Interchange (road)

In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically usesgrade separation, and
one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly
crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which roads cross at grade.
Interchanges are almost always used when at least one of the roads is a limited-access divided highway
(expressway or freeway), though they may occasionally be used at junctions between two surface streets.

interchange sentence examples

 Interchange sidings were provided here, connected to a loop on the LNWR line.

 We support the proposals for a bus interchange at the station.
 Part of the challenge was removing conflict between pedestrian, private car, taxi
and bus use, and facilitating interchange between transport modes.
 However, the implications of Rogerian theory is that there are very subtle
aspects of energy interchange that need to be attended to.
 They overlook the variety of considerations operating on the mind in the
interchange of commodities.
 These include plans for more through platforms, a shopping center above the
station and possibly a transport interchange with busses.
 All of these wipes fit onto easy-to-fix wall mounted holders and can be easily
interchanged and replaced, perfect for every busy office.
 Ever heard of a story with freely interchanging parts?
 The basin was once an interchange basin for the Coombeswood Steel Works.
 Improved interchanges between bus, tube and rail and we are looking at a
complete orbital rail structure built on interchanges.
 Generally used from the interchange where his speed livens up the tempo of the
Wolves attack.
 Online negotiates Interchange Of the Foreign currency Release the information
on how and where to interchange modernity.
 At its core, VRML is simply a 3D interchange format.
 Science, through technology, creates a worldwide interchange of ideas.
 Advice is also provided on new rail passenger services, stations and
interchangefacilities.
 The adoption of a common standard for the storage and interchange of lexical
terminology data should be promoted ( cf.
 During the tour members visited the Ostbahnhof interchange - the second
largest interchange terminal in the city.
 The Nomads secured the second goal their play merited on 16 minutes after an
impressive interchange of passes allowed Rosie Sherman to shoot home.
 Examples could be with journey ambiance or security sub-objectives, or costs
taken into account within the TEE transport interchange penalty.
  You can imagine there has been quite an interchange of information between all
three of us.

Cloverleaf interchange

A cloverleaf interchange is typically a two-level, four-way interchange whereby all left turns are handled
by loop ramps (right turns if traveling on the left). To go left, vehicles first cross over or under the targeted
route, then bear right onto a sharply curved ramp that loops roughly 270 degrees, merging onto the
interchanging road from the right, and crossing the route just departed.

The major advantage of cloverleafs is that they require only one bridge, which makes such junctions
inexpensive as long as land is plentiful. A major shortcoming of cloverleafs, however, is weaving (see
definition above), and the subsequent low-capacity of this design.

Cloverleafs also require considerable land consumption, hence they appear mostly in the United States,
Canada (mainly parclos, or partial cloverleaf interchanges), Germany, and the Netherlands. In Germany,
the standard design is to separate all turning traffic into a parallel carriageway so that the extra road
space can help minimize the problem of weaving. Collector and distributor roads are similar, but are
usually separated from the main carriageway by a divider, such as a guard rail orJersey barrier.

Cloverleafs are more often found along older highways, in rural areas, and within cities with low
population densities.

The Full Cloverleaf

The classic cloverleaf allows "non-stop" full access between two busy roads. Traffic
merges and weaves, but does not cross at-grade; unless the interchange is too
congested, no stopping is required. The colloquial "cloverleaf" is the same as the
more technical "full cloverleaf", as you can omit ramps to get a partial one. 
    Typically a cloverleaf is used where a freeway intersects a busy surface street,
though many older freeway-freeway interchanges are also cloverleafs. As we'll see,
the full cloverleaf is not considered as applicable in some situations now as it might
have been a few decades ago; in several places cloverleafs have been replaced with
either signalized interchanges or higher-capacity directional interchanges with
flyovers.

Design Notes
The cloverleaf is (on paper) the simplest way to connect two freeways. The only
bridges required are to separate the two roadways. If land is expensive, so too can be
the cloverleaf, which becomes a choice between tight turning radii (and lower design
speed) or lots of consumed land. You'll notice that most loop ramps are banked to
counteract centrifugal forces. 
    A small advantage that "falls out of the design" is the "second chance:" if you miss
the first ramp to the right, you can simply take three loops in a row to get back on
track. (I've also used two loops of a cloverleaf to make a U-turn.)

Weaving
A disadvantage to the plain cloverleaf is the "weaving" process, where drivers exiting
one loop have to merge and cross other drivers entering the next one. Weaving, which
causes bottlenecks and accidents, is the primary reason cloverleafs are now deprecated
in designs for new or revamped interchanges. In several instances, California is
replacing old full cloverleafs with 6-ramp partial cloverleafs.

Trumpet interchange

Trumpet interchanges have been used where one highway terminates at another highway. These involve
at least one loop ramp connecting traffic either entering or leaving the terminating expressway with the far
lanes of the continuous highway.

These interchanges are useful for highways as well as toll roads, as they concentrate all entering and
exiting traffic into a single stretch of roadway, where toll booths can be installed. A double-trumpet
interchange version can be found where a toll road meets another toll road or a free highway.

Trumpet interchanges are named as such due to their resemblance to trumpets. The bell of a trumpet can
be seen where the terminating highway begins to interchange with the continuous highway, and the
resemblance to the tubing is seen along the connecting loop ramps.
Trumpets, and other 3-way interchanges

This is a conceptually simple way to end one freeway at another. Like a

cloverleaf, it requires only one or two bridges, and designing for higher
speed will take up more land. Alternatives to the trumpet, shown below,
usually involve more bridges but remove the loop ramp. 
    Often an interchange involving a toll freeway to another freeway will be a
double trumpet, with all connecting traffic stopping at a toll station between
the trumpets. Sometimes more roads join in. The end of the Pennsylvania
Turnpike at I-81 and US 6 near Scranton has a triple trumpet. And I-90, I-91
and US 5 in Springfield, Mass. connect via a quadruple trumpet. 
    Michael G. Koerner reports that the new US 30/OH 696 interchange near
Beaverdam, Ohio is an "inside trumpet": the westbound mainline follows the
high-speed ramp outside the loop, the southbound ramp diverges from the
left, and the northbound to westbound loop traffic converges from the left.

Diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is an interchange involving four ramps where they enter and leave the freeway at
a small angle and meet the non-freeway at almost right angles. These ramps at the non-freeway can be
controlled through stop signs, traffic signals, or turn ramps. Diamond interchanges are inexpensive to
build and require little land but are prone to congestion and accidents if there is high traffic.

The basic diamond (left) is often the design of choice for lower-traffic interchanges
without special constraints. 
    It does not scale up well to heavy traffic on the surface street or ramps, or if there
is heavy left-turning traffic. Traffic signals can be installed at the two points where
the ramps meet the surface street, but high enough traffic volumes can cause
backups on the street and the ramps -- even resulting in stopped traffic on the
freeway. All ramps function to connect the freeway to the surface street, as well as
transition traffic from low speeds, or a dead stop, to freeway speeds. If a ramp also
has the task of storing queued-up traffic, its length becomes a critical design factor. 
    Another problem: for higher traffic volumes, the surface street will need left turn
lanes for the entrance ramps. (or right turn lanes, for countries where you drive on
the left.) In a tight diamond, there's not much length between ramps available for
turn lanes. Having turn lanes for each direction in parallel forces the roadway to be
wider. If the surface road is on a bridge, where lanes are expensive to add, each left
turn lane takes away a potential thru lane. In this case, the engineer can go for a
solution which doesn't require left turns from the surface street: the six-ramp partial
cloverleaf interchange. Another solution is the single-point diamond or "SPUI".