City Driving: Chaoyang Lu Installs Flexible Traffic Control Lanes

A strange sight greeted motorists on Chaoyang Lu last week: express lanes without center barrier fences. Now, instead of two lanes each way in the center express area, with one reserved for bus traffic and one for other vehicles, as many as three lanes in one direction can be available for cars, with bus traffic in the opposite direction shunted to one lane only.

The move is designed to reduce congestion on the Chaoyang Lu express lanes, which now offer rush-hour drivers as many as six lanes in one direction. Westbound lanes heading into the city area increased during peak morning hours of 7-9am, while eastbound lanes will be expanded from 5-8pm heading towards Tongzhou and other eastern suburbs.

Numerous other cities including Chicago use flexible lane management to relieve congestion during top driving periods. Those lanes will be put to the test this month, when nine of the worst traffic days of the year are predicted, with the next two set for, well, today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday). However, not everyone believes that analysis, as either drivers have heeded the warnings and opted for mass transit, or the days just aren't as bad as expected.

No word on any accidents caused by the introduction of the new flexible lanes, which would likely be confusing to Beijing drivers unless they have experienced them overseas. However, one of the new lane barriers erected at the intersection of Chaoyang Lu and Zhenzhi Lu had already been hit by a vehicle as of Monday evening.

Image: the Beijinger.