Urban Tentacles

May 22, 2008 8:08 PM

Interzone interchanges: Can GPS get a driver off of, or keep a driver off of...these things? (via)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth (16 comments total)

I'm just here to buy a used car (that can navigate those things)
posted by blue_beetle at 8:28 PM on May 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Man, I was driving in Dallas one under one of those things as they were expanding it. There were these totally surreal looking half-completed bridges. The lanes would split off the road, loop around and then just end half-way in empty space above the highway. (Obviously they were blocked off)
posted by delmoi at 8:32 PM on May 22, 2008

I was cruising through Izu when I came upon this viaduct, guaranteed to cause GPS to lose its mind.

also, two of my favorite things to do in Tokyo was to take my Honda up on the urban expressways late on a hot summer night, or if I wanted to burn some calories take my Bianchi out and prowl the sleeping streets late, late. Sublime experiences.
posted by tachikaze at 9:09 PM on May 22, 2008

Neat - it reminds me of Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta.
posted by deadmessenger at 9:11 PM on May 22, 2008

Those are what made San Andreas such a bitch to get around.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:22 PM on May 22, 2008

When one of the I-40 interchanges was being expanded here in town, I rode under the beast and saw the remnants of an SUV laying between the right lane and the shoulder that had gone past the onramp barrier and over the thirty foot drop.
posted by bunnytricks at 10:28 PM on May 22, 2008

The Izu viaduct makes me queasy just looking at it.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:50 PM on May 22, 2008

Eh, put it ALL underground.
posted by not_on_display at 11:05 PM on May 22, 2008

There were these totally surreal looking half-completed bridges. The lanes would split off the road, loop around and then just end half-way in empty space above the highway. (Obviously they were blocked off)

Man, I HATE that level.
posted by rokusan at 11:29 PM on May 22, 2008

Reminds me a little of Catherine Opie's LA freeway overpass photos.
posted by jfrancis at 12:08 AM on May 23, 2008

GPS altitude is significantly less accurate than horizontal position.
posted by ryanrs at 12:32 AM on May 23, 2008

Great photography, thanks K2E
posted by doctor_negative at 1:24 AM on May 23, 2008

This one always freaks the shit out of me. I avoid it if I can.
posted by nax at 7:09 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Looking at these and the comment about the north Dallas, TX interchange reminds how nearly impossible it would be to photograph these now in the US. Too many years ago, I did a series of night photos of the I-610 interchange in Houston; today, I would would be risking certain shakedown on basis of "security". A conversation with a fellow photographer in Dallas (we were discussing what kind of monopod configuration we could possibly come up with to do some "guerilla" photos of these amazing structures) dissuaded me from undertaking the task. He had already tried it and been harassed.

Sad, because the Flickr page shows how photography cam reveal things beyond our usual grasp of time. Viewing them at 70 mph (or 5 mph from our windshield during commute time!) does not reveal the majesty and beauty of the human hand, mind, and eye behind these structures. Long exposure photos do ...
posted by aldus_manutius at 7:41 AM on May 23, 2008

The Marquette Interchange in Milwaukee had this effect on me as a kid. It's currently in the middle of a massive reconstruction and looks even more surreal.
posted by yomimono at 10:02 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

No point in taking an Interzone interchange unless you're going to Absurdistan.
posted by anotherbrick at 10:34 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]