Lane Reversal Has a History
On Rapid Transit District Board President Nikolas Patsaouras’ comments on the rush-hour lane reversal, that it is a great idea, simple and logical, asking why no one has thought of it before:
It has been thought of before. It was used on Lakeshore Drive in Chicago during 1978 and 1979 and abandoned as a poor idea because of the unnecessary deaths it caused. Confused drivers, accustomed to the open lane, pulled into it and ran into head-on collisions.
The reverse-lane experiment was also tried in San Francisco on the approaches to the Golden Gate Bridge. Because of the high frequency of accidents, this stretch is known to the newspapers and television, as well as to hospitals and paramedics, as “Deadly Doyle Drive.”
I suggest the planning department of the RTD knows this information and is simply ignoring it in search for a cheap and inefficient solution to the problem.
WILLIAM PIRONE
Sherman Oaks
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