Have you ever wondered where you would end up if you simply got into the leftmost lane of an interstate at its origin and just kept in that lane no matter what?
I was driving I-40 west from its intersection with I-95 in North Carolina recently. Presuming the leftmost lane there is still the same leftmost lane from when I-40 departs Wilmington, that lane becomes the leftmost lane of the Raleigh loop (aka lane 1), continues to be lane 1 west of Raleigh, becomes lane 3 when I-40 and I-85 merge, then when I-40 and I-85 split, since the signs have I-40 being the exit, to me that means that the lane continues on I-85 as lane 3, quickly becoming lane 2 when lane 1 ends shortly thereafter, and becoming lane 1 when I-85 south drops from 4 lanes to 2 near China Grove, and continues to be I-85 lane 1 all the way through Charlotte and South Carolina all the way to Atlanta, where it becomes lane 2 (lane 1 being the HOV lane) on the I-75-85 Connector. I haven't been south of there recently but I believe it then becomes lane 1 on I-75 South leaving Atlanta.
Anyone able to say where other such lanes go, e.g. I-80 west from the GW Bridge, or I-90 west from Logan, or any other major interstate?
If the left lane ends, do you have to stop and set the parking brake?
Quote from: kphoger on November 24, 2017, 01:28:04 PM
If the left lane ends, do you have to stop and set the parking brake?
I'd say the lane you have to merge into becomes your new lane. On the other hand, if your lane has to exit, then you're done.
Also, my I-40 West analysis was wrong. When 40 West and 85 South merge, lane 1 and 2 of 40 become lane 4 and 5 of 40-85, not lane 3 and 4. Therefore the I-40 lane in question becomes lane 2 of I-40 through Greensboro.
Quote from: kphoger on November 24, 2017, 01:28:04 PM
If the left lane ends, do you have to stop and set the parking brake?
what about HOV? reversible lanes?
That's some hard core left lane banditry.
So, you'd become one of those infamous "Left Lane Campers"?
Would it be too much to say, there should be a camp site or park called: "Left Lane (State) Park" :hmmm: :-D
I was a little intrigued by this. If you get on the single lane of the K-10 expressway on the western half of my home town in Kansas, you would end up at KCI airport, although not via the fastest route. This lane would take you east down 10 and 435, then I 470, then north on Missouri 291, and ultimately to the airport via local roads. However, that's not the end of it, as it would circle on through the airport and then back out again. I haven't checked the rest yet.
Going to try this using I-84 east and west from my hometown. I'm pretty sure that I would end up at Logan Airport eastbound. The left lane becomes the 3rd lane of the 10 lane section after CT 15 mixes in in East Hartford, then becomes the right lane of I-84 east of the I-384 split. It becomes the right lane of the Mass Pike eastbound, which would lead through the Ted Williams Tunnel, then become an exit lane into Logan Airport. Westbound, the left lane it would become an exit lane for US 7 in Danbury, then would become a single lane of US 7 when the expressway portion ends. Staying in the left lane in any 4 lane section of US 7 would leave you on Main Ave (Old US 7) and Main St (CT 123). You would end up at the corner of Main St and Wall St in South Norwalk, as you can't go straight anymore from there.
As far as I can tell, the left lane of I-90's western terminus starts at 4th Ave S near Safeco Field. This left lane becomes the #2 lane after about a mile. The freeway has changed quite a bit in the last few months, but I'm pretty sure the #1 lane becomes an HOV shortly thereafter. Ignoring the HOV lane, the #1 lane (I'm going to call it the #1 lane because I don't think this challenge is supposed to include HOV lanes) continues to Issaquah, where it becomes the #2 lane again (HOV ends). Assuming you stay in the #2 lane from here on out (I don't think this challenge requires you to change into the left-most lane if allowed), there are no issues until Billings, where continuing straight leads you onto I-94. That continues for a while. You merge onto I-694 near Brooklyn Center, MN. Things almost fail at the US-61 interchange north of St Paul, but the #3 lane (the lane you are now in) merges into the #2 lane. I-694 becomes I-494. This takes you all the way back to I-94 near Maple Grove. Assuming you stay left (it's an option lane), this takes you back onto I-94 (now #2 lane), back onto I-90 (towards Seattle), where the #2 lane becomes the #1 lane again near Issaquah (HOV lane). This #1 lane becomes the #2 lane briefly as the HOV restriction ends near Seattle, but becomes an exit-only. The #2 lane again becomes the #1 lane, and then ends at a traffic light at 4th Ave S, about a quarter mile from where we started! :-D
From the toll booth at the southern terminus of I-135 in Kansas... You very quickly end up on I-235, but then you eventually make your way back onto I-135 northbound (convenient!). At Salina, I-135 ends but US-81 keeps going. At Concordia, the lane becomes the only through-lane, and then the road widens. Either way, they narrow again north of York, NE. North of there, US-81 hits a T intersection; going straight puts you on a farm road that peters out at the Platte River.
I've done this with the right lane actually. From my friends house in Sugar Grove to Oak Lawn, I can technically stay in the same lane from US-30-->I-88 East-->I-294 South-->US-12/20 East (95th). I finally have to switch lanes after getting on 95th St because the same lane eventually goes to IL-43 South (Harlem Ave). It's a good 35-40 miles of the same lane
I think of "where does that freeway lane go?" in the general context of lane continuity, and I don't restrict the analysis to just the left lane. Continuity is an important aspect of good design that is most evident when it is absent.
My current favorite example is Plaza 45 on the Illinois Tollway (ka-ching to cross Illinois on otherwise completely untolled I-80).
Last overhead signbridge before plaza (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5829138,-87.6891152,3a,75y,86.85h,80.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sA0xzw4aG1U5iK2X8SYWikA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)
Overhead signbridge at split for cash lanes (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5827721,-87.6862851,3a,75y,98.87h,87.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVYsH9CXNZpqDTCvvJ4X-4A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)
A person with a transponder who is trying to be conscientious and KRETP, but has no prior familiarity with this layout, has to swoop across one and a half lanes in a short distance to avoid being swept into the cash lanes.
Here's one in MI:
The exit ramp from US-23 NB to I-96 WB becomes the right lane on I-96, then it becomes the center lane when I-69 merges in SW of Lansing. On the north side of Lansing, it becomes the left lane and then briefly becomes the ONLY lane before becoming the right lane again at Exit 30. The lane goes into Muskegon, where it eventually ends.
I won't go into all of the nitty-gritty, but from the best that I can determine, the left lane on NEbound I-43 as it begins from city streets at I-39/90 in Beloit WI directly follows through to ultimately be the left lane on US 41 where it crosses from Marinette, WI into Menominee, MI. In the Appleton area, that lane is the center lane on the NB three lanes of I-41, becoming the right lane of the two lanes when the right lane of the three lanes drops off at WI 15/County 'OO' (Northland Ave).
I'll have to trace the right lane at that Northland Ave lane drop backwards to see where it continues in southern Milwaukee County (and possibly beyond). It has changed significantly over the past couple of decades. IIRC, before the Milwaukeeland upgrades (mainly the rebuild of the Mitchell interchange), one of the lanes traced backwards deep into Michigan via the Tri-State Tollway and I-94 across Indiana.
The leftmost I-41 NB lane around Appleton starts when the four lanes of I-41 becomes six lanes just south of WI 26 in Oshkosh and continues northward on US 141 at the Abrams interchange north of Green Bay.
Mike