U-Turn Signals

[DaBigE]

So I was coming back from a trip to Mayfair today, and couldn't believe my eyes. As part of the Mayfair Rd reconstruction (WIS 100), WisDOT has installed a U-Turn signal.    With how long it took Wisconsin to legalize U-turns at signalized intersections, I thought we'd be one of the last to install such a feature. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo, nor are any Google images recent enough to show this installation. IIRC, this was the intersection with the U-turn signal installation: http://goo.gl/maps/aepbp. Surprisingly, this new tool is nowhere to be found on the WisDOT website.

Anyone noticed any other new U-Turn signal installations (since its inclusion in the 2009 MUTCD)?

[NE2]

Was it a U-turn arrow or just a boring ball (or left arrow)?

[KEK Inc.]

http://goo.gl/maps/8mnmR

Here's one in Morgan Hill, CA.


In Vancouver, there's one; however, it's just a ball on Mill Plain and 155th Ave.

[OracleUsr]

I remember in Wilmington, back in 1978, off US 17/76 (I think?) there was a U-turn signal somewhere near the NC 132 intersection, and it had a U-arrow on it.

[DaBigE]

Was it a U-turn arrow or just a boring ball (or left arrow)?

It was a LED U-turn arrow (arrowhead pointed down). The odd shape is what drew my attention (looked a bit different from what KEK posted--what I saw looked much closer to what is depicted in the 2009 MUTCD). From a distance, it looks like a ball that has had a few too many LEDs fail. There was also a sign, since there was a flashing yellow component. If I wasn't under a tight schedule, I would have gone back to snap a photo.    Maybe one of my Milwaukee area brethren could snap a pic since I don't know when I might be in the 'Tosa area next.

[Big John]

New 2009 MUTCD feature: http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part4/fig4d_01_longdesc.htm

[myosh_tino]

Here's another one in Cupertino, CA on eastbound Stevens Creek Blvd at Torre Avenue.

https://www.google.com/maps?ll=37.322982,-122.027552&spn=0.000455,0.000453&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=37.322918,-122.027591&panoid=Q6-P6wyC5K8VlspGR7NK3A&cbp=12,88.25,,2,1.83

[Eth]

I recall seeing one a couple years ago on MD 355 northbound leaving Gaithersburg.  Likely at either Travis Ave (Street View isn't clear enough to confirm) or Watkins Mill Rd (in which case it's probably gone as Watkins Mill has since been extended through the intersection).

[Mark68]

Here's another one in Cupertino, CA on eastbound Stevens Creek Blvd at Torre Avenue.

https://www.google.com/maps?ll=37.322982,-122.027552&spn=0.000455,0.000453&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=37.322918,-122.027591&panoid=Q6-P6wyC5K8VlspGR7NK3A&cbp=12,88.25,,2,1.83

I like how that is reinforced. Not just by the "U-Turn Only" sign, but the signal itself. Do the yellow and green phases look like that, too?

[myosh_tino]

Here's another one in Cupertino, CA on eastbound Stevens Creek Blvd at Torre Avenue.

https://www.google.com/maps?ll=37.322982,-122.027552&spn=0.000455,0.000453&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=37.322918,-122.027591&panoid=Q6-P6wyC5K8VlspGR7NK3A&cbp=12,88.25,,2,1.83

I like how that is reinforced. Not just by the "U-Turn Only" sign, but the signal itself. Do the yellow and green phases look like that, too?

Yep.  This signal was installed a few years ago well before the 2009 MUTCD came out.

[Ian]

Here's another u-turn signal along DE 92/Naamans Road at Ebright Road in northern Delaware. These signals, however, do not have the u-turn lenses seen in some of the previous posts. Just standard left arrow sections.

[kj3400]

There's a u-turn doghouse signal on Owings Mills Blvd (MD 940) at the connector road to Reisterstown Rd. (MD 140). Google Maps doesn't have a good view of it though.

There's also a regular u-turn signal at the northern access road to Marley Station Mall off of Ritchie Hwy (MD 2), but again, Google Maps fails to come through with a good view.

[Mark68]

I wonder if the better Google Maps view for the installation in Cupertino is because it just so happens to be at eye-level in the median, where the other ones mentioned here are for overhead installations?

[PurdueBill]

Revere Beach Parkway westbound has a U-turn only signal at Railroad St., with regular left arrows as part of the classic MDC battleship gray signal assemblies with stuff for different directions all on the same assembly. 



The straight green arrow is always on. 

The left arrows could be deceiving because Railroad is to the left but is one-way out.

I'd share the pics of the other parts of the cycle (and will on request) but the one pic may do the trick.  The one with both greens includes the u-turn only sign; the other pics crop it off or miss it completely.

[Michael]

There's several permitted U-turns along Erie Blvd. in Syracuse, and this is the only intersection I could find with U-turn signage.  None of the signals along Erie Blvd. have U-turn lenses, and this is the only intersection I could find with a U-turn sign.  All of the other intersections I looked at had a left turn only arrow, but didn't have any no U-turn signs.

[FreewayDan]

An example of a U-turn Signal along Texas State Highway 242 at Greenbridge Drive in The Woodlands (This U-Turn signal has the double red lights but has since been converted to red arrows shortly after the photo was taken):
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=the+woodlands&hl=en&ll=30.210384,-95.500309&spn=0.006481,0.013078&hnear=The+Woodlands,+Montgomery,+Texas&gl=us&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=30.210277,-95.500248&panoid=dgFVtcGATqGmHGRFIl2qEw&cbp=12,189.37,,1,-2.88

Another example in California along southbound County Road S-18 (El Toro Road) before I-5 in Lake Forest.  The U-turn lane is before S-18's intersection with Bridger Road:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=mission+viejo&hl=en&ll=33.615781,-117.706296&spn=0.002832,0.013078&sll=33.615873,-117.706444&sspn=0.012562,0.034332&gl=us&hnear=Mission+Viejo,+Orange,+California&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=33.615781,-117.706301&panoid=sv_3F3pjKHS4DJwuusf_Iw&cbp=11,243.92,,1,0.22

[Mr_Northside]

Unless my mind is playing tricks on me, I think I saw at least one U-Turn signal lens along the Coastal Highway (MD-528) in Ocean City, MD.

[M3019C LPS20]

Some U-turn signals exist here in New Jersey. I'm aware of one that's near New Brunswick. Although the traffic signal does not literally have U-turn indications. Ordinary left turn arrows are in use.

This is true for several intersections that I know of in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. They exist on Cross Bay Blvd., and when indicated to do so, a driver is allowed to either make a left or U-turn. Some intersections there do not have signs that indicate not to perform such movements.

[kphoger]

Some U-turn signals exist here in New Jersey. I'm aware of one that's near New Brunswick. Although the traffic signal does not literally have U-turn indications. Ordinary left turn arrows are in use.

This is true for several intersections that I know of in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. They exist on Cross Bay Blvd., and when indicated to do so, a driver is allowed to either make a left or U-turn. Some intersections there do not have signs that indicate not to perform such movements.

I think drivers are allowed to make a U turn on any green left arrow in many states, as long as there is no prohibitive sign.

[1995hoo]

Some U-turn signals exist here in New Jersey. I'm aware of one that's near New Brunswick. Although the traffic signal does not literally have U-turn indications. Ordinary left turn arrows are in use.

This is true for several intersections that I know of in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. They exist on Cross Bay Blvd., and when indicated to do so, a driver is allowed to either make a left or U-turn. Some intersections there do not have signs that indicate not to perform such movements.

I think drivers are allowed to make a U turn on any green left arrow in many states, as long as there is no prohibitive sign.

I know that's the law here, and I've never seen a U-turn light.

Where it becomes a problem in practice is when the U-turn brings them into conflict with people making right turns. If the people making the right turns are turning right on red, then the person turning right is supposed to yield because the presence of the green arrow trumps the normal "U-turn must yield to everyone else rule"–that is, a person going right on red still has a red light and so has to yield to everyone who has a green. A lot of people get confused and I've seen a lot of near-misses at intersections where that sort of conflict occurs–the main one being northbound Van Dorn Street at Edsall Road in Alexandria, Virginia, where a lot of people make U-turns to get to a McDonald's and a lot of the U-turners stop to yield to the right-on-red drivers. I'm always expecting to see a rear-ending there when a U-turner stops suddenly.

If both the U-turners and the right turners have green arrows, then the U-turners are supposed to yield. The off-ramp from the Capital Beltway at Van Dorn Street in Fairfax County has that scenario and it even has a sign saying "U-Turn Yield to Right Turn." Funny thing is, even though there's a sign, at that intersection the U-turners almost never yield (unlike the other intersection mentioned above, which is a mile or two north on Van Dorn).

The solution for an intersection with an unusually high incidence of U-turns might be either to ban right on red or else ban it during certain hours when the U-turns are a problem. VDOT uses "No Turn on Red 7 AM—7 PM" often enough, for example, though off the top of my head I can't think of an instance where that's posted specifically because of U-turns.

[NE2]

I've also seen "right turn on red yield to U-turn".

[agentsteel53]

isn't there one state where it's illegal to make a U-turn?  Ohio?  Wisconsin?  I don't remember.

[myosh_tino]

isn't there one state where it's illegal to make a U-turn?  Ohio?  Wisconsin?  I don't remember.

IIRC, Oregon does not allow u-turns unless there is a sign permitting it (maybe... see note below).  On a trip to Portland in 2009, I made a u-turn at an intersection and almost got broadsided by a car turning right from the intersecting street.  When I looked back, the other driver had a green right-turn arrow while I had a green left-turn arrow.  I didn't see any signs prohibiting a u-turn though.

Note: Looking at a GSV image of the intersection, there is now a no u-turn sign on the mast arm between the two left-turn signals.  I swear that sign wasn't there in 2009.

[agentsteel53]

the other driver had a green right-turn arrow while I had a green left-turn arrow.

how does one ascertain that this is the situation?  sometimes it is very tricky to note a green arrow which is 90 degrees away (mainly due to traffic light lens hoods)... if I am making a U-turn on a green left arrow, I will assume I have right of way. 

in California, I believe this situation is unambiguous: there are no green right arrows for intersections which allow a U-turn for the corresponding left movement.  if there is a No U-turn for the left, then and only then will you find a green right arrow.  to the best of my knowledge, anyway.

[PHLBOS]

Revere Beach Parkway westbound has a U-turn only signal at Railroad St., with regular left arrows as part of the classic MDC battleship gray signal assemblies with stuff for different directions all on the same assembly. 



The straight green arrow is always on. 

The left arrows could be deceiving because Railroad is to the left but is one-way out.

I'd share the pics of the other parts of the cycle (and will on request) but the one pic may do the trick.  The one with both greens includes the u-turn only sign; the other pics crop it off or miss it completely.

Actually, those signal assemblies (though not the lenses) have been around for decades (60s perhaps).  Prior to the MDC painting their signals grey circa mid-1980s, they were originally dark green.

That particular signalhead's original lens arrangement was probably:
Red Ball
Yellow Ball
Up Green Arrow
Left Green Arrow.

The lighting sequence, back then, probably went like (letters indicate lit lenses) UL, YU, RU, then back to UL.

MA 1A along the Lynnway has several of those signal set-ups for Left/U-turn movements (using/Left Arrows).  One signal, prior to the 1989 overhaul, located just before the General Edwards Bridge used to have a signal arrangement that featured an eternally-lit Upwards green arrow facing MA 1A southbounders.  The signal would only stop northbound 1A traffic (coming from the bridge) when a southbounder needed to make a u-turn in order to access the old Harbour House Hotel/Club Morgan & old Building 19-7/8 (current Wal-Mart) along northbound 1A.