This simple road design solution is proven to reduce your travel time (and save lives) – Jalopnik

When you read the headline, you probably thought we’d be talking about roundabouts, right? Roundabouts are slowly making their way into intersections across the US, much to the ire of many drivers. But roundabouts are old news. The new heat in the world of intersections and civil engineering is called an RCUT, also known as a J-turn or superstreet.

RCUT stands for Restricted Crossing U-Turn. These intersections force drivers turning left to make U-turns. That may seem counterintuitive when it comes to making roads safer – that was certainly the case for us before we did the research. But RCUT intersections reduce so-called “vehicle conflict points” – places at an intersection where cars can collide – by half.

How do they work? They are usually placed where side roads and busy roads meet. Motorists entering a main road from a side road must turn right to get onto that road. What if you need to go straight or turn left? Once you get to the main road, there is a dedicated lane that leads to an opening for a U-turn further down the street. After making the U-turn, you can turn right and continue on the side road, or continue if you originally had to turn left. This also reduces the number of traffic lights and the time drivers spend waiting for lights to change, saving everyone time.

Still not convinced that RCUT intersections can reduce crashes? The statistics speak for themselves. The U.S. Department of Transportation has studied the effects of installing RCUT intersections in five states. This showed that the total number of accidents fell by 15% and the number of injury accidents by 22%.

In 2021, Faunsdale, Alabama installed an RCUT intersection at US 80 and State Route 25. The results were dramatic. Overall, the number of accidents fell by 75%, while serious accidents fell by as much as 99%. Perhaps the most important result is that the number of fatal accidents has fallen to zero.

Other places have produced similar results. Nebraska converted the intersection of US 81 and Nebraska 91 to an RCUT in 2021, and saw a 54% drop in crashes and a 96% drop in injuries and deaths in 2023. North Carolina reports crashes have fallen between 27% and 74% at 13 rural intersections converted to RCUTs. Maryland saw a 44% drop in crashes at RCUT intersections, while Missouri saw a 54% drop in crashes resulting in injuries and a 35% drop in total crashes. (Of course, a great way to prevent traffic fatalities is to change our behavior, but no one wants that.)

What about the time savings for commuters? The Federal Highway Administration says converting conventional intersections to RCUTs can increase traffic flow by 30% and reduce travel time at intersections by 40%. For example, San Antonio, Texas found that implementing RCUTs along US 281 reduced northbound travel time in one section during the evening rush hour from 19.2 to 12.7 minutes, while increasing average speed from 30 to 46 km/h.

Why do these intersections produce these results? Fewer traffic lights. The lights of the main roads stay green longer. And because travelers only turn right from the side roads, they are sometimes allowed to turn on red.

Here’s a good look – fun for our fellow Americans, anyway. We love roundabouts. There we said it, and we don’t care who knows it. That’s not exactly a popular view in the US, although opinions within a community tend to become more favorable after a roundabout is built. Roundabouts are so easy in our opinion (even if they sometimes confuse Waymo Robotaxis). You don’t have to wait in a long line of cars for the light to turn green, hoping to get to the intersection before it turns red again. There are no four-way navigation stops where you try to remember from the driver information who has priority. You don’t even have to stop if no one comes.

So why would a city, county or state install an RCUT instead? These intersections are actually made for two different types of intersections. Roundabouts are best suited for intersections where two or more similar streets meet. In other words, they’re great for intersections of two busy roads or two side streets, and not so great when a small side street meets a major thoroughfare.

RCUTS, on the other hand, are intended for intersections where small side streets with little traffic meet main roads with heavy traffic. They are designed to reduce the time drivers spend at traffic lights by forcing motorists from side streets to use right turns onto main roads. They don’t work as well at intersections with a lot of left-turning traffic from the side road.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for every intersection. But whether it’s RCUTs or roundabouts, saving lives and shortening our commutes are good things.