Local-express lanes

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Local-express lanes or collector-express lanes are a set of two same-direction one-way multi-lane roadways, usually on a freeway. The outer set, usually called local lanes or collector lanes, provide access to most or all interchanges. The inner set (usually called express lanes) provide for non-exiting traffic, and are not to be confused with the similar concept of express lanes that have a similar function to those in the local-express system, but contain their own exits. If there are several interchanges that are close together, which is typical on urban freeways, the frequent exit and entry ramps on the freeway would have the effect of slowing down through traffic along the freeway. Separating traffic into mainline (express lane) and local (collector lane) service alleviates this problem.

Typically, as is the case with Interstate 78 in Northern New Jersey and Highway 427 in Toronto, the express lanes are intended for traffic passing through the area and exclusively have the ramps to other freeways, while the collector lanes are designed strictly to serve interchanges within that area.

Often another main purpose of having a collector-express system is to "squeeze" two freeways into one corridor. For Highway 401 in Mississauga, the collector lanes serve primarily as the direct connectors or ramp extensions between Highway 403 and Highway 427 while the express lanes are designed for 401 "through traffic". (As usual, the collector lanes also serve the surface streets Dixie Road and Renforth Drive.) In this way, a collector-express system was used to "squeeze" Highway 403 into the existing Highway 401 corridor instead of having a separate Highway 403 alignment parallel to Highway 401.

Highway ramps or transfers usually connect the local and express lanes. If one highway ramp crosses over another, the result is known as a braid or "The Basketweave" (e.g., Highway 401, between Highway 400 and Keele Street).

The disadvantage is that a significant amount of right-of-way is required to accommodate a collector-express system, especially the collector lanes and the median barriers between the collector and express lanes. Transportation departments often design new suburban freeways with interchanges spaced far enough apart to eliminate the need for a collector-express system, and the land saved can be used for a wider median and/or extra lanes.

Since the late 1960s, Highway 401 in the Greater Toronto Area has included the longest 12-lane collector-express system in the world.^{[citation needed]} As of 2009^[update], the longest section extends approximately 43.7 km from east of Kipling Avenue in Toronto, to west of Brock Road in Pickering,^[1] while a separate section of approximately 6.6 km extends from east of Kennedy Road in Mississauga, to Highway 427 in Toronto.^[2]

Examples are listed with major collector-express systems (that may handle over several interchanges) at the top, although smaller sizes will serve at least 2 interchanges.

In the United States

Local-express lanes on Interstate 270 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

• Interstate 5 at the El Toro Y in Irvine, California and at the "5/805 merge" in Sorrento Valley, San Diego, California.
• Interstate 10 west of downtown Los Angeles in California from the Harbor Freeway (Interstate and State Route 110) to Arlington Avenue.
• Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue (opened to traffic October 2009).
• The Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstates 90 and 94 in Chicago), between 79th Street and Interstate 55.
• The Garden State Parkway in New Jersey from the Raritan tolls to the Asbury Park tolls.
• Interstate 76 in Southern New Jersey (westbound only) from Interstate 295 to U.S. Highway 130 approaching the Walt Whitman Bridge
• Interstate 78 in Northern New Jersey (between the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 24)
• Interstate 80 in Northern New Jersey (George Washington Bridge-Garden State Parkway and Interstate 280-Interstate 287)
• Route 3 in Northern New Jersey (between the New Jersey Turnpike western spur and New Jersey Route 495)
• The Jeffries Freeway (I-96) in Detroit.
• Interstate 95 from New Jersey Route 32 to The Bronx
• Interstate 270 in the Montgomery County, Maryland, suburbs of Washington, D.C. (between Montrose Road and Interstate 370)
• Interstate 271 in Greater Cleveland (Ohio) between Interstate 480 in North Randall and Interstate 90 in Willoughby Hills
• Palatine Road between U.S. Route 12 and Sanders Road through the north suburbs of Chicago has grade-level express lanes, local lanes, and interchanges with the exception of the overpasses at Elmhurst Road and Milwaukee Avenue and an underpass at Wolf Road. It is not a freeway; instead it is called a "junior expressway".^[3]
• Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) in Northeast Philadelphia is similarly a surface road with express and local roadways.
• Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway) in the Washington, D.C. metro area, between Telegraph Road in Alexandria, Virginia and State Route 210 in Oxon Hill, Maryland, as the freeway crosses the Potomac River via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
• Interstate 805 (northbound only) in Chula Vista, California between the H Street and E Street/Bonita Road exits

In Canada

Ontario

Highway 401 in Toronto at the Don Valley Parkway interchange.

• Highway 401 in Peel Region, Toronto and Durham Region
  • From east of Kennedy Road (Mississauga)—serving the interchange with Highways 410 and 403—to Highway 427^[2]
  • From east of Kipling Avenue—serving the interchange with Highway 409—to west of Brock Road (Pickering)^[1]
• Highway 403 from Cawthra Road/Eastgate Parkway to Highway 401/Highway 410 in Mississauga, Ontario
• Highway 427 from Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway to Highway 401 in Toronto
• Gardiner Expressway (formerly QEW) from Wickman Road (west of Kipling Avenue) to Royal York Road, in Toronto
• Highway 400 in York Region, from the Highway 7 interchange to south of Langstaff Road^[4] (signed as exit 29 to Highway 7 rather than collector-express)
• Highway 404 southbound from Sheppard Avenue to Highway 401 in Toronto.
• E.C. Row Expressway in Windsor between Walker Road and Central Avenue, requiring motorists traveling westbound to exit at Central if they wish to continue through to Walker. Similarly, motorists wishing to enter the eastbound expressway from Walker Road take the collector lane through to Central, and merge onto the expressway from the Central entrance ramp.
• Highway 85 (formerly Highway 86, part of Conestoga Parkway) in Waterloo Region, from the Highway 7 interchange to southwest of Lancaster Street^[5] (signed as exit to Highway 7 rather than collector-express)

In other countries

• Third Ring Road, Moscow, Russia
• A2 / N2, Eindhoven, Netherlands
• A2, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
• A12, Utrecht, Netherlands
• M60 motorway, Manchester, England
• M20 motorway, Maidstone, England
• M8 motorway, Glasgow, Scotland
• Marginal Tiete, São Paulo, Brazil
• Marginal Pinheiros, São Paulo, Brazil
• Via Rápida Poniente y Oriente, Tijuana, Mexico

See also

• collector/distributor road
• express lanes

References