Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT)
INT-RCU-13 Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT)
Typical at: Rural Suburban
Compact is an edge case. Urban and Core are unlikely pairings.
Working assessment: this pattern's status reflects a preliminary Commonway System judgment call, pending final review.
#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. 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. 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.
#Related patterns
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
- Legal / regulatory Texas Department of Transportation, "14.6 Restricted Crossing U-Turn Intersection (RCUT)."
- Precedent-based Wisconsin Department of Transportation, "Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) Intersections."
- Evidence-based Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, "Reduced Conflict U-Turn," SAFERoads Solutions, before-after crash data.