Jump to content

Partial cloverleaf interchange

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SPUI (talk | contribs) at 02:13, 8 December 2004 (simplified image code and made the layout look better IMO). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Parclo A4 Interchange
File:Parclo-B2.png
Parclo B2 Interchange
File:Parclo-AB3.png
Parclo AB3 Interchange

The Parclo interchange is a successor to the cloverleaf interchange. The Parclo interchange was developed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation [1] as a replacement for the cloverleaf interchange on 400-Series Highways, removing the dangerous weaving patterns and allowing for more acceleration and decelleration space on the freeway. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America.

The specific variation is identified by a letter/number suffix after the name. The letter A designates that two ramps each are in the upper left and lower right of the arterial crossing, while B designates the opposite. The number designates how many quadrants of the interchange contain ramps. In left-hand drive countries, the designations are reversed. Common Parclo configurations include the Parclo A2, Parclo B2 and Parclo A4. Parclo designs with only two quadrents are commonly refered to as folded diamonds, due to their similarity with diamond interchanges. Sometimes the ramps in a folded diamond are actually local streets; surface roads upgraded to higher standards often do this to save money on land acquisition. Depending on traffic and land needs, hybrid designs, such as the Parclo AB3, can be created.