Reversible Lanes: Types, Your Thoughts, and the Dreaded “Squeeze Lane”

Started by MCRoads, April 16, 2021, 03:11:00 PM

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MCRoads

I think reversal lanes are pretty cool. I especially like reversible roads that use LED signage overhead to control traffic. I think Pittsburgh has the most roads like this. I have been trying to find all the examples of this in the US, and there are a lot more than I thought at first.

I think the coolest reversible lanes are in DC, as it is such a large system. I believe it is also the oldest such system. There are several more examples that I think are neat, such as I-35W in TX, I-70 in St Luis (not reversible anymore), and the elevated lanes in Tampa, which as far as I can tell, is the only example of a 3 lane carriageway that is reversible.

I recently found out that I-30 in the DFW area has the largest zipper lane system I have seen so far. Extending for 12 miles! However, from a friend that lives in the Boston metro and has used a similar system on I-93, they are quite scary to drive in. He has, on occasion, gone as far as calling it a "squeeze lane" , as the barriers are so close on either side, you feel like you are being squeezed.

Anyone else have thoughts on these types of systems?
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more room plz


Ricw24

3 system that I am familiar with:
1. Houston has a system of one way, one lane HOV/Toll lane system with separated exit and ramps independent to the interstate that runs in the median of the 2 major crosstown interstates. They run inbound to Houston in morning rush hour and runs outbound in the afternoon.

2. NYSTA has installed lane control signs above both N and S Grand Island bridge (I-190) where during constructions they redirect traffic onto one bridge via a set of ramp.
For more context: https://goo.gl/maps/jnjX1eGTHJNja4Gu9

3. Lewiston-Queenston Bridge & Peace bridge all have lane control signals that changes depend of border wait time and traffic.

CardInLex

Lexington, KY's Nicholasville Road (US 27) has three center reversible lanes controlled by overhead LEDs. One of the lanes is always a two way left turn lane while the other two are through lanes, with the direction changing based on time of day.

Dropped pin
https://goo.gl/maps/ckcRDmqdt3hteuMa7

Dirt Roads

Quote from: CardInLex on April 17, 2021, 10:23:12 AM
Lexington, KY's Nicholasville Road (US 27) has three center reversible lanes controlled by overhead LEDs. One of the lanes is always a two way left turn lane while the other two are through lanes, with the direction changing based on time of day.

That's wild!  I was expecting a 7-lane roadway, but Nicholasville Road is only 5 lanes wide.  Do they ever flip all three lanes the same direction during rush hour, or does that only happen after UK football games?


Great Lakes Roads


3467

Chicago used to have them on Lake Shore Drive and the arterials that branched off to the north. I think there were lights directing the arterials. LSD  has little dividers that retracted into the roadway.

CtrlAltDel

Quote from: MCRoads on April 16, 2021, 03:11:00 PM
I think reversal lanes are pretty cool. I especially like reversible roads that use LED signage overhead to control traffic.

I think reversible lanes are dangerous, at least when there's no barrier. It just seems like a crash ready to happen. So, when I drive on them, which is not often at all, I stay in the lanes that don't reverse. I think the last time I was on a road like that was in US-29/Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2014.

That said, I don't know if they actually are more dangerous or not.
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TheStranger

The old Golden Gate Bridge setup with the plastic cones was always nerve-wracking (at night, they used to have it where the middle lane was left empty so that there would be more of a divide between the northbound and southbound directions).  it's been about 6 or so years since the concrete movable barrier has been installed and that has made the experience a lot less stressful.

I've read recently that San Miguel Corporation wants to put in reversible lanes in the Metro Manila Skyway (most likely the San Juan River section that is currently only divided by cones, and maybe the Sgt. Rivera-Libis Baesa section that also is in the same shape) and I don't think that road has nearly the level of traffic to justify doing that at all, instead of just having a fixed concrete or metal barrier.
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behogie230

Baltimore has a reversible center lane on North Gay Street. It's honestly terrifying. There's only some signs posted that say something along the lines of "lane changes direction from 4pm-6pm" .

sprjus4

Quote from: MCRoads on April 16, 2021, 03:11:00 PM
and the elevated lanes in Tampa, which as far as I can tell, is the only example of a 3 lane carriageway that is reversible.
The I-95 / I-395 reversible HO/T lanes in Northern Virginia between the Pentagon and Woodbridge is 3 lanes.

As for examples in general, Virginia has another set of reversible HO/T lanes in Norfolk along I-64 between I-264 and I-564, about 7 miles long. It was constructed in the early 1990s as an HOV roadway, and was recently converted to HO/T back in 2018.

Great Lakes Roads

Quote from: behogie230 on April 17, 2021, 10:49:44 PM
Baltimore has a reversible center lane on North Gay Street. It's honestly terrifying. There's only some signs posted that say something along the lines of "lane changes direction from 4pm-6pm" .

Well, how about this one in Phoenix, AZ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36zcTHj-AHk

jamess

Quote from: Great Lakes Roads on April 18, 2021, 12:07:14 AM
Quote from: behogie230 on April 17, 2021, 10:49:44 PM
Baltimore has a reversible center lane on North Gay Street. It's honestly terrifying. There's only some signs posted that say something along the lines of "lane changes direction from 4pm-6pm" .

Well, how about this one in Phoenix, AZ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36zcTHj-AHk

Having this kind of traffic control established via a small sign with font size 7 is pure negligence.

At minimum, they should have the overhead LED sign that changes between a red X and green.

DC has removed many of them over the years. Theyre simply not safe,

Maybe when 100% of our cars are self-driving, they can come back

Bruce

The I-5 express lanes in Seattle opened in 1965 and had to be manually changed to reverse directions (with controlled gates and checking for errant traffic) until a modernization in 2012. Didn't stop a few incidents like this from happening: Oops! Wrong-way Metro bus causes havoc on I-5 Express Lanes

The I-90 express lanes were opened in 1993 (having been used for a few years to carry eastbound traffic while the original floating bridge was rebuilt) and closed in 2017 to be converted to light rail. This had always been the long-term plan for the lanes, but the entitled folk on Mercer Island threw a fit because they wouldn't enjoy the same access privileges to the replacement HOV lanes.

CardInLex

Quote from: Dirt Roads on April 17, 2021, 11:09:29 AM
Quote from: CardInLex on April 17, 2021, 10:23:12 AM
Lexington, KY's Nicholasville Road (US 27) has three center reversible lanes controlled by overhead LEDs. One of the lanes is always a two way left turn lane while the other two are through lanes, with the direction changing based on time of day.

That's wild!  I was expecting a 7-lane roadway, but Nicholasville Road is only 5 lanes wide.  Do they ever flip all three lanes the same direction during rush hour, or does that only happen after UK football games?

Not sure if they flip all the lanes. From my experience there is always at least one lane dedicated as a two way left turn lane.

There are early planning studies about adding bus rapid transit to the corridor and eliminating the reversible lanes.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: CardInLex on April 17, 2021, 10:23:12 AM
Lexington, KY's Nicholasville Road (US 27) has three center reversible lanes controlled by overhead LEDs. One of the lanes is always a two way left turn lane while the other two are through lanes, with the direction changing based on time of day.

Quote from: Dirt Roads on April 17, 2021, 11:09:29 AM
That's wild!  I was expecting a 7-lane roadway, but Nicholasville Road is only 5 lanes wide.  Do they ever flip all three lanes the same direction during rush hour, or does that only happen after UK football games?

Quote from: CardInLex on April 18, 2021, 04:59:47 PM
Not sure if they flip all the lanes. From my experience there is always at least one lane dedicated as a two way left turn lane.

There are early planning studies about adding bus rapid transit to the corridor and eliminating the reversible lanes.

Sorry, I gave up on your response too soon and flipped this over to the Kentucky thread.  Got a response there from hbelkins also indicating that he's seen the flip with what we call a "Chicken Lane".  Still makes me wonder if they ever need to flip all three lanes over after certain football games. 

It's been a long time since I was on that stretch of Nicholasville Road (US-27).  The last time I was there was a family emergency at the U.K. Hospital Trauma Center.  I drove over from North Carolina all the way in the snow, arrived at night, and realized that I didn't have any toothpaste.  As soon as I left the hospital the next morning, I stopped at the closest gas station convenience store and bought a tube of Crest there.  It didn't taste quite right.  When I got home, I did some research and found out that I had purchased a counterfeit version.  Never a dull moment.

skluth

As stated, the I-70 reversible lanes are no longer reversible. There's a good reason. They were useless. I didn't miss them when they got rid of them, and my coworkers that commuted on I-70 appreciated they were gone.

They have their uses, like the reversible HOV lanes in I-64 in Norfolk (where I also lived for several years), but even that highway might be better served by an extra lane in each direction instead.

I think the only good use is when you have "Zipper" lanes where a movable divider changes center lanes to reverse traffic in those lanes.

TheHighwayMan3561

Minnesota's only set of reversible freeway lanes are on I-394 between MN 100 and I-94. They're fun to drive going eastbound because of how tall the elevated roadway becomes at the I-94 interchange, but since I am virtually always a solo driver and have no need or interest in a MnPass transponder, I have not been able to drive on it in many years.

As for surface streets with reversible lane configurations, I can't think of any setups like that in the state.
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Bruce

The I-5 express lanes (and the imbalance they cause) actively make traffic in the reverse peak direction much worse than the peak direction, to the point where it would be faster to take any of the side streets.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: skluth on April 19, 2021, 01:52:56 AM
I think the only good use is when you have "Zipper" lanes where a movable divider changes center lanes to reverse traffic in those lanes.

That's what I call them, but the term Zipper doesn't quite mean that anymore.  Anyhow, the last time I looked I-66 crossing the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge into Washington, D.C., still has a reversible center lane with a movable multi-articulated Jersey barrier system down the middle, with a "Road Zipper" machine.  I always wondered if DDOT ever got a spare one of these guys.  I remember way back when I lived in Northern Virginia that the "Road Zipper" broke down in the middle of the nightly switchover, reducing inbound traffic to two lanes.

Flint1979


jmacswimmer

The infamous reversible lane on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (with no zipper barrier or bollards or anything).  Inherently dangerous, but with the current traffic situation there aren't any better options.

I've never used it (in the days of the toll plaza, it was the left 2 E-ZPass lanes that fed it, so I just used other lanes), but there are periods overnight where all traffic is placed on one span with one lane in each direction (but this is much less nerve-wracking since there's much less traffic, and if all traffic is on the westbound span overnight they leave the center lane closed as a buffer).
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webny99

Quote from: Ricw24 on April 17, 2021, 07:29:20 AM
3. Lewiston-Queenston Bridge & Peace bridge all have lane control signals that changes depend of border wait time and traffic.

Yes, I'm glad these were mentioned. Lewiston is usually 3 US / 2 Canada, and Peace is usually 2 US / 1 Canada. But I have seen both with the opposite configuration.

andrepoiy

In Toronto, the only street with reversible lanes is Jarvis Street. It is 3 south 2 north for all time except for afternoon rush hour, when it's the other way around.

Start of the lanes with the sign that informs how the lane works:


Middle:



Ricw24

Quote from: andrepoiy on April 19, 2021, 09:40:37 AM
In Toronto, the only street with reversible lanes is Jarvis Street. It is 3 south 2 north for all time except for afternoon rush hour, when it's the other way around.

Start of the lanes with the sign that informs how the lane works:


Middle:


Don't know if I'll agree to the choice of white lane marking... it seems a little bit dangerous & fairly easy to mistake it as a way one street



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