34: 183 at 360

Linking to anchors currently broken, so you'll have to scroll to see the medium version of the picture you clicked on.

Southbound US 183 frontage at Loop 360

Closer to the actual intersection (notice small "shoulder")

This is the one spot on the way home where I seem to play loose with a traffic law. The SB frontage road has 3 lanes. The exit off of US 183 is fairly close to the intersection into the leftmost lane of the frontage road. The left lane must turn left at the light; the center lane can go left or straight; and the right lane must turn right.

The center lane ends up backing up well past the parking lot entrance - it is impossible to get into the center lane at this spot, but if you leave on a bike from the upstream entrance you must worry about the exiting traffic off of 183 which usually makes a sharp cut to the right, across the lane you're trying to travel in.

However, in this one instance TXDOT's relegation of cyclists to second-class status actually proves useful! Precedent shows that on TXDOT facilities they expect cyclists to use the paved shoulder, and the right-turn lane when the paved shoulder does not exist. (Travel along Loop 360 some time to view this). Therefore, I can legally travel in the right turn lane until the little mini-shoulder starts (see second picture), and then ride alongside the line of cars to the front of the line. This is important because the cycle time at this intersection only allows about ten cars through from this lane.

This feels pretty squirrely, but it's an absolute necessity because of the way this intersection was designed (and the city streets it displaced).