Poland: crazy way to end a lane

[cmjones01]

In the north of Warsaw there's an extraordinary sign in the middle of a multi-lane road which seems to exist only to warn people not to crash into itself. The road drops from four lanes to three, but it's one of the middle lanes that finishes!

You can see it on Streetview here.

I can't work out why on earth they would have designed it that way. The bridge just to the north is relatively recently built, so it's presumably to do with that, but it makes me laugh every time I go past it.

Chris

[RichardA626]

In the north of Warsaw there's an extraordinary sign in the middle of a multi-lane road which seems to exist only to warn people not to crash into itself. The road drops from four lanes to three, but it's one of the middle lanes that finishes!

You can see it on Streetview here.

I can't work out why on earth they would have designed it that way. The bridge just to the north is relatively recently built, so it's presumably to do with that, but it makes me laugh every time I go past it.

Chris

The M65 north near Bury looses a fast lane IIRC.

[Arcuarius]

In the north of Warsaw there's an extraordinary sign in the middle of a multi-lane road which seems to exist only to warn people not to crash into itself. The road drops from four lanes to three, but it's one of the middle lanes that finishes!

You can see it on Streetview here.

I can't work out why on earth they would have designed it that way. The bridge just to the north is relatively recently built, so it's presumably to do with that, but it makes me laugh every time I go past it.

Chris

It looks to me like it was supposed to be temporary but they've just left it there

[Vierwielen]

The lay-by to the right also looks interesting. No facilities, though the woods are nearby if you need to do the obvious.

[Bryn666]

In the north of Warsaw there's an extraordinary sign in the middle of a multi-lane road which seems to exist only to warn people not to crash into itself. The road drops from four lanes to three, but it's one of the middle lanes that finishes!

You can see it on Streetview here.

I can't work out why on earth they would have designed it that way. The bridge just to the north is relatively recently built, so it's presumably to do with that, but it makes me laugh every time I go past it.

Chris

The M65 north near Bury looses a fast lane IIRC.

Losing the outside lane is normal. Middle lane is terrifying!

[Viator]

In the north of Warsaw there's an extraordinary sign in the middle of a multi-lane road which seems to exist only to warn people not to crash into itself. The road drops from four lanes to three, but it's one of the middle lanes that finishes!

You can see it on Streetview here.

I can't work out why on earth they would have designed it that way. The bridge just to the north is relatively recently built, so it's presumably to do with that, but it makes me laugh every time I go past it.

Chris

It looks to me like it was supposed to be temporary but they've just left it there

Warning of the upcoming drop from four lanes to three (well, 2+2 to 3 really*) is given by permanent-looking and repeated vertical signage and horizontal markings from 500 metres away, but I would guess that a sufficient number of roadusers still weren't getting the message for the authorities finally to have resorted to erecting that (admittedly very temporary/tacky-looking) structure in the carriageway itself at the point of merger.

*The white-lining is such that only merging traffic coming off the bridge road (Trasa Mostu Północnego) is allowed to use the two rightmost lanes and the layby here.

[bothar]

Why wouldn't you have an area of hatching before the point where the sign is?

[TheLeeds]

Maybe it's done like that to enforce lane discipline. Simply having a lane gradually disappear, with arrows painted on the road to tell drivers to move over just results in people cutting in at the last second, and cutting up other drivers, whereas you can't cut this sign up without hitting it.

[Owain]

In the north of Warsaw there's an extraordinary sign in the middle of a multi-lane road which seems to exist only to warn people not to crash into itself. The road drops from four lanes to three, but it's one of the middle lanes that finishes!

You can see it on Streetview here.

I can't work out why on earth they would have designed it that way. The bridge just to the north is relatively recently built, so it's presumably to do with that, but it makes me laugh every time I go past it.

Chris

The M65 north near Bury looses a fast lane IIRC.

Losing the outside lane is normal. Middle lane is terrifying!

I'm not a traffic engineer but I've driven (or been driven) all over Western Europe. Never seen anything remotely like that. Crazy indeed.

[Chris5156]

This is horrifying!

I can't understand why you'd want to end the middle lane of a road, leaving people in it with nowhere to go if they can't change lanes in time. But I find it even harder to understand why you'd compound the problem by piling up an unsecured pile of tat at the end of the lane, so that anyone who does happen to overshoot it will spray the entire carriageway with metalwork and bollards.

[quarella]

Rather than looking at 4 lane carriageway I think we are looking a 2 + 2. Following the road back the outer lanes being the mainline. The inner two being an extended sliproad joining the mainline after the lane drop. At 60 kmh (37mph) merging in turn should not be a problem. How many miles of cones etc would be necessary in the UK.

[Viator]

Rather than looking at 4 lane carriageway I think we are looking a 2 + 2. Following the road back the outer lanes being the mainline. The inner two being an extended sliproad joining the mainline after the lane drop.

Indeed (I pointed this out three days ago, in fact ).

On a side-note, though: am I the only one who has difficulty in thinking of the lanes nearest the middle of the road as being the "outer" (or "outside") ones? Despite recognizing that the general usage (as in quarella's post) is against me (by a very large majority?) I just cannot help regarding the verge (and not the median stripe/reserve/barrier, or whatever) as constituting the outside edge of the road!

[cmjones01]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's mad. I can see the point about it being 2+2 rather than 4 lanes, given the solid white line down the middle. Polish roads are very keen on solid white lines in an attempt to stop people switching lanes at the last minute. It's a habit amongst many drivers in this country to just wander between lanes without using mirrors, and especially not without a 'lifesaver' glance over the shoulder.

I can't see a logical reason why it couldn't have been the outside lane of the outer two that was dropped, rather than the inner one. It wouldn't cost more than a couple of tins of paint to change it, surely, but it's been like that for at least the last two years. I do wonder how many times they've had to replace the pile of multicoloured metalwork, though.

Chris

[Bristol]

Crazy as it sounds, the Swiss have a special sign for "lane in the middle ends", as on page 15 of this roadsign catalogue, diagram 4.77.25

I'm sure I've seen that sign at least once myself when I used to live there.

[booshank]

Rather than looking at 4 lane carriageway I think we are looking a 2 + 2. Following the road back the outer lanes being the mainline. The inner two being an extended sliproad joining the mainline after the lane drop.

Indeed (I pointed this out three days ago, in fact ).

On a side-note, though: am I the only one who has difficulty in thinking of the lanes nearest the middle of the road as being the "outer" (or "outside") ones? Despite recognizing that the general usage (as in quarella's post) is against me (by a very large majority?) I just cannot help regarding the verge (and not the median stripe/reserve/barrier, or whatever) as constituting the outside edge of the road!

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks it's totally counter-intuitive! To me it seems far more logical to name lanes in relation to the structure of the road ie that nearest the traffic heading in the opposite direction being "inner" and that closest to the verge being "outer". Indeed I only really remember the "usual" usage as being the "opposite of what you'd expect" (just like, say, the spelling of "parallel" having the double and single Ls the "wrong" way round).

I take it it is of some archaic origin because I can't think of any other structure, man-made or natural that is named in this way. If you talked of the inner part of a tree trunk or blood vessel or building etc you'd mean the part nearest the centre.

[Bryn666]

It's because you pull OUT to overtake and then move back IN.

That's how I remember it anyway.

Or just say nearside and offside...

[Fenlander]

I think it's a good example of future proofing, when we invent travel by wormhole you simply replace the sign with a wormhole. Simples.

[AndrewGPaul]

Or just say nearside and offside...

I can never remember what they refer to, though.

[Fenlander]

Or just say nearside and offside...

I can never remember what they refer to, though.

That's easy, offside is the opposite side to nearside, and nearside is near to, err, umm, the central reservation

[Viator]

Or just say nearside and offside...

I can never remember what they refer to, though.

That's easy, offside is the opposite side to nearside, and nearside is near to, err, umm, the central reservation

Is that right? I thought it was the other way round. But then offside/nearside is another pairing that I'm also uncomfortable with: I always want to think that nearside means "the side near me (the driver)", but know (or think I know!), that it really means "the side near the verge". That's why, in practice, I avoid use of the terms altogether and say things like "driver's side rear wheel" when I want a particular tyre checking. It may make me sound very motor-unsavvy, but I'd rather earn a pitying look from the garage man than risk getting the wrong tyre changed.