Strangest Passing Zones

[webny99]

This topic occurred to me the other day and surprisingly I don't think we've had it before.

What passing zones make you scratch your head wondering why on earth they exist?

This one on NY 404 has to be at the top of the list. It just makes no sense whatsoever. Traffic is so heavy during daytime hours that you would never have any hope of passing, and there's so many businesses along the roadway that you wouldn't feel safe passing even if traffic was light enough to do so. As anyone who's ever driven this section of NY 404 knows, you're much more likely to be completely stopped in one of the long backups for the traffic lights than you are to have a safe passing opportunity. So I don't know who anybody thinks they're fooling here. Just widen the shoulders a bit and re-stripe the road with a TWLTL and you'd have a much safer and more efficient roadway than you do with this "pretend" passing zone.

This one on NY 286 is also very odd. This is one of the busiest two-lane roads in the Rochester region if not the entire state. You can get platoons of 40+ cars along here, and it's only limited to 40+ because of the traffic lights. I use this road quite frequently and have never once had a safe passing opportunity. You're almost always following more than one car, and in the westbound direction, another lane opens at the next traffic light, so you'd be saving a few seconds at most.

On the other hand, you've got passing zones like this one where the road only has a 35 speed mph limit. I don't mind this at all, and in fact I would like to see more passing zones on roads with lower speed limits. There are a lot of 35 mph roads that should be 45 or 50 where a passing zone would make them a bit more bearable.

[Mr. Matté]

MUTCD Section 3B-02 only gives sight distance warrants to allow for passing zones, nothing I'm seeing about traffic volumes. So while the ability to pass on your examples may never occur, it appears to be legal if feasible.

[TEG24601]

Those both seem normal and reasonable.  A couple of reason for that is that there is no provision regarding traffic volumes, just sight distances in most areas.  Additionally, there are a not-insubstantial number of persons who believe you cannot even make a left turn across a double yellow, ever. 

[jeffandnicole]

It may be busy in the daytime, but the road is open overnight too, isn't it?

I've seen passing zones on roads with 25 mph limits.

[US 89]

The strangest passing zones I've ever seen are in the Foxboro neighborhood of North Salt Lake UT, where there are 25mph subdivision streets with the full set of painted lines:

https://goo.gl/maps/9xepd29jBCpP3rb29

[7/8]

Honestly, I feel like all four examples posted so far, I'd put solid yellow line(s). Too much density to encourage passing.

In Ontario, I suspect these would all be single yellow, which lets you pass with caution (ex: if there's a really slow or stopped vehicle ahead of you), but it feels less inviting than a dashed line. I don't think passing should be encouraged on roads like these with lots of traffic, conflict points, and potentially pedestrians/cyclists.

[doorknob60]

Here's technically one on a 20 MPH neighborhood street in Boise. There's nothing remarkable about this street, it's not really any different than any of the other streets in the neighborhood besides the painted lines.


GSV Link

I don't really consider these "passing zones" in a traditional sense. More like, roads they decided to paint dashed lines on for whatever reason. Driver behavior isn't any different with or without the lines on a street like that.

I do find it odd that Roosevelt St in the same neighborhood, which is one of the 2 collectors (the other being the combination of Owyhee/Elder, you could argue it makes 3, whatever) to access the neighborhood and has a 30 MPH speed limit, does not have any lane striping.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

In these heavy residential cases, does the striping make a difference? Passing someone in a 30 MPH residential zone is the last thing on my mind when I'm in one.

[webny99]

It may be busy in the daytime, but the road is open overnight too, isn't it?

Yes, but at night when traffic is light, there's probably no one else on the road to pass! It just seems like there wouldn't really be a case where you would actually pass on this stretch. The 40 mph limit is reasonable enough, so unless someone was really crawling, you'd have to be pretty aggressive to get past someone on that short stretch... most likely only to stop for the next traffic light and have them catch up to you... hate it when that happens! 

[webny99]

In these heavy residential cases, does the striping make a difference? Passing someone in a 30 MPH residential zone is the last thing on my mind when I'm in one.

Probably not really, except to make you aware that it's allowed when it wouldn't be assumed. There are a few cases, such as the road in my area with seven speed humps, where I can see passing in a 25 or 30 mph zone if it was allowed.

[jakeroot]

Here in Tacoma, painted passing zones are pretty rare, possibly extinct in the wild. Most arterials that justify markings at all (residential roads are unmarked) will end up with double-yellow along the whole length. I suspect this has nothing to do with traffic volumes but instead the number of intersections. Tacoma is built on a pretty strict grid with many alleys, so passing would involve more than just the oncoming lane. The city is also quite hilly, and it may have been easier to declare the entire city as a no-passing zone rather than undertake any sight-distance analyses.

Examples: N Stevens; N 46th St; N 17th St; E 64th St; Ruston Way.

There are also some oddball things. Some roads (residential only, very rare) have a single white (later yellow) line down the middle. Back in the day, I guess this was their way of handling "pass only as necessary", before they decided that residential roads had too many instances where passing was required, they decided against using any paint on them at all.

[jeffandnicole]

Near the infamous NJ 324 is Springer Road; 25 mph and passing zones around blind curves.  https://goo.gl/maps/HdMfzZnEhZUDNVFQ7

As you'll note, the lines are mostly faded, and probably haven't been repainted since the road was first rerouted in the early 1970's for the Commodore Barry Bridge.

[jdbx]

There are a lot of 25 or 30 MPH residential streets in my area that are striped like this, but I have never seen anybody actually overtake another vehicle unless it's a stopped delivery truck.  Trying to pass somebody who is simply traveling along at 25 MPH would be incredibly dangerous on roads like these.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9367678,-122.0716716,3a,75y,48.44h,77.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sS3ZLxtbaPQDWC5LqbGn64Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9336968,-122.0757204,3a,75y,116.25h,82.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sizEQdacDbBaH9QYFHZnPgg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[webny99]

There are a lot of 25 or 30 MPH residential streets in my area that are striped like this, but I have never seen anybody actually overtake another vehicle unless it's a stopped delivery truck.  Trying to pass somebody who is simply traveling along at 25 MPH would be incredibly dangerous on roads like these.

link

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In the first example, I think I would be comfortable passing someone going 25 mph as long as it was completely clear. It's a long enough stretch where you could probably even pass at 30 mph and not feel unsafe at all.

The second one is a bit different because of the commercial development and on-street parking. I probably wouldn't try passing on that one.

[DandyDan]

I recall seeing somewhere a spot on a highway where there is a passing lane on an uphill where there is also a truck climbing lane to the right. I want to say this is either US 75 north of Nebraska City, NE or US 34 in western Iowa. (Perhaps it's both.) I find it unnecessary to have both and it's probably dangerous if the passing lane is too long.

[jay8g]

Here in Tacoma, painted passing zones are pretty rare, possibly extinct in the wild. Most arterials that justify markings at all (residential roads are unmarked) will end up with double-yellow along the whole length. I suspect this has nothing to do with traffic volumes but instead the number of intersections. Tacoma is built on a pretty strict grid with many alleys, so passing would involve more than just the oncoming lane. The city is also quite hilly, and it may have been easier to declare the entire city as a no-passing zone rather than undertake any sight-distance analyses.

And then there's Seattle, which does the opposite and puts dashed yellow centerlines on pretty much every 2-lane road, even where it makes absolutely no sense. Personally, I much prefer Tacoma's way of doing things.

[fillup420]

This type of passing zone occurs a few times on US 70 between Greensboro and Burlington NC. They are narrrow, short, and sketchy. No one really attempts to use them from what I have seen

[index]

This type of passing zone occurs a few times on US 70 between Greensboro and Burlington NC. They are narrrow, short, and sketchy. No one really attempts to use them from what I have seen

I used a passing zone of that narrowness, distance, and sketchiness, (it may have actually been shorter) except it was with yellow lines, on US 321 in Tennessee, which between Hampton and Vlias is very curvy. I was stuck behind some tourist from Texas going well under the limit and was starting to get annoyed, so as soon as I saw it, I floored it and got ahead of her just as the zone ended and the road curved. About 10 seconds later, there was a car in the oncoming lane. Needless to say the person with me in the front seat was not pleased. Hey, it was a legal pass.

[jakeroot]

Here in Tacoma, painted passing zones are pretty rare, possibly extinct in the wild. Most arterials that justify markings at all (residential roads are unmarked) will end up with double-yellow along the whole length. I suspect this has nothing to do with traffic volumes but instead the number of intersections. Tacoma is built on a pretty strict grid with many alleys, so passing would involve more than just the oncoming lane. The city is also quite hilly, and it may have been easier to declare the entire city as a no-passing zone rather than undertake any sight-distance analyses.

And then there's Seattle, which does the opposite and puts dashed yellow centerlines on pretty much every 2-lane road, even where it makes absolutely no sense. Personally, I much prefer Tacoma's way of doing things.

I was thinking of mentioning Seattle, but I didn't take the time to mention it. Especially as I wasn't totally sure what their policy was.

I think Tacoma's policy definitely makes more sense, as even with a double yellow, you can still overtake obstacles (buses, trash trucks) per the RCW. Seattle's tendency to use dashed yellow, even when definitely not wise, may have been their way of saying "there's a good chance you might have to pass something, like a bike, bus, parked car, whatever, so we'll just paint everything dashed yellow."