News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
T-DOT officials discussing the installation of a J-turn for Highway 111 in Cookeville where Old Sparta Road meets South Maple Avenue.
Regional Communications Officer Rae Anne Bradley said all traffic crossing Highway 111 would be required to turn right. Bradley said those drivers would then have the option to make a U-turn further north on Highway 111. That would provide access to South Maple. The intersection has increasingly become the site of accidents with the growth of new subdivisions in the area.
“This type of intersection has the potential to reduce fatal injury crashes by anywhere from fifty-four to sixty-three percent,” Bradley said. “So that’s kind of how that is facilitated. So this reduces the risk to drivers and helps to improve safety so that’s really the two big reasons we’re looking into this design here at this intersection.”
Bradley said breaking up the different turning movements over a longer distance can help to simplify decision making processes for drivers. Bradley said the department is currently working on a preliminary concept design for the project.
“For anyone that’s curious about a functional J-turn near them and kind of how it works, we do have a J-turn further north on State Route 111 up in the Rickman community where State Route 293 intersects,” Bradley said. “So if anyone wanted to see how a J-turn looks like or wanted to drive one, that’s an example of one that’s located not too far away.”
Bradley said the statistic about how J-turns reduce fatal injury crashes comes from multiple studies by the Federal Highway Administration. Bradley said T-DOT has seen great success installing J-turns at intersections very similar to the one in consideration.
“The J-turn gets its name from the shape of the turning path that a vehicle would take while traversing the intersection if that makes sense,” Bradley said. “So the turn they make is in the shape of a J.”
Bradley say J-turns are also called restricted crossing U-turn intersections.
