left turn right turn lanes

[Mergingtraffic]

How is your state with left turn or right turn lanes?

Here is Connecticut, the shared center left turn lane is rarely used and we have major intersections that don't have left-turn lanes.  On one of the state's boulevards (CT34) , the DOT added left turn lanes on the side street (CT114) but neglected to add right turn lanes for the intersection (CT34 already had left turn lanes) thus putting you at risk when you slow down to make a right turn from getting hit from behind.  It seems to me many other states would have also added right turn lanes as well.

We have a lot of four lane roads with lots of shopping centers but no left turn lanes.  Although, the state has gotten better on adding them when new projects come up but not as much as you would think.

For example, the state is widening US7 to 4 lanes in several places, one of the places it is being widened is in Wilton, where there are shops and side streets but hardly any left-turn lanes.  And, this is suppposed to be a compromise for the long stalled US7 Expressway.  You would think, they would've designed it with LT lanes for better traffic flow.

Is CT alone in this?  Or is your state also bad with adding LT or RT lanes?
Don't get me wrong, CT has a few good places with ample turn lanes but it seems liek pulling teeth to get turn lanes in other places of the state.

[Hellfighter]

In Michigan this is how it goes...

Left turn lane...



Michigan U-Turn

[UptownRoadGeek]

In the N.O. area......

-The center turn lane is all but unheard of.
-People get excited when they can turn left at an intersection or if there is a left turn lane.
-Most intersections require you to keep straight, U-turn, then right or turn right, then U-turn.
-In the suburbs you get the option of U-Turn Only and Left Turn only (after the intersection) lanes. In the city you aren't so lucky.
-The few left turn lanes that exist are usually channelized and well seperated from regular traffic.
-When U-Turning or turning left on a street where the pavement isn't shared with a streetcar then the streetcar has the right of way. If the streetcar shares pavement with you then it has to stop.
-At the intersections where you can turn left but there is no turn lane you can easily end up stopped at 3 different traffic lights because all of the intersections are blocked. You stop at the first light, when it turns green you turn left onto the cross street and have to stop because if the first light is green then the light on the cross street is red.
-Left turning traffic usually wraps around the entire intersection and blocks the street, but because of the light synchronization they empty out before it becomes a problem.
-If you wish to turn right at a red light but the car in front of you is going straight it is legal to go around the right side of the car, yield, then turn right.

The rest of the state is the exact opposite.

[roadfro]

Left turn lanes are plentiful in many areas of Nevada.  In the Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City areas, it's rare to be at a signalized intersection without at least one left turn lane.  Whether the left turn lane is formed by paint or raised concrete medians depends on the street.  Double left turn lanes are common as well.  Actually, there are several places in Las Vegas (many on the Las Vegas Strip) with triple left turns. 

Right turn lanes are becoming more popular in Nevada.  Agencies are often requiring developers to leave space for separate right turn lanes near major intersections.  Some places with heavy right turns (often on freeway ramps or around the Strip) feature dual right turn lanes which are signalized with no right turn on red.

In rural areas, NDOT is good about adding left turn or right turn lanes where there are high turn volumes, so as not to impede the flow of highway traffic.  More of these are installed as highways are refurbished or evaluated for safety upgrades.  These turn lanes are often accompanied by acceleration lanes for side street traffic to merge into the highway traffic.

[thenetwork]

Northern Ohio, in general, is extremely stingy on right turn lanes, mainly because in most areas, the abutting properties were built closer to the road when traffic in the day was not an issue.

In some places there is a "minimal" right turn lane that brances off from the mainline right lane, but in most cases if there are 2 or 3 cars stopped at a red light in the right lane, the turn lane is completely blocked.

Out in Western Colorado, not only are they generous with adding right turn lanes well in advance of the intersection whenever possible, but they will install a a 5-section light for that lane with green arrows (usually on the vertical pole above the crosswalk lights) to try to reduce the number of people who come to a complete stop even though they are safe to turn right on a mainline red.

Unfortunately, most of those "dumb as a box of rocks" drivers don't watch the particular light representing the right turn lane but will watch the main overhead lights instead, and will sit there even though the right green arrow is blazing away and horns are blaring. 

[rawmustard]

Northern Ohio, in general, is extremely stingy on right turn lanes, mainly because in most areas, the abutting properties were built closer to the road when traffic in the day was not an issue.

Heck, much of the more recently built expressway sections of U.S. 30 don't include dedicated right-turn lanes, although it does have plenty of long left-turn lanes because of the inherent danger of decelerating in a passing lane.

[froggie]

-The center turn lane is all but unheard of.

Except in St. Tammany Parish...numerous examples in Mandeville and Slidell...


Center left turn lanes are not very common in Minnesota.  At both the MnDOT and the county/municipal level, Minnesota tends to go with a divided route section with a median strip on its 4-lane roads instead of the CTWLTL (continuous two way left turn lane).

Right turn lanes are fairly common in Minnesota as well...both on the 4-lane roads and also on several 2-lane roads.


Mississippi is almost the complete opposite.  CTWLTLs are VERY common in Mississippi, though the rural 4-lane corridors tend to be divided highway with left turn lanes.  Not very many right turn lanes though...instead, MDOT often uses a tapered "free-right".

Older 4-lane roads in Virginia and North Carolina tend to lack turn lanes of any sort, though left turn lanes have occasionally been retrofitted in at select intersections.  Newer (since roughly the mid-60s) 4-lane highways in Virginia have included left turn lanes, and many...especially in suburban areas...also have right turn lanes.

[Bryant5493]

Double left turn lanes are plentiful here in Metro Atlanta -- many of the places that I've driven in Georgia.

Right turn-only lanes are plentiful. There could be more. Sometimes, right-of-way is an issue.


Be well,

Bryant

[florida]

Here, center-shared turn lanes are common where the road has not been widened or had a median installed. Double left-turn lanes are common in urban areas or on multi-lane arterial roads. Right-turn lanes are not as common, usually an intersection only has one or two (counting each direction). However, there are triple left turn lanes down in West Palm Beach....bizarre.