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Patterns · Intersections and Crossings

INT-RCU-13 Situational / Discouraged

Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT)

An at-grade intersection design in which minor-road through and left-turn movements are removed entirely and redirected via a right turn followed by a U-turn at a designated median crossover. Also known as a J-turn or superstreet.

Pattern viewer

Overview

Illustration in progress

No illustration of Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) has been made yet. Interactive views are planned for every pattern and Retrofit Strategy.

Related Media

The items below come from outside the Commonway System, external videos, podcasts, and articles related to this page's topic, not part of the guidebook itself.

The Intersection That Makes Left Turns Impossible Aligned

The Intersection That Makes Left Turns Impossible

Safe By Design

This video explains how the Restricted Crossing U-Turn removes left turns and crossing movements from the side street, with crash-reduction results from Alabama, Nebraska and North Carolina and an honest look at the longer pedestrian crossings it can create. It is a close companion to the Commonway System's RCUT pattern and retrofit strategy, and to the related Median U-Turn and Displaced Left-Turn designs.

MED-089
(opens in new tab)

Typical at: Rural Suburban

Compact is an edge case. Urban and Core are unlikely pairings.

#Design notes

RCUT goes further than a Median U-Turn intersection by removing the minor road's direct crossing movement as well as its left turn, letting the main intersection serve the major road's through traffic with minimal minor-road interference.1 This design carries particular benefit for large trucks, since a driver only has to judge a gap in one direction of traffic at a time rather than crossing the full width of a divided highway at once.2 Like Median U-Turn, this pattern is Situational: it's a strong fit for a high-speed, four-lane-or-larger divided highway, and a poor fit anywhere lower speed or lower volume already makes a Roundabout the better default.3

  • Median U-Turn (INT-MUT-12) (the related, less restrictive geometry that still allows a direct minor-road through movement)
  • Displaced Left-Turn (INT-DLT-14) (an alternative approach to the same unprotected-left-turn and through-crossing problem)
  • Signal (INT-SIG-03) (the conventional intersection this pattern modifies rather than replaces outright)

#Getting there: Retrofit path options

Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) retrofit (RFT-INT-03) reroutes an existing conventional intersection's minor-road movements to this geometry.

#References

  1. Legal / regulatory Texas Department of Transportation, "14.6 Restricted Crossing U-Turn Intersection (RCUT)."(opens in new tab)
  2. Precedent-based Wisconsin Department of Transportation, "Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) Intersections."(opens in new tab)
  3. Evidence-based Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, "Reduced Conflict U-Turn," SAFERoads Solutions, before-after crash data.(opens in new tab)

Suggest changes to this page (opens in new tab) Text-only version Last updated October 18, 2026

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