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The funniest express lane sign I've seen is at the entrance to northbound 101 from San Antonio Road in Mountain View. When I drove by, it read (paraphrased) "To
by Stratoscope 5y ago
The funniest express lane sign I've seen is at the entrance to northbound 101 from San Antonio Road in Mountain View. When I drove by, it read (paraphrased) "Toll to Embarcadero: $1.30".
Embarcadero Road (and Oregon Expressway) is the very next exit. The San Antonio entrance puts you directly onto the exit-only lane for Embarcadero/Oregon. This lane is 1.2 miles from entrance to exit, and it's rarely backed up even if the rest of the freeway is, as there is no stoplight after you get off the freeway.
So most rational drivers making that short trip just stay in the exit-only lane.
But now the sign tells me I can use the express lane for $1.30! What a deal. In the space of 1.2 miles, I can cut across four lanes of traffic to get to the express lane, and then cut back across four lanes again to barely make the exit.
This will make me a popular driver, won't it?
- jedberg 5y agoThat sign isn't for you, it's for the people already in the lane to know how much the next section costs.
- Stratoscope 5y agoThis isn't one of those big overhead signs above the express lanes, it's a little sign at eye level to the right of the onramp, before you get onto the freeway. It's only visible to drivers entering the freeway from San Antonio. That's what made it so funny: it listed the one toll trip you would never take from there. I think I recall that "Embarcadero" was in the display and not painted on, so they could fix it to give a more practical destination.