Building a Perfectly Imperfect Highway System in Cities Skylines 2 | MC #14

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Hey everyone! This is the Doddibot video that I referenced in the video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/opyzn4N-l5iDsNk&t ! I need to modify the junction near the university based on Doddibot's advice. Give them some love for putting together an absolutely excellent and professional video!

[@usyplays2425]

get realcivilengineer to check on the highways

[@tillycatcat]

From when you were purchasing tiles, it looked like the highway is a North-South predominantly, Wouldn't this mean an even number highway number (I learned from CGP Greys video that that's how it's meant to work right?)

[@Ilikefire2792]

@tillycatcat technically the road could only qualify as a US state route rather than an interstate as the basic rules for what would qualify to get an interstate designation where not followed (must have a minimum of 4 lanes or more, has to be grade separated and directionally separated the entire length of the route, must have a minimum speed of 55mph and as a result wide curves, no grades above 5% unless in mountainous areas.) Its also technical 2 separate routes as there is a small spur that eventually becomes a tight 4 lane highway road after the 3 way interchange screw up over the river.

[@Ilikefire2792]

I would've recommended making the first interchange a trumpet interchange instead of building that secondary road connection as it would've probably cheaper, made the 3 way into a one way directional spur highway (as building over the water like that would be unrealistic) as well as done as many things to avoid creating problems for the locals (i.e. making the entire section thru the neighborhood elevated as to reduce the amount of time the road and neighborhood would need to be cut in half) and definitely try to avoid building as many low clearance bridges over the water (as the water seems wide enough that it could possibly support ship traffic if only there wasn't as many bridges along it that were built so close to the water level, making it impossible for them to gun underneath them)

[@DZag6149]

Add back the surfaces !!!! It looks way more professional and less like a simulation

[@VaingloriousGaming]

re: pipes & utilities under the highway. Maybe it was an outlier, but years ago I recall when my former hometown was undergoing a MASSIVE IRL mulligan connecting two highways, a rail line to the power plant, and several commercial corridors, they also moved a ton of utilities. In residential areas, the water & power were under the road, right where they belong. But along the highways, they were buried off to side in a right of way area. The explanation was you want them under the road in residential so you don't wind up digging up someone's yard, but on highways, you want them offset so you don't wind up digging up a multi-million dollar segment of a high traffic highway.

[@IMDANIELAUSTIN]

Great insight!!! The way your last statement was structured it almost made TOO much sense haha.

[@IONATVS]

Yeah, My understanding is that the ideal is always “in the least disruptive part of the right of way” which for highways is BESIDE the highway if feasible. Or at least in the median or shoulder so the minimum number of lanes can be closed for repairs if it placing it under can’t be avoided.

[@bleh-v8q]

I've been thinking about this for years watching CPP

[@dbjm88]

Can confirm in Australia in rural areas they are generally off the side of highways

[@SampoPaalanen]

That makes perfect sense when you think about it, you want them where they disrupt the lives of the locals as little as possible hence they're under the roads in urban areas where you could always take another road, where as with highways (where there might not even be another way) they're to the side where there typically is nothing there.

[@fgm5225]

Turning an urban street into a highway... America strikes again! :D

[@EdzTech7]

Isn’t it beautiful!!! I sure wouldn’t want to live anywhere else🇺🇸

[@Nikolaj11]

"It's stroadin' time," muttered the traffic engineer, next he planned four times as many parking spaces than needed for the new failing mall.

[@AssyriaVR]

He is planning for the future and saving lives. If he connected it to the existing 4 lanes, it would be safer but would have less capacity while probably speeding up the traffic on the existing 4 lanes. Which is not safer for anyone.

[@chrisw443]

MERICA!

[@makdims]

Atleast he's not destroying too much houses like MURICA!

[@IceDree]

I sense an eventual story follow up where the city decides to demolish the highway and reclaim the riverfront. Excellent work, Phil.

[@zane_sadauskis]

I hope so, because wow, Phil can make things amazing and make things ugly. But this time he's done something new, something amazingly ugly

[@ludvigholst4767]

​@@zane_sadauskisI think the plan is to eventually destroy the highway, like an urban planning redemption arc. Building a massive highway like this is kinda realistic in a way and getting rid of it once the city doesn't need is also quite realistic in a way

[@radioactvchpmnk9]

As the next political campaign it gets a many million conversion into a pedestrian path called 'The River Walk"

[@zaneraza4044]

@@zane_sadauskis its realistic though, I enjoy it, this is what actually happens in real life, then how he fixes it can be really informational.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

[@advancify_]

we need someone’s villain arc in this story lol

[@datboitrooper1255]

This paired with a natural disaster could be amazing story telling

[@JosephBlack]

@@datboitrooper1255 Yeah I wanted to say; that taunting Tornado seems to be the villain this season

[@AranBoldt-Sutter]

The villain is the government that bulldozed a neighborhood street to build a highway.

[@QemeH]

@@AranBoldt-Sutter And then kept at-grade access anyway, so none of the advantages of a highway come to bear anyways. It's the worst of both worlds. But the US loves to cram local access and high-volume through traffic onto the same road, so that's painfully realistic.

[@damnimloomin]

We should see the railroad be nationalized 😈 let the state show California how to build a SUPERIOR state rail system 😂 lets have the governor turn on the railroad

[@bongieger7871]

Man i love the roleplay-y style of this series, DoT taking land, local politics, tiny stories. Great series my man!

[@Tony1975uk]

It's so nice to watch a CS2 video where the creator is actually taking some time over what they are doing and not just throwing down 8 line roads and multiple trumpet junctions every 5 feet.

[@000622477]

I feel like that's a jab at Kibs lol

[@Tony1975uk]

@@000622477 I don't know that one! Can't remember his name.

[@Sam-es2gf]

Half of these intersections would've taken less space and have fewer conflicts if they were trumpets tbh. Yeah it's boring if they're all the same but some of these are just not good

[@birbeyboop]

this is why he's my favorite. that real life experience makes him considerate of what does and doesn't make sense realistically.

[@birbeyboop]

@@Sam-es2gf making it imperfect is kinda the point

[@drewpatterson9712]

This episode feels like a lesson in induced demand. American planning going hard

[@gemeinwie10YT]

JUST ONE MORE LANE BRO

[@TomatoJoe11]

Transportation engineer (soon to be licensed, fingers crossed I passed my exam) here. The section at 18:30 was probably better off with the single, sharper curve as apposed to the two "flatter" curves (even though one of those curves seemed as sharp as the original). In real life, the two problems I could foresee you running into here would be Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) and Minimum Tangent Lengths (and possibly Superelevation Runout and Runoff Lengths). Both will be hard to determine definitively if the road you designed would be problematic without numerical design data. For the SSD, generally roads are designed such that drivers can continuously see X feet ahead of them so that they can recognize and react to the danger. X is a function of design speed, so a freeway with presumably 55 MPH+ traffic would have a large SSD; drivers need to see a longer distance in front of them. A driver on the left freeway at 18:30 was driving south (from top to bottom of screen) when they hit the second curve, with the elevation change due to the upcoming bridge, and the trees on the inside of the curve, they may not be able to see enough in front of them to be able to react appropriately to say a stopped car in the middle of the road. For the minimum tangent lengths (which would impact superelevation runout and runoff lengths), basically you would want a long tangent piece of roadway to be able to bank the freeway slowly enough. Roads are generally designed as: Tangent (a straight line) > Curve > Tangent (another straight line pointing in another direction). I think it's always ideal for a long tangent piece. Hope this helps :)

[@WhateverNick]

Great point, TomatoJoe!

[@Catussy-Wetter]

In my area, I could see the double-sharp turn because it is relatively open, and there would likely be some sort of signage recommending speed.

[@FrenchPeopleAreCool-Liberte]

I think a turn like this could be realistically grandfathered in from a much older road, then possibly switched after a serious collision.

[@TomatoJoe11]

@@Catussy-Wetter That could be an option! However, reducing speed also reduces capacity, it wouldn't be ideal. With all the R/W we have and the relatively flat and easy building conditions, the single curve fits best.

[@PMfromMB]

38:18 Maybe the replacement should be called "Walkable Community Memorial Park" Jokes aside, I genuinely feel really sad for the people of East Bend. I commend you for your realism as always but this kind of car-before-people planning in American cities is really heartbreaking to me 💔

[@AssyriaVR]

Not really the building of the highway in the city is more people over cars. It would be way cheaper to connect it to the existing road. This would definitely increase the speed which is terrible for everyone.

[@miketoronto8308]

Does suck to see highways destroy communities like this, I'm just glad it's more growing pains than careless American highway destruction frenzy

[@nicolai8820]

German here, i cringed so hard at the East Bend removal. In general improved intersections and a 4 lane boulevard would have done the job.

[@AssyriaVR]

@nicolai8820 Not really, it is a lot smarter for future growth and safety for everyone. Keeping it a four lane road would just increase the speeds. Even if the speeds on the roads decrease, the average speed will be faster in IRL. This also could improve businesses on both sides, creating more of 2 down town areas, which you see in many cities.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Haha! Yeah - not what anyone that lives in the area would want, even if it means the freeway didn't go through downtown Bend (which was another option). That said, bad decisions leads to change. We'll have to see what happens next!

[@justanotheraccounthere2014]

The portion of highway through East Bend neighborhood is perfect for a sunken highway design. Put the highways at least 7.5 meters below ground level but still exposed. Local/ped roads can still bridge over them with minimal span, and entrances and exits can be built by diverting parallel local roads. For added realism, add retaining walls along the righthand side of the traffic flow. No sound barrier necessary, minimal bulldoozing, allow zoning super close to the highway and basically no change to the grid at all. Though such a project might be beyond the financial capacity of a County with only 20k population.

[@dylanmorgan2752]

Make sure to put the playground right next to the retaining wall.

[@Nephaera]

I'm so relieved Magnolia County isn't doomed to spiral into land value death. I really want this series to go as long as possible, I love it SO much

[@JimmyMcAwesome]

The bridge at 18 min is insane. The extra curve you added in after it is an even tighter turn than earlier. Just have the bridge itself be curved, many bridges are curved and will be an even more interesting part of the community.

[@magvad6472]

Putting a highway right through the center of a university campus AND cutting off the river from most of town? Bold...BOLD planning, how you got it approved is truly a miracle. How you can live with yourself is beyond me. The people of Bend will look back on this era like NYC does Robert Moses.

[@QemeH]

I really hope this is setting up a future episode of "reclaiming downtowns from the car" and isn't just "well, in the US we actually _like_ scars"...

[@a_boat93]

Y’all gotta chill. He’s telling a story and his stories and series’ are generally related to realistic things that happen in urban planning as communities grow and evolve. Let him tell the story; if he wanted to build an urban utopia, he would. But what’s the fun in that story? And at least he’s doing this now instead of this growing into a legit metro area and then deciding to plow a highway through it. Some of you people just wanna be negative just to be negative 😂

[@QemeH]

@@a_boat93 That is a valid point and I should add to my comment that I thoroughly enjoy the storytelling and the insight into planning challenges and the politics around the engineering. In no way are my comments meant to discourage or critizise that. I'm just commenting on the (immaginary) politics of the (immaginary) world of Bend and am expressing my hope of a future episode of "well, actually, some US towns can do better" :) But no matter where CPP takes this series, I'm sure it will be interesting, educational and most importantly fun - at least there is no indication to the contrary whatsoever

[@magvad6472]

@@a_boat93 my tone is mostly joking but still offended as if I lived in Bend myself. Where are the picket lines in front of town hall over this?

[@a_boat93]

@@QemeHthat’s fair amigo, I’m sorry if I came on too strong as well. Highways in any form can be very controversial (especially in urban areas) but I understand why CPP includes episodes like these in the storyline…”for better or for worse” as he’ll say. But then there’s always a string of comments that argue or rage against it like they completely forgot Phil is just telling a story here 😂. I’m pretty sure all of us understand by now that plowing a highway through a dense urban area ain’t the greatest idea…not to mention Phil has expressed his feelings in the past on the matter. I just find it annoying albeit amusing how quickly everyone goes up in arms instead of remembering it’s a story based on things seen irl.

[@blkmamba]

I am watching a video that is basically just building a road, but it really speaks to the quality of your story telling. I am so vested in the county that I appreciate that this is a massive moment.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Thank you so much Blkmamba! Always appreciate the kind words and encouragement from you!

[@rebecca99994]

This is another build where the national differences in urban planning get really clear - I've always found the fondness for completely limited-access highways in CS a bit odd because they're relatively limited, especially outside of major cities, in AU, and the amount of interchanges in a city this size seems absolutely wild where at grade intersections or roundabouts would be way more common.

[@ExpedientFalcon]

To be fair, in reality the majority of highway intersections in the US are at-grade, signaled crossings. Except on interstates, which are not allowed to have any at-grade crossings. However, because the interstate system is the fastest method of land travel between major cities, I would suspect that most American highway driving, unless you live in a very rural area, is done on interstates. That's certainly the case for me, and it does lead to a mental bias of thinking that controlled-access interchanges are more common than they actually are. And then that leaks into CS. 🙂

[@MikMoen]

An unfortunate truth, is Americans don't like to slow down. Roundabouts are not only completely foreign to a lot of the U.S., but they force people to drop from their preferred pace of going at LEAST 20 over the Limit all the way down in order to make the curve, and then they have to do the appalling thing of actually yielding to others. God forbid, I know.

[@Zyo117]

Also the fact that, to a lot of people, "interstate" and "highway" mean the same thing.

[@skirata3144]

While I as a German am very surprised whenever I see any at grade intersection on a road that calls itself a highway.

[@ExpedientFalcon]

This conversation prompted me to look at cities near me with close to Magnolia County's population of 25k. They all share a similar design: a bypass highway around the city, with interchanges, but at most 1 interchange within the city itself--usually none at all. With one exception, Evansville, Indiana, which has an express highway that cuts directly through the city and has a mix of interchanges and at-grade crossings, similar to the highway Phil built here. Evansville is also more than 4 times the population of Magnolia County.

[@JHDrago]

The Jonses, The Williams, Nick King, and Chuckles on the advisory committee is my Avengers Civil War

[@TitanianBlueFrog-Ribit]

It's about to be a Magnolia County Civil war.

[@SagarKhushalani]

That highway curve at minute 18. That’s exactly what I70 does in Kansas City and also because of the river! Totally flies (though not always fun to drive) lol

[@cathylin6140]

lol

[@xxkythegreatxx7332]

They also got exits coming of that sharp corner into KCK. Haha

[@sabretooth1997]

Also similar to I-79 on the south bank of the Ohio River just west of Pittsburgh. Though that one exists as something of a switchback as the sides of the valley are quite steep.

[@Montrana]

I was thinking of (several parts of) I-70 in KC as he asked if it was reasonable lol

[@xavierst-gelais4787]

@@sabretooth1997 Drive there by truck regularly and I'm sure as you know they have lower speed limits for trucks there

[@Chaosonic]

With those big land buys you made, now they're missing the Jeffersonian grid!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Excellent point! I'll grab those off camera and give you credit!

[@whynotcaptaincrunch]

There's a road I've been driving on a few times a year since I was a child that has slowly been upgraded from a two-lane highway to a four-line divided highway over the course of the past 30 years, US Route 395, that connects from the cities of Southern California to many of the major wilderness tourist areas. It used to be very slow going, with limited opportunities for passing, now you can usually maintain a speed of 65 mph or more over most the route. Very convenient for travelers, but a complete disaster for most of the small towns along the way. Now they have to put up with significant high-speed traffic directed straight onto their main streets. At the same time, fewer people stop to eat or rest at their local businesses since they can make the whole trip in less time. These road projects can really decide the fates of the small communities in their path.

[@kenzieduckmoo]

Daryl: We dont need more roads! Our town is just like Phil intended it! Governor Johnson: Phil? Daryl: You dont know Phil? He's the guy that plays the game that determines all our fates. Governor Johnson: I see. Daryl: We're living in a simulation you know. Governor Johnson (to assistant): Take a note, we need to increase mental health spending in Magnolia County

[@MikMoen]

10:45 A lot of cities would've just let the Highway terminate into that four lane Avenue, that's exactly what SR410 in Washington does in my hometown. Doesn't mean I appreciate it though cause of traffic, but it's a note of realism.

[@baltothewolf]

I think he is doing it kinda like a small city style like in the Midwest, or kinda the plains area y'know. It's difficult for me to describe lol, but look up the city of Martinsville Indiana, or even Bloomington. I feel like he is going for that two lane highway country feel before he upgrades into some metro areas like Downtown Indiana Oh and those are just examples that I can use from my IRL city lol

[@Nikolaj11]

Feels very excessive with that enormous bridge to span a rather narrow river diagonally. You build bridges as short as you can. I think it would make more sense to send the bridge itself straight across and than use a trumpet-esque formation back on land to bring traffic towards the correct direction. Editing to add: Is it also not unusual to have that interchange in the very edge of the river? That's a lot of bridge spans out over the water. I would make a trumpet interchange on the land there too to merge the three directions.

[@tyranavalon]

42:00 When you cut Myrtle Lane and made Apple street you also turned that whole area into a large cul-de-sac everything on the end of Emerson Street has only one way in and out. There are at least 20 houses and a pair of bus shelters, not to mention the parks, and with the way the highway crossing goes in that area one wonders how first responders will handle the area.

[@29Swordmaster]

I would also guess that your bus routes now look crazy since their original flow through that section was disrupted.

[@Catussy-Wetter]

Finally, a KZbinr who puts effort into storytelling and editing. I look forward to seeing where you go with this community. Clean videos!!

[@shaneintheuk2026]

On a week where CS2 has taken a bit of a pounding it’s nice to have a reminder of its good points. Thank you.

[@Soporbum42]

The fire in the background while Daryll storms out of the meeting is too perfect!

[@katharinastehr9296]

That´s what i thought

[@antobenilol]

Oh no... Here it comes, 2 full episodes of fixing the issues that making the highway caused hahahaha 😂😂😂 Love your content Phil! ❤

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Just 2? haha!

[@asneakyninja1_]

Having highway sides mismatch after an upgrade from single road to double road is actually more common than you think. There is a few highways around here that are two lanes in both directions where one side is perfectly graded with smooth flat transitions between elevation (the side they made afterwards) and the other is very bumpy, not perfectly graded like the other side at all (the side that existed before the upgrade) :D

[@RosinaEmilyW]

There’s also mismatch due to terrain. There’s a section of motorway to the west of my city which is comprised of two long bridges which scale the side of a very steep hill at different heights. So, if you’re part of the outbound traffic you can look up at the underside of the inbound traffic. And, while not a motorway, there’s a split in a major road to accommodate a listed building not too far away.

[@nickberry5520]

There is a highway like that near me, where in one direction are homes and business fronting a curvy and hilly road, and in the other direction a straight and flat road with no homes. The speed limit is different in each direction as well.

[@luckypunch_]

My heart is bleeding seeing the diffrence in planning and building highways in the US compared to the Autobahn Germany. Besides that loving to see ur videos on my Timeline and it always suprises me how diffrent planning is around the world but i also learned a lot from ur videos about city planning and why stuff happens the way they happen. Keeo up the good work and please no more highways trough the town.

[@FranzFridl]

Agree, it's so much better in Germany

[@flaviomongiovi8105]

He destroyed a whole community to build a highway... that's sacrilege to me (I live in Sicily)

[@skayt35]

The US equivalent of Autobahn is the Interstate, or more generally, a freeway. The highway in Magnolia County is _not_ an Interstate and it's _not_ a freeway. This is the exact reason why local politicians were a little bit disappointed, like Phil explained :)

[@flaviomongiovi8105]

@@skayt35 I mean... with how it's built it's a Superstrada, the grade below Autostrada (which are freeways), this is simply because there are at grade intersections. But a road like this for example looks like the SS640 that I have near me in Sicily, and that doesn't go anywhere near the cities it connects! Urban highways like the one that Phil built today generally don't exist here; at most we have a 4 lane divided road, like the Circonvallazione di Catania. Now that I think about it, there's the Viale della Regione Siciliana Ovest area in Palermo, that looks very similar to developement like this; but it was built BEFORE the houses that surround it, as it was very far outside city center...

[@nicolai8820]

Ich habe echt die Krise bekommen als ich da zugucken musste, man hätte nur ein paar Kreuzungen verbessern müssen und die Straße etwas ausbauen müssen das wär es gewesen, die Autobahn ist extrem unnötig und hat die Stadt sehr abgewertet.

[@anders95]

Thank you for continuing this series. I still really enjoy it, even with all the issues of the game right now.

[@dylanhelmenstine9390]

I know it can be frustrating...but the music you play whenever the road mechanics give you hell is so funny to me. It makes me laugh out loud every time!!!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

... honestly, I've been enjoying making these sections during editing, haha! Take a lemon and make lemonade!

[@doberandkats]

🚧🛑They severed my neighborhood years ago, we now have to go 3 miles to go across the street so to speak. Love the build even with all the hot mess. 27 years later and GPS still sends people down the dead end streets (yes plural) to get around this area.

[@catmac2011]

My husband keeps asking why I’m giggling over a city building game, but the little video add-ins get me every time!

[@HiramGodoy]

44:00 Should be a Trumpet. You even have a good angle to do so. I know a lot of people are suggesting a roundabout, and would be cheaper, but that place calls for a Trumpet, that will also add variety.

[@simongeard4824]

Yeah, doing a trumpet there seems obvious. It's no more complex nor costly than what was built, and avoids that unnecessary cross-over point.

[@dezwollenaartjes]

30:45 I think there’s a trick with roundabouts that Overcharged Egg used as well in the city center of Egginburgh, where if you remove one side of the highway, add a big roundabout to the intersection with the other side, redraw the other side over it and then remove the roundabout, it becomes one big intersection where you can use the traffic lights on 4 sides instead of 8, so the trucks and cars wont be stopping for a traffic light in the middle of the highway.

[@mr_dr_walrus]

I'm sorry Phil, but as much as we all love the realistic construction of Magnolia County, I must deduct points for not completely pausing all construction projects while Winter was taking place. Thank you for recording the series and continuing it! Can't wait to see how the story and city progress, as well as other exciting adventures in other city builders or even whole different games!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Haha, you should check out the i-39 project in Janesville. For sure kept moving through winter at a glacial pace. I knew people that traveled through it everyday that told me horror stories! Tbh, I'm enjoying putting together this series more than any other I've done, mostly because of the constraints. The slow down is because I'd basically be devastated if I had to end it because of a major bug leading to a series-ending issue. No fear of this going anywhere if I have anything to say about it!

[@myrhapsodyforever]

As another example, while we really only have 2 season (Winter and Construction) in Canada, most major highway projects like these ones would continue during the winter even if they are at a much slower pace and at far greater expensive (i.e., continually thawing the ground to enable earthmoving). Otherwise, nothing would get done and residents would be absolutely furious during our 4 measly months of summer because travel would be greatly restricted. Tbh, very few construction projects are stopped here due to winter; only project stages like paving may be delayed until summer.

[@Stant123]

Oh CPP, at 10:30 you missed the perfect opportunity to place a raised highway over the existing road allowing the neighborhood connectivity to remain, having the highway, and using one of the better features of CS2 (stacked roads) all in one go. Since your highway is only two lanes in each direction, you could have used the combined 2 lane two way highway, put it over the top (probably should remove the trees first though) and made some simple connections on either end after the highway has been separated and brought back down to ground level. Sure you lose the trees, but you retain everything else, and you can always keep a grass median, or better yet, give wider sidewalks.

[@ssaquiettraveler]

Something about the two roundabouts at 35:43 put me back into a memory of driving across the bridge from Stillwater, MN into Houlton, WI and that specific day was such a truly perfect summer day full of good food and sunshine so thank you for spontaneously triggering that memory.

[@carloangrisano]

I really enjoy when you build infrastructures and how thoughtful you are about the future capacity a city really needs. That being said, elevating highways is super common in the US, but in Europe we tend to bury and tunnel highway rings- especially around cities. Would be fun if you could mix both building styles!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Great idea! Absolutely projects we'll take on as the area gets a bit more dense!

[@carloangrisano]

Fantastic!! Can’t wait to see it in future episodes! 🙌🏻💯

[@Miers27]

I have a suggestion for the access point at 44:15 instead of that odd double crossing motion mediated by a traffic signal, use a roundabout there. The traffic signal will add an energy cost to that area (which is kinda in the middle of nowhere), as well as it guarantees that at least one direction is always stopped, and it puts highway speed traffic into danger of head on collisions. I don't imagine volume there will be particularly high, so it will be better for both flow and power to bring those ramps into a roundabout

[@Xiyng]

Yeah, or a trumpet. But a service interchange like you suggested works too. We have them fairly commonly in similar cases here in Finland.

[@augustas1]

I hate that this was not a trumpet interchange

[@markberg6197]

I think that in the future your gonna need to build a whole interstate bypass around the whole town of bend

[@imstarwars]

As a fellow Wisconsinite, I love what you've done with the highway. It matches a lot of what I see across the midwest but in Wisconsin especially. One observation I have as someone who lives in an area where highways were upgraded within my lifetime (highway 10 corridor between Appleton and Stevens Point), when I saw the highway being upgraded, it often times would go over existing cross roads, or if they were simple 2-lane roads, it's pretty common in my area to have at grade crossings interscecting right with the highway. Additionally, I've seen a lot of surplus packages and infrastructure bills allow the state to come back through years later and then elevate the smaller roads to make them cross over the highway with built up land/bridges, and then simple sliplane entrances and exits onto the highway. (see this a lot especially on 94 between Milwaukee and Chicago, and on 41 between Oshkosh and Milwaukee) It's always really interesting to see where and how the highway has developed overtime based on how the highway and other roads ineract. Love what you're doing. Keep it up!

[@FastTquick]

44:15: Seeing that crossing on/off ramp you made is a real pet peeve of mine. You never see those in real life because seeing traffic crossing each other at high speeds like that is inviting a serious crash right there. And a traffic signal is going to add a lot of unnecessary starts and stops. I think your heart is in the right place here, so I would suggest building the on/off ramps in a way so that they’re crossing over and under rather than directly through each other.

[@Xiyng]

This one should really be a trumpet, little reason for it to be anything else. That, or a service interchange, which is not really ideal for two highways, but it's actually fairly common here in Finland (when the other road isn't a motorway, that is).

[@Miers27]

yeah I posted elsewhere that I think it should be a roundabout there instead of a crossing. Not really enough volume to justify the cost of a flyover, but a roundabout there would keep things moving and cost the least

[@RebelSapph]

I actually love doing imperfect highways, adds a lot of realism and makes the region feel lived in depending how you build them!

[@StanRaw88]

The kinks in the roads and the uneven interchange is killing me!

[@kevinrsmith23]

Two things about bridges and highways: (1) shorter is always less expensive (2) less expensive tends to be the chosen method. Your "signature piece" of Magnolia county bridge {17:25} would have likely have been built as perpendicular as possible to the river (to keep is shorter - as you referenced in 47:38). Bridges are extremely expensive and as a public official I would have encouraged our staff to look for ways to preserve money when building it. Safety would have also been a big driver to keep it shorter. The longer the bridge, the more failure points. Just bringing to light this inconsistency because Darrell Williams would have cried "The Governor wastes our money!!" Love your videos! You are inspirational!

[@dillon5906]

Dear Phil I’ve been watching your channel for so long. I love your videos because you have An amazing voice as you’re already aware, great insight and knowledge about planning and zoning, and your videos and live streams are an escape for me. Recently I’ve been going through a lot, and your videos have helped me to detach a bit and calm down to get to a better place in my mind. Thank you for never failing to cheer me up. Your videos mean a lot more than they may seem. -Dillon

[@jonasjacobsen9702]

Not a big fan of highways through the town. Ultimately destroying the vibe and essence of the town. I mean it's probably very realistic in the U.S. But the U.S. city planning is not necessarily what I would strive for, cause it turns into less city planning and more traffic planning 😅 I would rather go in and look at the roads already established in the county and upgrading them in areas where its needed. And usually if there is an increase in traffic, that means there is a lack of efficient and useable travel alternatives. So I'd rather try to improve the public transit somehow. I know that public transit is kind of broken in CS2 tho... Anyways, love your videos as always!

[@DaggeroPlays]

Love the story elements and the contrasting views between residents regarding the highway. It adds so much personality and realism to the county. And you did well to put the highway in without removing too many homes or encroaching on their land. It really inspires me to build smaller towns/villages that feel alive and tell a story.

[@LeverActionLarry]

Good stuff Phil, thanks for continuing to grind with CS2!

[@dustinsinn6688]

I really hope CPP sees this...... First, I want to say I heckin love the content. Ever facet of it. Just quality stuff. With that said, I've lived in Pennsylvania/West Virginia my whole life. And I love the attempt to make everything real to life, which is why I'd like to see some mountain country style rural roads sometimes. Old roads that have way to steep of grades and are windy and wavy. Maybe not in MC. But one day. And even in towns or the cities. I live in a small city/large town that has steep enough roads in place where you're worried sometimes about parking on the street. In essence, an avid viewer who'd love to see their part of the world be represented. And idxlovexto learn the potential thoughts and reasons for the kind of choices made in mountain towns/cities. Also, I would like to say that, as I stated previously, I am an avid viewer. But only for about a year now, give or take. So if this type of build has been covered I probably haven't seen it.

[@BabyWhaleFilms]

Gotta love that engagement!

[@Wozzup1223]

Your videos always have such a compelling quality to them Phil, keep up the excellent work. You somehow make cities 2 engaging despite all the pain!

[@pearcejohnathan]

On the last interchange, I would suggest a Par-clo loop. It would prevent crossing over traffic.

[@rrivierareject03]

I like the feel of this build! With the Moses School fairly-well known to be...rough...this feels a bit more realistic for a county the size of Magnolia. Where I grew up, they've converted the two-lane state road to a divided four-lane (with bike lanes...whatever works, I guess?). Also reminds me of the US highways through the Midwest and South.

[@TitanianBlueFrog-Ribit]

The storytelling is so cool. It makes it look like you're using the game as sort of an animation for a story. There is reason behind each choice you make in this world you've created.

[@pedrogomes01]

In my experience, I've seen highways been designing preferable to allow 90 degrees (shorter) crossings over roads and water. Curved or diagonal bridges are much more expensive and complex to build. Something like a last resort. Even more with intersections going on over water. Anyway great video! It's always very nice to see your view on a highway project like that.

[@iain.sm.c]

Spraying Trees needs to be a t-shirt at this point. Iconic.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Honestly, not a bad idea... haha!

[@floydiandroid]

So happy to see highway planning come into Magnolia. One of my favorite things to plan out in CS.

[@madeline6663]

Hey CPP! you should fix the crossing between Superior Highway and Middle Highway! People trying to turn left from Superior to Middle would have to stop in a highway. not cool... you should do a little arm coming off of Superior Highway and connecting perpendicularly, so that there is a place to stop and wait until there's no more transit without disturbing anyone and then cross the highway. Love your videos! kisses from Brazil

[@sydneyxface1347]

I genuinely enjoy your precision and accuracy in every single little corner of the game. Love hearing what is realistic and I REALLY REALLY love when things bother you because the perfection afterwards is *mwah* chef's kiss.

[@joeschmoe0216]

Phil, the big bridge to the really big sweeping curve (min 18) is a bit...overbuilt? If you take a straight shot across the river wouldn't you be able to make a sweeping curve closer to the river bank? You'd come in a little further inland to start, but the sweep toward that farm could be *much* gentler. Edit: also, the straight bridge would be shorter and therefore MUCH cheaper than that giant diagonal behemoth lol

[@walker1073]

Man this is the first episode I've caught from this series and its so so good. Love how you've leveraged your professional experience to make the stories. And the city looks so damn good. You've done a great job working within what the game gives you.

[@TheSockDemon]

I was just wondering when the next episode was coming out and here it is magically landing in my lap

[@t.635]

These types of upgrade episodes are always my favorite. Thank you, Phil. Hope you and the fam have a great Friday and weekend!

[@ericambros]

Robert Moses famously planned highways through black neighborhoods to divide and conquer(develop). I-5 through Portland comes to mind. Outrageous indeed but it happens unfortunately. 11:26

[@papermist1158]

i like to imagine biff just going through every cities skylines youtuber's videos just to see if they're doing lane mathmatics

[@RitwickChatterjee14]

10:58 - As a Glaswegian - I just not only can imagine --- I am living it every day Thank you M8 :|

[@Tony1975uk]

I'm living right next to the M8 🙄Good times...

[@kirithornalley6123]

@@Tony1975uk I spent 4 years living in Glasgow. Good god the M8 is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen!

[@TheXLAXLimpLungs]

I think these massive highway conversion episodes are my favorite type!

[@nerdybaldur2018]

44:30 i think a trumpet intersection is much better and avoid the traffic light

[@cubedmax]

Something about this reminds me of the towns along the St. Croix on the MN-WI border, especially the recent highway projects in Stillwater

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Huge inspiration taken from that area

[@Actiaeon]

I got an F in my class at because the highway bulldozed my apple tree project.

[@jaykebird2go]

33:47 this reminds me of the upcoming I-41 reconstruction happening here in the Green Bay/Appleton area of Wisconsin. As a part of that, a new interchange is being added on. The state DOT (which is reconstructing the highway) is adding on the interchange, but the local governments (primarily the county) is actually funding/building the connections back to existing roads (as on one side, the intended connection is a bit away from the highway, kinda like what you have here). I could see a similar deal happening with that there, where the state/larger authority is funding the interchange and one of the connections, and then the more local authority helps fund the road going the other way.

[@damienduchene3998]

Just a reminder : if we are to reach out climate targets and keep a habitable planet, 0 new fossil fuel infrastructure can be built. And that includes highways! But in video games it's fun to be robert Moses 😂

[@Thatguyinyourclass]

yeah to bad the US and oil producing nations have too much of a say in the global economy and make it impossible to stop investing in highways and fossil fuel infrastructure. Until we massively upgrade our energy grid to no longer rely on coal and natural gas and as long as our cities are car centric we will never reach our climate targets.

[@gra_nolan_bar]

10:47 this is the part of the game that scares me the most and gives me the most anxiety. Tearing up fully built communities for the growth of the city. Thanks for including your strategies lol.

[@moledaddy]

I'm getting 50 second ads every 6 minutes. I'm not blaming you, and I don't mind watching a reasonable amount of ads. I wanted you to know what KZbin is doing. I don't want it to hurt your channel.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I have seen a few people posting about this today. I wonder if there is some kind of a test going on because that is absolutely horrible. Very sorry!

[@moledaddy]

@@CityPlannerPlays it's not your fault. I think you might be right. I haven't seen 50 second ads before this video, so I figured KZbin is tinkering with something. I love your channel, so keep it up!

[@wteff8586]

The interrupted sound barrier makes sense from the standpoint my hometown took. The motorway runs through a part of it and where there's residential buildings, they built a sound barrier but along a short stretch of commercial buildings they didn't because it's not required there. The surrounding residents think it should but the law doesn't seem to care much

[@sundiataSMITH]

Can we get a super cut of all of your stories? They are better than soap operas. 😁👍🏾

[@T5d1Va]

I love how easily you did the Y and Diamond interchanges. They both looked fantastic! I think the yards looked better when they matched the not-yard surfaces, but that's just me. Awesome vid as always.

[@SuperPieman42]

I think my favourite part of Phil cutting through the neighbourhood is that University Street doesn't go anywhere near the university anymore

[@jessicawadleigh1246]

Another great episode, Phil! Thanks for keeping the CS2 content coming.

[@Jimmmmmmmm94]

Robert Moses would be proud!

[@Liberty0522]

Seeing that neighborhood get ripped in half was horrific.

[@bena8966]

hey man I love your videos . recently decided to give cities skylines a try and came across your channel to learn about the game, to be honest i did not think that watching someone build and manage a city would be so relaxing . it's like magic

[@pamelawild4390]

I just love your storylines in your videos!!!

[@SRCrane]

Sucks to have a highway drop in your backyard, but I think it was very needed for the city. Great job!

[@Volmest]

Waking up at 5 am and finding this video in my notifications. Great start to a friday. Great work, Phil

[@mgmuscari]

when i was in undergrad at rutgers there was a massive highway upgrade project going on through campus, love the part where you're going through the university.

[@lukedeulen1830]

Honestly after watching this, I can safely say that the road tools are some of the best things in the game. If you were to attempt this in CS1, even with mods, it'd take triple the time. The complex curve tool and lane addition tools are great. Also like the progression a lot more. Great vid, I love highways 🛣

[@chchzuzia]

Yes, at minute 21, when you're thinking about putting two lanes going up hill, that's exactly how we do it in southern Poland. Slower vehicles stay to the right, and faster vehicles can use the left passing lane to zoom up the hill. 👍

[@MackPlaysOnMac]

@40:00. Reminds me a lot of a Verde Beach's episode where you actually did the opposite and showed how removing the highway through a neighborhood was improving the traffic overall.

[@hugowalsh]

I have finally caught up on the episodes so I can suggest you rethink the placement if your radio telescope. Radio telescopes are high precision instruments that are severely affected by (radio) noise. The combination of a universities high reliance on telecoms, the high quality telecom coverage in magnolia county and the rapid population growth and expansion rate makes its current location poor. The astronomers consulted during the development phase wouldn't approve that location. It would make more sense to the east of lake inferior or west/south-west of Benson, both of those locations appear less in the direct path of development. Other than that I think the campus and city is looking sharp :)

[@RevAnakin]

Phil is the only CS player to watch anymore. You're the best! Never change!

[@johnp2436]

Thanks for the video, Phil. Your cities look nice. As a side note that I've been meaning to comment for awhile, you could probably start using the word "pitch" instead of "spraying" trees. That's what it's called when you take a handful of plant seed and throw it in your field to randomly distribute it. You've probably also heard the word around homebrewing, we pitch yeast into our wort when we brew.

[@coach.pattie]

Always love the videos!! This is so cool as a realistic highway replacement as well. One suggestion that I think would be cool for those of us trying to follow, when you’re doing big projects it would be awesome to see a top view of the map and then a bit of an explanation before you start building, maybe showing where you’re going to build? As always great work!

[@michiganjerry2612]

As a MIchigander, the trees in the center of the highways is absolutely killing me. You may see that toward the Southwest in Muskeagon, but the highways are also very far apart. Closer to Flint or Detroit or basically anywhere in the state with closer highways such as yours, there would be absolutely no trees in between the highways. Otherwise... beautiful!!!

[@anishbayya2275]

I don’t know if the suspension bridges are the vibe. They seem a bit too big, grand, and unused by the size of the county. Maybe merge the highway to be a single highway with two roads on each size, and have it be one bridge, or have the bridge cross a shorter length so it’s more realistic to the area

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Yeah, I think they have to go tbh. Will get that fixed in the next one!

[@greygowder5558]

I like the dual carriage (or as the old-timers call it "dual lane") concept of the US HWY but think that some references could have been made to similar US HWYs like 301, 17, 176, 74, or 25 which operate as the limited access divided carriage road system in sparsely populated areas. When they reach towns and settlements, the divided median becomes a central turning lane with speed limits decreasing from 55 to 35 or 45 within the town limits. Rather than blasting a wall through a community or a campus, the roadway becomes a major thoroughfare and mainstreet. This also further isolates the university from the water which I would think would be a major academic and recreational asset for the school. The school would have science labs along the waterway to study the health of the river, they would have a boathouse for kayaks and rowing shells, and would also have a network of walking and running trails linking housing, sports facilities and other academic space along the waterfront. At the river crossing on the far side of the community, I would expect the new bridge to run into a trumpet that merges with the state or county road running along the river through the farming town. The county/state road would overlap with the new US HWY until the highway met up with the other road further outside of town.

[@averagezing]

Those semicircles at 36:50 could also be done with the complex curve tool. More practice with that one needed! Love what you're doing