Following a viewer's tip, Springvalley adds local produce shops near the farm and in Applegate Park, extends homes to replace the removed blocks, then builds its first real highway connection: sketched with free planning roads, a large collector road, sound-barrier highways, Node Controller and Traffic Manager lane connectors. Three coal plants are replaced by one oil power plant.
What happens in this episode
Last time, Springvalley got rid of a commercial zone to make room for a proper highway connection, and eventually a huge downtown on the bigger part of the map. This time the last two residential blocks and the remaining commercial zone go too. A viewer suggested a local produce commercial area near the farm, which makes a lot of sense.
How it was built
Local produce and new homes
To make up for the lost homes, the community grows into the last free part of the tile. Applegate Park gets the local produce rule, plus a general commercial zone and a pathway that trucks can still use. The forestry industry reached level 2, but traffic kept piling up. Another viewer’s tip: the old district will be re-planned along the shoreline later.
Planning roads
A new Workshop asset: planning roads. They cost nothing and help lay out a future network. Careful, though: they can still replace existing structures. Before the highway, I set up collector roads, one along the shore, knowing a police station and part of a park will have to move.
The highway
The main collector is huge because it takes traffic from both the highway and the town, so better to go big now than regret it later. Ramp curves are laid out in 6-unit steps without snapping. The highway becomes a one-way, two-lane highway with sound barriers. Then Node Controller, and Traffic Manager’s lane connectors to define which lane goes where, set by hand. Drivers ignored one exit until a road segment that made no sense was deleted. Pedestrian crossings and traffic lights came out, and traffic cleared to an acceptable level.
Services and power
Water, sewage, waste and schools were fine at 18,000 citizens. There’s no university yet. The old industry causes no pollution anymore. The three coal power plants are replaced by a single oil power plant with the same output, less pollution and the same noise. Extended fields and a local produce zone close the episode. The farm will be re-planned next time.
Video chapters
- 00:00Clearing blocks for the downtown plan
- 03:27Local produce shops and Applegate Park
- 06:51Planning roads that cost nothing
- 10:31A big collector and the highway
- 14:52Sound barriers and lane connectors
- 18:14Fixing the exit nobody used
- 22:44Levelling, no pedestrians, no lights
- 26:56Checking every service
- 30:17Three coal plants become one oil plant
- 34:33Local produce and wrap-up
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
What are planning roads in Cities: Skylines?
A Workshop asset: roads that cost nothing and only serve to lay out a future network, so you can test layouts before spending money.
Why build such a big collector road?
It has to take traffic from the highway and the town at the same time — I'd rather go big now than regret it later.
Is an oil power plant better than coal?
One oil plant produced as much as three coal plants in Springvalley, with less pollution and the same noise.