junctions of highways. M.: high school. 1989.
Transport interchange- a complex of road structures (bridges, tunnels, roads) designed to minimize the intersection of traffic flows and, as a result, to increase the capacity of roads. Mostly traffic interchanges are understood as transport intersections at different levels,
Rice. 18.3. Scheme of clover-shaped traffic intersections in two levels:
a - full cloverleaf; b - pressed clover leaf; c, d, e, f, g - incomplete cloverleaf
Rice. 18.4. Schemes of ring traffic intersections in two levels:
a - turbine type; b - distribution ring with five overpasses; c - distribution ring with three overpasses; g - distribution ring with two overpasses.
Rice. 18.5. Schemes of loop-shaped traffic intersections in two levels:
a - double loop; b - improved double loop
Rice. 18.6. Scheme of cruciform traffic intersections in two levels:
a - intersection with five overpasses of the "cross" type; b - intersection with related left turns
Rice. 18.7. Diamond-shaped traffic intersections at different levels:
a - with straight left turns; b, c - with semi-direct left turns; g - in four levels
Rice. 18.8. Schemes of complex transport intersections in two levels:
a - with one semi-direct left-turn exit; b, c - with one direct left-turn exit; d - with two semi-direct left-turn exits
Rice. 18.9. Schemes of transport connections in two levels:
a, b - complete contiguity of the "pipe" type; c - complete junction with two semi-direct left-turn exits; d, e, f - incomplete adjunctions
clover crossings"+" ensuring the decoupling of traffic flows in all or in the main directions with two intersecting highways; ensuring traffic safety; relatively low cost of construction of one overpass and connecting ramps.
"-" limiting the scope of their application: a large area occupied by the interchange; significant overruns for left-turn traffic flows and U-turn flows; the need for additional measures to ensure the safe movement of pedestrians.
Roundabouts- are characterized by the greatest ease of organization of traffic, but require the construction of two to five overpasses, as well as a large area of land acquisition.
Looped intersections, for example, "double loop" (Fig. 18.5, a) or "improved double loop" (Fig. 18.5, b), suit at the intersection of highways or main streets with secondary roads. “-” in addition to the need to build two overpasses, one should also attribute the insufficient provision of safe traffic conditions, since the traffic flow from the main highway flows into the flows of a secondary direction not from the right, but from the left side.
In cramped conditions of urban development, cruciform intersections are used at different levels, for example, in the form of a cross"(Fig. 18.6, a), an intersection in two levels with related left turns (Fig. 18.6, b), etc. In addition to the minimum area of occupied land, this type of crossing is characterized by minimal overruns for left- and right-turn traffic, however, it requires the construction of five overpasses and excludes the possibility of a U-turn within the transport hub. Crossing in two levels with assigned left turns is often used in urban areas.
diamond junctions(see Fig. 18.7) are arranged at the intersections of equivalent highways with significant amounts of traffic in all directions. Occupying a moderate area, such interchanges practically exclude overruns for left- and right-turning traffic flows, however, the need to build a large number of overpasses determines their very high cost.
Frankfurt, Germany
Arriving in Frankfurt, we advise you to sit at the portholes on the starboard side. So more likely to see the "Frankfurt Cross", the busiest interchange Western Europe. Autobahns A3, A5, highway B43 converge on the "cross", and two railway tunnels are laid under the large "clover". The construction of the interchange began in 1933, but because of the war, it was completed only by 1957. Now 320,000 cars pass through here every day.
Los Angeles, USA
The interchange was built in 1993 and named after Harry Pregerson - in honor of the famous and oldest federal judge in the United States, who, among other things, led the process of building the interchange itself. Highways 105 and 110 intersect here at right angles. Like almost all roads in Los Angeles, one runs north-south, the other east-west, toward the coast. Pacific Ocean and Los Angeles International Airport. Dozens of kilometers around are the square-nested suburbs of one-story America.
Atlanta, USA
Crashing straight into Atlanta, highways 75 and 85 merge into one fourteen-lane road - Downtown Connector with daily traffic of more than 230-270 thousand cars. During its construction in the middle of the 20th century, a piece of the historical center of Atlanta was razed to the ground. And in the place where the connecting highway crosses Highway 20, the Labyrinth junction arose. We would rename it "The Framed Labyrinth": note how it is inscribed in the rectangle of ordinary streets typical of American cities.
Gravelly Hill, UK
In the suburb of Gravelly Hill near Birmingham, two rivers merge, two canals diverge, and a double-track railway runs past. When the engineers decided to connect the M6 motorway to the A38(M) highway here, the journalists dubbed the project "Spaghetti Interchange" - because you can't imagine it on purpose. Until you figure out who goes where, you can move your mind or go in eighteen directions, counting the numerous local congresses. They built the interchange in 1968-1972, installing 559 reinforced concrete supports, the highest of which reach 24.4 meters.
Atlanta, USA
The Tom Moland Interchange is named after the chief engineer of the local Department of Transportation. It was built in 1983-1987 twenty kilometers northeast of Atlanta at the intersection of the radial highway 85 and the ring road 285 - an analogue of the Bolshaya Concrete Road near Moscow. The interchange includes 14 bridges and overpasses, the highest of which rises 27 meters above the ground. Three hundred thousand cars pass through the interchange every day. And downstairs, some poor fellows also live.
Shanghai, China
The Huangpu River, which flows into the Yangtze a few kilometers from the sea, not only divides Shanghai in two. There are ten bridges across the river within the city, but for Shanghai of 24 million, this is not much. One of them, the Nanpu cable-stayed bridge, is interesting for its western approach design, the Puxi Viaduct. Three highways join here and rise thirty meters in a three-level spiral to reach the level of the bridge. The navigable span of the bridge can pass a sea vessel up to 48 meters high.
Putrajaya, Malaysia
The city, born to be the capital, has been built since 1995, two dozen kilometers from Kuala Lumpur. Like St. Petersburg during the time of Peter the Great, Putrajaya was specially designed to take away from the disgruntled electorate and place all fur coat stores and government residences in an elite village. The main difference between Putrajaya and St. Petersburg is that there are almost no straight streets here, all roads diligently follow the relief. And several streets around a 50-meter hill form an oval (0.85-1.29 km in diameter), which is considered the largest roundabout in the world.
Paris, France
Place Charles de Gaulle until 1970 bore a more appropriate name for it - Place de l'Etoile, or Place de l'Etoile. This place is known to hikers as the Arc de Triomphe square, to Parisian drivers as a place where the police do not come, to tourist drivers as the place where the navigator in a mocking tone commands: "Perform the ninth exit." The 40-meter roadway has never been marked, and at rush hour this circle looks like an anthill, where everyone drives along arbitrary trajectories. True, Paris is not Moscow, and if you are dull and don’t know where to turn, no one but Arabs, Parisians, motorcyclists and bus drivers will teach you about life.
Swindon, UK
Luckily, there are markings on the Magic Circle in Swindon, but even with that it's hard to figure out how to get there, because there are five small circles around one large circle. Six small streets converge to the junction, and the best way for a beginner - turn left at the entrance. However, the British are already used to it: in the 1970s, the scheme was popular in the UK, and the same type of interchanges were built in several cities. There are also “light versions”, where there are not five small circles, but, for example, two.
Osaka, Japan
The coastline of Osaka - endless origami-shaped quay walls. The coastal areas are almost entirely artificial, there is no extra space on the lands reclaimed from the sea. Therefore, the Bayshore toll highway was laid on the “second floor” above the residential and port areas. And so that the bridges over the harbors were of sufficient height, spiral roads lead from the streets to the flyovers.
Newark, USA
Newark International Airport is the second of three airports serving New York City and the surrounding area. It opened back in 1928, but traffic grew rapidly, as did the motorization of the population in the state of New Jersey. In 1952, a complex junction of five highways was built here, which not only pass through the transit traffic, but also serve as entrances to the giant airport.
Kansas City, USA
A small six-kilometer ring connects nine highways and is called the Alphabet Loop. Inside is downtown Kansas City, and the 23 exits on both sides of the loop are numbered sequentially, starting at 2A and ending at 2Y. If the Americans build three more congresses, they will get the full Latin alphabet.
For the first time, Leonardo da Vinci spoke about crossing roads at different levels back in the 16th century, but over the past half century no new species and types were introduced. There are some enthusiasts, such as Semenov from St. Petersburg, Petruk from Kyiv, Butelauskas from Lithuania, Lee Jang Hee from Korea, who are looking for optimal solutions for transport hubs. Your obedient servant also got involved in this work, considering himself one of the followers of da Vinci in the field of invention and realizing the miscalculations of designers who draw on traditional clovers ...
The main goal of my project was to develop an interchange that would solve the problem of overcoming traffic jams on highways: to make it easy and convenient to pass intersections that, due to accidents, pull over a third of the whole. Moreover, interchanges are more technologically advanced and cheaper when erected relative to those currently under construction.
I set myself three difficult-to-combine tasks:
- riding on all four or more sides;
- driving without intersecting and intertwining flows;
- change of any direction of movement without suspension and a significant reduction in speed.
As a result of long and painstaking work, he received a patent for an invention No. 2468138, valid until 07/25/2031. The result is the world's only system of interchanges of a modular type of any configuration and with a variety of options. Namely - the turbine-ring traffic interchange. This is not just a beautiful phrase. Its implementation will change the definition of the interchange itself. In the new edition, if you add a couple of words, it should sound like this: "Traffic interchange - a complex of road structures (bridges, tunnels, roads) designed to minimize and completely eliminate traffic intersections and, as a result, to increase road capacity."
Disadvantages of a turbine roundabout
- Average design complexity.
- Sharp elevation changes and long slopes (they are leveledin new construction, when there is a roundabout on the first or second levels).
- Unsuitable for central city intersections.
How much does it cost?
Now about the most important thing for the customer - about the cost. In Moscow interchanges are cheaper than 5 billion rubles. do not build, there are even two for 17 billion. My proposals to the ministries of transport of the Chelyabinsk region, Crimea, Sevastopol, Belarus aroused some interest, but 1.5 billion rubles. it was too much investment for them.
The specifics of the road construction business is the absence of competition, since funds are allocated from the budgets of the state or its subjects to monopolists with “sustainable long-term ties” (this is how I carefully disguised kickbacks). Without competition, new ideas are not born, the demand for them is not formed. After all, funding organizations do not have the concept of novelty, and it is always unprofitable for performers to change something.
On the way to the intended goal, even before patenting, I felt that the project could easily be modified for various traffic situations. And instead of one concept, he created as many as nine! To get acquainted with the invention, he applied to various authorities and organizations. Namely: to the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Government of Moscow and St. Petersburg. He proposed, for example, to make the Moscow Ring Road non-stop, to organize traffic without traffic lights on Nevsky Prospekt, without violating the historical appearance of the city with its abundance of aquatic environment. But no one cares about that.
In 2013, the Moscow Department of Transport conducted an analysis of the effectiveness of the turbine-ring interchange in comparison with the proposals of the NIiPI General Plan of Moscow. As a result, according to their conclusions, my proposals turned out to be more effective, in particular, in terms of the payback period - two years against six. What did you give up? In price. Construction costs are calculated at 2.772 billion rubles. against their slightly less than two billion.So got rejected.In response, he suggested that the head of the department, Maxim Liksutov, build my interchange for 2 billion rubles, and if not enough, thenadd from your pockets. As a result, Moscow built its interchange... for 7 billion!And a primary school student understands that a four-level articulation of roads with two tunnels that impede traffic during construction cannot be cheaper than a three-level one.
I value my product at 1.5 billion rubles. with a construction period of one year. Let these be debatable numbers. Refusal to build pedestrian elevated or underground passages with public transport stops at a short distance from the object, as well as turning overpasses or tunnels, will save about half a billion rubles. Pedestrians cannot walk along the "clover", but turbine-ring ones allow this. Plus a transfer hub and the ability to turn around directly on the flyover, and not in front of it.
If someone has doubts about the numbers, how can one explain that in Kyiv a junction was built near the Patona bridge, three-quarters similar to mine? You will not believe it, but it was built in just six months and for less than 800 million rubles! It's just that it was European money and everything was built for the 2012 European Football Championship.
Last fall, I had the opportunity to hold a presentation at Avtodor. They liked it. They offered to obtain conclusions from authoritative design organizations. Some got off with ridiculous absentee replies, MADI completely evaded cooperation.
As a result, there seems to be a lot of interchanges being built, but the traffic situation is only getting worse. The main problem of traffic jams is not the ever-increasing number of vehicles on the roads, as they try to assure us, but the problem of standing traffic. I have been doing them for over two decades. In addition to the presented nine variations of one idea, five more later appeared, completely different from those presented.
P.S.: The specific name of the interchange can be given by the name of the city where it will appear first. Ready for adequate communication in the comments.
