Ron, we've disagreed about use of the breakdown lane before and we'll have to continue to disagree.
I understand not wanting to solve every problem with more pavement. And sometimes congestion isn't such a bad thing from an urban planning standpoint, so maybe that was the better solution.
But rush hour use of the breakdown lane is scary. You need to remember this is a through road used by lots of people who aren't familiar with the local disregard for interstate highway specifications and thus aren't prepared to encounter crazed commuters doing 80 mph on the shoulder (which happens regularly). If one of those drivers misses a bit of unexpected signage on the fringes of rush hour when the traffic isn't totally bumper-to-bumper and you have the makings of a disaster.
If you haven't seen some crashes and frightening near misses, you don't drive this stretch very often. Mom and Dad and the kids, driving back to Maine, decide to exit for a bite or some gas ... or, getting back on, the minivan prepares for what the driver assumes will be a normal merge ...
