Brickbuilt roads for my modular layout.

[DrJosephMosch]

Hello all,

I have never really been fond with the options we have regarding roads. Especially in combination with the modular buildings.

The official roadplates just look plain wrong in my opinion and you have the additional rows of studs to cover. also they are not very flexible in their usage.

The same goes for tiled roads, although they are much more flexible. So I decided to build SNOT-roads to accomondate street parking, bikelanes and sidewalks.

As anybody who also tried this may know, this kind of project is incredibly expensive. Coincidally on Saint Patricks day I got a decent bonus at work and also pretty drunk afterwards. So perfect conditions to make a half dozen bricklink orders.

Anyway, here are the pictures:

The first test module I have made featuring on street parking, a green strip, a protected cycle path and enlarged sidewalks with wheelchair accessible ramps. I made all of the street modules at the most 48 studs long for them to be transportable. They interlock using technik pins.

Here is the same module integrated in the City:

The most tedious part was to move my modulars to their new baseplates, which are raised by one brick and connect to the roads firmly. Two fingernails and one brick seperator were lost in the process...

To add some depth(pun intended) and to span the empty hole between the two shelfes the layout is on I constructed a small river with walkways and a bridge above. Still waiting for some bricks for the bridge.

The other side of the river. With bike lanes, a bike rack and a small park.

Bus stop and junction with the soon to be very busy pedestrian street.

I'm open to hear your feedback, criticism and opinions and will gladly answer any questions.

Edited March 31, 2016 by DrJosephMosch

[flailx]

Great roads! I love the bike path, and the bridge.

Yeah, it's expensive. I used 3x4 panels for most most of my roads. My roads are black (as it was cheaper) but I prefer the dark grey you have. You can see my road here if you like:

Edited March 31, 2016 by flailx

[pyro690]

Love it ,but seems spendy! :thumbup:

[Romanos]

Great roads, i like all you did. only good for smaller layouts cash problem on biger to big

whay cant lego make some new roads

[BlockLogo]

Looks great! That's pretty much exactly what Id like to do, but the cost is holding me back...

[tkatt]

Your roads look great. The extra details you've added really bring your scene to life. I like your bridge a lot, but it could use a guardrail.

I've been planning a Lego city for years, but I haven't had the space for anything permanent. Since most of my setups have been temporary I looked for a temporary solution to the road problem. Just last week I found these Printable Lego Roads by Russel Lindsay. I used a laminator to make them durable. They look good enough for me for now, and may become my permanent solution.

[BricksMcgee]

This looks great!

Planning on similar style for roads in my city

[Doge]

It looks great! I really enjoy the overall difference in landscape height.

I'm curious, are you from the Netherlands or Germany? You won't see bicycle lanes very often on roads in other places on the globe :P

Also, how do you support the weight of the houses? Is there some kind of structure you used ?

[Junior Shark]

That's very impressive! The best part about these brickbuilt roads is probably their flexibility- you can add cool details like those red bike lanes. Condolences for your nails and brick separator.

[DrJosephMosch]

Thank you all for your kind words :)

It looks great! I really enjoy the overall difference in landscape height.

I'm curious, are you from the Netherlands or Germany? You won't see bicycle lanes very often on roads in other places on the globe :P

Also, how do you support the weight of the houses? Is there some kind of structure you used ?

I'm from Austria, but the coloured bike lane is borrowed from my last trip to the Netherlands.

The houses all sit on mostly 8x16 plates supported by a lot of 2x4 bricks and the connection bricks(technic bricks to the sides facing other buildings, and bricks with additional studs or reversed headlight bricks roadside. It's quite hard to connect everything but when all modules are in place the construction is very sturdy. I would make a photo of the underside but dismantling everything now is a bit of a hassle.

[Vindicare]

My biggest gripe with the roadplates are the lack of a 90 degree turn. I really don't like the curve plates because its harder to add sidewalks to the angled part.

That is very cool. I would like to do that someday as it definitely makes for a more believable street.

[Dakar A]

If I ever get my city/budget to the size I'd like it to have, I think I'd have to swing for brick built roads just like yours. They just offer so much flexibility in terms of how they can be designed, especially in relation to the road baseplates. I really love the little bridge over the canal as well.

[sunhuntin]

looks great!! expensive, but worth it by the looks.

we have bike lanes here in new zealand, but they arent consistent city wide, generally only found in high traffic areas, and are green.

[legoguy1984]

That is a great road but too parts intensive for me. Really love your layout though.

To Tkatt, did you print the roads at 100% scale and do they fit the standard 4 wide city car and 6 wide trucks well enough?

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Excellent, thanks for sharing!

[tkatt]

@Legoguy1984, by printing them actual size they come out being the exact same size as the plates they are based on. I've got what would be the studded part of the plate slid under the sidewalks which leads to the roads looking narrower.

[legoguy1984]

Thanks for responding. I can't wait to try this out.

[gotoAndLego]

Why not build them like this?

Edited April 2, 2016 by gotoAndLego

[Poisso3]

^ That's basically how I have been building the roads for my Daughter's Heartlake City...minus the bike lanes.

[DrJosephMosch]

I got the last bricklink order today and was able to finish the bridge.

It spans 27 studs wide and is supported by two arches beneath.

[Wookiee]

Nice roads,i have opted for brick built as i think they offer more flexibility and when weighing up the cost it is not so bad vs plates IMO

You need to leave an Easter Egg in the side wall under the floor under the bridge like a skeleton or something,that would be cool.

Any plans to put a top half design to the bridge?

[CrispyBassist]

I got the last bricklink order today and was able to finish the bridge.

Looking good! From your first post I started thinking you had a vendetta against cyclists - letting their lane drop off at the bridge so they couldn't cross!

Edited April 12, 2016 by CrispyBassist