Climbing lane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Climbing lanes are lanes typically used on Interstate Highways. They allow slower travel for large vehicles, such as semis, up a steep grade. Since heading uphill is difficult for these types of vehicles, they can travel in the climbing lane without slowing down traffic behind them.
On major routes, such as motorways in the UK, the climbing lane is also referred to as a Crawler Lane.[1]
Due to the bi-directional use of the central lane in many cases, and the risk of head-on collisions due to this, they are sometimes referred to as "suicide lanes". In some cases to reduce the risk, no overtaking will be allowed when going downhill, but of course this requires compliance to work.
A good example of a climbing lane is in Telephone Canyon (also known as Evans Pass), southeast of Laramie, Wyoming. As I-80 climbs through the Laramie Mountains (via Telephone Canyon/Evans Pass) to the top of the Sherman Summit in the Sherman Mountains, it can be very difficult for semis and such. That's why a third lane, that of a climbing lane, reserved for large trucks, was built.
