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Secrets of the slow lane

Heymatt:

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How come during rush hour the slow lanes are faster than the fast lanes?

-- Y.F., the net

First of all, because the fast lane is fast in name only. In a finely tuned gridlock, the number one lane is no more fun than any other. But through some goofy faith, people often figure if they're in the number one lane, eventually they'll be speeding along. The secret to the "slow" lane is to find a stretch of freeway where there are more exiting cars than entering. The more cars that leave the freeway, the more room you have to zoom. This generally happens during 5:00 traffic on a stretch of road going through principally residential zones, where you're not picking up an equal amount of leaving-the-office traffic to compensate for the homeward bound bailing off the f'way. Reverse is true for morning traffic. This theory would work all the time if it weren't for the acres of Caltrans construction and pointless exit-onlys (West Bernardo/Pomerado Road? What's up with that?) and "Lane ends, merge left"s. Just when you think you've got it figured out, somebody throws a few miles of K rail in your way and you're back tying to psych out the road builders.

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Heymatt:

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How come during rush hour the slow lanes are faster than the fast lanes?

-- Y.F., the net

First of all, because the fast lane is fast in name only. In a finely tuned gridlock, the number one lane is no more fun than any other. But through some goofy faith, people often figure if they're in the number one lane, eventually they'll be speeding along. The secret to the "slow" lane is to find a stretch of freeway where there are more exiting cars than entering. The more cars that leave the freeway, the more room you have to zoom. This generally happens during 5:00 traffic on a stretch of road going through principally residential zones, where you're not picking up an equal amount of leaving-the-office traffic to compensate for the homeward bound bailing off the f'way. Reverse is true for morning traffic. This theory would work all the time if it weren't for the acres of Caltrans construction and pointless exit-onlys (West Bernardo/Pomerado Road? What's up with that?) and "Lane ends, merge left"s. Just when you think you've got it figured out, somebody throws a few miles of K rail in your way and you're back tying to psych out the road builders.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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