A single lane which becomes impromptu dual (or more) lanes

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

This happens at Route 3 West in Rutherford onto Marginal Road/Ridge Road (the exit is signed for Riverside Avenue, for no discernible reason).

It's the typical deal of drivers making two lanes out of one, which wouldn't bother me, the problem is that it squeezes down into a two-way street going straight onto Marginal Road. And you can't see beyond the intersection due to a hill.

The drivers who use the exit regularly know that the left lane is de facto "left turn only" and the right lane is for straight/right. But if you aren't familiar with the area you would have no idea and it's not very safe. I would rather it be marked the way people actually use it with a left turn only lane.

[cwf1701]

a lot of our left turns in Michigan are like that (the famous Michigan Left). there is one lane for the turn, but in the median there is sometimes 2 lanes even thou most Michigan Lefts are not striped for two lanes. the left lane is used for roads turning in the opposite direction of the road one turned right onto, while the right lane is used for traffic turning left from the divided highway.

[pderocco]

I second the mention of Massachusetts, although my visits in this century suggest that they've improved a lot. When I grew up and learned to drive there, there were lots of ad hoc intersections with little or no striping. "Just let people figure out for themselves", was the apparent motivation. And sometimes lanes would just disappear, too, with no warning sign.

I moved to California, and it's just the opposite. They sign and stripe everything up the wazoo. I always figured it was because everyone was stoned in California, so they needed to be told exactly what to do at all times.

[index]

Crazy to think, isn't it? ... that people will drive two cars abreast in places where there's room for cars to drive two abreast.  It's almost like people are smarter than little bits of paint on the ground.

It doesn't seem like anyone has really been either complaining about that or acting surprised/confused.