N scale road width

[Anonymous]

I was about to construct a road for my N scale layout and was wondering if anyone knew how wide I should make it? Any information would help.

Thanx
Benjamin R.

[Seamonster]

There was a discussion thread in this forum not too long ago on that. As I remember it, the general concensus was 12' wide lanes on a highway plus shoulders and ditches. Secondary roads should be a bit narrower.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your era and location. Pre 1950, rural raods were genereally 18 feet wide (2 lane). Post 1950, rural roads are a minimum 24 feet ( 2lane), with a 6 foot shoulder. Rights of way are generally in the 66 to 120 foot range. For an urban street, the same lane widths apply, but with a 30" curb and gutter. Modern desing standards call for a minimum 11 foot lane for through traffic and a minimum 8 foot parking lane. Median widths can vary and are generally determined by the available right of way, but generally in an urban area a median is from 14 to 24 feet, the minimum being determined by vehicle length. Generally, the 12 foot lane width should be used in rural areas, and the 11 foot lane is used in urban areas to minimize teh real estate requirements. The above is from the Wisconsin design standards (I am a highway design engineer) and are similar to other states.

I use on my N Scale layout AMI INstant roadbed for asphalt streets. The width is a bit noarow for a two lane, but it looks good as long as two vehicles are not next to each other. You may find as I did that roads take up a lot of room, so "selective compression" is why I use the raod bed. 12' in N Scale = 0.9" in real life. Hope this helps.