Solve Traffic the QUICK and EASY Way - The Quadrant Interchange in Cities Skylines

[@TheOakleysworld]

I just want to thank YUMBL for these videos. They are educational and entertaining. There's something really calm and wholesome about the commentary. I find them really relaxing and give me great vibes. I enjoy every upload. And they always get me loading Skylines back up to quickly try out each build myself.

[@DJarr216]

Slowly but surely, Yumbl is convincing himself roundabouts are the way forward xD

[@hannolansman7993]

Or maybe... the way around?

[@r0bz0rly]

xdddddddd

[@rafagd]

He's coming around on that idea

[@kattkatt6961]

Mfw literally the video optimizing roundabouts he ended up with a circular traffic light.

[@73malaki]

Lmao

[@bruh666]

Intersections, lanes, dealing with traffic and finding clever solutions is literally the whole reason I play cities skylines. I'm so glad there's now a youtuber who has such a good and precise focus on that. Have you considered doing "traffic fixes" for people's maps/cities? I know other youtubers do that but honestly I never really like how they do it, very unrealistically or lazily. Yours I would actually want to watch

[@ckimsey77]

Very well said, especially the lazy part. Throw a roundabout at it is always the answer in most cases, which i cant stand especially when its like 2 lanes feeding 4 or some stupid similar thing and only half the lanes actually are used. I love this guy's vids

[@OscarUnrated]

Same though I also find designing the public transport really fun too. I never build anything underground because then I can’t watch it 😂

[@AndrooUK]

It's possible his would also be lame videos. Creating junction videos is way different than 'fix my city' videos.

[@baconwizard]

What i love about this interchange is that there is no wasted space. If you want, you could expand out the “off-ramps” to leave more space in the middle for an office park with service roads going under the same overpass

[@ThisAlbino]

That final roundabout version is delightful, I'm definitely using that.

[@HackerReportBFH]

Could probably add a slip lane inside the unused area for double right turning traffic if needed. Same for the traffic coming from the north turning right, slip lane just along the highway. Means you can dedicate the lanes in the roundabout to suit the traffic flow.

[@touzimsky]

yumbl is the Bob Ross of Cities: Skylines - even though I haven't started the game in a couple of months I still love watching these videos as they are super relaxing.

[@matthewparker9276]

This style of interchange isn't particularly efficient, but it vastly improves the safety of two high speed roads crossing. Through traffic can continue at speed, as they don't have to contend with other traffic travelling at speed, and the only intersections are T junctions. It's well suited for rural areas where a larger interchange is not justified by traffic volume.

[@AndrooUK]

Well, efficiency and safety aren't generally possible in a small space. On the efficiency-safety-space triangle, you can only maximise one, or share two. Throw in bicycles and/or pedestrians, and a lot of efficient junctions are horrific.

[@Rogn1]

This is a real good solution to a problem that does exist. Our city has a highway interchange that exited onto the city’s Main Street and was creating huge problems because of left turns. The DOT and city redesigned the Main Street intersection to move the left turns between 300-500 feet in all directions using U-Turns. The traffic flows much better three years removed from the construction.

[@yertlenest]

We have one of these near me! The intersection of PCH and Alameda has O St functioning as the little quarter-clo. That intersection handles a lot of port traffic, and I always thought it was an interesting way to make a left turn there.

[@KaiHenningsen]

Is that "E O St."? And how many unconnected pieces does that street consist of? Looks pretty wild on the map. (And "E Colon St."? At least it's not "E Coli" ...)

[@clnetrooper]

Really like quadrant interchange to build early, as i usually transform it to two trumpet interchange as the traffic grows naturally.

[@methosmomomax7470]

"If it doesn't work as a roundabout, or it doesn't work as a light... feel free to build a bridge." (And get over it!) Sorry that was going through my head as you said that and I needed to put that out. I'll try this in my next build but I rarely use six-lane roads as highways. Thanks for your time in helping us out in our city builds.

[@RainHeart257]

Very nice video!! I love all the solutions. There is a lot of struggling creating interchanges in cities skylines when you're playing with money limitations and very often simplest is better. Thank you for the advices!

[@bvx89]

Often when city builders are talking about realism when building an intersection and cutting cost, they seldom mention the cost of operating a traffic light. I don't know how much it costs to build and operate a traffic light, but I suspect that in many areas there might not be power available in close proximity or it is quite difficult/expensive to operate them. Also, what happens to the traffic if the power is out? Not really a problem in Cities Skyline, but it is something that could happen in real life. Those aspects makes me favor using more round-a-bouts in my cities, and why I really like the last design that you made.

[@alohatigers1199]

If it comes to that point, should’ve prioritize walkability, bike infrastructure, other public transportation options. Obviously, zoning and layout and prioritizing accessibility are factors as well. The US has outdated infrastructure.

[@tomg9061]

A traffic light that is not operating (power out) is treated as a 4 way stopsign

[@Warren_L.]

Gotta be the most bang-for-the-buck interchange. Excellent!

[@inyobill]

Nice shout-out by Biffa in a recent post. He looked at this presentation, and included an example in Missippatea, of course crediting you. He was very pleased with how it splved the flow issue he was looking at.

[@Hoehlenmaensch]

Havent really been through the video yet, but judging by the thumbnail, this is my coming home. When playing cities skylines and dealing with traffic my biggest priority is to keep things realistic and not demolish entire rows of houses for a bigger intersection/interchange. So i often find myself building exactly that. Just make one road a bridge and upgrade/ connect a nearby street to be the connecting. Or as in a recent case, where the intersection was right on the quay i made a little bridging part over the water.

[@jaxithfox]

I don't play the game anymore but it's so fun to watch these interchange videos.

[@bakunicorn]

that was really interesting. i don't think i've ever seen a single quadrant interchange, but once you showed it, it immediately made sense to me.

[@thepaipedro]

Thanks for this video, man. I have many times come into this situation where two roads ended up becoming sort of major ones and the overpass was just a partial solution. (sometimes I created some weird "creatures" to try to fix it, but never very much seccessfully lol)

[@Papershields001]

I’ve driven through that interchange in manassas like a million times and never realize how brilliant it was.

[@ridemshun3969]

You deserve my subscription, this is very informative to me and as a beginner to the game.

[@superdevestator]

Hey YUMBL I used this concept to upgrade a normal roundabout to a system similar to this, independent sides being held in a unified medium. By adding an over/underpass straight through and turning the roundabout into a 2 way system it acts as following: - Phase 1: all sides enter the interchange at the same time - Phase 2: all sides exit the interchange at the same time It works excellently on the interchange testing map and I'd be happy to share in-depth screenshots.

[@mickeogh]

hey man, I've been out of the C:S orbit for a while, it's nice to see your face! keep making great content!

[@ThomSkateFB]

You should look up the Bergenboulevard in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. The road is a great example of these interchanges

[@nanfredman1991]

Perfect for today. I had wondered how to set up the lights! Thank you!

[@XoneFobic]

Take a look at the road layout and structure of the Netherlands, what you're describing here (and in few of your other videos) is used quite a lot in the area I live. Look for Flevoland (Province). Maybe there's something interesting to take from it as well for a next video.

[@NinaFelwitch]

Those roundabouts at the end are just beautiful!

[@congestiontv]

YUMBL's setup are a real addition for every city planner - be it Cities Skylines or IRL. I was amazed on how well the displaced intersections in this episode handle the same amount of traffic (since same test map) even better than turbo accelerated (enlighted) roundabouts in the last one. But let's be honest, especially here in Europe when time comes to change from at grade intersections two such displaced ones houses are already built up too close. This setup only works well if the ramp in between buffers enough vehicles for a complete traffic light phase at a time. Btw @YUMBLtv , have you ever tried to de-couple those two timed traffic lights completely? In my cities where there are always asymmetrical flow rates I get optimised cycles by autonomous but still timed setups.

[@mary69magdalene]

OMG, the face behind the voice. Love your videos mate. Great work 👏

[@TheCherry1994]

This thing kills traffic and yet it is so simple. I just noticed that one of the federal highways near my town uses this exact same setup 5-6 times in a row on the way to the next town.

[@leeblackadder3653]

Way magic round-a-bout. I love how some people fear that thing and nothing brings me more joy than watching tourists try to navigate it

[@Bendigo1]

I have been pretty successful at building mini parclos and cloverleaf intersections in cities I have made. I usually use small streets built into sub blocks so as to not lose use of the space inside the intersection. Basically, what would be the ramps, just loop around the buildings that face the main street. Instead of building overpasses, i use an underpass and retaining walls to minimize lost space. I have one city that i call basket weave city because all of the larger roads alternative underpasses. So every other block there is an underpass going one way then an underpass going the other way.

[@Melhope1230]

Loving this content! Thank you!!

[@connorsmith6936]

There is an interchange exactly like this near where I used to live except it also had an on-ramp so that one direction of straight-through traffic never had to stop and convert the interchange into a two-phase light on the busiest road. Imperial Highway and Orangethorpe Avenue if anyone is interested. Along Orangethorpe Avenue there are several more of these quadrant interchanges in order to remove crossings for the train track that carries both cargo trains and the metro link service in LA run right alongside the avenue. Cool to see it demonstrated in the game as well.

[@salyerma]

Could be made a little more efficient. When you have a "T" intersection, the thru lane on the top of the T can be made constant green. The left turn onto the main highway can be forced to the two inner lanes and the outer lane can just constantly keep going. We have those here where I live.

[@Cayberni]

With only one quadrant, this interchange cannot be used for a U-turn. I know an interchange is not intended for that, but most have that added benefit.

[@YUMBL]

Most interchanges I’m aware of do not have u turns.

[@benchociej2435]

It's somewhat common around here to see roundabouts for the minor road at quadrant interchanges. They're great.

[@litlclutch]

The roundabout version being a smiley faces show how happy the city & traffic become with this gentle litl interchange

[@gregford5971]

As a novice I'm finding a lot of little tidbits in your videos. For example I didn't know that lights at more than one intersection could be synchronized. Thank you Yumbl.

[@CountBenula]

Have one near my house! Added benefit for the railroad line that goes underneath the overpass as well, providing the only non grade crossing route for that side of town.

[@lmdizajn]

As a planner, I like solutions that think outside the box and think in the way of economic sustainability. This one quadrant interchange is a very nice real world solution, which not only can be safer, smoother but also economically effective, which could make a big deal in the real world. Thanks for it! One idea: make every line with another color (if line mathematics), general audiences would read it better...

[@Jim.Hummel]

Excellent! You're providing quite the education to us builders and it goes to show there's a lot more than just intersecting a couple of roads! Great music choices, too!!

[@eliz964]

Am I the only person who *doesn't* want to know what people look like? From KZbinrs (Kibitz, YUMBL) to comedians (Eddie Izzard, John Mulaney) to singers (Disturbed, Tool, Slipknot), I love not knowing what they actually look like. There's something about the simplicity of their voice alone that I really enjoy. And I really love YUMBL's voice when he's explaining things. It's very zen and relaxing to me.

[@julianlora_]

I was ready to hate on that final double roundabout on both highways configuration but it works 😄

[@johnterpack3940]

The thing nobody ever seems to discuss in these intersection videos is that sometimes the intersection you want to upgrade isn't the problem. You really have to look at where cars are coming from and where they're going before deciding to fix an intersection. You just might find out that tweaking something elsewhere on the map solves the problem.

[@ian22222]

I know of one of these in Santa Clarita, CA! Golden Valley Road bridges way high above Soledad Canyon Road, so to connect them, they have one of these. Seriously simple but it’s definitely effective for connecting them.

[@gabrielromancena4788]

We actually a similar interchange in my city (Bahía Blanca, Argentina). The only difference it´s that it covers two cuadrants, so that there is no lane crossing on the above road. Good content, as always.

[@gabrielromancena4788]

We do not have roundabounts on the crossings, however.

[@leftcoastfunk]

I made some of these in my city, with only a simple 1-lane each way connecting each of all 4 quadrants. They use even less space than these you built, connect two 6-lane arterials, have exclusively right turns, ALL of which are completely unrestricted with no signals or even a single yield sign. You say the "interchange" gets too big when you use 2 or 4 quadrants, but it doesn't have to! These interchanges in my city literally EAT the traffic for breakfast. Kind of bummed you didn't actually demo the 4-way version of this and what it can actually handle...These intersections are truly a game-changer in this game, especially if you have traffic de-spawning turned off in TMPE!!!

[@YUMBL]

Like a roundabout with a thru option?

[@kleinerprinz99]

Thanks for taking your time researching and experimenting and of course showing it to us! Speaking of magic roundabout in Swindon, real life has some amazing and surprisingly so infrastructure hidden in plain sight, sometimes.

[@stuchly1]

I love these in person intros!

[@michaelpeele5739]

In some of the Tropico games, there was a bug where you could build roads that overlap but not intersect. I found that doing that and putting in the one simple connection helped traffic a lot. I'd then put in the 2nd (opposite) one and it would really flow nicely. Adding the full clover didn't help, and just took space.

[@pubdigitalix]

Nice and practical video as always. You deserve the title CS interchange wizard. A humble suggestion. Can you make a video or videos about roads packs, recomendations, uses, etc. I see a video in your collection but a lot has changed from that time. Thanks.

[@MrLlamatastic]

I really enjoyed this. Looking at the result at ~ 11:50, I think a 2+4 road leading onto the larger road would be even better as then there'd be 2 lanes going both left and right at the end (onto the two lanes they've got)

[@troycpt-9924]

Wow！ It is my first time to see YUMBL real person ！I like your mods and road intersection tutorial，thanks to you to make CSL more interesting， have a nice day。

[@glenm99]

I love these sorts of solutions. There are a few roundabout-based interchanges near me, and they're not always successful, but at least they're fun. I don't know if this is intentional, but in those roundabouts at the end, it looks like traffic in the circle is yielding to traffic entering. That seems really awkward. For example, on the right-hand side at 16:50, it looks like there'd be a major pile-up when the green truck starts moving and cuts off the flowing traffic.

[@YUMBL]

Its because I turned on “enter blocked junction” to increase throughput. Because of that they will run the yield

[@glenm99]

@@YUMBL Ah, I see. Thank you!

[@Papershields001]

Also love that Gilbert’s corner distributed roundabout design as well.

[@zecuse]

The roundabouts at the end look similar to a dumbbell interchange, but the roundabouts are on both highways. Looks like 2 right turn slip lanes could be added close to the bridge to avoid the north/south highway from going through both roundabouts.

[@elguapo42000]

Great video, I love the simple design!

[@ash36230]

Yumbl has taught me more about building suitable interchanges than anything else for this game.

[@phs125]

Despite the flaws of diamond interchange, It achieves it's purpose. Which is, letting the through traffic go without stopping at all. But this one doesn't have that main feature. If you're gonna stop or slow down through traffic, just make it a roundabout.

[@YUMBL]

This has much higher capacity than a roundabout. Thats the point really.

[@matthewparker9276]

With a lower traffic volume, you don't need lights here. A give way or stop is sufficient to keep traffic moving.

[@YUMBL]

Correct! Thats where this shines. Connecting two small but popular routes.

[@Helbore]

If you added an additional lane on the outside of the interchange for left-turning traffic, you could keep the through traffic moving continuously. As it currently is, you have two lanes through and two left. You could either make this one through and one left using the same number of lanes on the main road (the simplest option), or two through and one left, increasing the main road by one lane, or even two through and two left, increasing the main road by two lanes. Either way, it would mean that traffic passing on the outside of the junction on both main roads would never have to stop at the light. You should be able to do a similar thing with a right followed by another right. Provide the appropriate number of lanes and traffic need never stop. This would massively improve throughput in two directions on both roads I believe that should mean that those who require a left turn are the only ones who ever need to stop at a light.

[@herky1678]

I know this interchange is not very efficient for free flowing traffic, but it would be taking a safety focus. It would be great for downtown areas of a city, or even just to reduce conflict points on an at grade interchange 😊

[@rodrigomendes3327]

This is a work of art!

[@FHL-Devils]

17:00 - One more bypass lane to prevent right-turning traffic from having to enter the circle at all would really streamline the process. And realistically a simple right-turning lane off the bridge could remove a full 10% of the traffic in the entire interchange

[@masonkpiano]

Hey Yumbl, one thing that concerns me is actually using them for terms of gameplay. Where would we see these non-conventional intersections in Cities? I ask if it would be possible to create a setting or city where we could use this and some of your other recent intersections.

[@YUMBL]

Its for an intersection that has exceeded its capacity. It can become a bridge connected by a single road. A fairly common occurrence.

[@masonkpiano]

Fair enough, would upgrades like this be limited to a less urban region? My concern was the space needed

[@YUMBL]

Its for a growing area, yes

[@masonkpiano]

gotcha, thanks!

[@hyuntoe]

quadrant, I learned today. thanks!

[@redbug3777]

No t Hydrant! 😆

[@deanonesense]

If..... Increase the bridge height enough to get a ped/bike bridge in-between Level the intersections to their respective underpass/overpass Selectively replace bermed sections with bridges/viaducts A really high quality ped/bike network that doesn't directly interact with the road network could be threaded through that, possibly with connections to public transit.

[@YUMBL]

Ooh, the dream. I’ll think on it!

[@yo.aj6391]

Yumble! I like how you roll!!

[@Jacob-W-5570]

The version with the two little roundabouts in the end was very nice

[@BOBBERTQUESTIONMARKS]

Seen this a few times in rural Midwest

[@inyobill]

There's a double just a few kilometers away from me here in Germany. It does great separating main feeder traffic from a local service road.

[@Pystro]

I have noticed that for the 2-quardant interchange, you can go down to 2-phase lights, if you only allow left turns off the ramp (or only left turns onto the ramp) instead of designating one of the roads the main road. The version with left turns off the ramps has the advantage that you can also make it work with give ways and remove the traffic lights. Speaking of lights, do you really need to link the traffic lights on the ends of the jughandle(s)? For the 1-quadrant interchange, how much sense would it make to add the 3 missing right turn slip lanes? I would assume you can't go down to a 2-phase light. You claim that it would take a lot of space, but you can keep them quite close to the main road (3u or 4u spacing). Too bad that this interchange just eats the traffic of the intersection test map, otherwise it would be possible to test how much of a difference they make.

[@marktaylor6553]

Great video. Subscribed.

[@jamieimbusch]

You could make this a lot more efficient with a slip lane for all the right turns. Through put would be higher, plus it's now unrestricted flow

[@YUMBL]

At the cost of taking up another quadrant, yes. Lots of space.

[@jamieimbusch]

@@YUMBL I was suggesting them on the single connecting road, would turn the lights too 2 phase at the least and shouldnt take up more room than is already taken

[@YUMBL]

Still a three phase light I think.

[@ExperimentsOfThought]

I understand the beard might be scratchy. But come on… put on the hat Timmy. 😂

[@ExperimentsOfThought]

South Park reference for those who have no idea

[@BigKy-Mart]

They've recently put in the "Opportunity Corridor" in Cleveland, Ohio that now has a quadrant intersection for the end of I-490, meeting East 55th and the Opportunity Corridor. I think they're very cool!

[@adirmugrabi]

if you added a right turning slip lane on the other 3 quadrants, they will not take a lot of space, since they can kiss the roads, but they will save so much traffic.

[@leeblackadder3653]

At the end, for pure curiosity I would have put in a slip road for the right turning traffic. So they wouldn't need to stop for the round-a-bouts and be free flowing. Depending on where the traffic is mainly travelling this wouldn't have any benefits but it could help loads.

[@ran4sh]

If we remove the assumption that the two main roads must be grade separated from each other, that opens up further interchange possibilities. While they wouldn't be used on freeways (due to the at-grade intersection), they could be used when two busy streets intersect. The Echelon interchange is probably the best of the at-grade interchanges.

[@YUMBL]

See my “greater than a roundabout, less than an interchange” video for a bunch of discussion on this :)

[@stuffmcstuff399]

Should see if Yumble could take on Swindon's (UK) 7-in-1 roundabout of chaos.

[@JeansVienna]

nice to see you! you'r great, keep it up! :-)

[@fomnik9276]

Great alternative to the diamond interchange

[@4thDimensioon]

We actually have this kind of interchange here in Davao (IRL). though it has slip lanes on the other three quadrants. and it really devours traffic.

[@EVIL-t4o]

these are everywhere in Bavaria where I live and they make a lot of sense for the area.

[@Anne5440_]

Interesting. I see a happy face in the final round about, hehe.

[@ArturdeSousaRocha]

This is going to help me big time.

[@benjones4496]

i do this on console all the time, seperating a four way intersection in two. works way better with the vanilla traffic lights

[@RaptorTom181]

You mentioned it, but I would love to see you make a good functioning Swindon magic roundabout 👌

[@andrewkosmowski3985]

This interchange reminds me of Alexander, NY. This is not quite like the interchange between US 20 and NY 98. Alexander’s interchange is righthand turns on and off US 20.

[@bencom01]

If you add more lanes you can have the straight and left go at the same time and now you have a 2 phase light

[@yaa40]

Please upload your works of art (because that's what they are!) to the steam workshop, I can't make something this beautiful, I am not you! Also, you're awesome. May the traffic be forever in your favor (and not in your lane!)

[@nkldnm8110]

13:35 thats what she said xd

[@YoWhatGoesHere]

I wonder though if instead of an overpass, would a tunnel be better because you could move your junctions significantly closer? Reducing space needs significantly and having the same efficiency?

[@teambellavsteamalice]

Do you have any examples of moving conflict points in a similar way within a city? I think you could replace one major city artery (with many parallel collector roads) to an asymmetrical pair of arteries. Say the direction is north-south, the east one could deal with various traffic branching of east and the west one could deal with west branches. This would probably need two connection points between the arteries, one on the northside of the city and one south. Or alternate each branch outward with a connection between the two. Having loads of simple three road interchanges may be much better than fewer, but more complex, four road ones with lots of left turn conflicts.

[@sigi9669]

In a realistic scenario, does this actually take space at all though? If this were an unexpectedly busy downtown intersection, there would likely be zoned areas all around, and I hate having to evict my valued residents. If the clover parts were zoned, with a local road going into the cloverleaf. Would this break down? I'm considering if this could work by merely rerouting part of an existing grid layout.

[@YUMBL]

It would work well. Its not uncommon to have an intersection on the “leave” to connect businesses

[@smoken81]

I’m still limited to console capabilities where lane math is minimal. I’m thinking 3/2 asymmetrical to connect the turns and splitting the through-roads into 2 separate one-way roads or probably 1 one-way & 1 two-way… I’d have to experiment

[@SirPeasant]

Yumbl, You’ve got to look at wichita, KS highway 54 “Kellogg” and the interchange system

[@szymonwiniarski3566]

Could you make a video on roundabouts with trafic lights in Warsaw? For example ONZ roundabout? I'm very curious how it works and how would you build it

[@mjribes]

Another question from me. Sorry for bambarding you - I've just discovered your channels: Your selection of roads look so much better organised than mine (see for example at 4:41). What mod do you use to order them like this? Mine are filed into small roads, larger roads, highways etc but how roads are split within those headings seems a bit random and it makes it take forever to find the correct layout.

[@YUMBL]

Rodas toolbar. My mod collection is linked in the description!

[@ricardo4943-k6b]

I've seen this interchange in Manassas VA, I pass it alot i don't see why it's there. Their isn't alot of traffic.

[@YUMBL]

Its to avoid a crossing at 28 and wellington. It feels like theres no traffic because its all separated, but it used to feel worse. The train used to cross 28 as well so the overpass solves that too.

[@jackmerrill8424]

Please don’t stop making videos.