Two-Lane Roads Where Passing Is Common

[webny99]

Are there any two-lane (two way) roads in your area where passing is very common? It seems like on most two lane roads around here that have passing zones, passing isn't very common due to a combination of low speeds, heavy oncoming traffic, or just not being worth it if you're only on the road for a short distance.

However once you get into more rural areas, it becomes more common. It's particularly common on long-distance trunk highways such as the NY 104 super-2 between Sodus and Wolcott, which has good sightlines, plenty of passing zones, and relatively light traffic, yet the speed limit is only 55 mph where it would be 65 or even 70 in many other states, so to cruise at 55 is quite painful and pretty much a guarantee you'll get passed by other traffic if you do.

Passing is less common on the busier stretch between Williamson and Sodus because it's less of a super-2 and more of a super-2 lite with home and business driveways scattered along the route. Also, exceptionally long strings of traffic tend to form in both directions and state troopers are often stationed along this stretch, so passing with caution is advised even if one does happen upon a good opportunity.

It would be interesting to chart or graph the relationships between speed limit, AADT, and the amount of passing that occurs on a given road. Obviously high speed limit and low AADT is the ideal scenario for passing, yet the lower the AADT is, the fewer opportunities for passing will present themselves.

[gonealookin]

US 95 through most of Nevada has a speed limit of 70 mph and carries lots of truck traffic.  It's mostly routed through valleys, so there are numerous stretches where a driver has several miles of unobstructed vision ahead, and with few intersecting roads out in the desert there aren't even many solid yellows on your side for that reason either.

[cl94]

US 95 through most of Nevada has a speed limit of 70 mph and carries lots of truck traffic.  It's mostly routed through valleys, so there are numerous stretches where a driver has several miles of unobstructed vision ahead, and with few intersecting roads out in the desert there aren't even many solid yellows on your side for that reason either.

Add "almost every rural 2-lane road in Nevada" to this. As far as most drivers are concerned (and the county sheriffs, for that matter), there are few speed limits on 2-lane roads in rural Nevada outside of small towns, work zones, or reservations. It's one of the few places in the country where "reasonable and prudent" remains the de facto speed limit, even if NV never officially went back to it after NMSL was repealed. Some people go well under the limit, many go well over. I guarantee that, if you're going 70 on these roads, you'll either be passing a lot of people or being passed yourself (most likely some of both).

[JREwing78]

The U.P. of Michigan is a pretty good case example. It's comparable to the Adirondack region of upstate New York in general population and traffic management strategy.

US-2 between Iron Mountain and St. Ignace varies considerably in traffic load depending on the season, particularly in the types of vehicles common on the roadway. At peak times traffic counts are well north of 10,000 vehicles per day; during slower times of year it's closer to 2500-3000 vpd. While the roadway has significant stretches of places people can pass, traffic levels tend to limit who can do it. This results in platooning traffic and nasty head-on collisions when people miscalculate.

MDOT's strategy on this and other heavier-traffic 2-lanes is to throw more and longer passing lanes at the problem. Between Rapid River and St. Ignace (about 130 miles), MDOT has 12 sections of passing lane in each direction, which it heavily advertises in an effort to keep the impatient from making reckless passes. These passing lanes tend to be at least 2 miles long, meaning one rarely has to wait more than 5-10 minutes for a clear passing opportunity even on the busiest days, and there's plenty of room to complete the pass without resorting to heavy speeding.

Other similarly busy sections of 2 lane have received sections of passing lanes approx. every 10 miles - and MDOT isn't shy about making them longer as needed. On one uphill section of US-41 south of L'anse, the southbound set extends nearly 4 miles, takes a 2 mile break near Alberta, then returns for another 2 mile stretch. This is helpful when overtaking heavy logging trucks and other traffic that strains to make the relatively gentle climb.

On lower-traffic highways, passing sections are less frequent - maybe one section every 20 miles or so. This is generally adequate for those needs given their lighter traffic level and less frequent platooning of cars.

Since MDOT implemented heavier use of passing lanes staring in the 1990s, I find the drive noticeably smoother and calmer. Locals and frequent travelers get to know the passing zone locations well and can "time" their approaches to make the most of those lanes. It's particularly helpful in winter when there's a variety of folks, from those petrified that there's a snowy glaze on the surface, to those who bust through foot-deep snowdrifts with reckless abandon. The lanes help separate out the competing driving styles safely.

Obviously all of this is anecdotal. The State also threw a joker into the deck by posting seemingly random sections of 2-lane for 65mph while leaving the others at 55mph. I say random because the roadway quality and traffic levels posted at 65 mph v.s. the ones left at 55 mph are virtually identical. However, changing politics and safety concerns have meant no movement in posting the remaining appropriate sections for 65 mph.

[gonealookin]

US 95 through most of Nevada has a speed limit of 70 mph and carries lots of truck traffic.  It's mostly routed through valleys, so there are numerous stretches where a driver has several miles of unobstructed vision ahead, and with few intersecting roads out in the desert there aren't even many solid yellows on your side for that reason either.

Add "almost every rural 2-lane road in Nevada" to this. As far as most drivers are concerned (and the county sheriffs, for that matter), there are few speed limits on 2-lane roads in rural Nevada outside of small towns, work zones, or reservations. It's one of the few places in the country where "reasonable and prudent" remains the de facto speed limit, even if NV never officially went back to it after NMSL was repealed. Some people go well under the limit, many go well over. I guarantee that, if you're going 70 on these roads, you'll either be passing a lot of people or being passed yourself (most likely some of both).

That's true, but in reference to the OP's last paragraph, on most of those roads AADT is so low that there's seldom a need to pass.  If you're doing 75 and pass somebody, it can easily be another 8-10 minutes or more before you catch up to another vehicle.  US 95 and US 93 would be the two roads where passing is most common because of higher AADT and a decent percentage of through truck traffic.  US 6, US 50 and the numerous state highways that fit the description, you're going to do much less passing.

The ease of passing on most of US 95 is a reason why an extension of Interstate 11 north of Mercury isn't in the cards.  That said, we do pay a cost for keeping it at two lanes by way of some deaths in head-on collisions.

[Max Rockatansky]

Passing on two lane roads isn't common?  Maybe it is all the rural farm and mountain roads around me, but the practice is normalized here (Fresno, the Central Valley and Sierra foothills).

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN TH 61 beyond the last passing lane at Gooseberry Falls because you get all the RVs and slow tourist cruisers. Road ideally probably needs a couple more passing lanes on the longer straightaway stretches in southwestern Cook County.

[Ted$8roadFan]

It's common on many rural/exurban roads in the northeast.

[Rothman]

It's common on many rural/exurban roads in the northeast.

I don't know.  I've found more drivers are scared to pass on a two-laner in the East than out West (i.e., when there's a passing zone).  I pass two to three cars with a slow driver at the front more frequently here than I experience when driving out West.

Eastern roads are also less likely to have a passing lane where there should be one.  Quite frustrating.

That said, on KY 122, I've always been amused by the couple of "passing zones" that are literally the length of three dashed lines due to the curves/terrain.

[GaryV]

and there's plenty of room to complete the pass without resorting to heavy speeding

Provided the slower vehicles don't speed up. I don't know how many times I'm following a car going about 2-5 mph slower than I desire, and when we get to the passing lane the other car speeds up. I guess the 4-lane road makes them think it's safer to go faster, and they unconsciously do. So then I have to speed to get past.

And in the winter, often the right lane of the passing zone isn't as well plowed, so vehicles stay in the left lane even if they are slower.

[1995hoo]

About nine years ago I started a similar thread, "Is passing on two-lane roads a lost art?" My observation was, and remains, that on large portions of the East Coast, a lot of drivers seem reluctant to pass even when there is plenty of room, and I suspect that part of it is a function of increased traffic and part of it is a function of people predominantly driving in urban areas where they just don't encounter that sort of driving very often. (I also wonder whether there's a generational aspect where those of us who are 50 or older are more comfortable with it than younger drivers.)

Certainly on trips to more rural areas out West I've seen more passing than I do in the Mid-Atlantic, and I think on the whole the same holds true in Florida as well.

[JayhawkCO]

Every road in the mountains in Colorado. Actually, basically any road not within twenty miles of I-25.

[webny99]

MDOT's strategy on this and other heavier-traffic 2-lanes is to throw more and longer passing lanes at the problem. Between Rapid River and St. Ignace (about 130 miles), MDOT has 12 sections of passing lane in each direction, which it heavily advertises in an effort to keep the impatient from making reckless passes. These passing lanes tend to be at least 2 miles long, meaning one rarely has to wait more than 5-10 minutes for a clear passing opportunity even on the busiest days, and there's plenty of room to complete the pass without resorting to heavy speeding.

The fact that MDOT has a strategy is majorly underappreciated. I wish I could say the same about NY, but unfortunately I don't think they even know what a passing lane is outside of climbing a steep grade.

[webny99]

About nine years ago I started a similar thread, "Is passing on two-lane roads a lost art?" My observation was, and remains, that on large portions of the East Coast, a lot of drivers seem reluctant to pass even when there is plenty of room, and I suspect that part of it is a function of increased traffic and part of it is a function of people predominantly driving in urban areas where they just don't encounter that sort of driving very often. (I also wonder whether there's a generational aspect where those of us who are 50 or older are more comfortable with it than younger drivers.)

Certainly on trips to more rural areas out West I've seen more passing than I do in the Mid-Atlantic, and I think on the whole the same holds true in Florida as well.

I definitely think there's something to the idea of people wanting to pass but being uncomfortable to do so, but it's not necessarily a generational thing (except perhaps as related to the decline of driving skills in general) because I'm only in my mid-20's and I'm quite comfortable with it.

If I get a good chance I make a concerted effort to pass calmly and without exceeding my preferred cruising speed - ideally even leaving my cruise set the whole time - to combat the stereotype of passing on two lane roads being aggressive driving behavior. In fact, people not passing when they want to drive faster and have a good chance to do so is what causes long strings of traffic to form and the ensuing "snowball effect" of approaching vehicles needing increasing space and distance to pass. This in turn makes it more likely that an actual aggressive driver will attempt to overtake too many vehicles at once and cause an accident, road rage, or both. So I definitely support any effort to normalize passing on two-lane roads, as it would go a long ways towards reducing the effects of a single slow driver on the roadway's operations and improving traffic flow overall.

[formulanone]

That said, on KY 122, I've always been amused by the couple of "passing zones" that are literally the length of three dashed lines due to the curves/terrain.

There's a few of these in Alabama, especially along SR 5, which are like Minnesota "bypass lanes" in size. I think there are very few two-lane roads in Alabama where one doesn't try to pass...I guess some of the curvier sections of 176 and 25 probably don't have quite as many opportunities.

Pretty easy in most of Florida, since there's not much elevation outside of the Panhandle and Lake Wales Ridge. Passing lanes aren't quite as common, except for SR 60. Many of the busiest corridors have been widened over the years.

[gonealookin]

If I get a good chance I make a concerted effort to pass calmly and without exceeding my preferred cruising speed - ideally even leaving my cruise set the whole time - to combat the stereotype of passing on two lane roads being aggressive driving behavior.

I think extended tailgating of a slower driver in some effort to get them to use a turnout would be much worse behavior.

My preferred technique is to lay back far enough that they don't think I'm tailgating in any intimidating way.  Then, when I see I'll have a passing opportunity as soon as the next oncoming vehicle passes, I move up close to the vehicle I'm following.  Once I confirm that I can pass safely, I pull over into the opposing lane and hit the accelerator hard.  I know I'm sometimes doing 90 or 95 mph for a few seconds, because I want to get my business finished and get back over into my correct lane ASAP.  I then ease it back to cruising speed as soon as I'm sufficiently clear of the now-trailing vehicle.

This is most often the way I see it work when I'm being passed as well.  Most people don't like seeing somebody who would obviously like to go faster in their rearview mirror for very long.  I don't have any thought about "generational" diffferences in this, but it sounds like "geographical" differences between Nevada and New York might play a big role.

[hbelkins]

It's very common around here. There are four decently-long straight stretches on my thrice-weekly commute route and it's not uncommon to pass or be passed on them.

[JayhawkCO]

Threads like this just remind me how different the driving cultures are of the Northeast and the rest of the country.

[freebrickproductions]

I think there are very few two-lane roads in Alabama where one doesn't try to pass...I guess some of the curvier sections of 176 and 25 probably don't have quite as many opportunities.

I try to avoid AL 53 between Ardmore and Huntsville as much as possible due to the fact it's still a 2-lane road north of Toney, as there's so much traffic going in and out of Huntsville through there passing is nearly impossible half of the time.

[Bickendan]

It happens here in Oregon, but the passing lanes tend to be too short, and sight lines unfavorable, especially in the mountains.

[drebbin37]

I'm definitely guilty of not passing when I probably should be.  Here in CT, there aren't many stretches of road with enough sight distance, no crossroads, and no oncoming traffic to even consider passing very often.  If you just hang back, it's likely that either you or the car in front of you will be turning off of that particular road soon anyway.  I do get passed on the northernmost stretch of CT30 once in a while, but there's often a state trooper there to nix that, too.

To my knowledge, CT has no two-lane roads with a speed limit above 50, which also lowers the likelihood of passing.

[webny99]

I know I'm sometimes doing 90 or 95 mph for a few seconds

To your point about geographical differences... LOL at the idea of driving 90 or 95 anywhere in NY under any circumstances except maybe on select parts of the Thruway, and even then you're asking to be ticketed. NY doesn't post anything higher than 55 mph on two-lane roads, so our baseline speeds are much lower than they would be in Nevada, and about 80 mph would be the fastest I would consider speeding to complete a passing maneuver.

Most people don't like seeing somebody who would obviously like to go faster in their rearview mirror for very long.

Also the exact opposite of the driving culture in the Northeast. Slower drivers around here invite drivers who would like to go faster to sit in their rearview mirror for miles on end, and there's often not a whole lot the drivers behind them can do about it either.

[Rothman]

I know I'm sometimes doing 90 or 95 mph for a few seconds

To your point about geographical differences... LOL at the idea of driving 90 or 95 anywhere in NY under any circumstances except maybe on select parts of the Thruway, and even then you're asking to be ticketed. NY doesn't post anything higher than 55 mph on two-lane roads, so our baseline speeds are much lower than they would be in Nevada, and about 80 mph would be the fastest I would consider speeding to complete a passing maneuver.

I've sometimes hit 90 temporarily passing people on two-laners in NY.  Gotta hit the gas to make the pass.

Don't assume that your personal driving style speaks for the whole state.

[cl94]

Getting close to or above 90 when passing is sometimes the safest way to complete the pass. If visibility is good, you want to spend as little time in the opposing lane as possible. Do I want to hit 90 when making a pass? No. But does it sometimes happen? I have done it on a few occasions, never intentionally.

And there are totally places in NY where such a pass could theoretically be safe. Not saying I have come close to 90 on a 2-lane road there, but being as I have literally driven the entire state highway system, I can say that such places exist.

[gonealookin]

Getting close to or above 90 when passing is sometimes the safest way to complete the pass. If visibility is good, you want to spend as little time in the opposing lane as possible. Do I want to hit 90 when making a pass? No. But does it sometimes happen? I have done it on a few occasions, never intentionally.

If I have to hit 90 in order to get around before the next oncoming vehicle is on me, I shouldn't be making the pass in the first place, and I don't.  I think most of us have had the experience when we're not in cruise control of looking at the speedometer and though, whoa, it didn't occur to me I was going that fast, and that's how I've caught myself doing 90+ in the middle of a pass.