The “Flex Lanes” concept allows to improve traffic fluidity in a given direction thanks to a reversible traffic lane which adds an additional lane when necessary, without modifications to the existing infrastructure.
Being formed of a single tube, the GM tunnel use 4 opposing traffic lanes (2/2) which serves a large flow of inbound and outbound traffic to and from Vancouver’s downtown area during peak hours.
In 1997, the City mandated Interprovincial Traffic Services (ITS), a company based in British Columbia specializing in road optimization, to find a solution to relieve traffic in the George Massey tunnel.
ITS suggest and implements a central reversible lane strategy (3/1 ; 2/2; 1/3) equiped with a series of pivoting barriers witch will dedicate three lanes to northbound traffic (towards the city center of Vancouver) in the morning, and southbound in the evening.
ITS also calls on Orange Trafic for the installation of lane control signs located on the approaches and inside the tunnel to serve as reference and to ensure safety and fluidity.
Conclusive results
Tunnel traffic has been greatly improved since the implementation of this strategy, so much so that in 2010, all the control panels were replaced and others added in order to optimize this strategy.
Again this year, and for the third time, ITS calls upon the expertise of Orange Traffic for modernization and installation of 180 new control panels, as well as four LED lane control signs which signal closing and opening of the tunnel.
In addition to being an effective traffic management solution, these blank-out signs require little to no maintenance. When necessary, closing the lanes is no longer a requirement since the control boxes can be deported alongside the road this allowing technicians to access the control modules quickly and safely, without hindering tunnel traffic.
The reversible lane solution is a fully customizable system tailor-made for the needs of your road network. Contact one of our representatives to find out about all the possibilities. We’re available to discuss these and other solutions that will help help you implement solutions that meet the needs of your customers.
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info@orangetraffic.com
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