I'm going to call the project office for a reconstruction project near my house when I get a chance, but just for fun I thought I'd toss this out for opinions...
If there is a sign over a highway lane that says "Exit Only", when in fact the lane continues beyond the Exit, can a driver legally drive in that lane without exiting?
Here's the full story:
Last year, when they repaved the last few miles of a 2 lane highway near my house, they decided to reduce it to 1 lane by painting white diagonal stripes in the right lane just beyond the last "real" exit (Exit 10). Beyond Exit 10, there are a few signaled intersections over a 2 mile stretch before the highway ends.
They also hung Exit Only signs on the 2 signs for Exit 10 so through-traffic had to move into the left lane before Exit 10 to avoid driving in the now-closed right lane.
For reasons too numerous to detail in this post, they repaved the road this summer, removing the white stripes and opening up the right hand lane again. Suffice it to say that there were many complaints submitted to the highway department and to the town about the new traffic pattern and the closing of the right lane.
However, even though they opened the right lane, they left the Exit Only signs on the signs for Exit 10. Those of us who live in the area know that the lane isn't really the typical Exit Only lane where drivers actually end up on the exit ramp. We know that the lane continues north for a few more miles.
So, back to my question:
If drivers ignore the Exit Only sign and continue driving in the (now open) right lane, can they be ticketed for doing that? Is an Exit Only sign something that has to be obeyed, like a stop sign, or is it just an "informational" sign as a warning to drivers?
I have to admit that in all my years of driving I've never seen an Exit Only sign where an open lane actually continued beyond the Exit so I think we're in uncharted territory here.