Imagine there is 16 (8 + 8)lane highway. Make the middle 12 lanes bidirectional. Only Two lanes at the each side of high highway are dedicated.

so In morning you get 2 + 14 lanes; Around noon you get 8 + 8 lanes In evening you get 14 + 2 lanes. At night again 8 + 8 lanes.

MOst of the cities you get bumper to bumper trafic crrawling for hours. The risk involved in this above scheme is far less than benifits, IMHO.
-- VJW, Jan 10 2012

List of Reversible lanes around the world. http://dictionary.s...rsible+lanes/en-en/
[AusCan531, Jan 10 2012]

Golden Gate Bridge reversible lanes http://goldengate.o...e/newlaneconfig.php
[Klaatu, Jan 10 2012]

Baked I'm afraid. The Lion's Gate bridge in Vancouver has been like this for decades and a number of roads, tunnels and bridges in eastern Australia have the same function. See [Link] for a list of reversible lanes around the world.
-- AusCan531, Jan 10 2012


Golden Gate bridge has used them for many, many years. <link>
-- Klaatu, Jan 10 2012


Baked to a crisp in Seattle...
-- Grogster, Jan 10 2012


Baked.
-- FlyingToaster, Jan 10 2012


[Marked-For-Deletion] Widely known to exist.
-- MechE, Jan 10 2012


Seattle is where I first saw them, on a bridge, decades ago. Jefferson City, Missouri, has a bridge with them. Those are all one level with no dividers, and just use lights to tell drivers which way is which. Outside Washington, DC, the freeways at least have the decency to separate the reversing lanes off as a nearly-separate road system.
-- baconbrain, Jan 10 2012


Chicago also has 'reversible' lanes. Still, good thinking if you had never heard of them before.
-- rascalraidex, Jan 10 2012


I think Chicago's reversible lanes are probably safer than bidirectional ones. But well-baked anyway.

Incidentally, the M25 has baked a version of this. Between 12noon and 2pm, and again between midnight and 2am, the lanes are used for moving traffic. At other times they are used for stationary traffic.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 10 2012


Bangkok has also had this for decades, although it still has hideous traffic jams. Letting cars into cities in the first place is Where It All Went Wrong.
-- spidermother, Jan 12 2012


Baked this or baked that... I bet there will soon be a billion of us staring at the counterflow lanes every morning, every night wishing such an idea could come true. As we see the empty lanes on the other side.
-- Zimmy, Jan 15 2012



random, halfbakery