As part of my daily driving experience I often find that the big road that I’m on becomes a much smaller road as we drop lanes as we go. I have also noticed several places where as many as eight lanes have to rapidily squeeze into two lanes, and then down to one lane. There are a few places around Valencia where for sheer entertainment you could go and watch the action at these spots.
I’m not talking about Formula 1, this is everyday driving I’m talking about. You really have to be on your toes because things change quickly. The newspaper recently reported on the completion of a tunnel for a major exit from the city of Valencia that has taken years to complete. At its opening we now find that what these folks have been doing all this time is the following:
They have built a four-lane highway underground to channel traffic out of the city heading north. However, just as the traffic exits the tunnel three of those lanes come to an abrupt halt. To make matters worse there are no markings warning motorists that they will have to merge to the left. Meanwhile, traffic above ground have another four lanes on the right, three of which will merge with the four coming out from the tunnel. Confused? What a nightmare this is!
We assume, wrongly it seems, that designers of our motorways know what they are doing. We should have gotten wise by now with some of the things that they have given us to contend with.
I will make it a point to give this area a wide berth. I don’t need to fall in with the unfortunates who find themselves in that mess.
What’s the name of this place? I really don’t know, except the word “Folly” should be part of it.
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
