Some highways take more than their toll...

I'm too cheap to use the 407 often enough to be bothered to get a transponder.

But a couple of the car companies' press fleets have them permanently fitted, and on occasion when my schedule is even more jammed up than usual, I succumb to the temptation.

Wow - that thing is the poster child for lousy highway lane markings.

Lanes are added and subtracted willy-nilly, turning into off-ramps or just disappearing with not a shred of apparent logic.

You might think this would somehow be in response to traffic patterns; my limited experience on the road renders me unqualified to pass judgment thereon.

But people I know who use (or used to use) the road regularly tell me that in rush hours it still comes to a complete stop, seat backs and tray tables in the locked and upright position.

Man, there's nothing like paying extra for the privilege of being in a traffic jam.

What I can report on with some certainty is that lane discipline (which I consider critical to safe, efficient and 'genial' motoring) on this road is even worse, hard as that may be to believe, than on our regular highways.

Which reinforces my belief that poor lane discipline is caused or, at the very least enabled, by improper lane design.

If people don't know what's going to happen to the right lane, they avoid it.

Give them three or four options like the 407 does in spots, and they'll get into any old lane and just stay there regardless of other traffic until they run out of highway or dive off to their exit.

I repeat: The right lane is the driving lane; how can it ever disappear?

If you need an extra lane, 'grow' it to the left.

If you need to drop a lane, cut it from the left.

If you need an exit ramp, grow it to the right.

An on-ramp should merge into the driving lane without fail, but with plenty of length so as to allow safe merges.

How tough can it be?

True, most 407 users know the road and somehow get used to this idiotic illogicality.

But safe driving should not depend on 'local knowledge'.

Following consistent, accepted principles is a key factor in engineering anything.

Why are our highway designers allowed to get away with this?

Comments

[Brian]

I think part of the problem is the 407 is mainly used by "the privileged". People who can afford the crazy tolls, can write it off, or those on a company dime who don't care. These types tend to be more in a hurry than your average driver and are more prone to lane banditry then the rest.

Though I don't disagree with your comments about its bad lane design. I don't know if there are any civil engineers reading this, but I always found traffic is like water flowing in a pipe. Reduce the size of the pipe (number of lanes), or try and redirect the water (lanes end) and the volume of water behind goes up (traffic jam).

As far as my own rant on the 407 goes, I just have to wonder if it would be better used if the tolls were less. Driving to Florida last spring, we actually came to a toll that was 25 cents. And there was even a guy in the booth collecting those quarters from everybody. Given the time of night I'm surprised they made enough to cover his salary.

[Greg H]

Jim, you couldn't be more right. The worst part is that fixing the problem wouldn't require any new asphalt, just new lane markings. Maybe next time you're on the 407 you should just fall into the lane of "least resistance" and see which lane you end up in. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up all the way left due to lanes being deleted on the right.

Maybe we could encourage good behaviour by having the right lane actually marked wider than a standard lane. Most folks would think "hey, I've got more clearance to the guy next to me!" and out of laziness would then choose the right lane. It would also benefit truckers.

Another idea would be to change the silly chevron sign in the middle of the lanes (tried years ago to prevent tailgating) to insignias of "407" in the right lane so that it's clear that this lane continues and does not exit at some random place.

[Brent Morton]

Jim, I wish I had a dollar for every time you've mentioned this issue of poor highway design and lane markings over the years. In all that time, has anyone actually responsible for highway design ever responded to you to explain why they do it the way they do?

The only thing I can think of is that they think it's more dangerous to have the left lane merge to the right than it is to have the right lane merge to the left.

[Jim]

Hi Greg:

Good idea about the wider lane - make it feel like something special.

Painting "Jim Only" on it probably wouldn't work.

BTW, I must confess, I stole that line from my friend Jeff Lorriman. He originated the "Jeff Only" lane and I shamelessly purloined it.

Jim Kenzie

[Jim]

Hi Brent:

Heck, I wish I had a dollar for every time I've mentioned it!

They could open an account now and I'd be rich in weeks...

I did have a sit-down several years ago with a couple of deputy ministers in the Ontario Government when David Turnbull was the Minister of Transportation. He really did seem to enjoy the portfolio, and having been born in Great Britain (if memory serves) he actually had a clue about driving and traffic management, unlike - obviously - all his predecessors and successors.

I broached the subject to them, and they looked at me like I was from Mars. The concept had obviously never crossed their minds. Their only response was, "Our highways meet all accepted standards."

I suggested that whoever wrote the standards needed to give his head a shake. Why wouldn't highway design at least enable proper driving behaviour, if not downright encourage it?

An independent highway designer subsequently told me there ARE no 'accepted standards' for highway design, at least with respect to lane markings.

If there ARE any civil engineers out there, whether fellow Skule graduates or not, I'd love to hear from them.

Ministers of Transportation, Deputy or otherwise, are likewise encouraged...

Jim Kenzie