request for information: bus stops on diamond freeway interchanges

Three of my clients are in need numerous examples of bus stops on diamond freeway interchanges.  (I have a few, but need lots.)  Diamond interchanges look like this:

Florida_SR_408_at_SR_435

We're interested in cases where a bus line runs along the freeway and serves the area by:

  • exiting at the interchange, 
  • crossing directly over the intersecting street, 
  • making a stop on the ramp near the intersecting street, (near or far side) and then
  • re-entering the freeway continuing in the same direction.

We'd especially like to see examples where the intersecting local street has its own bus route flowing through, and people can connect to the freeway service here.  This provides good examples of stop placement and resolutions of the conflict between pedestrian and car needs in this context.

If you can think of an example, please just comment with the city and the names of the intersecting roads.  I'll take it from there.

Thanks!

66 Responses to request for information: bus stops on diamond freeway interchanges

  1. Jacob Riger March 1, 2012 at 3:39 pm #

    The Denver region has several – for example, most of the interchanges along US 36 between Denver and Boulder

  2. David Seater March 1, 2012 at 3:46 pm #

    Seattle has one: I-5 and 45th street. Route 44 crosses on 45th, numerous freeway buses. The interchange ramps are a little weird, though, not a classic diamond.

  3. Nathan LeMesurier March 1, 2012 at 3:52 pm #

    There’s one in Bothell, WA where I-405 intersects Bothell-Everett Highway at Canyon Park. There’s also a freeway pedestrian overpass there too.

  4. DML March 1, 2012 at 3:52 pm #

    Minneapolis: Washington Avenue (fwy section at U of Mn East Bank) at Cedar Avenue.
    St paul: I94 at Snelling.

  5. DB March 1, 2012 at 3:56 pm #

    Calgary does this on Crowchild Trail at 33rd Avenue (with connection, and plans for a more elaborate freeway-shoulder BRT service), as well as on Glenmore Trail at Elbow Drive. Functionally they are provided for, with stairs and sidewalks, but they’re not nice places to be…

  6. Nicholas Barnard March 1, 2012 at 4:00 pm #

    There are probably more in Seattle worth sleuthing for. (Seriously, go to OneBusAway and start peeking, I’m quite sure you’ll find more than I know about.)
    That being said NE 40th St & 520 in Redmond, WA kinda fits the bill. Its got a whole transit center to the southeast corner of the intersection.

  7. bardak March 1, 2012 at 4:05 pm #

    While I’m sure that you are aware of them Vancouver has two on highway 99. one at Stevenson highway an another at Ladner tunk. And the 91 has one at Westminster and one at Cliveden drive on Annacis island.

  8. Plattypus1 March 1, 2012 at 4:19 pm #

    Not quite this design, but the El Monte Busway along I-10 has a lot of stops where the bus exits on to a special bus-only lane parallel to the freeway, and a sidewalk provides access from the arterial. See Puente Ave/I-10 in Baldwin Park for an example.

  9. Matt Conway March 1, 2012 at 4:49 pm #

    Golden Gate Transit has lots of these along 101 in Marin County. Some have park-and-rides located in the diamond (or cloverleaf, which is also common); I think quite a few have connections with other lines.

  10. Kyle March 1, 2012 at 5:18 pm #

    Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
    Crowchild Trail SW and Flanders Ave
    Crowchild Trail SW and 33 Ave
    14 Ave and 14 St NW

  11. Jonathon March 1, 2012 at 5:21 pm #

    Recent expansions of Ottawa’s transitway have eschewed grade-separated stations in favour of standard (at least in Ontario) par-clo highway interchanges. There are quite a few of these (though no diamonds I can recall) the Queensway/Jeanne D’arc Boulevard where local buses from the west half of the Orleans suburb connect with the frequent 95 bus to downtown without having to double back to the main Orleans bus terminal.

  12. d March 1, 2012 at 5:25 pm #

    A few examples from Melbourne:
    Examples with bus on intersecting street:
    Eastern Freeway / Wetherby Road/Middleborough Road, Blackburn North
    Examples without bus on intersecting street:
    Calder Freeway / Kings Road, Taylors Lakes (opened earlier this year)
    Western Freeway / Leakes Road, Rockbank
    Eastern Freeway / Doncaster Road, Doncaster (outbound direction only)

  13. Kristin March 1, 2012 at 5:56 pm #

    Another Twin Cities example is I-35W at 66th St.

  14. Rob Fellows March 1, 2012 at 6:25 pm #

    Jarrett, Seattle has many of these. On I-405 this was the primary treatment when HOV lanes were located on the right-side; even now that HOV lanes have moved to the median side several remain. There are also a few of these on I-5 despite having HOV lanes on the median side; Star Lake and SR 516 come to mind. We also have freeway stations on the right side, but also on the left side at direct access ramp locations. Let me know what sort of information would be the most useful.

  15. Moaz Yusuf Ahmad March 1, 2012 at 6:35 pm #

    Petaling Jaya, Malaysia (just outside of Kuala Lumpur) at the interchange of the Federal Highway and Jalan Utara (North Road)/Jalan Barat (West Road).
    The area is known as Petaling Jaya New Town or “PJ” State. The LRT (mini-metro) station nearby is called Asia Jaya.
    Cheers, Moaz

  16. www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=688446910 March 1, 2012 at 6:47 pm #

    In Victoria, BC-
    Hwy 1 and Helmcken
    The other Hwy 1 intersections have different ramp structures.

  17. Johann Tay March 1, 2012 at 6:48 pm #

    Melbourne, Aus – Eastern Freeway/Middleborough Rd. Does exactly what you describe.

  18. John March 1, 2012 at 6:59 pm #

    Not quite identical, but Milwaukee has a couple of really nice park and rides at freeway interchanges. See Ryan Rd and College Rd on I-94.

  19. Tony March 1, 2012 at 7:00 pm #

    Seattle: Montlake & SR 520
    http://g.co/maps/u2e9x
    This one is a bit odd because it’s three-parts diamond, but one part cloverleaf–however, it’s not functionally different than what you’re describing.
    Focusing on the inbound 520 aspect, there’s a nearside, bus-only lane and stop divergent from exit traffic to Montlake in what otherwise would be shoulder, where there’s a stop on NB Montlake at the top. Passengers walk on a sidewalk along the exit ramp to connect.
    For outbound 520, it’s basically the same, except the bus stop in the freeway is farside instead, presumably due to the odd hairpin ramp on the southwest quarter of the interchange.
    Used to use it everyday to and from work when I lived in the U-District and worked for Microsoft.
    Also, look east of there, if you find yourself bored, ever, and wanting to study broken, abandoned ramps over swamp. It’s real weird around there.

  20. eric darwin March 1, 2012 at 7:23 pm #

    Ottawa Canada: Hwy 417 at Pinecrest. Queensway at Jeanne D’Arc.

  21. Jeff Youngstrom March 1, 2012 at 7:24 pm #

    Doesn’t look like anyone mentioned the Bellevue, WA left-lane exit version at I-90 and 142nd Place SE.
    There’s also a freeway stop at I-90 and 80th Ave SE on Mercer Island.
    And a third at I-90 and Rainier Ave S in Seattle.

  22. Leigh Holcombe March 1, 2012 at 7:38 pm #

    One of the most interesting solutions I’ve seen is the Montlake Terrace Freeway Station on I-5, north of 236th St SW (north of Seattle). The bus exits to the left and enters a facility situated between the northbound and southbound freeway lanes. There is a pedestrian bridge from there that goes over the freeway to a Park&Ride which is serviced by other bus routes.

  23. Daniel March 1, 2012 at 8:14 pm #

    Melbourne, Westgate Freeway (route 232) and Williamstown Road (route 472).
    Map: http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/assets/Maps/Localities/PDFs/21_Hobsons_Bay.pdf
    Aerial photo (of freeway stops)
    http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-37.825271,144.880161&z=19&t=k&nmd=20120215

  24. shaun March 1, 2012 at 8:43 pm #

    Looks like a lot of seattle comments 🙂 – one more
    SR 522 at 131st Ave NE in Woodinville (this is the served by the 522 DT to Woodinville route offered by Sound Transit – and possibly other routes)

  25. David Marcus March 1, 2012 at 8:48 pm #

    I used to catch the bus every day at I-405 & Coal Creek Parkway in Bellevue, WA. http://g.co/maps/ack5b

  26. Wad March 1, 2012 at 9:06 pm #

    In L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, along US101 there are commuter bus stops at the Reseda and Van Nuys boulevards ramps. (There are also freeway turnout stops in Hollywood and Echo Park).

  27. Philip March 2, 2012 at 12:34 am #

    San Diego: University ave ramps off the 15. http://g.co/maps/qrvay

  28. Alan March 2, 2012 at 12:51 am #

    Los Angeles area:
    – I-10 and Puente Ave.
    – I-10 and Azusa Ave.
    – I-10 and Via Verde
    – I-10 and Fairplex Dr. (westbound only)
    – I-110 and Carson St.
    – I-110 and Pacific Coast Hwy.

  29. Tristram March 2, 2012 at 1:59 am #

    In Helsinki : the bus stays on the highway and there are stairs from the highway to the street level
    http://g.co/maps/6fzaq

  30. Jim Moore March 2, 2012 at 6:52 am #

    And while not a diamond, I-5 at 112th St in South Everett there is a park and ride in the middle of the freeway. When it was built, it created an HOV on and off ramp which is, what I would guess some would call an inverted diamond?

  31. Hamilton Transit History March 2, 2012 at 7:15 am #

    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Hwy 401 & Keele St

  32. Louis Hoffman March 2, 2012 at 8:16 am #

    New Jersey has a lot of highway bus stops especially on Routes 3 & 4. Two commuter highways which go to the Lincoln Tunnel & the GW Bridge respectively. In Clifton there are some dangerous ones Route 3 and Main Ave, Route 3 and Route 7 which serve commuter bus routes. Up by the many malls in Paramus there are many stops along highways. Two that come to mind are Route 4 at Forest Ave in Paramus and Route 4 Service Road at Main St in River Edge. The last one actually pulls off the highway onto that service road with a ped overpass. Hope that helps. Awesome blog!

  33. Peter Laws March 2, 2012 at 9:20 am #

    Montreal. Autoroute 20 and Boul St Jean in Pointe Claire. Numerous STM (http://stm.info/) routes connect. Commuter rail nearby but does not connect. Bus lanes to navigate intersection added c.1984 – before that, WB buses stopped on highway with stairs to the overpass, EB unchanged.
    Also, making that original connection in the winter *sucked*! 🙂
    Peter

  34. David Bickford March 2, 2012 at 10:09 am #

    In Phoenix, the intersection of the SR51 Freeway & Shea Boulevard and the intersection of the I17 Freeway & Bell Road. Both have express bus park-and-rides built alongside freeway entrance ramps with local route on intersecting streets a short walk away.

  35. Zach Shaner March 2, 2012 at 10:53 am #

    In suburban Seattle, I-405/30th St in Kennydale. It’s the simplest form of diamond interchange, and it’s served in both directions by the Bellevue-SeaTac-Burien express bus (560)and a couple peak-only runs.

  36. Charley Ferrari March 2, 2012 at 11:17 am #

    If you want a more urban example check out the BX26 going down Bedford park Blvd in the Bronx and crossing the Grand Concourse. Through traffic goes through a tunnel, but turning traffic gets routed to either side above ground. The bus goes to a bus stop on the above ground section and then rejoins Bedford Park Blvd on the other side:
    http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.871079,-73.886586&spn=0.003821,0.009645&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.871239,-73.886776&panoid=EBlwvvZrRl3m7c-xlvMlxg&cbp=12,317.99,,0,5.21

  37. MarkS March 2, 2012 at 11:44 am #

    Edmonton, AB
    -Whitemud Drive and 53 Ave (Routes 30, 32, 33)
    -Wayne Gretzky Dr and 118 Ave (Routes 2 and 99) (definitely an example of what *not* to do to facilitate transferring)

  38. Madkirk March 2, 2012 at 12:58 pm #

    Los Angeles: Alvarado & the 101

  39. Shaun March 2, 2012 at 1:03 pm #

    I believe that I-94 and Ryan Rd. in Milwaukee is an example. I can’t be sure because I do not frequent the area, however.

  40. Keep Houston Houston March 2, 2012 at 1:23 pm #

    Houston’s Route #18 does this on Allen Parkway, at Waugh and Montrose. In the Eastbound direction there’s a continuous feeder road. Westbound the bus gets off and on again twice in about a mile.

  41. Mike C. March 2, 2012 at 2:18 pm #

    Here’s one in Milwaukee. Intercity buses (Badger Bus) exit I-94 at 84th St and serve a stop WB near side on a pork chop and EB far side, then reenter. Local MCTS Rt 67 has service on 84th.
    43.027353, -88.017288 (lat, long)
    Here are a few examples in Seattle that I don’t think were mentioned yet, specifically diamonds, not center-access ramps:
    47.648478, -122.376381 15th Ave W
    47.654423, -122.137819 SR-522 at NE 51st
    47.734008, -122.324790 NE 145th
    47.391675, -122.290930 Kent-Des Moines Rd
    47.357862, -122.296520 S 272nd

  42. Jarrett Stewart March 2, 2012 at 3:00 pm #

    http://g.co/maps/vyf3h
    Pittsburgh Rt. 28 highway on the North Side has a bus stop on the side of the highway. Click the link above to be taken to the location on Google Maps.

  43. In Brisbane March 2, 2012 at 9:57 pm #

    I would say look at Perth’s train system’s Mandurah and Joondalup lines. It’s not buses but same deal.

  44. a March 3, 2012 at 2:48 am #

    Melbourne Route 232. West Gate Fwy & Williamstown Rd.

  45. Joseph Alacchi March 3, 2012 at 8:05 am #

    Montreal. Autoroute 40 at Acadie, Viau, Lacordaire, Langelier.
    Used by express bus 460 during rush hours.

  46. Andrew March 3, 2012 at 4:26 pm #

    Helsinki, on the Länsiväylä expressway (Highway 51) and Ring 1 (Highway 101), near the Nokia headquaters. Numerous express bus that use the freeway stop here. A subway extension is proposed in this area.

  47. David M March 3, 2012 at 5:35 pm #

    Jarret – in Victoria BC
    1. Royal Oak and Pat Bay Highway (Hwy 17) – express bus stops on the ramps and local buses use the on-street bus exchange. The ramp stops are part of the terminus actually.
    2. MacTavish Rd and Pat Bay Highway (near Sidney BC) – while a diamond interchange, the ramps lead into two traffic circles. Highway express buses stop on the ramps connected by dedicated pedestrian bridge to a bus exchange and park and ride.

  48. Joshua Kelley March 3, 2012 at 6:48 pm #

    I-5 and Kent-Des Moines Rd south of Seattle. Specifically the northbound exit: buses cross Kent-Des Moines Rd and vear left into a bus-only lane at the park-and-ride, then continues back to the on-ramp. Westbound buses on Kent-Des Moines Rd vear to the right into the bus lane, then merge back into traffic.
    http://g.co/maps/n459b

  49. Dexter Wong March 4, 2012 at 12:03 am #

    Honolulu has a similar arrangement along the Moanalua Freeway, Interstate H-210. Between Moanalua Valley and Red Hill (on the western edge of Urban Honolulu), there are two frontage roads (one on either side of the freeway), that serve Kaiser Hospital, a church and finally the Red Hill neighborhood and Aliamanu Crater Military Housing. The 43, 53 and 54 buses serve three stops westbound (Moanalua Valley WB, Kaiser Hospital, Red Hill WB)and two stops eastbound (Red Hill EB, Moanalua Valley EB). Moanalua Valley WB is built atop a high overpass that Moanalua Valley Road passes through on its way to that neighborhood. A passenger bound for the valley walks down a curved off-ramp that meets the road. Passengers headed for Honolulu go under the freeway to reach Moanalua Valley EB. WB hospital passenger alight in front of the hospital, but must take a bus to Red Hill to return east (or walk on the sidewalk to Red Hill). EB hospital passengers get off at Red Hill and then cross on an overpass before walking down the sidewalk to the hospital. The Red Hill stops are either side of a tall overpass which holds the road connecting Red Hill with Aliamanu Crater. The WB buses continue on to Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu, while the EB buses stop there on their way to Honolulu.

  50. Eric O March 4, 2012 at 12:10 pm #

    I saw an interesting interchange idea for the BRT alternative of the future Southeast Corridor (the Silverline) in Charlotte, which runs on the median (in a dedicated or HOV lane). It was to bring the guideway up to the crossover street via its own dedicated ramp in the median.
    Unfortunately, I believe I saw that the station platforms were placed on the side of the bridge, not the BRT ramps. I can’t remember this detail exactly, but it concerns me now. If the buses have to turn off onto the bridge road and laboriously recirculate back down to the median on the other side, it would kinda lose the point. (I’m not 100% sure, but I’ll try to check on this.) While allowing the platforms to be shared with connecting local routes, making the vehicle turn on the bridge to serve a station above would slow the entire BRT system with the time lost making the turnaround.
    I would love to find out if someone has already taken the idea where it should go: allowing the BRT buses to shoot straight across the traffic lanes(with signalization)to exit mid-bridge back down to the median directly without the need to do a turnaround. Why not? We stop traffic all the time on drawbridges for passing ships. (Charlottean designers, I’m afraid, will probably demand that the vehicles go off-line anyway to serve park & rides and TODs better, but nevertheless…)

  51. Brian March 4, 2012 at 1:48 pm #

    I recall taking a GO Bus in Toronto several years ago from York Mills terminal west to Pearson airport, and the bus pulling off the 401 at Keele (?) in the manner described above, with a stop on the far side of the intersection. Not sure if that route or stop still exists though.

  52. Alon Levy March 4, 2012 at 9:02 pm #

    I don’t know a single example, not from direct experience nor from that of people I know who might tell me about this. This is no accident – when bus routes look like this, I take a taxi, find someone to drive with, or avoid the trip. The urbanism is just awful. Why would I want to cross a freeway and walk along a bunch of nothing to get to the bus? Of course, I’m not the only person who feels this way, and so buses to such areas have a low ridership-low frequency vicious cycle. If I’m riding a bus, it’s probably because the stations I use look like this and this.

  53. Tom March 5, 2012 at 4:20 am #

    There are several locations like that around Bergen, Norway:
    E16 near Helleveien (Norwegian School of Economics stop)
    E16 in EidsvĂĄg
    Route 555 at crossing of Sotraveien and Lyderhornsveien
    E39 Fritz Riebers Rd and Troldhaugveien

  54. Heikki Salko March 5, 2012 at 1:17 pm #

    Helsinki (my hometown) has already been mentioned a few times, but I think the example closest to this request is off Itäväylä [route 170] at Siilitie metro station. It’s slightly lost in the jumble of the overengineered T-interchange with Viikintie, but on its own it fits all of the criteria in the post.
    http://g.co/maps/xze3p
    Regional bus lines of the 800 series stop on the ramps with line 79 running on the crossing street and line 58 making a turn between these.
    Other than that, the majority of interchanges here where there’s any bus service at all have dedicated bus ramps with stops on them, which are then connected with crossing streets and other transportation infrastructure with pedestrian ramps and stairways. Not all of them work very well in bringing passengers close to their destinations, but there’s a lot of them nonetheless. Plain diamond interchanges are somewhat rare here, which might be (part of) the root cause. Some examples:
    * Most of Länsiväylä [hwy 51] west of Lauttasaari
    * Lahdenväylä [hwy 4/7/E75] at Viikki
    * Tuusulanväylä [hwy 45] at Käpylä railway station (first exit from motorway) and Pakilantie (second), where the well-used orbital bus line 550 has stops on the overbridge
    * Ring III [hwy 50/E18] between the railway at Tikkurila and airport road [route 135], including the 45/50 interchange on both highways
    * Ring I [route 101] below Pukinmäki railway station (with stairs directly to the platform) – arguably even fits Jarrett’s criteria since the bus ramps aren’t directly connected with the mainline and a bus line running across the crossing street is being reintroduced soon after some years of a different routing
    Similar setups can be seen even at rural motorway exits for long-distance buses even though they definitely don’t see much use.

  55. Joel Haasnoot March 6, 2012 at 12:27 pm #

    We have several of these in the Netherlands. Some examples:
    – Bus stop here as part of an onramp to the A12 highway http://g.co/maps/7tsr5
    – On the N34 (not interstate but “state route”) near the town of Borger – http://g.co/maps/a7sdc
    – One of the best examples: On the A1 near Naarden
    http://g.co/maps/4uuhx
    If you want more, there’s more options available. Some have bike storage options, some are special exists on the actual highway only accesable by bike, some have buttons to alert the driver to stop there, etc.

  56. PS March 6, 2012 at 1:10 pm #

    You’re probably familiar with it, but Trimet’s Line 58 does this along US 26 at the Sylvan interchange in Portland. However, there is no intersecting bus service.

  57. Al Dimond March 6, 2012 at 1:12 pm #

    People have mentioned the Montlake Freeway Station in Seattle, but it actually doesn’t meet Jarrett’s criteria (the stop is on the level of the freeway, so buses don’t cross the arterial at-grade; rather passengers climb down to freeway-level). As it happens, the stop is slated for removal with the 2014 rebuild of SR-520; the replacement will be roughly similar to what Jarrett is talking about, probably with service patterns similar to the I-5/NE 45th St freeway station (frequent, all-day service except during the forward peak, during which the U District is served by buses that go there directly).

  58. Tomtakt March 7, 2012 at 11:12 am #

    The buses from the Hauptbahnhof in Mainz, Germany to the Universität Mainz take a route along a grade-separated expressway, and have stops at a modified diamond interchange, as can be viewed here on Google Maps:
    http://g.co/maps/95gzn
    The bus stop (Haltestelle) called Universität in the upper right of this bus line diagram is essentially what you are referring to:
    http://www.mvg-linien.de/pdf/hsup_15.pdf
    Many of the buses exit the expressway and then re-enter. Then there is another bus stop actually on the expressway just a little further west at the stop called F.-v.-Pfeiffer-Weg.

  59. Eric O March 7, 2012 at 7:48 pm #

    Fantastic. In answer to my own query, I found an example with the bus stops along the median running alignment (for through vehicles) on a median direct access ramp, in case anyone is interested: http://g.co/maps/ntmva (the I-90 Eastgate Park & Ride access in Bellevue, WA).
    Thanks Jeff and the folks above for cluing me in to the Seattle area median lines!
    While this stop is on a HOV direct access ramp a similar concept oughta work for BRT guideways ramping to the crossing arterial. The stops basically flange out over the freeway, so they don’t take any lane space away. Very sweet.
    (Sorry this is slightly off topic.)

  60. Wei March 8, 2012 at 1:09 am #

    In Singapore, along the Ayer Rajah Expressway. Buses headed west will do this at the Normanton Park exit (there are two bus stops, one on the exiting sliproad, one on the entry sliproad).

  61. Andrew March 10, 2012 at 10:29 pm #

    Highway 401 and Keele is home to a large Government of Ontario office complex. Many GO buses on the 401 routes from York Mills/Yorkdale/Finch stop there. (This highway unfortunately suffers from severe rush hour traffic congestion, being one of the busiest highways in the world so the buses are very slow in this stretch.)

  62. D Pike June 25, 2012 at 11:40 am #

    Toronto, ON Canada
    Don Valley Parkway at Eglinton Ave East

  63. Ellentee11 July 9, 2014 at 10:42 am #

    I-5/SR 509 interchange in Kent, WA – half diamond half clover interchange with bus stops on the north and southbound ramps.

  64. Tim Slootjes October 19, 2015 at 3:02 pm #

    Regarding an interchange outside of North America, in Veghel, the Netherlands, near my own hometown, there is the bus stop that is oh-so-conveniently named Oprit N265 (“oprit” literally meaning “onramp”, with N265 being the road number.)
    https://www.google.nl/maps/place/Veghel,+Oprit+N265/@51.6111098,5.5379985,18z/data=!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x47c6e1beaa72fff1:0x8f4fe8846a52522a!2sVeghel,+Oprit+N265!3m1!1s0x47c6e1beccbde16b:0x00e4486e5395917d
    Though the N265 is not a highway by any means at all, this is definitely a diamond interchange, and it has its bus stop situated in the way you describe – as a bonus, there is a bus route going under the interchange on the local street.

  65. Magnus Gao June 8, 2017 at 4:04 pm #

    Toronto’s GO BUSES get off the highway sometimes, but since diamonds don’t exist in Toronto (Other than Allen Road), there are no stops at diamond.
    I know Beijing has BUS stops ON EXPRESSWAY.