driving on the left...... in America

[Gav]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJoDy87bH5z8Lvwz7

its a section of divided highway that runs for a reasonable distance with the traffic driving on the left...

dont know how unique this is but its def different.

[Truvelo]

I can't really see the point of it as it requires an extra bridge near the I-710 junction.

[freebrickproductions]

I assume it was only done so the westbound tolled express lane(s) could more easily be tied-into the westbound exit ramp at Exit 2B.

[exiled]

The US Virgin Islands is of course only a US territory but it drives on the left. With American sourced cars.

[Truvelo]

The US Virgin Islands is of course only a US territory but it drives on the left. With American sourced cars.

Why is that? Was there any British colonial history involved.

[Ruperts Trooper]

The US Virgin Islands is of course only a US territory but it drives on the left. With American sourced cars.

Why is that? Was there any British colonial history involved.

The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917 who drove on the left at that time.

[Pendlemac]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJoDy87bH5z8Lvwz7

its a section of divided highway that runs for a reasonable distance with the traffic driving on the left...

dont know how unique this is but its def different.

I5 just north of Castaic has quite a long section of left-hand driving. I believe it's to do with the gradients of the two carriageways.

I thought there was something already on SABRE about it but a search does not bring it up.

[bart]

I5 just north of Castaic has quite a long section of left-hand driving. I believe it's to do with the gradients of the two carriageways.

I thought there was something already on SABRE about it but a search does not bring it up.

There are quite a few of these where the carriageways split and cross over to cope with the topography. There's one on Az-87 northeast of Phoenix, for example.

[Gav]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJoDy87bH5z8Lvwz7

its a section of divided highway that runs for a reasonable distance with the traffic driving on the left...

dont know how unique this is but its def different.

I5 just north of Castaic has quite a long section of left-hand driving. I believe it's to do with the gradients of the two carriageways.

I thought there was something already on SABRE about it but a search does not bring it up.

thats the grapevine, been on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine,_California

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUj2M-wRHQ

[freebrickproductions]

Similarly, I-85 in North Carolina has the two carriageways switch sides for a few miles, with there even being a pair of rest areas in the median of this stretch.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/North ... ?entry=ttu

[SteelCamel]

I assume it was only done so the westbound tolled express lane(s) could more easily be tied-into the westbound exit ramp at Exit 2B.

There are several exits from the westbound carriageway - which simply leave the left of the express lanes and merge into the right of the main carriageway on the level. If the carriageways were the the other way round then these would require bridges. Further east, the express lanes are in the middle of the main lanes so the issue doesn't arise.

It looks like the root cause is avoiding the need to rebuild the junction [url-https://maps.app.goo.gl/AS68oFWz6HPn3a3C6]here[/url] - it would need the slip roads moved and several bridges rebuilt to get extra lanes through the middle, so instead they go off-line to the north of the junction. But now you've got the eastbound express next to the westbound main, which means you can't easily put exits in. And there's not much space to cross back to the centre with all the bridges and junctions in this section. So the simplest solution is to cross the express lanes over each other, then you have the westbounds next to each other and can put in all the exits you want.

This does leave the junctions a bit asymmetrical though - the eastbounds are nowhere near each other, so there aren't any entrances on this stretch. In fact it doesn't look like you can enter the eastbound express lanes (west of I-710) from any of the main roads at all, which seems a bit odd.

[freebrickproductions]

In fact it doesn't look like you can enter the eastbound express lanes (west of I-710) from any of the main roads at all, which seems a bit odd.

To be fair, even if the express lanes were arranged normally, they'd probably still skip several exits, even with the arterials and other major roads if they were "too close". From what I've seen of express lanes in other areas, like up in northern New Jersey and, more similarly, around Atlanta, the express lanes are done to skip most exits, thus, at least potentially, removing conflict points by not having nearly as many entrances and exits. There are points at which you can get on and off the express lanes, sometimes to the "local" lanes of the Interstate/toll road/freeway and sometimes just as a direct exit to the road, however, and they're usually signed in advance. As such, at least in theory (as the only express lanes I've ever used have been the ones around northern New Jersey), they're "express" as you don't have to deal with as much traffic. IIRC, trucks are often banned from the express lanes as well.
In the case of the Los Angeles and Atlanta examples, as they're tolled lanes on otherwise free-to-use roads, it probably also makes it a bit cheaper on the side of installing the electronic tolling equipment, as you don't have to install as much.

[Was92now625]

Similarly, I-85 in North Carolina has the two carriageways switch sides for a few miles, with there even being a pair of rest areas in the median of this stretch.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/North ... ?entry=ttu

Rest area with, apparently, no way in other than from I-85 itself. Presume that there are employees there ?

[SteelCamel]

Similarly, I-85 in North Carolina has the two carriageways switch sides for a few miles, with there even being a pair of rest areas in the median of this stretch.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/North ... ?entry=ttu

Rest area with, apparently, no way in other than from I-85 itself. Presume that there are employees there ?

I'm not sure there are. One building is presumably toilets, the other appears to be signed "Vending" which to me suggests machines rather than a staffed shop. In any case, it's only 6 miles between the nearest junctions, and being in a not particularly built up area any staff will be arriving by car anyway (especially as this is the USA).

[freebrickproductions]

Similarly, I-85 in North Carolina has the two carriageways switch sides for a few miles, with there even being a pair of rest areas in the median of this stretch.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/North ... ?entry=ttu

Rest area with, apparently, no way in other than from I-85 itself. Presume that there are employees there ?

I'm not sure there are. One building is presumably toilets, the other appears to be signed "Vending" which to me suggests machines rather than a staffed shop. In any case, it's only 6 miles between the nearest junctions, and being in a not particularly built up area any staff will be arriving by car anyway (especially as this is the USA).

I believe there would be at least janitorial staff, and possibly on-site security (at least during certain hours) and/or someone at a desk drivers could ask for info, depending on what features a rest stop may have. And yeah, there are generally toilets unless signed otherwise. Rest areas here in the US don't have nearly the same amenities that motorway service areas over there have, usually just restrooms, vending machines, picnic tables, a pet-walking area, and maybe a security office and/or info desk. With some states that still offer free printed maps, they can be found at the info desk or at least an easily accessible stand at any rest stop (like Alabama), while others seem to only offer them at the state welcome centers (like Texas).

It'll also vary by state whether overnight parking is allowed at rest stops or not. Alabama doesn't allow it, but I believe Indiana does, for example.

[WHBM]

Back to the original section being discussed, and I've known this piece of I-10 San Bernardino Freeway since the late 1970s, when it was a straightforward Los Angeles D4M Freeway. It has been subject to various widenings and adjustments, some very substantial, since then. In the early 1980s a buses only carriageway, the El Monte Busway, was built in with it, this was regularly described as the "most successful bus scheme in the USA", which must make all the others seem awful, as one hardly saw a bus on it, and the ones there didn't seem to have many passengers. Now this has been converted to more general tolled express lanes. Since then there have been a whole series of widenings along the way, and major junction rebuilds. I doubt there has ever been more than a few years when some major reconstruction was not in hand.

I haven't used the new toll arrangements, but they seem extraordinary, with different prices for how many in the car, time of day, and for different fuels, all in combination, which you have to set on a special in-car device before starting, thus confining it to very regulars. Mayor Khan in London must surely be attracted to it.

[Bryn666]

Rest area with, apparently, no way in other than from I-85 itself. Presume that there are employees there ?

I'm not sure there are. One building is presumably toilets, the other appears to be signed "Vending" which to me suggests machines rather than a staffed shop. In any case, it's only 6 miles between the nearest junctions, and being in a not particularly built up area any staff will be arriving by car anyway (especially as this is the USA).

I believe there would be at least janitorial staff, and possibly on-site security (at least during certain hours) and/or someone at a desk drivers could ask for info, depending on what features a rest stop may have. And yeah, there are generally toilets unless signed otherwise. Rest areas here in the US don't have nearly the same amenities that motorway service areas over there have, usually just restrooms, vending machines, picnic tables, a pet-walking area, and maybe a security office and/or info desk. With some states that still offer free printed maps, they can be found at the info desk or at least an easily accessible stand at any rest stop (like Alabama), while others seem to only offer them at the state welcome centers (like Texas).

It'll also vary by state whether overnight parking is allowed at rest stops or not. Alabama doesn't allow it, but I believe Indiana does, for example.

This is very similar to the A89 in France.