If you’ve ever driven through London, Ontario, chances are you’ve encountered your fair share of questionable urban planning decisions. But there’s one intersection that stands above the rest as the city’s most bewildering traffic nightmare – and it’s got locals talking.

A recent discussion on the London Ontario subreddit perfectly captured the collective confusion surrounding the Hamilton Road and Egerton Street intersection, affectionately dubbed “Ham and Eggs” by locals. The conversation started when a new driver from St. Thomas shared their genuine panic about navigating what Google Maps was telling them to do.

“I’ve just had my license for a year and I feel like I’m looking at a monstrosity,” the driver wrote, describing their first encounter with the five-way intersection that has been puzzling visitors for decades.

The intersection, which locals also call “the five points,” brings together Hamilton Road, Egerton Street, and Trafalgar Street in what can only be described as an urban planning fever dream. From an aerial view, it looks like someone threw three streets at a wall and decided to call it a day.

Long-time Londoners were quick to jump in with reassurance and advice. “Just follow the lights, as it has advanced turning greens,” explained one local resident who lives in the area. “This was far trickier years ago before they updated it!”

The intersection’s reputation extends far beyond London’s borders. Multiple commenters compared it to similarly confusing intersections in other Canadian cities, including Winnipeg’s aptly named “Confusion Corner” and various multi-street nightmares in Hamilton and St. Catharines.

One particularly interesting piece of historical context emerged from the discussion. According to local history enthusiasts, this intersection has been a problem for much longer than most people realize. A 1947 London Free Press caption described the exact same traffic issues that persist today: “The latest concerns traffic at the criss-cross intersection of Egerton street, Hamilton road and Trafalgar street… in the hope that the findings will provide a solution to the endless traffic snarls during busy hours.”

Nearly 80 years later, drivers are still having the same conversations about how to fix this mess.

The intersection features a unique layout where drivers can make multiple left turns depending on which direction they want to go. For those turning from Egerton onto Hamilton Road, the advice from seasoned locals is simple: wait for your green light, pull into the intersection, and take the second left turn option when traffic clears.

Several residents suggested alternative routes for nervous drivers, including going straight through to Vauxhall or taking Trafalgar instead. One practical tip that came up repeatedly was using Google Street View to preview tricky intersections before attempting them for the first time.

The discussion also highlighted some of the quirky businesses that surround this infamous intersection, including a parrot grooming service that caught many readers’ attention. “This is how I find out there’s a parrot grooming store in London?” one surprised commenter wrote.

Many longtime residents shared their own first-time experiences with Ham and Eggs. “I was looking at the pic to see if something weird was captured in the google image because I immediately identified the intersection as Ham and Eggs and I guess I’m just used to it,” wrote one Glen Cairn resident.

The conversation revealed the ongoing debate about potential solutions. Multiple people suggested turning the intersection into a roundabout, though others pointed out the space constraints created by surrounding buildings, including a Buddhist temple with religious statues that would complicate any major reconstruction.

Despite all the complaints and confusion, most locals agreed that the intersection looks far more intimidating than it actually is to navigate. “It’s a lot less chaotic than it looks,” assured one regular user of the intersection. The key, according to multiple experienced drivers, is simply paying attention to your own traffic light and not getting overwhelmed by the visual chaos of multiple streets converging.