Top 10 GINORMOUS Freeway Interchanges in the US -- and what you could fit into the same space!

This week we go looking for the BIGGEST freeway interchanges in the United States, take the measure of the top ten, and speculate on what we could fit into the same acreage.

From time to time, we see tweets and blog posts that compare the size of U.S. interchanges to the historical centers of great European cities. But is the way these tweeters and bloggers measure the size of interchanges reasonable, and is medieval-era Europe the most appropriate place to go looking for a land use comparison? This video creator says NO!

(Which isn't to say these tweets, articles, and blog posts aren't worth a read -- of course they are!)

Interchanges explored here include the following cities and comparable land uses:
- Atlanta (Florence, Italy)
- Los Angeles / Inland Empire (Disneyland)
- Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex (Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers Stadiums)
- Washington, DC (The National Mall)
- Indianapolis (the Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500)
- Denver (Denver International Airport)
- Salt Lake City (Temple Square and surroundings)
- Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium and Kaufman Stadium)
- Fort Lauderdale (Venice, Italy)
- Wilmington / New Castle (Joseph R. Biden Amtrak Station)
- Detroit (The Big House - Michigan Stadium)

[NotJustBikes]

Very nice! I was also never quite happy with the Atlanta interchange vs Florence example, and wanted to find a more suitable comparison. You saved me a lot of time researching terrible interchanges. Thanks! 😂

[FloatingWeeds]

Growing up in South Florida, I always was in awe of the engineering marvel of our extensive highway systems that enabled so many residents to live in the region.

Now I realize that a double rail line and a high density mixed use corridor would've served nearly a factor of 5 more residents with even cleaner skies and more amenities.

Thanks guys

[Eli-dltw]

Came for the content, stayed for the dry humor and sarcasm. Subscribed.

[lawrencetaylor]

My frst job was on a surveying team designing an interchange on the east side of Denver designing the I-25/ I-225 exchange. Laying that out day by day gave me a respect for size, and when it was done driving through it gave me a sense of the pace of our society.
BTW working for the state was a dream job, but it wasn't for me. Coffee break every morning at 09:00. Even one day we had to drive out 90 miles North of Denver to make sure a sign would be updated. We left early, got to the sign, then my dynamic partner looked at his watch, jumped in the vehicle and we drove back those same 90 miles to have coffee with the gang.
Ah, the memories.

[blakeschoof]

As a University of Michigan student who routinely has to use that I-96/I-275 interchange to get to work, I always felt like that interchange was a total abomination, and am not at all surprised to see it at number 1! I truly despise that collection of roads and am glad to be moving soon as to never have to deal with that again! Love the video, and appreciate you taking the time to create them!

[DomHayward]

I love how he just destroys Arsenal for no reason at all😂

[davidstoykov]

As a European who has only spent 8 days total in the States I am shocked to have been on the biggest interchange in America.

It did seem massive in real life tbh.

[will_be_like]

"This is the Acela corridor and this is the land management going on..."
Exactly!

[barryflynn]

Out of curiosity I measured the motorway junctions in Ireland, and found the biggest urban junction was the Blanchardstown junction between the N3 and the M50 at 68.5 acres, and the biggest rural junction was the Athenry Junction between the M6 and the M18 at 85.2 acres
You could fit the entire temple bar area of dublim inside of the Blanchardstown junction twice, and you could fit the entire city centre of Galway into the Athenry Junction

[danieljackett]

The reason the I-96/275/696/Michigan 5 interchange is so large is because it was built in piecemeal fashion
I 96 was supposed to follow the general route of US 16 into downtown Detroit, and the southern portion of M5 was the original portion of freeway...A freeway revolt changed the routing of I 96 from that corridor to the concurrency with I 275...I 696 to the east was the 2nd part, then I 275/96 was built in the mid 1970's
The M5 northern portion was built in the early 1990's and was supposed to be the beginning of an I 275 extension back to I 75 in NW Oakland County...Another freeway revolt canceled that plan

[sbkpilot]

LA has some of the busiest interchanges on the planet but not the "biggest" which is this list... due to density LA interchanges are rather small which makes them incredibly congested and daunting, you have 12 lanes of traffic sometimes squeezing all over and sometimes you have to make your way from lane #8 to lane #1 in a span of a few hundred feet.

[jrm]

The largest interchange by me that I can think of is the junction of I-90, I-190, and I-294 near Chicago just outside of O'Hare Airport. A rudimentary measurement places it at around 318 acres, but it could be even larger depending on where you put the eastern bounds of it, since the actual exit from WB I-90 to I-190 and SB I-294 happens east of Cumberland Road. I used boundaries of East River Rd and Higgins/Devon Rds for I-90, Devon Rd and Balmoral Ave for I-294, and the rail viaduct east of Mannheim Rd for I-190. Interesting list though, and thanks for doing the leg work on this.

[jimmcmahon]

“Nove-eye”. When I lived in Michigan, I was told that the town was a stage coach stop between Detroit and Lansing — stop No. VI! Great video! Thank you!

[gidd]

Some more facts about the I-95/495 interchange in Maryland-- It's a great example of how freeway revolts helped prevent more of these interchanges destroying cities, as you can clearly see that I-95 was meant to go further south into Washington DC. The revolts resulted in that project being cancelled and replaced with a pretty nice metro system that can take you the rest of the way into the city :)

And I-95 is the only highway going through the Northeast Corridor, so it's bound to be quite large as the only other way between Baltimore and DC is a four lane parkway.

[highoctanecards]

Interesting video. Indianapolis Motor Speedway wasn't originally built in an urban area. The track was opened in 1909, was farmland prior to Indianapolis rapid growth later in the century.

The track is actually in a town called Speedway, an enclave of Indianapolis. It's a great facility and is on the register of national historic places.

[jdnelms]

Another big Texas interchange, in a far more crowded area would be the US75 Central Expressway and 635 Fwy. The High Five Interchange as it is called, has ramps that take cars and trucks upward of seven stories before plunging down to the intersecting freeway. This is scary enough to experienced drivers, but can be absolutely terrifying in icy conditions.

[colebyholtswarth]

I’m from Kansas City, and we call the interchange “The Triangle”. It’s known for terrible traffic!

[asa]

Nice video! As a Utahn I had a feeling SLC would make the list. We have an obscene amount of space dedicated to freeways for a relatively small city. The I-15/I-80/Hwy 201 spaghetti bowl, the I-15/I-80/downtown connector, I-215/I-80, and the airport interchange combined take up more space than the entirety of downtown. I drove for lyft in SLC for a while and I feel like the stress took a few years off my life.

[georgobergfell]

I lived in Farmington Hills near that interchange in 2016 and 2017 and I didn't realize it was that massive, but it was a bit difficult to navigate in the beginning for sure. Used it every day to get to work and other places.

[dolittle]

Great job! I enjoy your sarcasm. It's one of the main reasons I enjoy this channel. The content is amazing, of course! I'd like to see a video on highway interchange signage. I have found that the road signs are often confusing due to too much info or not enough, insufficient time to read the information and safely change lanes, and too many signs to read on freeways that have six or more lanes heading in the same direction, among other issues.