A bill intended to re-engineer some road projects that legislators don't like was pulled from the Senate floor today and rerouted "for a little further workup" in the Rules Committee -- which sometimes serves as a legislative graveyard -- at the request of the Rules chairman, Republican Sen. Tom Apodaca of Hendersonville.
House Bill 561 would require NCDOT to tear out nearly one-half mile of a center median recently built on NC 191 in Asheville, and replace it with a center turn lane -- at a cost estimated by NCDOT at $797,500. [See today's story with reader comments.]
The bill also would require NCDOT to cancel plans to install medians, which restrict left turns, on parts of U.S. 70 in Kinston, U.S. 64 in Asheboro and Winstead Avenue in Rocky Mount.
DOT wants to make the changes to reduce rear-enders and other crashes associated with left turns on these roads, and to make traffic flow more smoothly. Some merchants have protested that their businesses would suffer if customers were prevented from making left turns in and out of their driveways.
Legislators disagree over whether these road design decisions should be left to NCDOT or reviewed by the General Assembly.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter, editor and blogger since 1976, he took over the
Comments
Center turn lanes are dangerous
Tue, 05/10/2011 - 18:37 — abechtel1I've been in two car accidents in my life, and both involved center turn lanes. Neither was my fault, and luckily, no one was seriously hurt.
I was almost in another one, a head-on, when a driver was going full speed in the center turn lane and barely dodged me, a sitting duck trying to turn left. That could have been deadly.
Those are my anecdotes. Since that's what our lawmakers prefer to actual data in discussion of this bill, I hope my experiences will be helpful.
Excuse me? Since when has
Tue, 05/10/2011 - 16:21 — bendalExcuse me? Since when has the GA required DOT to provide a design of a project for their review? There is no disputing that medians are far, far safer than a five lane road; if the GA forces DOT to undo years of research and study into this subject, I expect FHWA to call for NC to pay back every Federal dollar used on those projects. This isn't something the GA can just decide is better for the state; it's a case of politicians sticking their uneducated, untrained noses into a subject they know nothing about. UNC and NCSU both studied whether businesses suffered a drop in revenue after medians were built in front of them; neither study showed a reduction.
This is nothing more than politicians deciding "they know best" and using their authority for bad reasons. What's next, will the GA start telling DOT how thick the pavement should be, or perhaps they could tell us how to design a bridge or an interchange.