History
The first cloverleaf interchange patented in the US was by Arthur Hale, a civil engineer in Maryland, on February 29, 1916. Several cloverleafs were built in the late 1920s; however, it is unclear which was first.
A modified cloverleaf, with the adjacent ramps joined into a single two-way road, was planned in 1927 for the interchange between Lake Shore Drive (U.S. 41) and Irving Park Road (ILL 19) in Chicago, Illinois, but a diamond interchange was built instead.
The first cloverleaf interchange built in the United States was the Woodbridge Cloverleaf at Route 25 and Route 4 (now U.S. 1/9 and Route 35) in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. It opened in 1929, and has been replaced with a partial cloverleaf interchange. The original cloverleaf interchange was designed by the Rudolph and Delano building firm from Philadelphia, and was modeled after a plan from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The first cloverleaf west of the Mississippi River opened on August 20, 1931, at Watson Road and Lindbergh Boulevard near St. Louis, Missouri, as part of an upgrade of U.S. 66. This interchange, however, has since been replaced with a diamond interchange.
The cloverleaf was patented in Europe in Switzerland on October 15, 1928. The first cloverleaf in Europe opened in October 1935 at Slussen in central Stockholm, Sweden, followed in 1936 by Schkeuditzer Kreuz near Leipzig, Germany. This is now the interchange between the A 9 and A 14, and has a single flyover from the westbound A 14 to the southbound A 9. Kamener Kreuz was the first in continental Europe to open fully in 1937, at A 1 and A 2 near Dortmund Germany.
Read more about this topic: Cloverleaf Interchange
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