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A super two, super two-lane highway or wide two-lane is a two-lane surface road built to highway standards with wide lanes and other safety features normally present on a freeway with more lanes, typically including occasional passing lanes and hard shoulders. It is often built for eventual conversion to divided highway status once traffic volumes rise.
 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Ireland, Texas, and Ontario and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (February 2024) |
In the Republic of Ireland, the term wide two-lane is used by the National Roads Authority.[1] In policy documents, the designation WS2 is used,[2] which is also used in the UK for a wide single carriageway.
Wide two-lane roads are common on national roads, both on less important but medium-capacity routes, and on more important routes not yet upgraded to dual carriageway or motorway. Wide two-lane roads in the Irish Republic generally have hard shoulders and are undivided single carriageway. Grade separation of junctions has been used in some instances—for example, the N20 bypassing Croom. Most wide two-lane roads are wide enough that a vehicle may overtake another without crossing the center line if the vehicle in front pulls into the hard shoulder (the carriageway including hard shoulders is 15–17 meters wide[3]).
Many future Irish road schemes will use 2+1 roads or 2+2 roads,[1] as opposed to wide two-lane, which may better suit lower capacities than does 2+1.[4] Wide two-lane, if finished to high quality with grade separated interchanges, has been shown to lead drivers into a false sense of security (from the apparently high speed road) and more dangerous driving (because the carriageways are not separated).[5]
In Texas, a two-lane highway that has an alternating passing lane is called a Super 2, but it is actually a 2+1 road.[6]
The Southwest Bypass of Sudbury, in the Province of Ontario is currently at Super 2 standards. There is one interchange and four at-grade, unsignalized intersections along an 11.3 km stretch of 2-lane highway; between being divided at interchanges on either end.[7] While plans have existed since the 1967 "Planning Study for the Sudbury Southwest By-Pass", there is currently not funding in place to twin the bypass to a full 4-lane expressway.[8]
In the Province of Nova Scotia the parts of Highway 101, Highway 103, and Highway 104 that are not already four-lane, controlled access, highways employ a Super 2 configuration. As funding becomes available, the Super 2 portions of the highways are being twinned.[9]
In the Province of Quebec, part of Autoroute 50, between Buckingham and Lachute is built as a Super 2. As funding becomes available, the Super 2 portions of the highways are being twinned[10] In addition, Autoroute 55 south of Bécancour employs a Super 2 format.
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