Junctions where east is west etc.

[johnbullas]

How many major junctions are you aware of where the direction you peel off to go to the destination direction is not iterative or roundabout based?

Case in point. M3 south to M27 west. You take the right lanes to the east which then curves to the left to join the westbound main drag of the M27. M27 east is the converse.

Would appreciate locations.

Kind regards

Dr B

[Steven]

There is a lot of these dotted around the country, as any free-flowing layout where the direction involves crossing the mainline will cause this.

M6 J8 both northbound and eastbound are a good way of demonstrating just that.

[Chris5156]

Travelling north on the A283 at Shoreham, towards the A27, at the roundabout you can:
- turn left to go straight on
- go straight on to turn right
- turn right to turn left

[Bryn666]

Typically the mainline is the busier flow so this can result in geographically weird layouts where you turn left to go right. See also the south end of the M18 and the north end of the M40.

Any junction with a loop is an automatic entry I think as you have to go past the road you wish to join then curve around.

[Johnathan404]

M1/M18
M1/M6/A14 west and eastbound
M69/M6 southbound
M5/M42 westbound
M40/M42 northbound with the bunny sign to help you comprehend it
Some people would recommend the eastern end of the M2
M27/M275 counts if you don't see the eastern arm as part of the M27

M25/A21 southbound is a good one because you turn left to head right and it's a TOTSO!
M1/M621 northbound is another example of that
So is M56 J3 (? - I'm on my phone) eastbound
...and arguably M60 J18 south and eastbound and M6/M6 Toll southbound

[DavidBrown]

I guess we could be here all day just listing forks and trumpets, the more interesting examples will be like at Shoreham where you then throw a roundabout or similar into it all to leave roads going off in all sorts of directions. M5 J11A springs to mind for this, where if you're on the A417 going into Gloucester, you turn right at the roundabout for the M5 to your left, or take the next slip and loop around to the left to turn right.

[jackal]

There is a lot of these dotted around the country, as any free-flowing layout where the direction involves crossing the mainline will cause this.

M6 J8 both northbound and eastbound are a good way of demonstrating just that.

Correct. Any freeflow interchange with at least one nearside (i.e. left hand) exit for right turns will qualify. This covers most UK freeflow interchanges, including anything in a trumpet, semi-directional T, cloverleaf, partially-unrolled cloverleaf, octopus, whirlpool or stack configuration.

Also regular GSJs lacking roundabouts, like diamonds, will qualify. Essentially the standard arrangement for a GSJ is to exit left to turn right (including roundabout interchanges and dumbbells, though OP had a separate criterion to exclude these).

[JohnnyMo]

I expected this was where "The EAST" or "The WEST" was signposted in the opposite direction. Something like this but 180 deg in the wrong direction not just 90.

[Viator]

How many major junctions are you aware of where the direction you peel off to go to the destination direction is not iterative or roundabout based?

Hi, John, and welcome to the forums!

Showing my profound ignorance, no doubt -- and not being funny like, as we say in S. Wales -- but what exactly does "iterative or roundabout based" mean in relation to destination directions? And can you give me any examples?

[jervi]

A23 southbound to A27 westbound, a right turn as such.
Head left at the roundabout (or the left filter), follow a spur eastbound , take a left at the next roundabout (or the left filter).

[Ambosc79]

I thought of this only this morning while going along there: A5/A483 Mile End Oswestry- West is East. Coming from Shrewsbury you head into the right (eastern) lane marked A5(W) and then right (east) at the island. Then the road heads East for a while before heading pretty much due north after Gobowen. It doesn't go West until veering off at Halton.
Coming the other way for some reason despite going up and down there for 22 years I still keep going to turn left at the A495/Whittington island instead of the A483/Mile End one, did it again this morning, it must be because I realize the road is actually starting to turn west after going south and I have to head southeast.
Really it ought to be signed A5(N/S) between Montrford Bridge and Halton, and particularly on the Oswestry/Chirk stretch.

[c2R]

The US has got some extreme examples, such as at Santa Fe, where the I-25 South heads north for a significant distance and vice versa: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5526138 ... 312!8i6656

[Bryn666]

The best one in the USA is where I-580 and I-80 multiplex - the road runs N-S so you have I-580 East running with I-80 West.

[WHBM]

M25 J26, essentially a dumbbell roundabout junction. As you approach from the north side there's a roundabout, from which you can see the traffic running on the motorway above you. But it always seems counter-intuitive that to go east, to your left, you have to turn right at the roundabout, onto a slip road which then loops 180 degrees to join, while to go west, to your right, you have to go left, in a direction that looks like a slip road but is actually the dumbbell link under the motorway to the other roundabout. I always do a double-think when there.

[BOH]

Slightly OT but reminds me of an interesting conversation I once had with a French chap in London who asked me directions for the tube. I told him he needed to take the southbound Northern Line and this caused no end of confusion and he thought I was taking the [[stop trying to evade the swear filter please]]. He simply could not grasp the concept of something called and running "North" could also run South. He got it in the end..

[Robert Kilcoyne]

Slightly OT but reminds me of an interesting conversation I once had with a French chap in London who asked me directions for the tube. I told him he needed to take the southbound Northern Line and this caused no end of confusion and he thought I was taking the [[stop trying to evade the swear filter please]]. He simply could not grasp the concept of something called and running "North" could also run South. He got it in the end..

If you are travelling on the City Branch of the Northern Line, you are travelling south between Euston and King's Cross St. Pancras. However, if you are travelling between Euston and King's Cross St. Pancras on the Victoria Line, you are travelling north (King's Cross St. Pancras is slightly further north than Euston).

The Northern Line is a bit of a misnomer, in that the southernmost station on the Northern Line (Morden) is also the most southerly station on the London Underground. The Northern Line can also be very confusing as there are two branches through Central London (West End and City) and it may be necessary to change trains at Camden Town or Kennington in order to make sure that you are on the correct branch if your destination is somewhere between those stations.

[Brenley Corner]

The A249/M2 Stockbury Roundabout is completely back-to-front.

The slip road to the M2 coastbound is on the London side of the roundabout and the Londonbound slip road is on the opposite side. So coming from the North side heading south on the A249 you have to turn left for London and right for Canterbury, Dover etc. - exactly opposite from the way you would think. Confusing for those WITH a sense of direction!!

Tony

[RichardA626]

Slightly OT but reminds me of an interesting conversation I once had with a French chap in London who asked me directions for the tube. I told him he needed to take the southbound Northern Line and this caused no end of confusion and he thought I was taking the [[stop trying to evade the swear filter please]]. He simply could not grasp the concept of something called and running "North" could also run South. He got it in the end..

If you are travelling on the City Branch of the Northern Line, you are travelling south between Euston and King's Cross St. Pancras. However, if you are travelling between Euston and King's Cross St. Pancras on the Victoria Line, you are travelling north (King's Cross St. Pancras is slightly further north than Euston).

The Northern Line is a bit of a misnomer, in that the southernmost station on the Northern Line (Morden) is also the most southerly station on the London Underground. The Northern Line can also be very confusing as there are two branches through Central London (West End and City) and it may be necessary to change trains at Camden Town or Kennington in order to make sure that you are on the correct branch if your destination is somewhere between those stations.

I heard the Underground designating lines running north, south etc. came about because of some of the lines being built with American investors, who used American technical staff, leading to a lot of terminology from the USA becoming common.

Also it would be confusing to use the traditional up & down lines for a line that crossed the city centre so it's probably for the best.

[Mark Hewitt]

https://goo.gl/maps/PpTnUyTEpNTCeEyf7 This one on the A66 every day. You're going North here but you turn right to head West. Nearly every day I see someone think this is the turn off to head East towards Middlesbrough and they have to correct and go onto the next one.

https://goo.gl/maps/BziiMbCcEUhZMtGJA This one coming out of the Metrocentre confuses me. As to go South on the A1 you basically have to turn right, and to go North you have to turn left, the opposite of what you'd expect.

Special mention to the M18 where going South on the M1 is straight on and North is left, again the opposite of what you'd expect it to be.

[A303Chris]

The A249/M2 Stockbury Roundabout is completely back-to-front.

The slip road to the M2 coastbound is on the London side of the roundabout and the Londonbound slip road is on the opposite side. So coming from the North side heading south on the A249 you have to turn left for London and right for Canterbury, Dover etc. - exactly opposite from the way you would think. Confusing for those WITH a sense of direction!!

Tony

I must admit the first time I did that junction coming up from the M20 confused the life out of me , turning left to go right. Still find it weird when I approach.