How about give a try on complicated road, one that twists and turns, or has downright congested traffic, or unforgiving terrain? They might give you a headache, but it sure feels good when you’ve conquered them. Here is the list of the world’s most complicated and dangerous roads. Some of these complicated mountain passes can be dangerous if not negotiated with utmost caution, while others are complicated sets of roads and bridges, erected to ensure a streamlined flow of traffic at busy junctions.
1 ) Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange – Los Angeles
The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange is situated in Los Angeles, CA and is one of the most complicated interchanges in the country. It permits entry and exit in all directions between the I-105 and the I-110. It’s a stack interchange with layers of bridges making a complicated network of roads allowing smooth flow of traffic though both the interstate highways. This interchange was opened in 1993. It is a 4 level interchange with a restricted access lane that can be used by high-occupancy vehicles ef tours.
Though the interchange permits traffic entering the interchange in all directions to exit in all directions (cf. Hollywood Split, East Los Angeles Interchange), the interchange also consists of direct HOV connectors, Metro Green Line tracks, and the Harbor Transitway, all of which contribute to the towering, imposing structure for which the interchange is known.
2 ) Col de Turini, France
Col de Turini is a is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Alpes-Maritimes in France. The road is basically a long series of hairpin turns that winds up the side of the mountains. There are very few turnoffs from the road and also very few houses or other buildings. Its kind of a lonely yet scenic drive. Many of the hairpins are built on retaining walls that add a very orderly touch to the route. In summer this is a beautiful drive, although in Winter it is perhaps at its most spectacular, as the trees droop over you with their mantle of snow.
3 ) Lombard St – San Francisco
Lombard’s crooked street is a postcard-perfect image that represents San Francisco around the world. But what exactly is this attraction and what does it have to offer the San Francisco visitor? Lombard Street in San Francisco is one of America’s crookedest streets. The steep, hilly street was created with sharp curves to switchback down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions. If not for the byzantine curves, easing out this treacherous slope, people could be killed rolling down.
For an idea of how steep this street really is, go two blocks up, to Filbert Street and peer down over the ridge. Lombard is even steeper. Some of San Francisco’s most expensive real estate sits on Lombard Street. This Russian Hill neighborhood possesses stately mansions even with the endless array of tourists pouring down the street every day. In the spring and through the entire summer, Lombard Street is alive with color, as the many beautiful flowers are in bloom.
4 ) Stelvio Pass, Italy
A truly crazy drive has to have a hint of danger, and it has to be beautiful: not just thrilling, but scarily scenic. Here’s a collection of worldwide drives that are guaranteed to make your heart go vroom-vroom. Residents of the Alps have spent centuries perfecting the art of living life on steep slopes. One of the most spectacularly serpentine of the switchback-filled roads that ascend and descend these mountains is Italy’s Stelvio Pass, which has 60 hairpin turns and reaches elevations of more than 9,000 feet. The first road here was built in the 1820s, and the layout has changed little in the past two centuries.
5 ) Putrajaya, Malaysia
Not many people realize this when they are driving around Putrajaya, especially near the Prime Minister’s office. Try to clear your mind and observe while you are driving, and you will soon realize that you are indeed driving along the potentially largest roundabout in the world. Malaysia Boleh! The main reason people don’t take note is because they tend to think it is just a hill. The circumferential length of this roundabout is approximately 3.4km, and the road that circumvents it is Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.
6 ) Leh–Manali Highway, India
The Leh-Manali Highway is situated in India and spans over a length of 297 miles among the Himalaya mountain range. It passes through some of the worlds highest mountain passes in the world, with a mean altitude in between 2 to 3 miles above sea level. Tourists from all over the world, as well as a growing number of Indian tourists use this road for the scenic impressions of the mountains. Truck drivers transport their cargo to Leh and back to other parts of India. Finally there are the people living next to the road trying to profit from the various travelers during a short time in summer, when the road is open till the first snow of the next winter.
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