Diabolical directions: How to make a left in Moscow and other interesting intersections
Every city in the world has at least one intersection that its residents avoid at all costs. My commute back in college, for instance, included a seven-way intersection that contained no right angles. We can all thank our lucky stars, however, that we don't live in Moscow and have to make a left turn from Rosanov Street onto Khoroshev to get where we're going. In order to complete the manuever a driver must go through approximately nine right turns and two left turns that involve swirling around, under and through various other intersections (follow the red arrows above). The sad part is that when you sally up to the initial intersection that marks the starting line of your adventure, Khoroshev is just one little left and a small traffic violation away. Tack on an extra 15 minutes, however, if you want to make a left within the bounds of Russian law. The Rosanov/Khoroshev intersection is just one of many crazy crossroads that are compiled on this wikipedia page. Here's hoping you don't encounter one on your way home from Grandma's house this weekend.
[Source: Thrillingwonder.blogspot.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cg 3:05PM (11/24/2006)
you sure that isn't New Jersey?
I kid, I kid...
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Tiago do Vale 3:51PM (11/24/2006)
Beautiful! :)
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Eric B 3:41PM (11/24/2006)
I don't know about you, but that's just about the scariest, most disturbing thing I've ever seen...
I will never ever again complain about botched roundabouts.....
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TigerMil 4:25PM (11/24/2006)
It's not THAT tough. Take the right, first left, keep turning right until you get onto Koroshev. Granted you'd have to learn it, but it has a certain symmetry to it.
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Scott 5:27PM (11/24/2006)
I think that actually looks fun. Just imagine lap after lap. Maybe it's the turkey talking.
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AutoFan 4:51PM (11/24/2006)
Well most russians don't care about the law and they make that illegal turn, that's why there are many accidents.
Traffic in Moscow is horrible, couple weeks ago almost all big streets were in traffic for couple of days.
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soptik2 5:45PM (11/24/2006)
If you want some fun, just take look at "Magic roundabout" at Swindon, GB http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm Made just for Black Friday rush, isn't it...
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Nick 6:21PM (11/24/2006)
Heh.. though I've never had to make that entire series of turns, I've been through that intersection MANY times - including the 2nd half of the loop shown. It is a terrible intersection and no one gets it right the first time.
Here's the google map if you want to see it in all it's glory:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Moscow,+Russia&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&z=15&ll=55.774208,37.54921&spn=0.01301,0.060854&iwloc=addr
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TheMatt 8:25PM (11/24/2006)
Where is the love for Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza? Sure, it's more a death-trap for pedestrians, but it's still an example of how not to do traffic engineering.
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Galley 9:17AM (11/25/2006)
Reminds me of Atlanta's Spaghetti Junction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Moreland_Interchange
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zeos 5:50PM (11/26/2006)
that actually makes me want to go to russia and rent a car. just to say i did it.
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Justin 9:23AM (11/27/2006)
I agree #1. Totally reminds me of NJ. As a native who now lives in PA...all i ever hear are comments like "what the hell is a jughandle?"
Still...given proper signs, lines and driving it a few times, this interchange probably isn't a big deal.
Here in Pittsburgh, our geography makes for some interesting highway fun and crappy onramps (with stop signs at the end of them, oh the joy).
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