ALSANCAK COASTAL ROAD – NARROW RESIDENTIAL EXIT GAP MISJUDGMENT AT DUSK

Not all Alsancak discharge comes from steep connectors. Several narrow residential exits feed directly into the Alsancak Coastal Road with minimal throat width and limited sight depth.

The misjudgment forms in low-contrast light.

Time pattern: 17:45–19:00 in winter months. Secondary window: 20 minutes before full sunset in summer.

At dusk, the coastal corridor enters visual transition. Daylight fades, but full night illumination has not yet stabilized perception. Headlights begin to dominate contrast. Road surface tones flatten.

A typical sequence unfolds:

Vehicle A waits at a narrow residential exit facing the coastal axis.
Driver checks right and left. The field of view is partially constrained by parked vehicles or boundary walls.
An approaching westbound vehicle is visible, but its speed is difficult to gauge due to low contrast and headlight glare.
Vehicle A commits to merge based on perceived adequate gap.

The closing distance is shorter than estimated.

Unlike steep inland connectors, this exposure is not driven by gravity. It is driven by visual compression. At dusk, vehicles appear slightly farther away than they are, especially when headlights are the primary visible reference.

Alsancak’s frontage density amplifies the effect. Boundary walls, signage, and parked cars reduce peripheral depth cues. Narrow exit geometry requires sharper steering input during merge, extending the time required to fully align with coastal flow.

Historically, as apartment density increased along the inland side of the corridor through the 2010s, additional small access points were introduced without expanded sight triangles. The corridor remained visually open, but micro-visibility at exits tightened.

Evening retail lighting further complicates perception. Illuminated signage competes with vehicle headlamps, flattening contrast. Drivers inside residential exits often focus on the nearest visible vehicle, not on the second vehicle approaching at slightly higher speed behind it.

The structural seam is clear:

Low-contrast dusk conditions
Narrow residential throat
Limited sight depth
Speed misinterpretation

The risk is not impatience. It is visual underestimation.

At dusk, Alsancak Coastal Road becomes a corridor where distance feels longer than it is. The merge window appears stable.

It is shorter than it looks.