PORTLAND, Ore. — Drivers heading into Portland on US-26 have to choose one of three exits as they approach the end of the Sunset Highway. The left lane goes to Interstate 405 north, the right goes to I-405 south, and the center will deposit them on Market Street in downtown Portland.
The highway passes through the Vista Ridge Tunnel just before the lanes split up, and drivers are supposed to choose their lane before they enter the tunnel. But it's all too common to see cars make last-second lane switches, a dangerous and illegal maneuver and the subject of this week's Driving Me Crazy.
The twin tunnels date back to 1970 and their 11-foot lanes are slightly narrower than standard freeway lanes. They're also extremely busy — the eastbound tunnel carries just over 66,000 vehicles a day.
Those dangerous factors prompted the Oregon Department of Transportation to ban lane changes inside and around the eastbound tunnel about a decade ago, as indicated by the double solid white lines between the lanes and the warning signs on the approach.
"The tunnel is still a dangerous place," said ODOT spokesman Don Hamilton. "Over the last ten years, we’ve had 389 crashes in the Vista Ridge Tunnel."
And those only represent the crashes that ODOT is made aware of. Drivers involved in simple fender-benders often just pull over, quickly exchange information then and get back on their way, as required by Oregon's Move-It Law.
"That’s a lot of crashes, most of these are rear-ender crashes," Hamilton said.
The problem is the majority of those 66,000 daily vehicles tend to line up in the left or right lanes to exit onto I-405. That lineup often starts around the Oregon Zoo exit two miles up the road from the tunnel, even when traffic is relatively smooth.
As a result, the middle lane toward downtown regularly moves much faster, inviting drivers to bypass the backup and then make a last-second change.
"It's aggravating and sometimes dangerous driving through there because there are people that stop, right in the middle of the tunnel, to move into one of the other lanes," said Duane Medley, who drives through the tunnel several times a week.
Even drivers who are doing the right thing wind up getting penalized by the ones who choose to break the law.
"There are times where, hey, if I don’t stop, this guy is gonna cut in front of me — and he does — so I'm already in the lane, if I don't stop, I'm going to have an accident, and I'm going be the one behind so I'll be the one at fault," Medley said.
Drivers can be cited for failure to obey a traffic control device, according to the Portland Police Bureau. It's a Class B violation, carrying a presumptive fine of $265.
However, ODOT said the last time the tunnel area was targeted for enforcement or education was a decade ago, when the double white lines were painted.
I do the Driving Me Crazy feature as a generally — but not always — lighthearted take on things that drive people nuts on area roadways. Most of us can relate, and most of these topics are your ideas. What drives you crazy? Post your videos and pictures on my Facebook page, on Twitter, or if you're just anti-social you can email me cmcginness@kgw.com.