Reversible lane

Separation of flows

Passing lanes

Turn lanes and flush medians

Examples

No (or minimal) lane controls

• Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C.
• Chain Bridge in Washington, D.C.
• Pre-upgrade Bailey Bridge, in Coquitlam, B.C.
• M-20, Mount Pleasant to Midland, Michigan

  Lane controls and no (or minimal) physical separation

Trans-national

• The Peace Bridge between the U.S. and Canada, connecting Fort Erie, Ontario to Buffalo, New York. Three lanes total, all marked reversible, one reversed in the direction of rush hour flow with the possibility of all lanes flowing in the same direction based on traffic needs.
• The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge connecting Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario to Lewiston, New York. Five lanes total, all marked as reversible, one to four lanes marked daily in the same direction, depending on traffic needs. In addition to the directional signals, special signals are also fitted to specify what type of vehicle may use the lane.

  Australia

• The Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, New South Wales.
• The Spit Bridge, Sydney, New South Wales.
• The Alfords Point Bridge in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Three lanes total, with the centre lane reversible using manual placement of plastic bollards. Originally this bridge was built with two lanes, and was to be part of twin spans, but only the foundations and excavations for approach works were built for the Eastern span, and the bridge was opened with one lane used in each direction. New approach works commenced in January 2007 for the second span, at a cost of 45 million AUD, eliminating the need for a reversible lane. However, a 300-metre reversible centre lane will still remain on Alfords Point Road over Henry Lawson Drive, approximately 500 meters north of this proposed bridge.
• General Holmes Drive generally has four north and four south lanes, but during morning peak hour one southbound lane is divided from the others with a plastic island with signs placed along the top. The island is shifted across by the RTA with a specialized vehicle. This lane is used as a northbound lane for local traffic to get to Botany and Mascot from the St George area.
• Flagstaff Road in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Three lanes total, with the centre lane reversible. During the morning peak, northbound occupies two lanes, and southbound one lane. For the remainder of the time, the uphill southbound direction is given dominance.
• Johnston Street, Melbourne, Victoria. Five lanes total, with the centre lane reversible.
• Queen's Road, Melbourne, Victoria. Five lanes total, with the centre lane reversible.
• Tasman Bridge, Hobart, Tasmania. Five lanes total, with center lane reversible

  Bermuda

• East BroadWay between Front Street and Crow Lane, main routes in to Hamilton.

  Brazil

• Avenida Radial Leste in São Paulo has about ten lanes total in most sections, and on weekdays it has one lane reversed during the rush hour to reduce traffic congestion. In the morning, the eastbound lanes are reversed to the west, and in the evening, the westbound lanes are reversed to the east.

  Canada

• The Lions' Gate Bridge in Vancouver
• The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, Chebucto Road and the Herring Cove Road in Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto
• The Champlain Bridge in Ottawa
• Sherman Access and Sherman Cut in Hamilton, Ontario
• The George Massey Tunnel in Delta and Richmond, B.C.
• Connors Road in Edmonton
• McDougall Hill in Edmonton
• 127th Street from 132 Avenue to Yellowhead Trail
• 170th Street from north of 137th Avenue to Levasseur Road in Edmonton
• 97th Street from 118th Avenue to 127th Avenue in Edmonton
• Centre Street from 20th Avenue N to 6th Avenue S in Calgary
• 10th Street NW / 9th Street SW from 5th Avenue NW to 4th Avenue SW in Calgary
• Park Avenue in Montreal, five lanes total, centremost lane is reversible, sidemost lanes are reserved for public transport during rush hour; morning rush is 2 in, one out, evening rush is reversed
• Quebec Bridge in Quebec City, three lanes total with the median lane reversed for traffic heading into the city in the morning and leaving the city in the afternoon
• Champlain Bridge in Montreal, rush hour bus lanes
• Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, five lanes total, two for both directions, one rush hour central reversible lane
• Victoria Bridge in Montreal, two lane, one in each direction. Both lanes are inbound from 6am to 9am, and outbound from 3pm to 7.15pm.
• During the 2010 Winter Olympics, British Columbia Highway 99 was subject to lane control in three-lane sections of the highway, via signs on the side of the road that were changed manually.
• Old Pitt River Bridge in Port Coquitlam and Pitt Meadows,

  Croatia

• State Route 102 near Kraljevica leading southbound to the Krk Bridge used to have a three-lane passing lane combination, blind curves, and a steep grade. It was later changed to a passing lane combination that makes the northbound traffic dominant.

  New Zealand

• Panmure Bridge in Auckland

  Turkey

• Reversible lanes are frequently used in hilly sections of highways with heavy truck traffic. Most of them were built during the 1980s and 1990s.

  United Kingdom

• The A38 road across the Tamar Bridge and through the Saltash Tunnel in Saltash, England. The middle lane is reversible, allowing for control of traffic flows in holiday periods and during rush hour.
• The A61 Queen's Road in Sheffield, England, although it is a very short section.
• The A470 North Road in Cardiff, Wales, A section of around 1 mile long between the Maindy Road Junction and College Avenue where the road drops from a dual two-lane to a three-lane section. One lane is always dedicated to Northbound traffic, and one lane to Southbound with the centre lane reversing depending on the time of day – i.e. in the morning 2 lanes into the city, 1 lane out, in the evening 2 lanes out of the city, 1 lane in.
• The A15 in Lincoln has a short three-lane section of tidal flow.
• The A38 Aston Expressway in Birmingham has 7 lanes, 3 of which are flexible according to rush hour traffic flow direction/time of day.

  United States

• In Montgomery, Norman Bridge Road through the Garden District and Old Cloverdale has a center lane with reversible markings and traffic flow lights between Burton Avenue and Legrand Place.

• The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel between Portage and Whittier is a 13,300 feet long, reversible single lane tunnel, shared between vehicular traffic and trains. The direction of traffic alternates every 15 minutes, with periods allowed for train traffic each day.

• In Phoenix on 7th Avenue between McDowell Road and Northern Avenue, and 7th Street between McDowell Road and Cave Creek Road/Dunlap Avenue. On both roads, the lane configuration is 2 southbound and 3 northbound, with the center lane open for southbound traffic between 6-9am and open to northbound traffic between 4-6pm. Left turns are prohibited from the reversible lane at most arterial and collector street intersections during these hours but still allowed at driveways and non-signaled street intersections.

• Lafayette Street in Santa Clara – the center lane is used for northbound traffic on weekday mornings, southbound traffic for weekday afternoons, and as a center turning lane at other times.
• Miller Avenue in San Jose – the center lane is used as a center turning lane at all times
• Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Marin County –

• Rock Creek Parkway operates as a one-way road on weekday mornings and afternoons.
• The Clara Barton Parkway operates as a one-way road between the MacArthur Boulevard Exit and Chain Bridge on weekday mornings and afternoons
• Independence Avenue has a reversible center lane on weekday mornings and afternoons between 3rd St. SW and 2nd St. SE.

• Bay Street in Jacksonville
• NW 199th St in Miami between NW 27th Ave. and NW 2nd Ave. there are two lanes always dedicated to Eastbound and Westbound, west of Florida's Turnpike there are two reversible lanes, and west of the turnpike, there is one reversible lane.
• The replacement of the Toms Bayou Bridge in Valparaiso utilized reversible lanes during construction in 2018.

• South Atlanta Street in Roswell, Georgia, as part of Georgia State Route 9 is 3 lanes between with overhead lane-use control signals Marrietta Highway and the Chattahoochee River.
• Northside Drive in Atlanta: the center lane of three is reversed using overhead lane-use control signals.
• Vineville Avenue in Macon: the center lane of three is reversed using overhead lane-use control signals.

• In Indianapolis, Fall Creek Parkway North Drive between Central Avenue and Evanston Avenue has 5 lanes with 1 lane marked as reversible. Configuration is typically designed to allow for 3 in, 2 out during morning rush hours, and 2 in, 3 out during afternoon rush hours. Due to Fall Creek Parkway's proximity to the Indiana State Fairgrounds, lane configurations change periodically to facilitate traffic flow during events at the fairgrounds.

• The Clay Wade Bailey Bridge in Covington
• Nicholasville Road in Lexington has reversible lanes starting at its intersection with Rose Street at the University of Kentucky campus and ending at New Circle Road, the city's inner beltway. During morning rush hour, as well as the hours before UK football home games, southbound traffic is restricted to one lane between campus and Southland Drive, and two lanes from Southland to New Circle. Northbound traffic faces the same restrictions in the evening rush hour and immediately after football games. During off-peak hours, an equal number of lanes are dedicated to traffic in each direction. One dedicated left-turn lane is always provided regardless of the current traffic configuration.
• Baxter Avenue and Bardstown Road in Louisville have reversible lanes for 2½ miles through The Highlands, starting at their intersection with Lexington Road in the north and ending at Douglass Boulevard in the south. This stretch of road has four lanes, but on-street parking frequently restricts traffic to one lane in each direction outside of rush hours. During rush hours, parking is prohibited north of Douglass Boulevard. Southbound traffic leaving downtown Louisville is restricted to one lane during the morning rush hour, with northbound traffic having the same restriction during the evening rush hour. Also, the lane immediately to the left of rush-hour through traffic becomes a dedicated left-turn lane. Electronic signs over the roadway alert motorists to the traffic flow dedication of each lane. According to a 2017 traffic study, this is the only road in the United States that has both lane lights and on-street parking. A current proposal calls for ending this traffic arrangement in the near future.

• The Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis. However, due to its dual spans, when there are 2 eastbound lanes and 3 westbound the opposing sides are completely divided, this is the usual configuration.
• The Hanover Street Bridge in Baltimore has 5 lanes total marked reversible, with 1 usually reversed for normal peak traffic).
• Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring has 7 lanes. During most hours, the center lane is marked with a yellow lit X as a left turn lane for both directions. During morning and evening rush hours, the lane is marked with a down facing green arrow – southbound in the morning, northbound in the evening – or a red X – northbound in the morning, southbound in the evening – and left turns are prohibited.
• Colesville Road in Silver Spring has 6 lanes. During off-rush hours, three lanes go in each direction. During morning rush hours, four lanes go southbound, while northbound is relegated to two lanes. During afternoon rush, the process is reversed.
• The Clara Barton Parkway operates as a one-way road between the MacArthur Boulevard Exit and Chain Bridge on weekday mornings and afternoons
• Gay Street in Baltimore between North Avenue and Preston Street has 3 lanes. The middle lane is reversible with northbound/outbound traffic using the lane in the afternoon and southbound/inbound traffic using the lane in the morning.

• The Mackinac Bridge near St. Ignace treats the passing lane of the southbound side as a temporary northbound lane during the Labor Day bridge walk, at which time the northbound side is used for pedestrians.
• Like 7th Street and 7th Avenue in Phoenix, at one time Michigan Avenue in Dearborn had a reversible lane between Telegraph Road and the Southfield Freeway which was marked with lane signals. These have since been removed.

• Dodge Street between Turner Boulevard and 68th Street in Omaha: no physical separation; lanes marked with overhead lane-use control signals. Center lane direction is eastbound from 5:50am–9:00am and westbound from 9:00am–5:50am.
• Farnam Street between Saddle Creek Road and 57th Street in Omaha: no physical separation; lanes marked with lane-use control signals and LED signs. On weekdays the direction is one-way eastbound 7am-9am, and one-way westbound 4pm-6pm.

• Lincoln Tunnel's center tube is reversible. In general, both of the lanes, including one "XBL", serve Manhattan-bound traffic during the weekday morning rush hour, both of the lanes serve New Jersey-bound traffic during the weekday evening rush hour, and one lane is provided in each direction during other time periods.
• Since 1970, the Lincoln Tunnel Approach and Helix in Hudson County supports an "XBL", or Exclusive Bus Lane, on New Jersey Route 495 during the weekday morning peak period. Eastbound buses travel in this reversible lane to the approach to the toll plaza at the Lincoln Tunnel, at the other end of which is the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The lane is fed by the New Jersey Turnpike at Exits 16E and 17, and the western terminus of New Jersey Route 3. Both the tunnel and terminal are owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the bi-state agency that also operates the reversible, express bus lane along the left lane of three westbound lanes. The XBL serves over 1,800 buses, which transport more than 65,000 persons, each morning and is a major component of the morning "inbound" commutation crossing the Hudson River. Over 100 bus carriers utilize the Exclusive Bus Lane. New Jersey Transit operates numerous interstate bus routes through the Lincoln Tunnel, as do numerous regional and long distance companies.
• The Walt Whitman Bridge, Ben Franklin Bridge and Commodore Barry Bridge over the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania use moveable medians, to create zipper lanes.

• Delancey Street in Manhattan has two lanes on the eastbound side adjacent to the median used for westbound traffic in the morning rush hour between the Williamsburg Bridge and Allen Street. All traffic in these lanes must continue to and then turn left onto Allen, during these times left turns are prohibited from the regular westbound roadway onto Allen Street.
• Manhattan Bridge in New York City has three lanes on the lower level, which can have all lanes used in one direction or reversible with two lanes one way and the other for the opposite direction.
• The upper level of the Queensboro Bridge in New York City has four lanes and can have all flowing outbound, or two lanes each direction in normal configuration.
• The Mid-Hudson Bridge in Poughkeepsie, New York, has a reversible center lane used during rush hour.

• East 7th Street in Charlotte
• Tyvola Road in Charlotte
• * Since the closure and implosion of the former Charlotte Coliseum, this road is no longer reversible; all lights have been removed and lane signs are permanent. It was designed this way for Coliseum traffic from NBA games and concerts.
• U.S. Route 29 in Charlotte
• * This road is the access road to Charlotte Motor Speedway from the city, and links to Interstate 485. It is used for any events at the Speedway.
• Gate City Blvd. in Greensboro
• * The lanes have rarely been reversed and the city has finally removed them, converting the street to three south-bound lanes, two north-bound lanes, and one left-turn lane.
• Edwards Mill Road in Raleigh

• At least one road in Sandusky has reversible lanes, for the purpose of allowing quick departure of Cedar Point guests.

• The Liberty Bridge near the southern terminus of I-579 in Pittsburgh has 4 lanes, all of which are potentially reversible, and 2 of which are reversed based on rush-hour times.
• The West End Bridge in Pittsburgh has 4 lanes, which are all potentially reversible.
• West General Robinson Street near Heinz Field in Pittsburgh has 4 lanes, and 2 are reversible.

• The Silas N. Pearman Bridge, demolished in 2005, originally contained a third reversible lane, leftmost when heading north on US 17. This was converted to a fixed truck lane for southbound traffic shortly after its construction in the 1960s, as an inspection of its companion bridge, the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, revealed it was no longer strong enough to carry truck traffic. Both bridges would eventually be rendered obsolete and replaced by the Ravenel Bridge.

• U.S. Route 70 in Nashville has three reversible lanes from Korean Veterans Blvd. to just east of a Railroad crossing, there is a break in the reversible lanes between Willow St. and Lindsley Ave.
• The Victory Memorial Bridge in Nashville has 5 lanes, with only the center lane begin a reversible lanes.

• West Alabama Street and North Main Street in Houston – both are three-lane streets, which operate in a 2 in, 1 out configuration during the morning rush, a 1 in, 2 out configuration during the evening rush, and a 1 each way + two-way left turn lane at other times.
• N Collins St. from Cowboys Way to E Division St., and E Division St. from N Collins St. to Six Flags Dr., just east of SR 360 are reversible to give access to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX

• 5400 South in Salt Lake County between 1900 West and Bangerter Highway has seven lanes, three of which are reversible and include a center turning lane at all times.

• Washington Boulevard in Arlington County between 13th Street and Wilson Boulevard – this one-block section has only 3 lanes with the center lane reversible by overhead light up indicators.
• River Road in Newport News between 75th Street and Shipyard Drive. This is the truck route for Newport News Shipbuilding.

  Lane controls and physical separation

• The A38 motorway in Birmingham, England. The road connects the city centre with Spaghetti Junction on the M6. It is a 2-mile, 7-lane section of motorway with no central reservation, and a lower than usual speed limit of 50 mph. Constructed in 1971, it was the United Kingdom's first contraflow road. Overhead lane control signals allow for 4 lanes in and 2 out in the morning rush hour, reversed in the evening, and 3 lanes each way at all other times. One dividing lane is closed to traffic at all times, and motorcycles are permanently prohibited from using the central, red-surfaced lane owing to its use as an off-camber drain. The lane control signals can be set to allow travel in either direction for any lane in exceptional circumstances, which has been used for single-lane, reduced-speed running in each direction during road work, allowing the expressway to remain largely open even during major repairs. However, the 7-lane section splits at both ends to fully divided sets of 4x2 lane slip roads, with the central red lane ending in a barrier, so full use of this flexibility is uncommon and occasional overnight closure is required.
• U.S. Route 78 in Snellville, Georgia, United States, has 6 lanes in total. This occurs from the limited access portion through Stone Mountain Park to Georgia State Route 124 for several miles. The middle two lanes were reversible with a varying lane always reserved as a center turn lane; hence 3 lanes were used for one direction of travel and 2 for the other. . However, due to rising traffic volumes during peak hours that made traffic flows equivalent, the reversible lane system was removed in 2009.
• The Caldecott Tunnel between Oakland, California and Contra Costa County, California previously had three separate bores, with the middle bore switching direction twice daily for rush hour traffic. A fourth tunnel bore opened in November 2013 to westbound traffic. Two bores are now permanently used by westbound traffic, and the other two by eastbound traffic, with no reversible lanes.
• The Elbe Tunnel near Hamburg, Germany, is part of the Bundesautobahn A7 and has four separate bores, of which two can be switched to allow travel either in each direction or unidirectionally.

  Lane controls and physical separation by movable barrier

• Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Walt Whitman Bridge, and Commodore Barry Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Tappan Zee Bridge in New York
• Theodore Roosevelt Bridge in Washington, D.C.
• Auckland Harbour Bridge in Auckland, New Zealand
• San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge in San Diego, California
• Southeast Expressway in and near Boston, Massachusetts
• A reversible lane, also called a zipper lane, is in use on eastbound Interstate H-1 for traffic heading from Leeward Oahu to Pearl Harbor. It is open from 5:30 to 9:00 a.m.
• The Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco with suburban Marin County. Prior to 2015, opposing traffic lanes were separated only by plastic pylons, which were moved several times daily by hand and provided minimal physical separation. Installation of a movable median barrier was completed on January 11, 2015.
• Alex Fraser Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia
• Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City

  Third (reversible) carriageways on freeways

• Bundesautobahn 7, New Elbe Tunnel, Hamburg, Germany
• Warringah Expressway in Sydney, Australia
• Interstate 5 in Seattle, Washington
• Interstate 15 in northern San Diego, California
• Interstate 25 and US-36 in Denver, Colorado
• Interstate 394 through Minneapolis, Minnesota and its western suburbs
• Interstate 90/Interstate 94 in Chicago, Illinois
• Interstate 75 and Interstate 575 north of Atlanta, Georgia, and Interstate 75 south of Atlanta
• Lee Roy Selmon Expressway from Brandon to Tampa, Florida
• Interstate 64 in Norfolk, Virginia
• Interstate 395 and Interstate 95 through Washington, D.C. and its Virginia suburbs
• Lincoln Tunnel between Weehawken, New Jersey and the New York City borough of Manhattan has three tubes with two lanes each. The center tube carries two lanes in peak direction weekdays and a single lane each direction off-peak.
• Multiple freeways in Houston have reversible center HOV lanes operated by Houston METRO.
• A1 motorway between the interchanges of A9 and A6, Amsterdam, Netherlands. A two lane carriage is opened in the peak direction during rush hours.
• A10 motorway, Second Coen Tunnel, Amsterdam, Netherlands. One of the tubes is opened in the peak direction during rush hours.

  Entire roadway routinely reversed

• The Anchieta/Imigrantes highway system in Brazil contains the world's longest fully reversible road. It comprises a total of 10 lanes distributed over 4 separate roadways, each of which can be reversed. Traffic flow is unidirectional on up to three roadways at a time, in different combinations, depending on demand. Since this highway system is the only quick route from São Paulo to the beach, the majority of the traffic on Fridays and Sundays are cars on weekend trips, creating highly asymmetrical demand.
• In Washington, D.C., the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway between the Lincoln Memorial and Calvert St. is converted from two lanes in each direction to one-way southbound in the morning and one-way northbound in the evening rush hour Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. The P Street exit, usually unavailable northbound, is an allowed left exit in the evening. South of Virginia Avenue, two lanes are closed during rush hours to facilitate the merge to or from Virginia Avenue. There are no overhead markings, but police barricades block wrong-way entrances to the roadway.
• Canal Road in Washington, D.C.
• Sherman Access in Hamilton, Ontario. 2 lanes total, both marked as reversible, with both lanes flowing in the same direction during rush hour each weekday.
• Assembly Street and Bluff Road, along with Shop Road and George Rogers Boulevard in Columbia, South Carolina, are one-way during University of South Carolina football games at Williams-Brice Stadium.
• The lower deck of the Centre Street Bridge in Calgary, Alberta, is fully reversible. It normally allows for two-way traffic, but both lanes flow in the same direction during rush hour each day.
• Victoria Bridge, in Montreal, Quebec, normally allows for two-way traffic. But during rush hours, it only allows one-way traffic, northbound in the morning, and southbound in the afternoon.
• Farnam Street in Omaha is a normally two-way, two-lane street that during rush hour becomes one-way eastbound in the morning and westbound in the evening.
• Sierichstraße in Hamburg, Germany, a fully reversible, two-lane city street.
• The 4th Street Bridge in Los Angeles, a fully reversible street controlled by overhead signals. It switches direction every rush hour on weekdays, westbound in the morning, and eastbound in the afternoon. In case of emergencies, the bridge can be one-way to or from Los Angeles.
• The White Nile Bridge connecting Khartoum and Omdurman in Sudan, with 4 lanes total. Traffic is generally directed equally, 2 lanes to Khartoum and to lanes from except in the morning, where it's 3 lanes towards Khartoum, and in the evening, 3 lanes towards Omdurman.
• In Hong Kong, most vehicular tunnels are dual tube. In the early hours one of the tubes will be closed, and one of the lanes in the other tube carries reversed traffic.
• The Baker–Barry Tunnel, one of only two means of access to the Marin Headlands from U.S. Route 101 in Marin County, California, is not wide enough to accommodate bidirectional traffic. It consists of a single reversible lane for automobiles and two bicycle lanes. The direction of automobile traffic alternates every five minutes, controlled by a traffic light at each end of the tunnel. The bicycle lanes, one for each direction, are located on either side of the reversible lane; buttons on either side of the tunnel trigger flashing signs alerting drivers entering the tunnel to the presence of cyclists.

  Entire roadway formerly reversed

• The Southern Expressway in Adelaide, South Australia, was the world's longest exclusively one-way reversible road. It opened in 1997 and eventually traversed though the city's southern suburbs, until its duplication to carry two-way traffic completed in 2014. It changed direction to carry peak hour traffic to the city centre in the morning and away from the city in the evening. On weekends, the directions were reversed.

  One lane formerly reversed

• Motorway M7 in Hungary from 1972 until the completion of the second carriageway in 1975. The existing carriageway between Törökbálint and Zamárdi normally operated with one lane in each direction, but carried traffic towards Budapest only every Sunday afternoon.

  Escalators