# The most confusing interchange ever.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 9, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387 "2008-12-09T14:39:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/1 "2008-12-09T14:39:52Z")
I don’t drive so my nomination could be taken with a grain of salt but still if there is anything more confusing out there, I’d like to know.
In Queens there is a place where the Grand Central, the Triboro Bridge approach and The Jackie Robinson converge. There is also a subway supraway (more commonly know as the el) and exits for the Clearview and Northern State. It looks just like the opening scene in the Jetsons. There’s ground level 6 lane highway going in all directions, there are 4 lanes that go underneath the ground level road, there are skyways that crisscross overhead–If you do not know _exactly_ how to get where you are trying to go, you will probably not get there.
This was even more confusing than the Bronx/Manhattan approach to the GWB/West Side Highway/FDR Drive-- I can’t tell you how many people end up in New Jersey when all they wanted to do was go to Sylvia’s.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/2 "2008-12-09T14:48:36Z")
Got a googlemaps link?
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### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/3 "2008-12-09T15:05:19Z")
[HERE?](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=queens&sll=41.006848,-73.789673&sspn=1.548238,2.460938&ie=UTF8&ll=40.715908,-73.826022&spn=0.011759,0.019226&t=k&z=16)
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/4 "2008-12-09T15:36:40Z")
My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg).
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/5 "2008-12-09T15:44:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg).
Exactly what problem were they trying to solve with that? And was it still there after the drugs wore off?
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/6 "2008-12-09T15:59:40Z")
Have you ever driven through [“The Stack”](http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Image:Fourlevel-int-12252005.jpg) in L.A.? It was the first one of these things in the country. It’s not so confusing if you just follow the signs. There are others that are more confusing.
By the way, the opening scene of the film “Falling Down” begins in a traffic jam at the very lowest level of “The Stack.” The guy just walks out of his car and then walks across L.A.
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/7 "2008-12-09T16:08:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg).
If you stuck me on a road leading up to that thing, I wouldn’t know _what_ the hell to do. Do those roads on top really have squiggly lines on them, or is that just an illusion? If it’s real, what do they mean?
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/8 "2008-12-09T16:10:39Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg).
Are those … PARKING ISLANDS in the middle?! (Of course not, I assume, but damn that’s what they look like from here!)
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### Author:  [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/9 "2008-12-09T16:11:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg).
Is that an intersection or a mutant swastika? Yeesh.
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### Author:  [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/10 "2008-12-09T16:12:19Z")
In Atlanta [http://savvyatlanta.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/intersec.jpg](http://savvyatlanta.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/intersec.jpg).
Not so bad until you realize that EVERYONE is trying to get to another lane at the same time, and no one is willing to allow another car to get ahead of them.
This isn’t rush hour - nooooo. This is a light traffic day.
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### Author:  [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/11 "2008-12-09T16:28:05Z")
The [MacArthur Maze](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/ExpatJane/smileys/May%25202007/maze_std.jpg&imgrefurl=http://theseawithinsews.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-neighbourhood-part-i.html&usg=__TuD8PTHwB4unMkriht78LMWawrI=&h=333&w=500&sz=142&hl=en&start=2&sig2=x_8yIhw4hBWMprJILv17yw&tbnid=z-GVyWcMaoJWpM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&ei=ZJs-SaSuLZCksQPPhcm0Cg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMACARTHUR%2BMAZE%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN). This picture doesn’t really do it justice. It’s particularly hard on toursit trying to get well just about anywhere really.
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### Author:  [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/12 "2008-12-09T16:30:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg).
This is, I think, the Swindon multi-roundabout. You can read all about it [here](http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/magicroundabout/).
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/13 "2008-12-09T16:37:58Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> Exactly what problem were they trying to solve with that? And was it still there after the drugs wore off?
> **[Magic Roundabout (Swindon)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon))**
>
> The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England, is a ring junction constructed in 1972 consisting of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. Located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C., its name comes from the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout. In 2009, it was voted the fourth-scariest junction in Britain.
> The roundabout was constructed according to the design of Frank Blackmore, of the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory. Traffic flow around the...
It’s built over an old canal, which restricted the possibilities for any other option. IIRC the alignment of roads leading to it was also problematic.
> [@neutron\_star](#):
>
> If you stuck me on a road leading up to that thing, I wouldn’t know _what_ the hell to do. Do those roads on top really have squiggly lines on them, or is that just an illusion? If it’s real, what do they mean?
Zig-zag lines are used to indicate the vicinity of a pedestrial crossing, such as [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:20030614_08_Orpington_High_Street.jpg), and parking or obstructing these sections of road is a driving offence (as opposed to a more minor parking offence).
Anyway, the magic roundabout doesn’t look nearly as scary from ground level - [File:Magic RoundaboutP db.jpg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Magic_RoundaboutP_db.jpg) (bear in mind that mini-roundabouts, indicated with road markings only, are nothing unusual in Britain).
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/14 "2008-12-09T16:41:33Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#):
>
> This is, I think, the Swindon multi-roundabout. You can read all about it [here](http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/magicroundabout/).
Hmm… once I read the explanation and watched the video of someone driving through it, it stopped being weird and started being cool. Why can’t we have neat stuff like this in the U.S.? Sitting and waiting at a traffic light for four or five minutes is bullshit.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/15 "2008-12-09T16:42:11Z")
[Old Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=417149&highlight=highway+interchanges)
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/16 "2008-12-09T17:10:32Z")
> [@brewha](#):
>
> [HERE?](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=queens&sll=41.006848,-73.789673&sspn=1.548238,2.460938&ie=UTF8&ll=40.715908,-73.826022&spn=0.011759,0.019226&t=k&z=16)
That looks like it, alright.
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/17 "2008-12-09T18:18:53Z")
P.S. How is the Magic Roundabout any more or less confusing than any other roundabout? Here’s a roundabout I travel through frequently and it’s a horror. It doesn’t help that so many heavy traffic streets feed into it.
But I thought that all roundabouts were this bad. I’m not a driver so I’m genuinely curious as to what makes a roundabout bad.
P.S. I removed the link because I cannot get the google maps to do what I want. It’s Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn for those who care to look.
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/18 "2008-12-09T18:27:48Z")
[This map](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.38373,-94.700603&spn=0.032395,0.054932&z=14) doesn’t really do it justice, but in Pittsburgh, KS (a town of about 20,000 people!), there is an intersection where three or four state highways, several city streets, two or three federal highways, and a couple of county roads all converge. I got discombobulated there one afternoon and it took me four hours to get home (I was about 20 miles from home). It is the most lost I’ve ever been.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/19 "2008-12-09T18:29:55Z")
> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> P.S. How is the Magic Roundabout any more or less confusing than any other roundabout? Here’s a roundabout I travel through frequently and it’s a horror. It doesn’t help that so many heavy traffic streets feed into it.
>
> But I thought that all roundabouts were this bad. I’m not a driver so I’m genuinely curious as to what makes a roundabout bad.
Pffffffffft. That’s nothing. I’ll raise with the [Hangar Lane Gyratory](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&q=Perivale,+Hanger+Lane+Gyratory+(N-bound),+Ealing,+Greater+London+W5,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FbJMEgMdPoD7_w&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=6.881357,14.941406&ll=51.53052,-0.292951&spn=0.003597,0.011373&t=k&z=17). Seven, or is it eight, lanes wide on the eastern side?
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### Author:  [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/20 "2008-12-09T18:46:16Z")
I have never driven on it, but have heard rumors about the M25 London orbital motorway. 🙂
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