180 degree bends

[jgharston]

Another "all the way round" junction is on New Clearwater Bay Road in Hong Kong. I used to catch the bus along that route.

Beside the "Disciplined Services Quarters" what are the wig-wags for? https://www.google.com/maps/@22.3311317 ... ?entry=ttu

If you turn right, there's a fire station.

[Chris5156]

Another "all the way round" junction is on New Clearwater Bay Road in Hong Kong. I used to catch the bus along that route.

That’s called a trumpet interchange - there must be a hundred in the UK and probably thousands around the world!

A 270 degree loop is quite a common feature of interchange design - I’m not sure listing them all here would be quite what the OP was looking for

[Nathan_A_RF]

What about a 360 degree bend? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.11595 ... ?entry=ttu

[the cheesecake man]

M6 J38 has a memorable trumpet
M621 J3 has a total of 360 degrees on exit plus a 30mph speed limit

[Thomas550]

Haven't seen this one mentioned yet,the A686 Hartside Pass
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iiY1kvZeE4pLCP6Y8

One of the many of the road. Personally the best are the set of 3 between Langley and Whitfield around the River Allen. On a hill and very sharp indeed. No great warning for them either just some slows on the road coming down from Langley
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.9284548 ... ?entry=ttu

[jgharston]

Another "all the way round" junction is on New Clearwater Bay Road in Hong Kong. I used to catch the bus along that route.

That’s called a trumpet interchange - there must be a hundred in the UK and probably thousands around the world!

The thing with New Clearwater Bay Road is that it's the mainline that goes through a 360-degree loop. The junction with Shun Lee Tsun Road to the south-east is the trumpet junction.

[Chris5156]

Another "all the way round" junction is on New Clearwater Bay Road in Hong Kong. I used to catch the bus along that route.

That’s called a trumpet interchange - there must be a hundred in the UK and probably thousands around the world!

The thing with New Clearwater Bay Road is that it's the mainline that goes through a 360-degree loop. The junction with Shun Lee Tsun Road to the south-east is the trumpet junction.

Oh yes, I see what you mean! I just saw the trumpet first time round - maybe because I opened the link on a phone so the screen didn’t show a very large area. Either way, I’m sorry if I was telling you things you already knew!

[Summers-lad]

There's this at Inverfarigaig.

It's had a few mentions here already, but it's a great photo. It's a very narrow road - probably the narrowest of all the ones mentioned, including the Bealach na Ba.

[Summers-lad]

The two hairpins here https://www.google.com/maps/@57.591687, ... &entry=ttu and here https://www.google.com/maps/@57.5913424 ... &entry=ttu, 2 miles south of Fochabers, are fairly tame, but the gradients on either side are fun. There used to be a ford through the burn too, but it was culverted in the 1970s.

[Summers-lad]

I don't think anyone's mentioned the ones on the Cairngorm ski road yet. This one https://www.google.com/maps/@57.1464062 ... &entry=ttu, with the Sugar Bowl car park inside it, isn't hugely sharp, but it is nearly 180 degrees. And there are two others farther up.

[Summers-lad]

There's this junction on the A95, which has some non-standard warning signs.

And it used to be a lot sharper, with the war memorial right on the corner too! https://www.google.com/maps/@57.4018321 ... &entry=ttu

[Chris Bertram]

Looked back through the thread and realised that we haven't had the Khyber Pass, Whitby

Khyber Pass
https://maps.app.goo.gl/pRybiWFZc3JxNTgp7

This is one way heading uphill from the quayside to the west cliff attractions including the Pavilion theatre, hotels, the crazy golf, and Whitby Town FC have their stadium up there too.

[Owain]

There’s this >180 bend on the E25 near Genoa.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/u6ayYjSPnm6AeFiS8 - yikes at that levels difference! Amazing.

You know where this post is going to go, don't you? ... Yep - I've driven it! That was the same day as my last trip over the Morandi Bridge too.

According to the Italian Wikipedia page, work on the A26 began in 1971, and the Genoa-Ovada section that we're talking about opened in 1977:

The opening of the first section provided Genoa with a more convenient and faster connection with the Ovadese and Alessandrino areas, until then connected to the city only via the then SS456 via a particularly tortuous route, and created an alternative Autostrada between Lombardy and Liguria, which compared with the more direct A7, is longer but straighter.

In addition to that, I've always assumed that the A26 was built to provide much better access between Genoa (together with its port) and both Turin and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The original carriageway of the A6 was opened in 1960, and included this famous loop-the-loop on what is now the southbound carriageway, while the original A7 was opened in 1935 and featured this craziness on what is also now the southbound carriageway.

Needless to say, I've also driven both of those too!

[Big L]

On the B4393 heading for Lake Vyrnwy.

[Bryn666]

There’s this >180 bend on the E25 near Genoa.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/u6ayYjSPnm6AeFiS8 - yikes at that levels difference! Amazing.

You know where this post is going to go, don't you? ... Yep - I've driven it! That was the same day as my last trip over the Morandi Bridge too.

According to the Italian Wikipedia page, work on the A26 began in 1971, and the Genoa-Ovada section that we're talking about opened in 1977:

The opening of the first section provided Genoa with a more convenient and faster connection with the Ovadese and Alessandrino areas, until then connected to the city only via the then SS456 via a particularly tortuous route, and created an alternative Autostrada between Lombardy and Liguria, which compared with the more direct A7, is longer but straighter.

In addition to that, I've always assumed that the A26 was built to provide much better access between Genoa (together with its port) and both Turin and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The original carriageway of the A6 was opened in 1960, and included this famous loop-the-loop on what is now the southbound carriageway, while the original A7 was opened in 1935 and featured this craziness on what is also now the southbound carriageway.

Needless to say, I've also driven both of those too!

Italian roads are definitely fascinating and I have regrets I've not managed to get to Italy properly yet.

The story of the A3, now A2, is one of Europe's most bizarre road histories.

[Owain]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/u6ayYjSPnm6AeFiS8 - yikes at that levels difference! Amazing.

You know where this post is going to go, don't you? ... Yep - I've driven it! That was the same day as my last trip over the Morandi Bridge too.

According to the Italian Wikipedia page, work on the A26 began in 1971, and the Genoa-Ovada section that we're talking about opened in 1977:

The opening of the first section provided Genoa with a more convenient and faster connection with the Ovadese and Alessandrino areas, until then connected to the city only via the then SS456 via a particularly tortuous route, and created an alternative Autostrada between Lombardy and Liguria, which compared with the more direct A7, is longer but straighter.

In addition to that, I've always assumed that the A26 was built to provide much better access between Genoa (together with its port) and both Turin and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The original carriageway of the A6 was opened in 1960, and included this famous loop-the-loop on what is now the southbound carriageway, while the original A7 was opened in 1935 and featured this craziness on what is also now the southbound carriageway.

Needless to say, I've also driven both of those too!

Italian roads are definitely fascinating and I have regrets I've not managed to get to Italy properly yet.

The story of the A3, now A2, is one of Europe's most bizarre road histories.

I forgot to say that when I drove it, I was quite surprised to find that it was D3M.

Almost all of the other stretches of Autostrada in Liguria are D2M, often without hard shoulders too. I assume the gradient explains that decision, although traffic was light when I took it, and I do remember thinking that D2M with hard shoulder would have been better than D3M without.

I've also been trying to remember if I recall there being a lower speed limit than the default 130km/h. This appears to confirm that there is an 80km/h limit for cars but a 60km/h limit for HGVs, although as the 80km/h signs are obviously temporary, it might well have been 130km/h when I drove it (2015, I think).

Either way, I was in no rush on that bit!

[SteelCamel]

Quite surprised no-one has mentioned Berriedale yet. There are still two near-180-degree bends, but the top hairpin before the recent works was somewhat interesting... Not least because this is the A9, with things like mobile cranes and loaded timber lorries needing to get round here. Really it should have been bridged, like at Dunbeath, though it would be substantial bit of work.

[Bryn666]

You know where this post is going to go, don't you? ... Yep - I've driven it! That was the same day as my last trip over the Morandi Bridge too.

According to the Italian Wikipedia page, work on the A26 began in 1971, and the Genoa-Ovada section that we're talking about opened in 1977:
In addition to that, I've always assumed that the A26 was built to provide much better access between Genoa (together with its port) and both Turin and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The original carriageway of the A6 was opened in 1960, and included this famous loop-the-loop on what is now the southbound carriageway, while the original A7 was opened in 1935 and featured this craziness on what is also now the southbound carriageway.

Needless to say, I've also driven both of those too!

Italian roads are definitely fascinating and I have regrets I've not managed to get to Italy properly yet.

The story of the A3, now A2, is one of Europe's most bizarre road histories.

I forgot to say that when I drove it, I was quite surprised to find that it was D3M.

Almost all of the other stretches of Autostrada in Liguria are D2M, often without hard shoulders too. I assume the gradient explains that decision, although traffic was light when I took it, and I do remember thinking that D2M with hard shoulder would have been better than D3M without.

I've also been trying to remember if I recall there being a lower speed limit than the default 130km/h. This appears to confirm that there is an 80km/h limit for cars but a 60km/h limit for HGVs, although as the 80km/h signs are obviously temporary, it might well have been 130km/h when I drove it (2015, I think).

Either way, I was in no rush on that bit!

Yes, mountainous Italian motorways definitely stretch the definitions somewhat with their narrow lanes and no hard shoulders.

Some amazing engineering all the same. Even urban roads like the Sopraelevata in Genoa are interesting.

[Owain]

Some amazing engineering all the same. Even urban roads like the Sopraelevata in Genoa are interesting.

I've been on that too - it was one of my rare attempts at using a satnav, which turned out to be completely useless, because it couldn't tell whether I was on the upper or lower deck!

This thing is incredible, but you'd be foolish to drive it at more than 20km/h.

[Nathan_A_RF]

This is certainly a revealing hairpin.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@45.93185 ... ?entry=ttu
Turn the corner and the whole valley is in front of you.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@45.93183 ... ?entry=ttu