Reversible Lanes

Your editorial, “Go With the Flow” (May 29), mentions that reversible lanes have been in use for more than 30 years. The Times’ memory does not go back far enough. They were used here in Los Angeles much longer ago than that. Perhaps Los Angeles was the first to introduce this feature in helping move traffic during rush hour.

I saw the cones in place on Olympic Boulevard in July 1951. They were used to shift the two middle lanes to favor the direction of rush hour traffic both morning and evening. I took advantage of the extra eastbound lane on the morning of July 5, 1951, when I was leaving West L.A. after a tour of duty during the Korean War. It made a big improvement in the traffic flow.

HENRY M. BISSELL

Los Angleles