Phoenix leaders recently commissioned a study to examine commuting patterns on Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street where reversible lanes are used in rush hour.
City traffic engineers also will look at the effects of those lanes on the major arterials within a mile and a half to the east and west of them.
The City Council’s decision last month came as a citizen petition that garnered 4,000 signatures demanded the removal of the reverse lanes along the two heavily trafficked corridors, commonly referred to as the Sevens.
For years, people have raised safety concerns with Phoenix’s reverse lanes, which have been used for nearly a half-century. City officials argue they are needed to mitigate traffic during peak hours.
The report, which is planned to be completed by December 2026, will study the city’s streets and the potential impacts of removing a portion of the reverse lanes, notably through the Melrose District. It’s the second time the city has studied the question in four years and follows the second resident petition in three.
After the last petition, in 2023, The Arizona Republic asked readers to let us know how they felt about the reverse lanes. In our non-scientific poll, two-thirds of readers said Phoenix should stop using reverse lanes.
We want to see if readers’ thoughts on the matter have changed since then. Let us know by answering the poll question below.
While the debate continues over whether the reverse lanes are helpful, the issue as prompted another debate within The Republic newsroom and among its readers.
Many longtime Phoenix residents use the colloquial term “suicide lanes” to describe the reverse lanes on the Sevens. But traffic engineers do not use that term; they call them reversible lanes.
Many people use “suicide lanes” to describe any center lane where cars can face each other head-on, such as on McDowell or Thomas roads.
So, which is it? What should the lanes on the Sevens be called?
We’re asking readers to help settle this dispute.
First, here’s what we know about the lanes, their definitions and how they’re meant to be used:
What are the center lanes along Phoenix’s arterial streets?
A truck on June 6, 2025, pulls out of a shop along 16th Street, near Indian School Road. Both are arterial streets that have center left turn lanes.
This is an easy question to answer, as traffic engineers in Phoenix and around the country agree on their definition and description.
They’re center two-way left turn lanes, or TWLTL, to the engineers. Simply put, they’re center turn lanes.
The lanes are marked with solid yellow lines on the outside, and inner broken yellow lines.
Drivers traveling in both directions along major streets like Indian School and McDowell roads or the Sevens can hop into the center lane to turn across traffic down a side street, or into a driveway or shops.
What are reverse lanes?
Reverse, or reversible, lanes, like the ones along Seventh Street and Seventh Avenue, are converted center turn lanes. They’re designed to expedite traffic flow during morning and afternoon rush hours, and only between McDowell Road and Dunlap Avenue on Seventh Street. On Seventh Avenue, the lane ends at Northern Avenue.
What are flex lanes? New lanes introduced on Interstate 17 to alleviate traffic congestion
On weekdays in Phoenix, those center turn lanes on the Sevens can be used as southbound through-traffic lanes for drivers heading into downtown from 6 to 9 a.m. They flip to northbound through-traffic lanes from 4 to 6 p.m. as drivers head away from downtown.
During all other times of the day, the lanes can again be used as left-hand turn lanes, just like those on Thomas Road.
Then what are ‘suicide lanes’?
Pictured is the center left turn lane off Indian School Road on June 6, 2025. On weekdays, the lane is converted to a reverse lane for through traffic, a longstanding practice in the city that has prompted safety concerns among residents.
This is the crux of the debate.
“Suicide lane” is not an official term that traffic engineers and transportation departments use. It’s hardly found in official documents and government reports.
The term is purely colloquial, and depending on who you’re talking to, it can have slightly different meanings and uses.
Here in Phoenix, many use it interchangeably with reverse lanes to denote the safety concerns and confusion associated with the lanes.
Elsewhere, “suicide lane” is the term used to describe all center turn lanes, not just those used for reverse lanes.
A study on U-turns and intersections that the North Carolina Department of Transportation commissioned noted that some people described the two-way left turn lane as a “suicide” lane.
According to Wikipedia, the term has historically been used to describe the center left turn lane, as well as center passing lanes that are sometimes found along highways.
So, who’s right?
Here’s where you, the reader, can weigh in and help settle — or fuel — the debate.
What do you call Phoenix’s reverse travel lanes? Cast your vote in the poll below.
Shawn Raymundo covers Phoenix and Scottsdale. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ‘Suicide’ or ‘reverse’ lane? What to call center lanes on the Sevens?