We were in Leamington today to do a little shopping and made the mistake of taking Oak Street to head north. We got caught in one of the most involved intersections going! In theory, it’s just the intersection of three roads. The only problem is that they don’t exactly line up (you need to look under the 48 on the map to see!) and there’s a very busy Tim Horton’s right at the intersection. It’s nuts, depending upon the time of day.
I can’t ever recall hitting that intersection on a green light. Today was no different. The place is alive with street lights and no-right turn signs too. Plus, there’s a special light just for on-coming traffic from Oak Street! As I was sitting at the lights, I started counting street lights and I think I got up to 13 and I’m sure I didn’t get them all!
From Google Streetview, it looks like this!
Eventually, we did get through the intersection, headed off to Ruthven and then home. As we were driving, my wife said “that has to be the worse intersection ever”. I wonder.
The only other intersection that comes close to this I recall from my childhood and trips to Goderich with my parents.
It’s where Highway 8 and Highway 21 and a bunch of others meet.
You can’t see it from this angle but around to the right, you’ll find – guess what?
I’ve long been a fan of using Google Streetview to browse around, looking and telling stories. In this case, we’re most familiar and certainly it’s most convenient when two roads meet at right angles! That’s not always the case.
How about you in your travels? Do you have any intersections that are a challenge when roads don’t meet? How about sharing them?
doug --- off the record 
Here is Niagara Falls most challenging intersection:
http://blog.beens.org/2012/06/response-to-when-things-dont-quite-line.html
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One of my favourite programming assignments involved a traffic light simulation. The base assignment was an intersection with two roads. It’s actually quite involved; we started with a “stand up; sit down” simulation in class before trying to create the logic. Then, for those who needed further challenges, we added an advanced green and then adjustments for rush hours. Great fun for students (and teacher)
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This intersection in Moncton is slated to be replaced with a traffic circle. As you can see, the very busy Purdy street is a half-block away from the three-way intersection on two busy roads. Fortunately, the pizza place isn’t very good. https://maps.google.com/?ll=46.097899,-64.81792&spn=0.002812,0.004222&t=m&z=18
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Stephen, without having been there, the place looks like a natural for a roundabout.
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