T_R_Oglodyte
TUG Lifetime Member
Like most gringos driving on Mexican arterials, I was initially disoriented by the concept of exiting a road on the right side to make a left turn. (For those who are unfamiliar with this concept, most arterial streets in Mexico do not permit left turns across traffic. To make a left turn you exit the road on the right side and travel on a sort of frontage road to the next intersection. At that intersection you make a left turn onto the road, then proceed straight across the arterial road.)
After I became familiar with that process, I immediately liked it. It's a much safer approach and it keeps traffic moving on the arterial road much more smoothly.
And now a variation of that same concept is gaining popularity in the US. Dubbed a "superstreet", a common design does not any left turns at an intersection. Instead, if you want to make a left turn you proceed through the intersection to another stop sign, where you make a U-turn. After the U-Turn you head back to the main intersection, where you make a right turn on the roadway.
Another variation involves allowing left turns only from the arterial roadway. If you are on the secondary roadway and want to proceed left on the arterial you turn right on the arterial road then go to a U-turn stoplight. That design is illustrated in a video here: How Superstreets Work.
It sounds complicated and there is an initial disorientation factor, but several have been built in the Chapel Hill, and the NC Department of Transportation believes that, even with driver confusion, the redesigned intersections are reducing backups on congested roadways where they have been constructed. Even though there are more stoplights, the redesign increases increases the amount of time a driver on the arterial encounters a red light at the intersection. Plus the accident risks at the intersection are less.
I suppose another benefit is that when people from Chapel Hill operate a vehicle in Mexico, Mexican left turns won't seem so strange!!!
After I became familiar with that process, I immediately liked it. It's a much safer approach and it keeps traffic moving on the arterial road much more smoothly.
And now a variation of that same concept is gaining popularity in the US. Dubbed a "superstreet", a common design does not any left turns at an intersection. Instead, if you want to make a left turn you proceed through the intersection to another stop sign, where you make a U-turn. After the U-Turn you head back to the main intersection, where you make a right turn on the roadway.
Another variation involves allowing left turns only from the arterial roadway. If you are on the secondary roadway and want to proceed left on the arterial you turn right on the arterial road then go to a U-turn stoplight. That design is illustrated in a video here: How Superstreets Work.
It sounds complicated and there is an initial disorientation factor, but several have been built in the Chapel Hill, and the NC Department of Transportation believes that, even with driver confusion, the redesigned intersections are reducing backups on congested roadways where they have been constructed. Even though there are more stoplights, the redesign increases increases the amount of time a driver on the arterial encounters a red light at the intersection. Plus the accident risks at the intersection are less.
I suppose another benefit is that when people from Chapel Hill operate a vehicle in Mexico, Mexican left turns won't seem so strange!!!
