Restricted Crossing U-Turn Intersection: [techbrief]

Today's transportation professionals, with limited resources available to them, are challenged to meet the mobility needs of an increasing population. At many highway junctions, congestion continues to worsen, and drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists experience increasing delays and heightened exposure to risk. Today's traffic volumes and travel demands often lead to safety problems that are too complex for conventional junction designs to properly handle. Consequently, more engineers are considering various innovative treatments as they seek solutions to these complex problems.\n\nThe corresponding report, "Alternative Intersections/Interchanges: Informational Report (AIIR)" (FHWA-HRT-09-060), covers four intersection designs and two interchange designs. These designs offer substantial advantages over conventional at-grade intersections and grade-separated diamond interchanges. The AIIR provides information on each alternative treatment and covers salient geometric design features, operational and safety issues, access management, costs, construction sequencing, and applicability. This TechBrief summarizes information on one alternative intersection design-the restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) intersection (see figure 1).\n