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The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 11, 2003; 3:42 PM

Passionate kisses may be good for body and soul, but not for commuters stuck behind couples taking their time to kiss each other goodbye.

So many doctors, nurses and patients spent so long kissing their loved ones goodbye before getting out of their cars in front of St. Olav's Hospital in Trondheim that city officials decided to build a separate "kiss-n-ride" lane to ease traffic congestion.

"I have to say that I have had some help from some creative ladies in the office to come up with this," Terje Fiksdal, the project manager for the new lane, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

He said many people were lingering for one last kiss for minutes, causing traffic to back up in front of the city hospital.

The four-lane road in front of the hospital is a major artery for traffic in and out of Trondheim, 310 miles north of the capital, Oslo.

The new lane is expected to be built this spring and will go in front of the hospital. The cost was unavailable.

"I might use the lane sometimes, but I won't use it for making out," Marit Onstad Roed, a hospital nurse, said.