Idea for Freeway Jams

I’ve been reading a lot of ideas lately to relieve freeway gridlock, like car-pool lanes, added lanes, double decking, monorails, commuter trains and toll roads.

What’s wrong with reverse-direction lanes?

In the morning hours, they take drivers from their homes to their jobs, and in the afternoon and early evening hours these same lanes are used to get them back home. I am aware of this concept being successfully employed in Washington, D.C., and Seattle. With an eight-lane freeway (normally four in each direction), if six lanes were dedicated to the dominant direction of traffic flow, you would experience an immediate 50% increase in traffic capacity in the busy direction.

I recognize the necessity of prohibiting wrong-way drivers on these lanes, but I’m confident adequate safeguards could be devised (it appears to be working in the cities mentioned above). Concrete barriers and warning lights must be cheaper than building new lanes, and they occupy much less real estate.

DAVID M. BRINER

Anaheim Hills