While traveling in Kentucky last year, I encountered a road construction phenomenon I haven’t seen often, if at all. While a rural interstate was being expanded to three lanes in each direction, an on-site detour had one lane of traffic move across the median while the other remained on the correct side. This split the lanes of travel (and in one case, meant no exit) but maintained two lanes in each direction. This is different than how it usually goes in Iowa; we get one-lane head-to-head traffic on one side while the other roadbed is torn up.
The split-lane method is going to be used in Cedar Rapids this summer. Bridges for I-380 are going to get an overlay, the Gazette reports, and that means some shuffling is needed to maintain three lanes in each direction. The southbound bridge will have four lanes squeezed on it, three southbound and one northbound. The reverse will happen next year.