A typical diamond interchange

A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... In the field of road transport, a road junction is a place where two or more roads either meet or cross. ...

Diamond interchanges are used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself will be grade-separated from the minor road, a bridge being provided for one or the other. Approaching the interchange from either direction, an off-ramp diverges only slightly from the freeway and runs directly across the minor road, becoming an on-ramp which returns to the freeway in similar fashion. High-capacity freeway interchange in Los Angeles, California. ... Grade separation refers to separating two item that cross each other by placing them on different levels, or at different heights, to each other. ... A log bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, railroad track, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle. ...

The two places where the ramps meet the minor road are treated as conventional intersections. In the United States, where this form of interchange is very common, particularly in rural areas, traffic on the off-ramp typically faces a stop sign at the minor road, while traffic turning onto the freeway is unrestricted. Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Sheep eating grass in rural Australia Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ... In many parts of the world traffic is generally organized, flowing in lanes of travel for a particular direction, with interchanges, traffic signals, or signage at intersections to facilitate the orderly and timely flow of traffic. ... Stop sign used in English-speaking countries, as well as in the European Union Former European stop sign consisting of red Give Way triangle inside a circle A stop sign is a traffic sign, usually erected at road junctions, that instructs drivers to make a brief and temporary, but complete...

The diamond interchange makes more efficient use of space than most types of freeway interchange, and avoids the interweaving traffic flows that occur in interchanges such as the cloverleaf. But where there is significant traffic, the two intersections within the interchange may cause congestion and accidents, requiring additional features such as traffic lights and extra lanes dedicated to turning traffic, or (as in the United Kingdom) a pair of roundabouts to create a type of junction called a dumbbell. For this reason, many busier junctions that were originally serviced by diamond interchanges have since been upgraded to parclo or SPUI interchanges. High-capacity freeway interchange in Los Angeles, California. ... A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which right turns (in countries that drive on the left) are handled by loop ramps. ... Traffic lights can have several additional lights for filter turns or bus lanes. ... The word lane has two meanings: A narrow road, usually lacking a shoulder or a median. ... A roundabout, rotary, or gyratory circus is a type of road junction (or traffic calming device) at which traffic streams circularly around a central island after first yielding to the circulating traffic. ... The parclo interchange (short for partial cloverleaf interchange) is a successor to the cloverleaf interchange. ... Spui may refer to the following things: Spui, a river in The Netherlands SPUI (Single Point Urban Interchange), a type of highway interchange This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Where HOV lanes are present for carpooling, the ramps of a diamond interchange may be "folded" to the inside lanes instead of the outside. This is typical in urban areas, as it also saves some space as well as causing only one two-way intersection instead of two one-way intersections. This in turn reduces waiting time for motorists at traffic lights on the smaller road, which may be a large local thoroughfare with heavy traffic. A permanent, separated high-occupancy vehicle lane on I-91 in Connecticut A high occupancy vehicle (or HOV) is any vehicle with a driver and one or more (or sometimes two or more, or three or more) passengers. ... Carpooling is shared use of a car, in particular for commuting to work, often by people who each have a car but travel together to save costs. ... Urban area is a term used to define an area where there is an increased density of man-made structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... The term intersection can mean: a road junction, where two roads intersect each other, such as a roundabout intersection; in mathematics, the set in which two or more other sets intersect each other; see intersection (set theory); a movie; see Intersection (movie). ... Mitchell Freeway in Perth, Western Australia For other uses, see Highway (disambiguation). ...