The April Fool Archive

The One-Way Highway    (April Fool's Day - 1991)

The London Times announced that the Department of Transport had finalized a plan to ease congestion on the M25, the circular highway surrounding London. The capacity of the road would be doubled by making the traffic on both carriageways travel in the same direction. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the traffic would travel clockwise; while on Tuesdays and Thursdays it would travel anti-clockwise. The plan would not operate on weekends. It was said that the scheme was almost certain to meet with the cabinet's approval, despite voices of protest coming from some quarters. One of the protestors included a spokesman for Labour Transport who reportedly warned that "Many drivers already have trouble telling their left from their right." Also, a resident of Swanley, Kent was quoted as saying, "Villagers use the motorway to make shopping trips to Orpington. On some days this will be a journey of two miles, and on others a journey of 117 miles. The scheme is lunatic."

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Comments

It'd be great business for bed and breakfastes though, from people who stay overnight so they can drive home. 😊
Posted by J. Lam  on  Wed Jun 01, 2005  at  10:49 PM
What I find funny is that we eventually got one of them (in South Australia): the Souther Expressway is a one-way freeway that changes direction twice a day. 😊
Posted by Bilby  on  Sat Dec 02, 2006  at  01:43 AM
In Cincinnati we have a few roads that have three lanes. The center lane changes direction in the middle of the day. In the morning when the commuters travel to downtown on Queen City Ave. there are two lanes headed east and one west. Later when the commuters are going home there are two westbound lanes.
Posted by Trollicus  on  Mon Apr 02, 2007  at  06:57 PM
So what happens if you're traveling on the road when it happens to change direction? Say you're 5 miles from where you need to be? Unlucky! Turn around! LOL
Posted by Genasai  on  Wed Dec 05, 2007  at  11:25 PM