NAVIGATING MAJOR CITIES SAFELY

At some point, it becomes necessary to pass through a major city.   If you can traverse a major city on Saturday or Sunday, or weekdays between the hours of 10 am to 2 pm, there seems to be less traffic.

Rural interstates are mostly two-lanes.  That’s easy – stay in the right lane until you need to pass, then pass in the left lane, and return to the right lane immediately.  No brainer.  All’s well and good until you encounter a major city.

All of a sudden, two lanes becomes three lanes, three becomes four and five and six and – is it Atlanta that has seven lanes at one point?  In which lane do you need to be to get through the city safely?  You do NOT want to be constantly changing lanes in the middle of city traffic, especially during rush hour (avoid at all costs!)

It has been my experience that:

(a)     If there are three lanes, stay in the middle lane.  This keeps you out of the exiting and entering/merging traffic and out of the fast lane to your left.  Also, it gives you the most opportunities if you need to exit – there are some left exits (I hate those!).  In most cities, you can continue in this one lane, start to finish.  Lanes will “grow” to your right and will also end as “exit only” throughout, but you don’t have to worry – you will be unaffected.

(b)   If there are four or more lanes, stay in the lane just to the right of the left-most “fast” lane.  Most lanes to the right will become “exit only” lanes, until eventually, you are out of the city and back in the right lane of a two-lane highway.

Watch the merge signs.  Some will have traffic merging into your lane if you are unlucky enough to still be in the right lane; some entering traffic will continue in its own lane – a “new” lane, which almost always becomes an “exit” lane a little further on.  You can always tell an “exit only” lane by the yellow sign underneath the green exit, even if you can’t read the exact words from a distance.

Some cities are painting the highway numbers right on the pavement in the lanes.  That’s helpful.

I tested my theory on several major cities during my last cross-country trip.  In Houston, I had to move one lane right at one point because of a left exit.  In El Paso, though, I stayed in the same lane from start to finish through the whole city.  In Albuquerque, I can stay in the same lane on I-40, west to east or east or west, with no lane changing.  I can name more, but not today.

Of course, I prefer to avoid major cities by planning my route on US highways and State highways when possible.