The District of Columbia and its nearby suburbs of Maryland and Virginia once had quite a few roads that reversed to handle peak-flow traffic to and from the downtown area, now most are gone.
The ones that are left:
- Rock Creek Parkway, N.W. between Calvert Street and Independence Avenue, S.W.;
- Canal Road, N.W. between Arizona Avenue and Foxhall Road.;
- 17th Street, N.W. between Massachusetts Avenue and I Street (one-way operation continues on Connecticut Avenue, N.W. between I and H);
- At the western terminus of Canal Road (at the D.C. end of the Chain Bridge), the Clara Barton Parkway is reversible into Montgomery County Maryland, with the reversible section ending at the very strange Glen Echo interchange (here (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cabin+john+md&hl=en&ll=38.963497,-77.136147&spn=0.004663,0.009645&hnear=Cabin+John,+Montgomery,+Maryland&gl=us&t=h&z=17)); and
- In Virginia, the I-95/I-395 barrier-separated HOV lanes between Va. 234 (Dumfries) and the Pentagon.
Formerly reversible streets in D.C. included:
13th Street, N.W. from Logan Circle to the intersection of Piney Branch Road, N.W. and Georgia Avenue; and
Constitution Avenue, N.E. between Maryland Avenue and North Carolina Avenue.
Were these common in other parts of the world? Are they still?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Expressway
Center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel - less spectacular because the NY side expressway does not reverse
Queensboro Bridge Upper Roadway
15th Street NW in DC from K Street north for some distance in the afternoon rush hour used to be one. I don't know whether it still is. I used to use it when I worked at 1301 K, but that was more than 10 years ago now.
I think full reversal is fairly common on streets around major sports stadiums that don't have direct freeway access. A number of streets near Scott Stadium in Charlottesville are examples. But I suppose it's hard to count that sort of thing since it's only a few days a year and not a daily thing.
In Manhattan, N.Y., one segment of Delancey Street has reversible lanes. From the Williamsburg Bridge to Allen Street.
Pittsburgh has the I-279 & Veterans Bridge reversable H.O.V. roadways.
Also, the reversible Wabash Tunnel (Also H.O.V.).