# The most confusing interchange ever. **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/21 "2008-12-09T19:07:08Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > I have never driven on it, but have heard rumors about the M25 London orbital motorway. 🙂 It’s a doddle. You just go round in circles. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/22 "2008-12-09T20:54:03Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg). I can actually see how that would not only work, but actually be quite easy to use. It’s like a big roundabout which you don’t have to drive all the way round, you are sort of driving to the ‘right’ of the main island in order to go up the road on the top left, from the road at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/23 "2008-12-09T21:00:25Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > It’s a doddle. You just go round in circles. Slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/24 "2008-12-09T21:53:05Z")
The magic roundabout is really just a ring system of ordinary roundabouts connected by very short roads - that you can appear, in using it, to be driving around a roundabout in anticlockwise direction is pretty much an illusion. What’s really cool about it is that there are two different paths through it for any route. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/25 "2008-12-09T22:19:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What’s really cool about it is that there are two different paths through it for any route. An infinite number of paths, surely? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/26 "2008-12-09T23:21:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > My money is still on the [Magic Roundabout](http://home.san.rr.com/roundabout/rndabout.jpg). Clearly a fake. They’re driving on the left side of the road! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/27 "2008-12-09T23:31:48Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > 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. I cringed a couple times, but it’s still nifty. If it works, we’d be retarded to not have them. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/28 "2008-12-10T09:34:32Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The magic roundabout is really just a ring system of ordinary roundabouts connected by very short roads - that you can appear, in using it, to be driving around a roundabout in anticlockwise direction is pretty much an illusion. > > What’s really cool about it is that there are two different paths through it for any route. I actually drive across this twice a day as part of my commute - not nearly so scary as it looks, as per the descriptions upthread. You just approach each mini roundabout in turn. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/29 "2008-12-10T11:12:00Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > 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. Bah. “The Stack” is easy. [East L.A. Interchange](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:East_LA_Interchage_map.svg), not so easy. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/30 "2008-12-10T12:55:25Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Bah. “The Stack” is easy. > > [East L.A. Interchange](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:East_LA_Interchage_map.svg), not so easy. That’s what I meant when I said, “There are others that are more confusing.” The real problem with the East Los Interchange is you have to make drastic lane changes to get where you want, and unsuspecting drivers often end up going up the 5 because they couldn’t get over to the 10 in time. Then you have a real problem because you have no idea where to get off and get back on the right track. You usually end up wandering around poorly marked, unlit side streets with lots of strip clubs and no idea where to go. It’s also a favorite place for taggers. But “The Stack” has its own name, and they actually made a picture postcard of it. Yes. A picture postcard of a freeway interchange. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/31 "2008-12-10T13:13:27Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Bah. “The Stack” is easy. > > [East L.A. Interchange](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:East_LA_Interchage_map.svg), not so easy. I don’t even understand the map. God only knows what it must be like actually driving on it. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/32 "2008-12-10T15:04:14Z")
> [@jali](#): > > 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. The blog post is here: [Georgia Clean Air Campaign | Savvy Atlanta](http://savvyatlanta.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/georgia-clean-air-campaign/) While it’s stated to be Spaghetti Junction it clearly isn’t. [Google Maps](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Spaghetti+Junction+atlanta&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=25.704151,36.914063&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=33.893075,-84.259944&spn=0.013109,0.034332&z=15). Note the high ramps _above_ the top freeway deck. The pic doesn’t look at all like any interchange around Atlanta. It doesn’t even look real. (And the traffic is never that light during dayling hours.) Oh, and with the new interchange, the [weaving](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interchange_(road)#Terminology) has been eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/33 "2008-12-10T15:17:14Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > 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. Some of the info above is wrong. The Triboro Bridge may be mentioned on the Grand Central Parkway signs, but the bridge itself is over ten miles from this intersection. The other highway that converges here is the Van Wyck Expressway. The Clearview is about 4 miles from this intersection, and the Northern State is what the Grand Central becomes at the Nassau border about 7 miles east. There are no els in this area, but there is an LIRR line nearby. ---
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/34 "2008-12-10T15:53:32Z")
Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta looks confusing, but really isn’t. It’s just a way to connect all the crazy exits and entrances into both those highways. When you’re actually driving it, it’s fine. From the side, it looks a LOT crazier than from the top. Though it’s not the craziest looking interchange in Atlanta. Try where 85 and 285 hit on the southside! https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Spaghetti%2BJunction%2Batlanta&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=25.704151,36.914063&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=33.618175,-84.487288&spn=0.009256,0.013819&z=16 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/35 "2008-12-10T16:02:22Z")
> [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](#): > > Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta looks confusing, but really isn’t. It’s just a way to connect all the crazy exits and entrances into both those highways. When you’re actually driving it, it’s fine. It’s a similar story with its British namesake - [Google Maps](http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.510233,-1.86288&spn=0.007287,0.022745&t=k&z=16) The reason for that junction seeming a bit loony, taken from Wikipedia: _‘Underneath the motorway junction are the meeting points of local roads; the rivers Tame, Rea and the Hockley Brook; electricity lines; gas pipelines; the Cross-City and Walsall railway lines, and Salford Junction where the Grand Union Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and Tame Valley Canal meet.’_ ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/36 "2008-12-10T17:15:03Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Some of the info above is wrong. The Triboro Bridge may be mentioned on the Grand Central Parkway signs, but the bridge itself is over ten miles from this intersection. The other highway that converges here is the Van Wyck Expressway. The Clearview is about 4 miles from this intersection, and the Northern State is what the Grand Central becomes at the Nassau border about 7 miles east. There are no els in this area, but there is an LIRR line nearby. This could explain why driver and I got hopelessly lost. We were trying to get to Long Island City. Yahoo maps said 9W to Grand Central Parkway West. We ended up in Flushing. Just past the exit for the Interboro is where it gets all Jetson-y. P.S. How can you see that all the way from Kentucky? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/37 "2008-12-10T18:16:25Z")
I am humbled. I thought that triangle-ish area where the NJ Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, I287, and Routes 1&9 converge was the worst. But it’s not even a single interchange! It’s just a bunch of weird and annoying and frequently confusing interchanges that are close to one another. I see now that it’s small potatoes. (Though I do find myself involuntarily in Perth Amboy more often than I’d like to admit.) ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/38 "2008-12-10T18:41:54Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > P.S. How can you see that all the way from Kentucky? 33 years as a New Yorker (4 of them about 3 miles from that interchange) will do that to ya. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/39 "2008-12-10T18:47:51Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > I am humbled. > > I thought that triangle-ish area where the NJ Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, I287, and Routes 1&9 converge was the worst. But it’s not even a single interchange! It’s just a bunch of weird and annoying and frequently confusing interchanges that are close to one another. I see now that it’s small potatoes. > > (Though I do find myself involuntarily in Perth Amboy more often than I’d like to admit.) [this place](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=perth+amboy+nj&sll=40.260665,-74.555969&sspn=0.20383,0.503311&ie=UTF8&ll=39.855992,-75.090351&spn=0.051261,0.125828&z=13) is fairly confusing too: I don’t think I’ve gotten lost in the place you are mentioning, despite the fact that there is not one but two of the biggest roads in the state share New Jersey nick/names. But I have had a hard time following the expressway on my link. But my overall choice: [This](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=38.789817,-77.176809&spn=0.013012,0.031457&t=k&z=15) pleasant interchange south of DC where, northbound, you exit right to turn left onto the beltway, and exit left to turn right onto the beltway. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387/40 "2008-12-10T19:02:37Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > This could explain why driver and I got hopelessly lost. We were trying to get to Long Island City. Yahoo maps said 9W to Grand Central Parkway West. We ended up in Flushing. > > Just past the exit for the Interboro is where it gets all Jetson-y. > ? I drive that confluence of highways daily (I call it “the blender” but I don’t know anyone else who does.) The major problem is not the interchanges themselves (which are uncommonly well marked for NYC) but the complete failure of maps to represent it accurately. For instance, for about 1/2 an exit, Union Turnpike and the JRP actually run parallel - with the JRP on the 4 sub street lanes and Union Turnpike on the street level. You will not find the represented on most maps – instead they show Union Turnpike _intersecting_ the JRP. If they do try to represent it, the detail is lost and it is very hard to understand what’s going on. This leads to widespread confusion as people try and fail to understand what the map is telling them vs. what they are seeing with their eyes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-confusing-interchange-ever/476387.md?page=3)