Roads with significantly more daily traffic in one direction

[sbeaver44]

Whenever I travel to Long Island from PA I always cross the Verrazano Bridge EB on I-278 because it is free EB.  On the return, I usually use another bridge since it would be $8 rather than $16.

Are there roads with significantly greater daily traffic (NOT counting rush hour inbound one time of day and outbound another time of day, because there are obviously many examples) in one direction versus the other?  I don't know if the Verrazano even qualifies, but it got me thinking.

For example, a road might have 30,000 annual average vehicles EB but 50,000 WB.  That would qualify.

A road that has 20,000 more cars EB at 8 AM and then 20,000 more cars WB at 6 PM would NOT qualify.

[hotdogPi]

Every one-way road.

[1995hoo]

I'd be interested in seeing the traffic counts for Maine Turnpike northbound Exits 44 (the "Tourist Exit" to I-295 that carries a toll) and 45 (the Maine Turnpike Approach Road less than a mile to the north that takes you to I-295 but is toll-free). I have no idea whether local knowledge of how to bypass the toll makes any substantial difference in traffic counts, but it'd be interesting to know. The same trick doesn't work going southbound because both Turnpike entrances are tolled.

[epzik8]

At least in the summer, I believe U.S. Route 50 on Maryland's Eastern Shore - from Queenstown to Ocean City - is an example. That's because everyone wants to make their way toward the ocean, and they don't want to leave it.

[stwoodbury]

I suspect that this does not count as daily traffic but while driving from Denver to Idaho last October, I encountered almost bumper to bumper traffic along US 6 from all the way from Green River to Provo, Utah while the oncoming traffic was rather sparse, like what I would expect for such a desolate place. We were moving along at 70-80 mph, everyone passing like we were on an autobahn - although passing was easy because of frequent passing lanes and sparse oncoming traffic. It was a Sunday, 70 degree plus weather, so it was probably people on their way home from a weekend in Moab or one of the national parks in southern Utah. With the exception of urban areas like Denver or Salt Lake, I did not encounter such a heavy flow anywhere else on my 1600 mile trek through Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Is this a normal pattern in Utah, or did I happen to be passing through right after some massive concert or mountain bike rally ended?

[Rothman]

Been up that way on US 6 more than a few times and have never experienced anything close to "bumper to bumper" traffic.  Not an empty road, but not that busy, either.

[bzakharin]

NJ 73 North of NJ 70 seems to have more traffic Northbound than Southbound. I wonder if this has anything to do with I-295 Southbound not having a direct interchange with NJ 73 Northbound. On the other hand, that should cause the opposite effect.

[vdeane]

I wonder if the Niagara River bridge crossings have differing traffic levels per direction. The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Rainbow Bridge are both $3.50 USD/CAD westbound only (free eastbound), while the Peace Bridge is $3.00 USD / $4.00 CAD both directions. Therefore it's best to go EB on the Q-L or Rainbow and then WB on the Peace Bridge.

Except the Peace Bridge isn't tolled both directions.

[coatimundi]

The Bay Area bridges all charge in only one direction.
The Googleplex sits between SR 237 and SR 84, the end of the Dunbarton Bridge. I would guess that there's less traffic in the morning going westbound (the paid direction) than eastbound in the evening. 237 is jammed at rush hour, but it may be worth saving that little bit of money, especially for contractors who probably don't have FasTrak.
Unfortunately though, I don't believe that Caltrans publishes traffic counts separated by directions.

[jeffandnicole]

The Burlington Bristol & Tacony Palmyra Bridges between NJ and PA only charged $2 into PA for several years while their DRPA counterparts slightly to the south charged $5.  This certainly made for a heavier flow on those bridges for traffic going westbound, whereas motorists could take the wider and generally easier-to-get-to DRPA bridges when they returned to NJ, which is toll free.

Now that the toll is $4 for those 2 bridges, the difference isn't as substantial.

[7/8]

I wonder if the Niagara River bridge crossings have differing traffic levels per direction. The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Rainbow Bridge are both $3.50 USD/CAD westbound only (free eastbound), while the Peace Bridge is $3.00 USD / $4.00 CAD both directions. Therefore it's best to go EB on the Q-L or Rainbow and then WB on the Peace Bridge.

Except the Peace Bridge isn't tolled both directions.

The right-hand side window on the Wikipedia article doesn't say it there, but it does mention one-way tolling farther down (someone should fix that). Anyway, I've deleted my post since it's wrong.

[vdeane]

The bridges probably did have differentials in the past, though, for a different reason: customs.  In the past, there would be incentive to use the more convenient crossing going into Canada, and the less traveled crossing into the US.  That said, CBSA is currently short staffed, so the relative wait times are different from what they once were (in the summer, many of the Buffalo/Niagara Falls crossings actually have longer average waits going into Canada then the US).  The Peace Bridge is also narrow, so NEXUS users will often avoid it because the line often extends onto the bridge.

[doorknob60]

If we're talking annual average this wouldn't apply, but since you say "daily", I think this works. I-15 between San Bernardino and Las Vegas likely gets a lot more northbound traffic on Friday evening and Saturday, and a lot more southbound traffic on Sunday.