Quote:
Originally Posted by Godzilla
The shadows suggest these images are from the late afternoon and that this might have been the start of the evening commute. Surprising that in '39 this area was so prone to rush hour congestion that it warranted traffic redirection. The far left eastbound lane is being used for westbound traffic. Were there that many motorists who commuted from West LA and Santa Monica to Downtown? What's next, bus only and hov lanes?
Source notes refer to this as "Suicide lane." Noticed this in other Wilshire photos at Western. I wonder if this was a Wilshire phenomenon or whether other main streets (without Streetcars) had traffic lanes that changed direction at different times of the day.
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You made me remember the hydraulic, pop-up lane dividers on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. They divided the eight-lane road into six lanes & two, north or south, depending on the rush hour, morning or evening. I think they existed from after the war until about the late 70's when they were abandoned in favor of hand-dropping traffic cones from slow-moving trucks. The automated dividers were a good enough idea in that "progress"-minded era, but when they failed, as they did on occasion, it was disastrous.
I'm amazed LA was doing the same thing with no markers at all. No wonder it was called the "Suicide Lane".