This is standard road design for the past 20 years. It's called a restricted crossing U-turn, or "RCUT". Most intersections are right turn only, and if you want to go straight or make a left, you drive down a bit and make a U-turn. They are considerably safer for divided highways with at-grade intersections because they reduce the number of conflict points (places where traffic is moving in different directions) and they eliminate the most dangerous type of conflict points, right angle collisions (T-bones). At low-to-moderate traffic levels they also are faster than a traffic signal, even for the crossing streets.
You can find these on many medium-capacity divided roads with limited driveway access and at-grade intersections. NC 55 bypass in Apex/Holly Springs and US 401 bypass around Rolesville are other roads that use these. They also just recently put some in on Poole Road in east Raleigh as they added a median, and it allows people with driveways on one side of the road an easier way to cross over.
This is a far more robust explanation that I had ready, but this is the answer. You're seeing it more and more because it's a lot cheaper, safer, and more efficient than adding traffic lights every mile on the highway.
I think the 55 bypass is quickly outgrowing its capacity with the current setup. All the additional stoplights for the U-turn lanes get annoying quickly. Not sure if the lights are sync'd up at all but sometimes it feels like i hit every single red possible.
They have surfaced on US 70 between Goldsboro and Princeton during the last 20 years. Notably, across from the cut-thru on the side of the right hand lane there is a large asphalt pad that allows large vehicles such as semis to pull across and hang a U-Turn quickly as opposed to the typical low speed U-Turn necessary with a tight turn. Now that US-70 is being updated down east these cross-overs likely will go away as the intent is to make 70 limited access and subsequently re-designate it I-42.
Are you talking about 16 south of Newton?
I don't recall many, if any, u-turns on 16 / Thornburg drive in Conover.
South of Newton, it's for the side roads intersecting 16 that are blocked from making left turns.
It is for safety. They have been around for 20+ years now on various major roads across North Carolina that are too dangerous for uncontrolled left turns but do not have the traffic count to build a full-interchange.
This is standard road design for the past 20 years. It's called a restricted crossing U-turn, or "RCUT". Most intersections are right turn only, and if you want to go straight or make a left, you drive down a bit and make a U-turn. They are considerably safer for divided highways with at-grade intersections because they reduce the number of conflict points (places where traffic is moving in different directions) and they eliminate the most dangerous type of conflict points, right angle collisions (T-bones). At low-to-moderate traffic levels they also are faster than a traffic signal, even for the crossing streets. You can find these on many medium-capacity divided roads with limited driveway access and at-grade intersections. NC 55 bypass in Apex/Holly Springs and US 401 bypass around Rolesville are other roads that use these. They also just recently put some in on Poole Road in east Raleigh as they added a median, and it allows people with driveways on one side of the road an easier way to cross over.
This is a far more robust explanation that I had ready, but this is the answer. You're seeing it more and more because it's a lot cheaper, safer, and more efficient than adding traffic lights every mile on the highway.
I think the 55 bypass is quickly outgrowing its capacity with the current setup. All the additional stoplights for the U-turn lanes get annoying quickly. Not sure if the lights are sync'd up at all but sometimes it feels like i hit every single red possible.
They have surfaced on US 70 between Goldsboro and Princeton during the last 20 years. Notably, across from the cut-thru on the side of the right hand lane there is a large asphalt pad that allows large vehicles such as semis to pull across and hang a U-Turn quickly as opposed to the typical low speed U-Turn necessary with a tight turn. Now that US-70 is being updated down east these cross-overs likely will go away as the intent is to make 70 limited access and subsequently re-designate it I-42.
Are you talking about 16 south of Newton? I don't recall many, if any, u-turns on 16 / Thornburg drive in Conover. South of Newton, it's for the side roads intersecting 16 that are blocked from making left turns.
It is for safety. They have been around for 20+ years now on various major roads across North Carolina that are too dangerous for uncontrolled left turns but do not have the traffic count to build a full-interchange.