# Weirdest road you’ve ever been on **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098 "2024-09-11T00:07:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/82 "2024-11-03T16:57:43Z")
Quite mildly wierder - my hometown Victoria, BC has kind of a funky layout on the tip of this island, and is super annoying with way too many streets jogging hither and thither. Or, just changing names along the exact same way, like Harriet/Boleskine/Saanich/Tattersall Rd(s). ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/83 "2024-11-03T17:00:29Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Egypt and South Africa have some crazy scary roads too. I’ve not been to Egypt, but as a resident of South Africa I have just assimilated the road culture and it no longer bothers me. Also I drive a large truck, which has a level of intimidation (Toyota D4D). I got it because I had both kids and dogs and I wanted a car that could separate the two. But though heavy on fuel it garners some level of respect - undeserved in my case, from the moment I got my license I chose to “drive like a granny”, follow the rules, ignore the idiots and parallel park correctly. Still, there is a certain reputation for Toyota truck drivers, and as I am in my 50s, and have a beard and a beer belly, I fit a sterotype at first glance that I am absolutely and completely not. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/84 "2024-11-03T17:12:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > > > The world’s scariest roundabout is the one around the Arc de Triomphe, > > Quoted for truth. Holy shit, what a shit-show that is. There are 12 roads feeding into the circle, and a corresponding 12 lanes circling the monument. It’s absolute mayhem, as cars entering the circle have the right-of-way and nobody yields willingly. Horns blaring, people swerving across lanes without warning, fender-benders happening, French men having slap fights in the middle of all the traffic, and traffic cops just standing and watching the whole thing. > > I had a colleague who was posted to Paris who had an accident in the Circle on the way to work one morning. Being an American, he got out of his car to exchange information, but that’s not how things work in Paris. The Parisian got out of his car and immediately slapped my colleague, all 6’1" 230 pounds of him. Being an American, Jim punched the guy, then picked him up by the shirt front and began slamming him against his car. That’s when the cop got involved. Meanwhile, traffic continued to circle like a huge flock of vultures, horns blaring. Dear lord that sounds like a nightmare. I will not drive in foreign countries anymore. Too old and I just can’t manage the unpredictable roundabouts - even in Aruba. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/85 "2024-11-03T17:29:04Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I’ve not been to Egypt, but as a resident of South Africa I have just assimilated the road culture and it no longer bothers me. It was the road (I forget what it was called, if I ever knew) between Maputo and Nelspruit that used to worry me - probably more on the Mozambique side than the SA side. I was pregnant while living in Maputo and went regularly to Nelspruit to see an obstetrician. We never had any problems, but there were stories of crashes in remote spots due to crazy-fast drivers. It’s probably better now - this was 27 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/86 "2024-11-03T17:43:22Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > Dear lord that sounds like a nightmare. I will not drive in foreign countries anymore. Too old and I just can’t manage the unpredictable roundabouts - even in Aruba. My worry is driving in the UK and associated left-hand countries, and forgetting that I am no longer in the States anymore. I did a lot of cruising on my computer driving sims staying in the left lane before my trip to South Africa 2 decades ago, which definitely helped, and I only fucked up once, without incident. But my driving reflexes have been greatly honed driving here, and in an emergency situation I fear my reflexes will override the local laws. Europe also apparently has speed drones pretty much EVERYWHERE, and I don’t want to come home only to find half a dozen tickets in my mail, nor do I want to be driving there in deadly fear of one of them snapshotting my ass if I barely go over the 5-10 kph grace limit. Annnd before someone says it, there are times when speeding up is the safest move, but there’s no way to argue with a robot. I do ache to go on both the Autobahn and the Nurburgring tho note. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/87 "2024-11-03T21:08:46Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Egypt and South Africa have some crazy scary roads too. Egypt is just typical Africa driving. Horns blaring constantly, six lanes of traffic where there should be four (at most). Uganda was not much better, and Bamako was worse. Seemed like every week another truck would go off the bridge and into the Niger River. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2024, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/88 "2024-11-04T04:19:11Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > My worry is driving in the UK and associated left-hand countries, and forgetting that I am no longer in the States anymore. It works both ways. I was driving home in my F-350 Crew Cab long-bed (a big truck), when someone pulled out of the exit from a local resort. I watched them stop, _look right_, and then proceed. I was able to swerve around them, and I could see the horrified look on the driver’s face as I barely missed T-boning them. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/89 "2024-11-04T20:24:25Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > > > My worry is driving in the UK and associated left-hand countries, and forgetting that I am no longer in the States anymore. > > It works both ways. Certainly does. Coming from the UK and very frequently driving on vacation in Europe, you’re going to forget get it wrong sooner or later. I mean, half a dozen or so times in forty-odd years. I get it wrong more often than Mrs T does, but she holds the record for the best: on the presqu’île de Quiberon she managed to go the wrong way round a roundabout. (Eh, there was no other traffic - no harm, no foul.) j ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/90 "2024-11-05T01:07:50Z")
After very nearly dying by blithely stepping off a curb into the path of a bus here in my very own USA albeit in an unfamiliar downtown on a one-way street with traffic approaching from my right (IOW the reverse of normal US traffic), I’ve adopted the habit of looking both ways every time before stepping off the curb. Including pulling out while driving even if intending only to go halfway. If nothing else, crazies be everywhere. Like any human effort I can’t claim 100% success on doing that. But it’s pretty close after years of practice. IMO not a bad idea for most of us to adopt. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/91 "2024-11-05T01:33:34Z")
I look both ways even on a one-way street or roundabout, because I have so little faith in the competence of other drivers. ---
**Author:** ![leswax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@leswax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leswax)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/92 "2024-11-05T02:23:30Z")
Exit 4 on I-83 in Shrewsbury, PA has what PennDOT calls a Diverging Diamond Interchange. In order to reduce left turns, the surface street crosses itself at signaled intersections, travels on the left side while going under the highway, then crosses back at another signaled intersection. > **[39°46'16.6"N 76°40'03.6"W](https://maps.app.goo.gl/G4qzN4ba1kTqEVLr5)** > > Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. PennDOT may be correct that it improves traffic flow, but I’ve found it very unpleasant to drive on each time I take this exit. > **[I-83 Exit 4 Improvements](https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-8/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork/pages/I-83-exit-4-improvements.aspx)** If you don’t like On-The-Job-Training while driving, you can read about how this intersection works here: > **[I-83Exit4\_How\_a\_Diverging\_Diamond\_Interchange\_Works-TrafficMovements.pdf](https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-8/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork/Documents/I-83Exit4_How_a_Diverging_Diamond_Interchange_Works-TrafficMovements.pdf)** > > 798.75 KB ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/93 "2024-11-05T02:30:15Z")
There’s at least one out here, too: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.7137244,-112.12043&z=16&output=embed&dg=ntvb ---
**Author:** ![leswax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@leswax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leswax)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/94 "2024-11-05T02:47:19Z")
That one even adds what looks like two frontage roads on the northbound side. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/95 "2024-11-05T12:57:47Z")
DDs and the more exciting SPUI\*s are the coming thing in major intersection or freeway on/off-ramp design. So expect to see more of them popping up anywhere a major high-traffic intersection is extensively renovated * * * \* See: > **[Single-point urban interchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-point_urban_interchange)** > > A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, /ˈspuːi/ SPOO-ee or /ˈspjuːi/ SPEW-ee), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic through limited amounts of space efficiently. > A SPUI is similar in form to a diamond interchange but has the advantage of allowing opposing left turns to proceed simultaneously by compressing the two intersections of a diamon... ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/96 "2024-11-05T17:06:02Z")
> [@leswax](#): > > Exit 4 on I-83 in Shrewsbury, PA has what PennDOT calls a Diverging Diamond Interchange. If you’ve got 20 minutes, Road Guy Rob explains the diverging diamond quite well: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/40OUCb1cODY/maxresdefault.jpg "Would you drive on this FLIP-FLOPPED interchange? (It's better in every way!)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40OUCb1cODY) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/97 "2024-11-05T19:35:03Z")
The click-bait title does it no favors. _Of course_ you’ll drive on it if you’re near there. Whether you want to or not. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/98 "2024-11-05T20:09:11Z")
I found a short animation of a DD which clarifies how it works. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HD-0QnUlLOQ/hqdefault.jpg "Diverging Diamond Interchange Visualization") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD-0QnUlLOQ) Also - I forgot about this - coming back from Strasbourg, we drove through the Tunnel Maurice-Lemaire. Not the weirdest road ever, but by a distance the longest tunnel I’ve ever driven - at about 7 km it’s long enough to make you happy to see daylight again. It’s a repurposed rail tunnel, so it’s not very wide. Here’s a brief video of it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GcPbhWrWWrA/maxresdefault.jpg "Tun. Maurice Lemaire, 88490 Lusse") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcPbhWrWWrA) j ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/99 "2024-11-05T20:20:01Z")
We’ve a diverging diamond interchange going in about 35 miles south of us, should be done by the end of the year. I’m looking forward to trying it; it was previously a heavy use interchange with lots of accidents and hopefully things will be better. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/100 "2024-11-05T20:37:16Z")
We recently replaced a sorta-cloverleaf with a (widened) DD near here. The difference in traffic throughput is easily double. And it’s far harder to saturate as traffic builds. IOW it degrades more gracefully than the typical freeway-to-boulevard connection. They feel kinda weird the first couple times you do it, but real quickly everybody catches on. Can recommend. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098/101 "2024-11-05T21:06:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > On California’s I-5 just north of Castaic on the outer outskirts of metro SoCal there’s a 4-mile section of I5 traversing a steep grade (“Grapevine”) where the two sides of the highway cross over and you’re driving on the left half of the highway while the half going the other way is off to your right by up to ~1/2mi. > > So not only split, but crossed over. There’s not much built between the two sides of the highway; just a usually-dry riverbed and a small road. Yep, but you dont even really notice it, as the two sides are pretty far apart. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > On that note, I guess the famous section of Lombard Street in San Francisco with the switchbacks probably counts as a “weird road”. I’ve never actually driven down Lombard Street, but I have walked it. I have driven both of “the crookedest _street_ in the world” " in San francisco. One is famous it is Lombard street- but it is really crooked? It would be straight (and very steep) except large planters are to make a driver curve back and forth. Then there is Vermont Street a residential street in Potrero Hill, which really curves. but SF doesnt advertise it as the residents dont want the traffic. Also out in the CA desert there is (or was) a road that when you drove on it at a certain speed- played a tune- a bit of the William Tell Overture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-road-you-ve-ever-been-on/1007098.md?page=6)