B737-300 CREW MISUNDERSTOOD TAXI INSTRUCTIONS.

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AFTER LNDG AT DTW ON RWY 3R AND EXITING ON HIGH SPD TXWY W4; THE TWR CTLR SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF; 'I'LL HAVE TO SEND YOU THE LONG WAY; JOIN TXWY W TO TXWY T; CONTACT GND.' WE JOINED TXWY W AND BEGAN TAXIING NBOUND. WE WERE UNABLE TO FIND TXWY T ON THE ARPT DIAGRAM; BUT DIDN'T FIND THIS UNUSUAL; SINCE SOME TXWYS AREN'T SHOWN PROPERLY ON THE DIAGRAM (OR MARKED ON THE AIRFIELD) DUE TO THE CONSTRUCTION IN PROGRESS AT DTW. WE TAXIED TO NEARLY THE END OF TXWY W; THEN TURNED L ONTO TXWY P4 (SINCE TXWY W WAS ENDING) AND CONTACTED GND (WE HAD BEEN UNABLE TO CONTACT GND PRIOR TO THIS POINT DUE TO FREQ CONGESTION). WE STOPPED PRIOR TO RWY 3C ON TXWY P4. GND ADVISED US THAT WE HAD GONE THE WRONG WAY AND SAID TO CONTACT TWR TO CROSS RWY 3C. WE CONTACTED TWR; WHO ADVISED THAT IT WOULD BE A WHILE BEFORE WE COULD CROSS RWY 3C DUE TO TKOF TFC. BY THIS POINT; I HAD LOCATED TXWY T (ALL THE WAY AT THE S END OF THE ARPT); SO WE ASKED IF THEY WOULD PREFER US TO TAXI DOWN TO TXWY T AND AROUND THE S END OF RWY 3C. TWR AGREED AND HAD US CONTACT GND; WHO CLRED US TO TAXI S ON TXWY W; W ON TXWY T; AND EVENTUALLY TO OUR GATE. THE TAXI ERROR RESULTED FROM SEVERAL FACTORS: 1) NEBULOUS TAXI INSTRUCTIONS BY TWR. TWR INSTRUCTED US TO JOIN TXWY W TO TXWY T FROM HIGH SPD TXWY W4. THIS REQUIRED AN APPROX 150 DEG TURN TO THE L ONTO TXWY W FROM TXWY W4. WE WERE EXPECTING TO PROCEED N TO THE GATE; SO WE INTERPED 'JOIN' TO MEAN MERGE ONTO TXWY W IN THE DIRECTION OF THE HIGH SPD. TWR'S COMMENT ABOUT SENDING US 'THE LONG WAY' MAY HAVE MEANT SOMETHING TO HIM; BUT ONLY ADDED TO THE CONFUSION OF THE SIT. A MUCH MORE MEANINGFUL INSTRUCTION MIGHT HAVE BEEN; 'PROCEED S ON TXWY W TO TXWY T; CONTACT GND.' 2) OUR UNFAMILIARITY WITH DTW TAXI RTES. WE DID NOT KNOW WHERE TXWY T WAS. HOWEVER; WE WERE EXITING A RWY USING A HIGH SPD TXWY; SO WE DID NOT FEEL IT APPROPRIATE TO STOP ON THE HIGH SPD WHILE WE LOCATED TXWY T (DUE TO LNDG TFC BEHIND US). BY THE TIME WE LOCATED TXWY T; WE WERE ALREADY HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION (N) ON TXWY W. 3) FREQ CONGESTION WHICH PREVENTED US FROM ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION; PARTICULARLY WHEN WE COULD NOT IMMEDIATELY FIND TXWY T ON THE DIAGRAM. 4) POORLY MARKED OR UNMARKED TXWYS ON BOTH THE COMMERCIAL CHART DIAGRAM AND ON THE AIRFIELD ITSELF DUE TO EXTENSIVE CONSTRUCTION.