One thing to mention about Michigan Lefts is that the majority of the time the second signal is only there to guarantee you have an opening to pass through the turn. Even when it is red, if there is an opening in traffic, you're permitted to turn most of the time. In fact from my experience most don't even have a second signal, you just turn when you can.
Yes in Michigan you can turn left on red when both roads are one-way. Michigan State Police has ruled the turnarounds are "one way". Also allows a really clever technical "hack" at these new Diverging Diamond interchanges popping up everywhere. You can technically turn both right or left on red at the end of the exit ramps (because the divided highway itself crosses over in front of you) and skip the whole light cycle but few people do, I guess because it "feels" so illegal and a lot of people don't know the unique law in MI about lefts on red.
Turn left on red than turn right on red at the second light. hardly any waiting at all. And not waiting on people with a left turn arrow it all flows faster.
@@spud435 yes, but teaching it to a non-native Michigander is hella hard. My wife is from Illinois and shortly after we were married and we moved back to Michigan, she once kept going around in a circle on M59 (Hall Road) in Sterling heights because she didn't get the concept to complete the left you have to make a right. She also used to navigate by landmarks. Not completely her fault - she grew up in a small town with one stop light and 3 bars.
When I moved from MI to FL...I really appreciated the Michigan Left more and more...we spend so much time sitting at a light to turn left...and I have seen the most horrific accidents down here when folks make left turns
@@maximos905 ask anyone from any state and theyll say their city/state has the worst drivers. Humans just suck at driving and measures like the Michigan left force us to be less likely to crash.
The traffic throughput on the big highways in Michigan is amazing due to the fact that lights only require two phases. Its is normal to be on Telegraph post rush hour and not hit a single red light from Grand River (M-5) all the way to Maple (15 mile) which is about 9 miles and sometimes all the way to where I turn three miles past at Long Lake road. Years ago I would pick up my wife and make it from eight mile road and Evergreen about four miles west of that Livernois intersection you showed, turn onto NB Woodward to 12 mile road without hitting a red light (both are Michigan Left roads).
Yes, the busiest sections of Telegraph get 40000 vehicles a day which is way more traffic than the Southfield Fwy (about 3x). And we can do it without grade separations for the most part. Very impressive. Just too bad MDOT didn't have the foresight (or authority back prior to the 60s) to limit driveway access.
Hall road is probably the best example of a left turn avenue and it only backs up when there is a car accident. 50,000 Cars a day and I've never been stuck in traffic otherwise on it.
You really don't want to hit a light on Telegraph because then you hit all the lights. No fun. I worked off Telegraph for many years. Love the Michigan lefts except for the ones without a signal during rush hour and you had to get all the way across the road. Then they were a pain. I'd skip those and go down further to one with a signal instead.
this is so true, i've driven from 8 mile and telegraph all the way down to m59 and not hit a single light but i've also been threw there and had to stop at all 100 of em lol
As somewhat of an anxious driver, I like the MI left. It means I only have to negotiate one side of the cross road at a time, rather than paying attention to cross traffic in both directions. The MI left breaks it up into 2 steps. I find it less stressful.
If you are an anxious driver, there is NO WAY you would be comfortable trying to get from the far left lane (after the U-turn) all the way across FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC...in a very short distance. I just measured it on Google Earth. It is 1/10th of a mile. So, you have to merge across 4 lanes of traffic in just over 500 feet. IF you are going just 30 MPH (already slowing down cars already on the road), that gives you just 12 seconds to get over 4 lanes. Even on an EMPTY road, that would be too quick for lane changing.
@@FUGP72 I don't think I've encountered this type of intersection where I couldn't go straight across. The only time I've ever made Michigan lefts was to turn left. If I'm anxious about driving somewhere in particular, it means I check maps and look for alternate routs if possible. I use side streets all the time and am not bothered to change up my route to avoid crunch spots like you describe. The reality is I live in Northern MI and have never even driven on a road with 4 lanes in one direction. The nearest one would have to be over 100 miles away from me. If I'm nervous about driving somewhere, I check maps and look for alternate routes. If I had to be in the situation you described, the first thing I would probably do is look for a cross over farther down the road.
@@clockbuilderhg You sound like me. I've been driving for over 15 years and I still get anxiety any time I have to drive an unfamiliar route, especially a more complex one. If I have the chance, I'll analyze maps and street view to try getting familiar before I have to drive it, and may take a longer route if it's simpler. I also took a job and moved to a more rural area in part to avoid that heavier traffic.
@@FUGP72 It's really not hard at all. It's important to note that in most cases where there are four lanes of traffic or otherwise heavy traffic areas, the U-turn point has a signal. So the main road traffic is literally stopped at a red, allowing the turning traffic a completely clear road to cross to the far lane. Also, the U-turn signal and the main intersection signal are generally well synchronized, so it's not really an issue of traffic having to wait at two red lights.
okay but left turns usually have a their own traffic cycle tho. like we have the left turn green so only left turns and you don’t have to worry about peds crossing or any traffic moving aside from those turning left. i feel like all major arterial streets in Phoenix (where im from) have them
You know, my brain is already programmed to perform this maneuver in situations where left turns are prohibited. I think it's nice that Michigan provides this convenient dedicated lane to perform this u-turn as it is a practical and cheap solution to the problem when left turns are not expected to be common. Even if they are, I guess you can always signalize the whole operation and add more lanes.
Besides you don't turn left three times You turn right once You go to the connector which is a turnaround basically and you turn left once so there's no two wrongs there's no two rights Just your stupid idea of what you think it is yeah I went there.
@@GeckoHiker That just doesn't work everywhere though, I can think of a location right off of the top of my head where there is absolutely nowhere you could possibly turn around for miles without an uncontrolled left. Major road too. My policy is to just be safe, it's not an unsafe move if you're not reckless.
@@NebulaHatesWatchdog It has worked for me in both rural areas and big cities like Philly and Wilmington. It's not that I never take a chance on an uncontrolled left turn but I have minimized the risk by planning my driving to avoid uncontrolled lefts, like UPS does in big cities. I just took a route through an uncontrolled left in a town near me, at the tail end of rush hour. Wheeeeeee!
Yeah, the ones at knapps corner on the beltline might be the best use of this feature. They space it perfectly for turning into shopping areas and making the left turn while traffic keeps flowing on the beltline
yup, theres alot where i had to go at my old job but i had never known it was called that and a just Michigan thing since im usually not the one driving but very convenient and smooth, its a shame its like this in other states
The TLDR is that Michigan lefts are basically a wide roundabout, especially when the minor road does not have the option of continuing straight through.
Since there will often be 2-3+ traffic lights in between making the 'left'. A roundabout wouldn't be a comparison. There also will be 'no turn on red' and other small traffic signs in between as well. I'll stop here 😅 but there is probably a dozen more road signs that'll lead to ticket,if one isn't paying attention when performing THE michigan left🎉
A roundabout forces the major road to slow down, and one only needs to yield once in a roundabout. A Michigan left requires you to yield twice to highway speed traffic to cross the major road or turn left. It's very different from a roundabout.
@misterkingpin2278 in some rural areas where the Michigan left if place there is no light it's a stop sign to give way for traffic on the major road and either a yield sign or a stop sign for the u turn
Really appreciate the detailed discussion on this! Never heard it called "Michigan Left' before, I'm in the St. Louis area and we have a couple of these on Highway 141 just north of I-44, in the western part of STL County, they were put in a few years ago. Rush hour traffic on Hwy 141 is usually very heavy and this has helped make things a little more sane on the couple intersections where they have them.
Same here. We mostly don't have these here, however, I have started to see something very similar popping up along one of the highways that goes through the city. You still have a left turn lane, however, before that, there's a median that blocks people from turning left into driveways. You're supposed to drive past that, get in the left turn lane and then do a u-turn. So, rather than having to figure out how to get a left turn signal for every possible driveway, they just combine all of those into on signal at the end of the block and people just use that. Coming out of the drive way, you turn left and then do a u-turn at the next intersection, which usually also has a left turn signal. Personally, I think it's a much better use of this sort of thing as most of the driveways that get this protection don't get that much traffic compared with the intersections, but there's still a significant cutdown in terms of the risk of crashes.
I actually came here to say the same things! Anyone who can correctly pronounce roads and places in the Mitten is an honorary Michigander in my book! 👏👏👏
Here's one that I could never wrap my head around, Orion Road. Why can't Michiganders like me just pronounce it like the constellation Orion and not Or-E-N road. My whole life, it's been pronounced as Or-E-N Road. Never understood why (unless it's someone's last name)
as a Michigander got to say were used to em , but we have always had them for a long time and everywhere, so it becomes instinct for us. But i can see how confusing it would be to an out of stater. and get the frustration of having to go farther just to make a turn. but there not bad, and there great for traffic. to those who know how to use them especially the double laned ones. like one here in battle creek on Beckley and 194. lol because it opens up to like 4 lanes heading back to downtown and people always get confused on which lane is appropriate to take them back to the expressway and not to the local business on Beckley rd. haha thankyou mike enjoyed this one.
Oregonian -- we're your opposite. U-turns are illegal here. Even when using paved turn-arounds similar to these. Unless there's a sign specifically allowing them - rare. Weirdly enough however you CAN turn left on red from a two-way to a one-way, one of the only states where that's allowed.
The Beckley/194 (The Penetrator 😉) was the first Michigan-left my wife ever encountered. I’ll never forget her reaction even. I didn’t immediately understand her confused “what the heck just happened!” when I made the turn absentmindedly as I had made it my entire life. I laughed at first but I soon found myself in a (mostly) lighthearted argument about how Michigan-lefts are great and not “stupidly complicated” as she said. Now I seek them out to tease her with whenever we go back home (we’re currently being held prisoner by the job situation in the Chicago suburbs - and Chicago and its surrounding areas could DEFINITELY benefit from a few thousand Michigan-lefts! I swear the driving instructors over here tel their students that the law says that least 3 cars MUST make the left turn after the light turns red or they will be ticketed 🤦🏼).
I prefer the Jug handle over the Michigan left. As a truck driver the Michigan left is more difficult because you have to fight your way across traffic to get to the u turn and if the u turn is not signalized you are basically trapped.
WOW Mike welcome to My Michigan, I love our LEFTS it keeps traffic flowing going straight like that you experienced us24 Telegraph RD , the only way to make a left turn is Southbound us24 at Van Born since i-94 in close by. Signals are always timed on divided highways. In fact you can do the speed limit(45 or 50) make every light driving 5 miles or more. i know when we have new residents when they try to access us 24 m-85, m-102, m-5 m-1,M-53,M-59 to make a left turn 😞😞😟😟 Hope you enjoyed our area of SE Michigan
My wife is from Michigan and told me about this before my first trip up there (I'm from Texas). It seemed strange at first, but after traveling up there for a decade, I don't think twice about it while driving around.
As an ex-Michigander, I grew up with the MI-left so it was second-nature for me. Going "back" to the traditional left turn when travelling to other areas always felt dangerous to me - but I learned to adjust. All in all, I think it's a good idea.
@@davesnothere8859 I lived for years on the west side of Detroit and frequently traveled 8Mile and Telegraph Roads (among others) where the "Michigan Left Turn" was common
you know what else would help better flow? Less road closures. Some major roads have been under construction for 2 years! People even put signs up on the barricades (Edgewood - Washington) that they had the road closed for over 2 years. Or taring up two parallel major roads right next to each other. I could go on and on about it.
moving from MI to TX I truly appreciate the MI left. It's so much better than waiting in the left turn lane and also not having to make U turns at the intersection. The separated traffic allows the left side to smoothly pass through. I just wish more states would adopt this.
As someone that also moved from Michigan to Texas I do appreciate the amount of frontage roads down here and the Texas U turn. But the Michigan left is nice though.
Does the Michigan left become a nightmare to use in medium to high traffic when you don't have a light, especially for trucks requiring multiple lanes for a U-turn? Here we have left turn phases from a larger road to a smaller one & during that phase the smaller road can turn right on the bigger road. Left turns don't have to cross any traffic, making it very safe.
Hey Mileage Mike! I love your videos! If you live in Metro Detroit, the Michigan left is just part of life here in Southeast Michigan. I never think about it. I remember in driver's ed, they taught us how to drive through them!
If you ever get back to Michigan Mike, there are several examples of the Michigan left far away from Detroit on US 31, going through Holland, Grand Haven and other areas. If you didn’t get a chance to visit the Lake Michigan shoreline while you were here you must make it back again to do so!
If he wanted to find some in Grand Rapids, he would have had to go down to the East Beltline, otherwise there aren’t many in the area. I can’t think of a single example near Kalamazoo, maybe on M-89 east of town.
I grew up near Mound Rd and was very used to these "Michigan Lefts". They are used mostly on boulevard type roads (wide medians). This makes it easy to joint the left lane without crossing the other lanes. Some just had stop signs. While others had the extra lights, but you were allowed on some to make the left on red. This kept the traffic flowing and I never avoided them. I live in Utah now and there are a couple of these right next to the freeway on roads without any medians. The first couple of years was really bad with many drivers not knowing what to do. Now days, it is mostly the Californian's that are confused by these. However, even in a small car, I end up in the third lane from the left. Thus, you are not allowed to turn on red and people move slow through them. Hence, I try to avoid them whenever I can.
Nobody avoids Michigan lefts. There's nothing weird about them, I don't get it. If you allow people to make left turns off of large roads like Telegraph or Mound, the traffic backups it would cause from people trying to pile up in the medians and such would be so impractical. Imo, the only working way to not use Michigan Lefts is to not have divided roads and add super long left turn lanes.
The michigan left is so prevalent on divided highways, that there is one intersection near where i live that doesnt use it and it stands out like a sore thumb
You did an excellent job covering the Michigan Left in this video! As someone from Metro Detroit who recognizes Telegraph Road in Southfield where some of the footage was filmed at in the beginning and end of the video, the Michigan Left really is a safe way to reduce accidents. One thing worth mentioning though, is the Michigan Left is only implemented on divided highway with a boulevard in the middle dividing the 2 directions of traffic. Otherwise if there’s no divider, you’ll see intersections with traffic lights and lanes permitting left turns.
The biggest downside is that people who are not used to them are not used to them. This problem would be easily and quickly solved if they were more widely adopted. I live in a Michigan apartment complex who's sole access is from a Michigan left road. I couldn't avoid that one even if I wanted to, but I never saw a reason to avoid them anyway. The main road curve on a hill in front of my apartment complex used to be known locally as "the dead-man's curve" because of how many accidents it had as a simple two-lane road, but remaking it into a boulevard with Michigan left turns solved that. There are many times when I have realized that I missed my turn, and then was glad that I was on a Michigan left road. These roads are very forgiving when people miss turns. No need to look for a parking lot or side road to make a U-turn, when you can just use the next turnaround lane built precisely for that purpose.
What about being forced to wait on traffic flow. Since legally you must maintain your lane an turn to the left most lane, establish that lane and then signal and move over. So it 6 step maneuver an at each step gives an opportunity for a moving violation or wreck.
You don't have to do all those steps. Just be in the outside (right)lane of the Michigan left for a left turn. If you want to just make a u turn you use the inside(left) lane. No need to over complicate it @@bowez9
@@bowez9 I don't follow you. In my experience, making a left turn off of a Michigan left road involves no more waiting than a left turn off of a conventional major road. The fact that the traffic light has only two phases usually makes it faster. First you merge left into a specialized lane that leads into the U-turn. This is no more difficult, dangerous, or time consuming than sliding into an exit ramp from a freeway. Then you complete the U-turn by merging into a one-way flow of traffic, added by a traffic light for cases with heavier traffic. This is no more difficult or dangerous than a right turn onto a major road would normally be, either with or without a traffic light. Yes, a left turn onto a Michigan left road requires two merges into one-way traffic, but even there you usually break even on time, and it is still safer than simultaneously turning through oncoming traffic and both directions of cross traffic, which is what you need to do in order to make a conventional left turn.
@@jeremykraenzlein5975 are you merging into the inside lane-the legal way to make the turn-and then establishing than lane before you signal an attempt to move to right all before the turn comes up while no impeding traffic ? Or are you doing the common lazy and illegal way an turn straight to the outside lane?
@@bowez9The only thing I'm getting from your convoluted comment is that you're attempting to shoehorn some biased assumption within a rhetorical question, which is especially cringe to do on-of all possible topics-a discussion about Michigan Lefts. I understand you likely have something that recently happened to you that has made you very triggered/enthusiastic about this topic, but I think you need to take a moment and consider how absurd it is to be doing that.
As a Michigander, I had a good time recognizing all of the places you showed in the video! My friend’s house is almost in the 12 mile and telegraph aerial still you used, and I got jumpscared by the sudden Ann Arbor footage at the start lol
Allisonville Road at 96th Street in Indianapolis/Fishers was once home to an intersection with a Michigan Left, but they replaced it with a roundabout (no shocker there) in 2024. Only operated as a Michigan Left for ~10 years!
As a Brit, my very first thought was to tink, why not just make them all propper roundabouts? Roundabouts, not "Traffic Circles" which from what I understand is something different in the USA that we no longer have here in the UK.
@MileageMike485 used to hate them but actually like them now. Unfortunately, we still have people who can't for the life them use them correctly and therefore should lose their privilege to drive.
@@danv2888The roundabouts in metro Detroit have the most accidents. Don't know if it's the design or people haven't learned how to use them. Had a taxi take me in the traffic circle around l'arc de Triomphe. One of the roundabouts here reminds me of that. Crazy!
I was born and raised in Michigan so the Michigan left was just normal to me while growing up. I moved to the Chicago 'burbs in 2007 and it took me some time to get used to doing left turns at the intersections of divided roads. I truly hated it at first (still kinda do all these years later), but as mentioned, you adapt to it. I still highly prefer the Michigan left though,. Keep up the great work Mike! Love your videos
TBH, most of the examples that he showed would have been better off as proper roundabouts. They've started building similar things here, but they're mostly being used to handle traffic coming and going from driveways. So, you're blocked from turning left into driveways mid block, but you get a left turn lane with a left turn light and explicit sign saying that both u-turns and left turns are permitted. It allows for all of the businesses along that block to be accessed in the same way. The traffic on the other side is stopped for people to change lanes and it's just so convenient. And, if you miss your turn, it's usually no biggie as there's usually another opportunity to do a u-turn at the next light anyways. Having to do this for intersections though seems very inefficient when you can just add a left turn arrow and be done with it. Especially since it appears that you're not guaranteed clear lanes to get into the right turn lane in a rather short distance. I assume that's less of an issue than I imagine, but the video didn't explain that.
I moved to Michigan and lived and worked there for several years. After moving there, I found the Michigan left to be easy to navigate even as an "out of state" driver. I'm not a driving genius, I just figured it out. I think the MI left is actually a lot less stressful than making a "normal" left turn, because it breaks the movement into easier chunks. The downside that I can think of is that you have to have a slightly larger median...and I'm not sure if that is strictly true actually. I'd say they overall work pretty well.
This is true. A narrower divided highway struggles to provide turning radius for the turnaround making lane retention difficult or impossible. Properly designed, this isn't an issue but there are places where planners try to squeeze them in and it causes problems. (Evergreen Rd in Southfield between 10 Mile and 11 Mile is an example)
I've lived in Michigan for 11 years. At 1st they made me crazy, but now I appreciate them , because I see how much better traffic flows, and I haven't seen a single accident here in 11 years that was due to a left turn.
Virginia Beach built something similar a couple years ago at the intersection of Kempsville Rd. & Ferrell Pkwy -- one of the most congested and dangerous intersections in our area. That intersection has always been a nightmare since I moved there 10 years ago, and the new layout seems to have alleviated a lot of congestion once people got used to it and the light timings were tweaked. The U-turns are signalized with these cute U-turn shaped traffic lights that I've never seen anywhere else. And the lights at the main intersection are straight arrows to remind people they can't directly turn left.
I grew up in Michigan, but learned to drive in Florida. I’ve just always done a Michigan left without really realizing it until I met my husband. He asked why I always take the long way, and I just said it felt safer. We recently moved back to Michigan and now he understands and doesn’t mind it anymore. Interestingly though, I’ve never been in an accident and have been driving nearly 20 years now.
Michigan recently finished an alteration of the intersection at Big Beaver Road and I-75 where the Big Beaver Rd. directions of traffic do a double-figure-8. It's to avoid having to build extended offramp loops from I-75. And yes, the I-75 intersection number is actually exit 69.
That's called a Diverging Diamond intersection and Michigan has built several of them and are building more. You also find them at I-94 & Telegraph, I-75 and University and other places. They will put one at 8-mile and telegraph soon.
I visited Detroit about a year ago and loved it there! There's one somewhat similar to a MI left in my area, and it's used to enter a Walmart along McCart Avenue in Fort Worth, TX. Always liked using that entrance and can honestly appreciate it way more than before.
Anyone who either never liked the Michigan left or doesn't understand why it exists has never tried to make a left turn onto Boulder Hwy from E Harmon Ave in Las Vegas during busy times before mid-2009.
I personally like the Michigan Left... no huge backup of traffic waiting for the green arrow at the intersection to make a left turn. You just go through the intersection, make the left and then zip back to the intersection and make the right. Traffic flows so much nicer and quicker than I've seen in other states with standard intersections. And yeah, Grand Rapids has Michigan lefts, just check 44th Street and M-37 (aka Broadmoor/Beltline Ave)
They're just backed up further down the street where the U-turn is, and traffic on the second road has to stop twice, while the traffic that ultimately wants to go left has to navigate three intersections and weave a lot. Seems like _more_ conflict points to me!
@@jovetj Having lived with Michigan lefts over the last 15 years, it works far better than a first glance would lead ya to believe. I was pretty skeptical of it initially, but it has won me over.
I have learned to avoid roads that don't have a Michigan Left like Cooledge and 15 mile that corn is nightmare as Cooledge has Michigan left but 15 mile doesn't
As an immigrant to Michigan from neighbouring Ontario, my first encounter with Michigan turn was to drive through the cross street, turn around in a Target parking lot, and turn right onto the street I needed to go down. I figured it out after that. The advantage is the elimination of left turn accidents at the intersection, though when making the U-turn, you're turning left to get going in the opposite direction. And when the traffic is heavy and there's no signal at the U-turn, you're risking an accident trying to not be stuck at the U-turn for too long. You'll also end up spending more time idling since you'll be stuck at the red light at the U-turn (though you're allowed to turn on red if it's safe to do so), then since the lights at the U-turn are synched with the intersection, you'll end up waiting two whole cycles to cross the intersection where a simple left turn would have done it in one. The best use of the Michigan turns is for lightly used cross streets where you can block the cross traffic and eliminate the need for signals at the intersection, though you'll have to turn right, then make the U-turn before turning right again to continue along the cross street.
I visited the Detroit Metro this summer, and my opinion on the Michigan left is mixed. I did not find them particularly confusing, especially after the first go. That said, my experience was that these turns enabled very high speeds for a suburban road. It was never a problem where the U-turn was signalized. From a stop sign though, I needed to be ready to accelerate hard, and then switch lanes two or more times in order to turn right into my destination. Also, the roads with the Michigan lefts were very wide -- usually six lanes (three each direction) with a very wide median. I think it's the most car-centric design I've ever seen that wasn't a full blown limited access highway. It was very appropriate for Motown.
@@ASNS117Zero Western Michigan doesn't have the traffic (economic activity) to warrant them. There will never be 40000 cars a day rolling past them like in Metro Detroit.
@@GOPRepubliklan How to tell me you've never been to western michigan w/o telling me you've never been to western michigan. Grand Rapids alone has them all over the place outside of downtown, and that's mostly a real estate issue since the roads can't really be expanded to fit them properly in most places (and in the places where it can be, it was more feasible to just put in a roundabout).
Having lived in Michigan I gotta say I like the Michigan lefts, once you're used to them you do notice how much they improve not just safety but also efficiency of traffic flow. Because of the way the Michigan left is set up the lights for intersections don't need a separate signal state for left turns, which increases the time traffic is able to flow in both directions, although in hours of peak traffic Michigan lefts can cause backups which lead to some of the worst blocked intersections you'll ever see. One interesting benefit of the Michigan left that you touched on is how its usage has affected the design of divided roads across Michigan, u-turns in divided roads are much more common here than other states and this just generally makes divided roads in Michigan much easier to drive on for people who aren't familiar with the area. In some states dedicated u-turns are quite rare and to turn around or access the other side on a divided road you have to turn off the road entirely and re-enter in the opposite direction, but in Michigan it's rare to go multiple intersections without there being a u-turn turnaround.
Been to MI many times and always thought this worked really well. Another thing they do well is typically having access roads that run along the interstates. This keeps people from hopping on the interstate just to travel to the next exit, and gives a place for some traffic to flow if there's an issue on the interstate. Where I live if you don't hop on the interstate for an exit it can mean a lengthy and convoluted network of back roads to get to the same destination, so everyone always hops on the interstate. The excessive merging and vehicles is terrible for the flow of thru traffic.
LOL. I grew up near one of those Telegraph Road intersections and I assumed they existed everywhere. After I moved to California, someone told me it took him a while for him to figure out how to make a left turn. I enjoyed this analysis of the pros and cons of the Michigan Left. Reminds me of when I started travelling out of Michigan and first encountered roundabouts and rotaries.
When I went up to Michigan, I called them "The Michigan U turn thingy". I loved them. Not like here in Ohio where every new traffic design is meant to back traffic up harder. Like making all lights with left turn signals use the left turn phase first, even though in many cases (maybe half) if they started with straight traffic, by the time they get to the turn signal, there may no longer even be a need unless there's lots of traffic.
Mike - I appreciate your concise explanation, history lesson, and the many examples you provided. Living in Michigan, I have used this infrastructure before many times. I do believe they are MUCH safer than intersections with a lefthand signal. Looking forward to more of your videos!
Slightly funny hearing “go up to Michigan to experience them”, for me, grew up in the UP and these confused me a bit when I went down to Detroit. After getting used to them though they seem to work very well.
Living in Michigan my whole life I love them. When I go to other states I just appreciate them even more. Also after becoming a local truck driver here in Michigan, my appreciation grew even more. It’s not that complicated once you adjust, and it’s much safer. I couldn’t imagine having to make a left turn on some of these major roadways around here, traffic for sure would be backed up.
As someone from NJ now living in Ohio and frequently driving through Michigan... I'd rather just have my jughandles and roundabouts back 😭 Looking at the example at 1:02 with minor roads intersecting main road, they didn't even always require a full clover to move traffic from the minor road left on the major road. They just used a left turn signal for the minor road onto the major road and a jughandle to turn the major road left onto the minor road. That used up less space and moved traffic just as fast. Sure it was a pain to sit at a light on a main road like that but the cycles were usually shorter in favor of the main road. It's hust so damn convenient not having to drive forever to make a left, even if there is a little confusion
This is cool! I grew up on the road and remember my parents suddenly discovering these things and keeping on reminding each other every time we got back in the vehicles. Motor City❣️
There are a few places in Michigan that have the New Jersey style "jug handle". The first one that comes to mind is Van Dyke Ave and Chicago Rd in Sterling Heights.
As a michigander, the worst part of making a michigan left is having to make a wide right turn into the far left lane to make the u turn... coming out of the u turn is also hard if you need to get over to the far right lane
This is exactly what people do not want to talk about. However, claim it is "so much better." You get more steps to complete a "left turn," and more possibilities to make an accident when merging or turning. The only reason why it is reducing accidents is because people are forced to slow down. That is the only benefit I can see. In a normal intersection you are not forced to slow down and people speed through creating major accidents.
I grew up in Detroit I learned how to drive in Detroit I believe the Michigan left is the safest other than around about. It may seem inconvenient or slow but it's really not. 8 Mile, telegram, Michigan avenue, Ford road it was actually when I drove other places that I realized that left turns and major intersections are really dangerous. I've never had to explain to somebody who actually visited, but I look forward to it just to see their reaction and to get their feedback
His first time encountering a Michigan Left is the ONLY time I've ever heard my father -- a very reserved, conservative person, very much averse to profanity -- come close to dropping an F-bomb. He was visiting for my sister's college graduation, and I was riding in the car with him to a restaurant for dinner afterward. We were on the arterial, thankfully, so he didn't have it TOO bad, but he was confused until I explained it to him. His exact response was, "Well WHO the FU-- what IDIOT came up with THAT idea?!" To this day, he denies any and all knowledge of those words coming out of his mouth, but I know what I heard 😆 And yes, I did extol their virtues in defense against his repulsion.
But.. it's.. a really good idea? There would be massive traffic jams and probably way more accidents if you could turn left on to the main roads that intersect US-24 (Telegraph Road) in Michigan. It would cause gridlock from people lining up to turn left on to divided highways/roads/avenues. I've lived around it my whole life and there's a lot of really good reasons behind it. There are actually divided roads in less populated areas where they do allow you to turn left off of a divided and onto a 2 or 4 lane undivided road. Fort St & West Road is one example, and that's not even particularly a lower population area, it's part of metro Detroit. It's really nice not having to sit in long lines to turn left and it's nice not having to worry about idiots creaming you if you try to make a left as a light changes colors. We've also massively adopted roundabouts in Michigan, too.
@@podunkest Yep! It's a very efficient and safe way of keeping things moving. Which is what I explained to him: it sacrifices a **little** bit of convenience for the sake of alleviating problems at the busiest intersections. Roundabouts, however... they really only work in low- to medium-traffic areas, mostly on local and collector roads. M-DOT has been going crazy building them everywhere, including places where they don't belong, make no sense, and are actually more dangerous (don't even get me started on the dogbones at freeway exits). But that's just M-DOT: they see the latest fad and they go for it. I'm not **anti** roundabout, I'm just anti-roundabouts-where-they-don't-belong.
@@JoshColletta Roundabouts work in a lot more areas than they seem, even in high traffic situations. The bigger problem is not high traffic but mismatched traffic, especially in regards to what nearby signalized intersections can do to them. Also, as a first responder (and my anecdotes are backed up by the statistics), ive yet to see a single person killed in a roundabout, and even in these mismatched intersections faralities are massively reduced.
@@tlpineapple1 That's kinda the same thing as what I said, but statistics do show that the higher-traffic a setting, the less helpful a roundabout is. And yes, other intersections surrounding a roundabout do play a role. But even in places like Carmel, Indiana, where they've replaced a ton of crossings with roundabouts in a way so as to maximize efficiency and traffic flow, you're still going to find that connecting two arterials or an artieral and a collector via a roundabout is going to provide a diminished return compared to two collectors or a collector and a local. Plus, speed and the requirement to curve in a through movement are, indeed, a dangerous combination. We had a manure truck miss a newly constructed roundabout on an I-94 ramp here in Michigan not too long ago. Luckily nobody was hurt, but it wouldn't have been a sideswipe accident if they had been; the truck failed to stop at all and hit the island at speed, jumping it and overturning. If it were still a straight-through interchange, the truck would have just flown through the box and continued down the other side of the ramp. Like I said: there are some places where roundabouts are just a bad idea.
I live in Michigan currently and never understood why we had our own u-turn. After this video thinking about it on these roads that have them, its a blessing to have them. Some roads are 3 lanes each way. Thats alot of of traffic to be mindful of. And as other commenters have pointed out, the light is most of the time there to guarantee a space, used mostly during rush hour and busy times really, but most of the time you can turn on red as long as its safe. The worst part for me is having to drive past my destination by a few 100 feet just to turn around and come back
I've lived in the Detroit metro for nearly 30 years. I have to say, I like the Michigan Left. You only have to concentrate on traffic coming from one direction, as opposed to three (left, right, and straight ahead.) Yeah, usually it costs you a little time, but it's so much safer.
while not born here, ive lived in Michigan all my life and never knew it was called the Michigan left (perhaps bc im not the one driving) and mainly a Michigan thing, this video explains it so well
In Fishers, IN (near Carmel) we gave up on our Michigan left at Allisonville and 96th Street, and they put in a ROUNDABOUT!!! majority of people simply didn't like it.
I remember when they put that in. I thought it was the stupidest thing ever. Then, when I was up that way, I had to do the Michigan left and realized it was the dumbest thing ever and was more of a pain than it helped.
I grew up with these so I've never seen them as odd until I started heading out to other states or people would come to visit. I'd say the other disadvantage of them is impatient drivers. In busy interactions where there are 2 lanes to do the turnaround, a large queue will form in the outer lane of those who want to turn left and impatient drivers will take the inner lane of the turn around and then cut into the outer lane that is trying to compete the left often either slowing everyone down or nearly hitting them in the process.
You should make a video on the Taconic State Parkway in NY where you have to make 90° left and right turns, merge with 5 feet of on-ramp, and play chicken across 4 lanes of traffic usually moving anywhere from 55 to 75 mph! 😀
What is super interesting is that the same road you highlight throughout most of this video, Telegraph Rd, also features the New Jersey Jughandle just further up the road as you approach Pontiac. Very interesting how these two designs come together in the same place.
As a Michigander, I have found the opposite when I go out of town and learn one can make direct left turns off divided roads. I just instinctively find the next turnaround and use it. Also, my old neighborhood is Telegraph and Grand River. This was one of the few divided highway intersections (junctions since both have route numbers) that one could make a direct left turn. Not anymore. Telegraph is under constructions and with it comes the latest in highway design toys. That Short Street is gone (I disagree with this decision) in favor of more turnarounds. A mile north of here a DDI is being installed to replace a cloverleaf interchange. I also believe these turnarounds are the reason that in Michigan, one can make a left turn on a red light as long as the turn is onto a one way street and it is not a NO TURN ON RED intersection. Thanks for giving the Michigan Left some love.
They took out Short Street?! Dammit, that little bit of pavement was my good friend heading back to Redford from Dearborn Heights. The cloverleaf at Eight Mile & Telegraph was overdue for an upgrade.
The extra lane changes aren't an issue? That's the detail that I was hoping would come up in the video. Because you take that u-turn and in some of those intersections, you have to cross several lanes of traffic in order to complete the turn and I couldn't see any traffic signals to make that any easier. We use something similar around here, but mostly to handle issues with cars trying to turn into driveways. So, they get a median to stop that, and then at the next light, there'll be a left turn lane with an arrow and a sign specifying that u-turns and left turns are OK. It's very similar to these but it works for driveways and doesn't require the bulk of the drivers to continue past their intended turn.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade If the light is green for you turning right, its red for the other people going straight, meaning going across 2-4 lanes of traffic is not an issue
@@SmallSpoonBrigade So the michigan uturn would have 2 lanes. You can go when it is clear, but usually you have a light that goes green and allows you to turn. Now he didn't mention a variation of one of these same Michigan intersections. So on Hall road crossover next to the Harbor freight there is a 2 lane Michgan left intersection that has a light, and lets cars either turn left or go straight to harbor freight. This same intersection also has cars going right to exit out of Harbor freight. In this case the Michigan left must Yield to the people turning right out of Harbor Freight. They can only turn if it is either clear, or they have a green light without having to yield.
I had a buddy from Florida who at first, could not grasp the idea of how double and triple right turn lanes work. He almost caused a couple of accidents. I actually spent a few minutes drawing him a simple illustration of how it worked and he got it.
Being from detroit and having been to other states like Florida, I really missed my michigan lefts. Sure, turning left is more complicated, but it lets anyone going straight or right go faster by not needing to have a light specific for left turns.
Ontarian here. Certainly noticed the Michigan Lefts on a visit years ago, found them quirky, but got used to them quickly. To me, anyway, they made sense. Up here we're now seeing traditional circular British style roundabouts being built. These too avoid ninety degree left turns...but I don't care for them, as you need to be an expert in choreography to use one without getting crashed into...
As people get familiar with them, accidents go way down. Carmel Indiana replaced over 100 traffic lights with roundabouts, crashes way down, pedestrian/bike injuries way down. Drivers, walkers and cyclists love them. No energy/maintenance for signals. Major win.
Agree. MICHIGAN IS GOING CRAZY WITH ROUNDABOUTS!! THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. SOME ARE OK BUT, MANY ARE TOO SMALL( CRAMMED INTO CONFINING SPACE) THAT ONE MUST CRANK THE WHEEL TO COMPLETE THE CIRCLE. OUT OF METRO Detroit area the Roundabouts are sprouting like mushrooms.
Great vid Mike! Big trucks must love these tight u-turns and worrying if the inside lane will try to go left instead of u-turn. Yes, used the MI Left in Mi, MS (US80), NC (multiple locations including 74 you mentioned).
It's only stressful when you have more than 2 lanes of traffic to worry about. Hall Road is the most egregious example of a bad time using Michigan Lefts.
@@SergeantTeabag Hall Road is poorly designed. There are too many individual driveways, and some of the left turnarounds face oncoming traffic at lights which defeats the purpose. If some of the roads that intersect Hall Road, like Van Dyke, Schoenherr, Hayes and Romeo Plank were also divided and offered Michigan lefts, at least where they intersect Hall Road, a lot of the problems would be mitigated. Although, having grown up in the area, it is still better now than it was when it was a two lane road.
@@paulwindisch1423 I've only been familiar with the area for two years or so. I had no idea Hall used to be two lanes. Yes, it's horribly designed. I've had close calls with other drivers at those turnarounds too. I had a guy in a white Ram cut me off by going into the rightmost lane from the turnaround while I had ROW and turning right. I feel like the unsignaled ones are much worse during rush-hour traffic since you can't find a gap at all!
@@SergeantTeabag Yeah. 1997 was when they put the finishing touches on eight lanes of divided highway. Prior to that it was two lanes from Van Dyke all the way east to where it ends in front of Selfridge ANG. At that time, almost all of it was farmland, except for Lakeside Mall (which just closed) and a few restaurants. I try to plan routes so I don’t have to be on Hall Road because of the issues you highlighted.
Another downside is people making right turns need to merge across several lanes of traffic, which can be very dangerous where there’s a lot of traffic. One of many design factors that contribute to the deadliness of Rte. 22 here in NJ.
Live in Austin and we do not have these but there are a couple Michigan Lefts in Tucson where I visit family for the holidays. I have grown to appreciate them more and more each time. I feel that they are more efficient since left turns at traffic lights can get really backed up. 👍
As a citizen of the State of New Jersey, the “no left turn”, we use the “jughandle”. 😃👍 Also in New Jersey, we do not have the “flashing yellow 🟡 arrow” at intersections with a left turn lane. In addition, the “Jersey Barrier” 🚧 are cement slaps that run through a divided highway 🛣️ and protect vehicles from going into oncoming traffic 🚦.
we have "jersey barriers" all throughout Ohio and Michigan as well. I didn't even know they were called that until I looked it up but yeah I guess they were first developed in New Jersey which is where they got their name. also question, how do left turns work without flashing yellow? is it just flashing red or are you not allowed to turn unless it's green?
At intersections without a flashing yellow arrow, you just turn left on the regular green light, like you would at a regular intersection without a separate left turn signal. Sometimes lights have a separate left turn signal that only has 3 lights for red, yellow, and green, so you can only turn left on the green arrow, but the more common configuration would just be a left turn signal that is combined with a regular 3-section traffic light with the circles. The sequence for the light would be green arrow, yellow arrow, and then no arrow, when there’s no arrow you can just turn left like normal when the light turns green for through traffic. It actually works pretty much the same as a flashing yellow arrow, it’s just that the unprotected left turn movement can’t be separated from the through traffic like it can be with the extra yellow arrow. In Pennsylvania, the arrangement for such a light would be 5-section “doghouse” light, but I think New Jersey tends to use a dumb arrangement where the green and yellow arrows are in the same signal section, it just changes color.
@@cr128 We have something similar here. It's green arrow, flashing yellow arrow, solid yellow arrow, red arrow. It works pretty well as the flashing yellow happens while the oncoming traffic has a green light. So, you can still get a bit more traffic through the left turn lane, if the oncoming traffic isn't too busy.
The 4-section flashing yellow arrow left turn signals are now starting to be used for new traffic lights around my area, instead of the 5-section doghouse arrangement, but they first appeared here only a few years ago (the flashing yellow arrow and that 4-section arrangement have been in the MUTCD since 2009).
It's alright. I'm more excited to see Michigan finally phasing in modern roundabouts. Especially in rural and suburban areas these make a huge difference. My impression is that because Michigan was the home of a lot of traffic engineering experiments, and many Michiganders remember using or hearing about poorly designed and marked roundabouts; by and large, people in Michigan complain about roundabouts and claim to be confused about them. But from what I've seen on the handful of modern roundabouts in Michigan is that locals are good at navigating them.
Roundabouts definitely work better in the rural/suburban locations. But people do not understamd their capacity is limited once on a high volume urbanized corridor.
I live in a rural town in MI and absolutely nobody knows what to do in the 3 roundabouts we have. It actually annoys me so much 😂 It feels like almost everyone completely stops at the yield, or comes to a complete stop when a car is merging in front of them. I hate that I had to use one to get to my apartment bc of how misunderstood it was. We also had a lifted truck ramp the middle of the roundabout and crash into the apartment welcoming sign 😂
I worked in Battle Creek for two years and there is only one of these, but the first time I encountered it was a definitely a head-scratcher. They have actually turned one of the intersections at home (Virginia Beach) into one of these, and it works, people seem to have adapted pretty well.
I wonder why intersection designs that move the left turn conflict away from the main intersection are so rare outside of the states they were created in. Many state DOTs have been going full steam ahead on building roundabouts, but hardly any have built Michigan Lefts or Jersey Jug-handles.
Michigan Lefts would be useful on roads with flex lane configurations. It would provide some left turn access for the deprioritized direction, and make it safer for the prioritized direction. I bet part of the reason flex lanes along the 7ths in Phoenix get their unfortunate nickname is that left turns are allowed from the prioritized direction.
because a roundabout is a safer type of intersection (if you build it correctly) and a roundabout gives already gives you a safe way of making a u-turn. so at a road with at both sides a roundabout you can make left turn illegal and it wouldn't impact traffic negatively, but it would prevent traffic slowing down for people wanting to make a left turn and it would prevent lots of accidents. added benefit of roundabouts: you don't need any traffic lights, so the maintenance are way lower than that of a signalized intersection. so if you look at all the pro's and con's other countries have found that the roundabout is just the better option in almost all the cases.
The video was informative, thank you. I live in Utah and enjoy the use of center lanes here to break up a left turn into two movements, if traffic is busy I can worry primarily about my near side first and cross to the center lane, provided nobody from my right is turning into the driveway, then I can merge stopping in the center lane if I have to. That being said I can understand your engineering perspective about reducing crashes. I have seen a place in Orem where they put a no turn left sign meaning you can’t even go to the center lane from that spot. There must have been enough crashes there that the city changed it.
Telegraph road has broken me personally. Also the first time I came to Michigan, my gf did a michigan left turn on red which is apparently legal and I shit my pants. Really thought a red light camera was gonna go off. Also apparently we don't have those either! Funny place
@@traffic.engineerGenerally the left is on a boulevard section so you only have traffic coming one direction (straight at you). Since it is a left onto a one way, you can go through. It really keeps things moving when you have one predominate direction of traffic (like the respective rush hours).
@@miketimmerman6336 Most states allow left turn on red from one-way to one-way, but Michigan and 4 other states allow left turn on red from a two-way to one-way. Wanted to know the specific detail of this left turn on red maneuver.
There is always a sign at signaled Michigan turns that tell you a left turn is allowed at a red light if traffic is clear. Remember, you are not at an intersection when you make that left turn.
My first encounter with this no-left-turn paradigm was Tucson, Arizona. There were two examples of this. The one I remember most prominently was the intersection of Valencia and Kolb. At first, it thoroughly confused me, but after I got used to it, it wasn't too bad.
I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life and haven’t been aware of this, but these signs are very common and I recall a lot of one way turns growing up and didn’t realize it was pretty much only right turns. Obviously not all streets it just depends I’m sure he goes into detail in the video.
At 6:40 there are actually no signals you have to wait for with that Michigan left. That lack of an intersection means you don't need ones at those locations which tends to only happen when its a nearly no flow situation. Harrison goes into a residential area to the north with no through traffic anyways. Growing up with the Michigan Left it feels a lot safer especially in areas with lots of Semi-trucks.
You once did a video on Florida's Turnpike, the New Jersey Turnpike, and the Oklahoma toll roads. You should do a video on the history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike as the first cross country superhighway. There were highways like the Merritt Parkway, a highway in Manhattan, and in Los Angeles before the Turnpike but they were in the city. The Merritt Parkway was built in stages that took longer than the Turnpike to fully complete.
Michigander here. It's unfortunate that the greatest drawbacks and reasons for not implementing them nationwide are purely based on public displeasure or ignorance. Safety and efficiency should should always be prioritized over 'muh feelings'.
My city did this with the East/West lane, where East/West drivers couldn't turn left. I thought it was stupid at first, but after seeing how it directs traffic, I started to understand its genius. Now, all four directions turn at the same time, leaving more time for through traffic.
As a Michigander who has had these introduced into our area recently, I've thought that the concept that there is NO left turn to be false. It's a delayed left turn. Instead of turning left to get where you want, you continue past it, take a left into a U-turn, then must cross 2 lanes to the right-turn lane. While the Michigan Left DOES reduce the chances of an accident IN the intersection while left turn drivers wait or cross, it just moves the bottleneck to a spot AFTER the signal while the drivers wait for ONCOMING traffic to clear so that they can zip across those lanes to turn right. So, in effect they turned a left when traffic clears to a leftward Uturn across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic to turn right. I'm not saying that it isn't working, but I think that MOST of the benefit is that drivers NOW have to preplan their trips and are paying more attention due to the new situation. It's new enough in our area that the data is still out on whether it will work long term. But at least it isn't a tight double traffic circle at each end of an overpass! (I'm looking at YOU Sprinkle Rd./I94 overpass - Kalamazoo MI)
I think the biggest advantage is unlike a normal left turning lane at the intersection, at a Michigan left u-turn you can clearly see all lanes of oncoming traffic. Your sightline isn't blocked by people turning left on the opposite side of the intersection from you.
For years Michigan was an introvator when it came to road/ traffic issues. I have lived in Michigan most of my life. It was not until I married & moved to SE Michigan that I ran into the " Michigan Flip". I had never seen or heard of it coming from a very rural area further up state. Traditional Left turns are used else where in the state. These " Flips" are generally used only in areas of high traffic volumes.
One thing to mention about Michigan Lefts is that the majority of the time the second signal is only there to guarantee you have an opening to pass through the turn. Even when it is red, if there is an opening in traffic, you're permitted to turn most of the time. In fact from my experience most don't even have a second signal, you just turn when you can.
Yes in Michigan you can turn left on red when both roads are one-way. Michigan State Police has ruled the turnarounds are "one way". Also allows a really clever technical "hack" at these new Diverging Diamond interchanges popping up everywhere. You can technically turn both right or left on red at the end of the exit ramps (because the divided highway itself crosses over in front of you) and skip the whole light cycle but few people do, I guess because it "feels" so illegal and a lot of people don't know the unique law in MI about lefts on red.
This! Left on red from a one-way to a one-way!
@@PC_TH-cam_Channel where the median is wider than 15 feet* (the length of a vehicle).
Turn left on red than turn right on red at the second light. hardly any waiting at all. And not waiting on people with a left turn arrow it all flows faster.
@@spud435 yes, but teaching it to a non-native Michigander is hella hard. My wife is from Illinois and shortly after we were married and we moved back to Michigan, she once kept going around in a circle on M59 (Hall Road) in Sterling heights because she didn't get the concept to complete the left you have to make a right. She also used to navigate by landmarks. Not completely her fault - she grew up in a small town with one stop light and 3 bars.
When I moved from MI to FL...I really appreciated the Michigan Left more and more...we spend so much time sitting at a light to turn left...and I have seen the most horrific accidents down here when folks make left turns
That's Florida tho, they are renowned for crappy driving
this should be everywhere. unprotected left turns are a bane to North America
@@maximos905 ask anyone from any state and theyll say their city/state has the worst drivers. Humans just suck at driving and measures like the Michigan left force us to be less likely to crash.
@@maximos905 Yes, but that’s not the point. There’s a reason why left turns are sketchy.
I visited the Orlando areain the mid 2000s and I was surprised and almost frightened about the way they drove down there.
I’ve lived in Michigan and used these Michigan Lefts my entire life, but your description of them, albeit 100% accurate, made me go cross-eyed.
agreed and same. also theres gotta be way more than 700 of them on our roads. also im surprised this isnt common
@@ihalludbA he says "more than 700"
@@timbo9611 it would be just as correct to say "at least one" 😭
The traffic throughput on the big highways in Michigan is amazing due to the fact that lights only require two phases. Its is normal to be on Telegraph post rush hour and not hit a single red light from Grand River (M-5) all the way to Maple (15 mile) which is about 9 miles and sometimes all the way to where I turn three miles past at Long Lake road.
Years ago I would pick up my wife and make it from eight mile road and Evergreen about four miles west of that Livernois intersection you showed, turn onto NB Woodward to 12 mile road without hitting a red light (both are Michigan Left roads).
Yes, the busiest sections of Telegraph get 40000 vehicles a day which is way more traffic than the Southfield Fwy (about 3x). And we can do it without grade separations for the most part. Very impressive. Just too bad MDOT didn't have the foresight (or authority back prior to the 60s) to limit driveway access.
Hall road is probably the best example of a left turn avenue and it only backs up when there is a car accident. 50,000 Cars a day and I've never been stuck in traffic otherwise on it.
You really don't want to hit a light on Telegraph because then you hit all the lights. No fun.
I worked off Telegraph for many years. Love the Michigan lefts except for the ones without a signal during rush hour and you had to get all the way across the road. Then they were a pain. I'd skip those and go down further to one with a signal instead.
this is so true, i've driven from 8 mile and telegraph all the way down to m59 and not hit a single light but i've also been threw there and had to stop at all 100 of em lol
@@lil_lyrix Have u been on hall during rush hour? 35mph all the way... until u hit a streak of green lights
As somewhat of an anxious driver, I like the MI left. It means I only have to negotiate one side of the cross road at a time, rather than paying attention to cross traffic in both directions. The MI left breaks it up into 2 steps. I find it less stressful.
If you are an anxious driver, there is NO WAY you would be comfortable trying to get from the far left lane (after the U-turn) all the way across FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC...in a very short distance. I just measured it on Google Earth. It is 1/10th of a mile. So, you have to merge across 4 lanes of traffic in just over 500 feet. IF you are going just 30 MPH (already slowing down cars already on the road), that gives you just 12 seconds to get over 4 lanes. Even on an EMPTY road, that would be too quick for lane changing.
@@FUGP72 I don't think I've encountered this type of intersection where I couldn't go straight across. The only time I've ever made Michigan lefts was to turn left. If I'm anxious about driving somewhere in particular, it means I check maps and look for alternate routs if possible. I use side streets all the time and am not bothered to change up my route to avoid crunch spots like you describe. The reality is I live in Northern MI and have never even driven on a road with 4 lanes in one direction. The nearest one would have to be over 100 miles away from me. If I'm nervous about driving somewhere, I check maps and look for alternate routes.
If I had to be in the situation you described, the first thing I would probably do is look for a cross over farther down the road.
@@clockbuilderhg You sound like me. I've been driving for over 15 years and I still get anxiety any time I have to drive an unfamiliar route, especially a more complex one. If I have the chance, I'll analyze maps and street view to try getting familiar before I have to drive it, and may take a longer route if it's simpler. I also took a job and moved to a more rural area in part to avoid that heavier traffic.
@@FUGP72 It's really not hard at all. It's important to note that in most cases where there are four lanes of traffic or otherwise heavy traffic areas, the U-turn point has a signal. So the main road traffic is literally stopped at a red, allowing the turning traffic a completely clear road to cross to the far lane. Also, the U-turn signal and the main intersection signal are generally well synchronized, so it's not really an issue of traffic having to wait at two red lights.
okay but left turns usually have a their own traffic cycle tho. like we have the left turn green so only left turns and you don’t have to worry about peds crossing or any traffic moving aside from those turning left. i feel like all major arterial streets in Phoenix (where im from) have them
Loved seeing my area and recognizing the different places in Metro Detroit. Hope you had a great time in Michigan!
Same! I was like, hey, I was just there last week! Hey, it's telegraph and 12 mile! lol
You know, my brain is already programmed to perform this maneuver in situations where left turns are prohibited. I think it's nice that Michigan provides this convenient dedicated lane to perform this u-turn as it is a practical and cheap solution to the problem when left turns are not expected to be common. Even if they are, I guess you can always signalize the whole operation and add more lanes.
Reminds me of a comedian, long ago, singing: "Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do "
I have a 56 year driving policy of not turning left without proper traffic controls. I will turn right three times to ensure traffic safety.
Besides you don't turn left three times You turn right once You go to the connector which is a turnaround basically and you turn left once so there's no two wrongs there's no two rights Just your stupid idea of what you think it is yeah I went there.
In the
1970s Australian immigration policy was two wongs don't make a white. I believe it was the prime minister who started that.
@@GeckoHiker That just doesn't work everywhere though, I can think of a location right off of the top of my head where there is absolutely nowhere you could possibly turn around for miles without an uncontrolled left. Major road too. My policy is to just be safe, it's not an unsafe move if you're not reckless.
@@NebulaHatesWatchdog It has worked for me in both rural areas and big cities like Philly and Wilmington. It's not that I never take a chance on an uncontrolled left turn but I have minimized the risk by planning my driving to avoid uncontrolled lefts, like UPS does in big cities. I just took a route through an uncontrolled left in a town near me, at the tail end of rush hour. Wheeeeeee!
Grand Rapids has plenty, just in the outer precincts not downtown. Tons of them on the east side especially around the beltline, knapps corner area
Yeah, the ones at knapps corner on the beltline might be the best use of this feature. They space it perfectly for turning into shopping areas and making the left turn while traffic keeps flowing on the beltline
yup, theres alot where i had to go at my old job but i had never known it was called that and a just Michigan thing since im usually not the one driving but very convenient and smooth, its a shame its like this in other states
Chicago Drive from Grandville to Holland is mostly Michigan lefts too
Growing up with these, I found it crazy more places haven't installed them. It just makes it so much safer.
The TLDR is that Michigan lefts are basically a wide roundabout, especially when the minor road does not have the option of continuing straight through.
Since there will often be 2-3+ traffic lights in between making the 'left'. A roundabout wouldn't be a comparison. There also will be 'no turn on red' and other small traffic signs in between as well. I'll stop here 😅 but there is probably a dozen more road signs that'll lead to ticket,if one isn't paying attention when performing THE michigan left🎉
@@09F150 right, the roundabout comparison is more apt for rural situations
A roundabout forces the major road to slow down, and one only needs to yield once in a roundabout. A Michigan left requires you to yield twice to highway speed traffic to cross the major road or turn left. It's very different from a roundabout.
@@misterkingpin2278 sometimes....they yield to oncoming speeds😭😭
@misterkingpin2278 in some rural areas where the Michigan left if place there is no light it's a stop sign to give way for traffic on the major road and either a yield sign or a stop sign for the u turn
Really appreciate the detailed discussion on this! Never heard it called "Michigan Left' before, I'm in the St. Louis area and we have a couple of these on Highway 141 just north of I-44, in the western part of STL County, they were put in a few years ago. Rush hour traffic on Hwy 141 is usually very heavy and this has helped make things a little more sane on the couple intersections where they have them.
Same here. We mostly don't have these here, however, I have started to see something very similar popping up along one of the highways that goes through the city. You still have a left turn lane, however, before that, there's a median that blocks people from turning left into driveways. You're supposed to drive past that, get in the left turn lane and then do a u-turn. So, rather than having to figure out how to get a left turn signal for every possible driveway, they just combine all of those into on signal at the end of the block and people just use that.
Coming out of the drive way, you turn left and then do a u-turn at the next intersection, which usually also has a left turn signal.
Personally, I think it's a much better use of this sort of thing as most of the driveways that get this protection don't get that much traffic compared with the intersections, but there's still a significant cutdown in terms of the risk of crashes.
In other news I'm extremely happy that you pronounced "Livernois" correctly 😜
I actually came here to say the same things!
Anyone who can correctly pronounce roads and places in the Mitten is an honorary Michigander in my book! 👏👏👏
Yes
I want to hear him pronounce Gratiot, Charlevoix, Novi, and Wyandotte. 😃
Extra Hard Difficulty: Cadieux, Schoenherr, & Ypsilanti
Here's one that I could never wrap my head around, Orion Road. Why can't Michiganders like me just pronounce it like the constellation Orion and not Or-E-N road. My whole life, it's been pronounced as Or-E-N Road. Never understood why (unless it's someone's last name)
I immediately got honked at in MI the first time because i tried to make a normal left. I didn't mess it up again 😅
“Turn right to go left… oh! Thank you! Or should I say no thank you, because in opposite world, maybe that really means thank you!”
as a Michigander got to say were used to em , but we have always had them for a long time and everywhere, so it becomes instinct for us. But i can see how confusing it would be to an out of stater. and get the frustration of having to go farther just to make a turn. but there not bad, and there great for traffic. to those who know how to use them especially the double laned ones. like one here in battle creek on Beckley and 194. lol because it opens up to like 4 lanes heading back to downtown and people always get confused on which lane is appropriate to take them back to the expressway and not to the local business on Beckley rd. haha thankyou mike enjoyed this one.
Oregonian -- we're your opposite. U-turns are illegal here. Even when using paved turn-arounds similar to these. Unless there's a sign specifically allowing them - rare. Weirdly enough however you CAN turn left on red from a two-way to a one-way, one of the only states where that's allowed.
The Beckley/194 (The Penetrator 😉) was the first Michigan-left my wife ever encountered. I’ll never forget her reaction even. I didn’t immediately understand her confused “what the heck just happened!” when I made the turn absentmindedly as I had made it my entire life. I laughed at first but I soon found myself in a (mostly) lighthearted argument about how Michigan-lefts are great and not “stupidly complicated” as she said. Now I seek them out to tease her with whenever we go back home (we’re currently being held prisoner by the job situation in the Chicago suburbs - and Chicago and its surrounding areas could DEFINITELY benefit from a few thousand Michigan-lefts! I swear the driving instructors over here tel their students that the law says that least 3 cars MUST make the left turn after the light turns red or they will be ticketed 🤦🏼).
(/Michiganian/)*
@@BluesonofmanI'm a Michigander, everyone in Michigan refers to themselves as Michigander. no one says Michiganian.
@@AnotherVexium (/Growing/)(/Up/)(/It/)(/Was/)(/Michiganian/)(/I/)(/will/)(/not/)(/hear/)(/otherwise/)
I prefer the Jug handle over the Michigan left. As a truck driver the Michigan left is more difficult because you have to fight your way across traffic to get to the u turn and if the u turn is not signalized you are basically trapped.
WOW Mike welcome to My Michigan, I love our LEFTS it keeps traffic flowing going straight like that you experienced us24 Telegraph RD , the only way to make a left turn is Southbound us24 at Van Born since i-94 in close by. Signals are always timed on divided highways. In fact you can do the speed limit(45 or 50) make every light driving 5 miles or more. i know when we have new residents when they try to access us 24 m-85, m-102, m-5 m-1,M-53,M-59 to make a left turn 😞😞😟😟 Hope you enjoyed our area of SE Michigan
My wife is from Michigan and told me about this before my first trip up there (I'm from Texas). It seemed strange at first, but after traveling up there for a decade, I don't think twice about it while driving around.
As an ex-Michigander, I grew up with the MI-left so it was second-nature for me. Going "back" to the traditional left turn when travelling to other areas always felt dangerous to me - but I learned to adjust. All in all, I think it's a good idea.
did you grow up around detroit? I grew up in Jackson and never saw one until I went to detroit as an adult.
@@davesnothere8859they have em in a2 too
@@davesnothere8859 I lived for years on the west side of Detroit and frequently traveled 8Mile and Telegraph Roads (among others) where the "Michigan Left Turn" was common
(/Michiganian/)*
@@Bluesonofman Nah, that sounds dumb. Michgander*
I live in this area and I noticed roads like Telegraph and Michigan Ave flow much better with these turns
you know what else would help better flow? Less road closures. Some major roads have been under construction for 2 years! People even put signs up on the barricades (Edgewood - Washington) that they had the road closed for over 2 years.
Or taring up two parallel major roads right next to each other. I could go on and on about it.
moving from MI to TX I truly appreciate the MI left. It's so much better than waiting in the left turn lane and also not having to make U turns at the intersection. The separated traffic allows the left side to smoothly pass through. I just wish more states would adopt this.
As someone that also moved from Michigan to Texas I do appreciate the amount of frontage roads down here and the Texas U turn. But the Michigan left is nice though.
There are a Few intersections here in Texas that does Michagain left turns. US 282 in bulverdie area
@@SLACKERBOY Sorry I hate the TX U turn. Sometimes there's not enough room to make a sharp U in anything larger than a small compact car.
new jersey
Does the Michigan left become a nightmare to use in medium to high traffic when you don't have a light, especially for trucks requiring multiple lanes for a U-turn?
Here we have left turn phases from a larger road to a smaller one & during that phase the smaller road can turn right on the bigger road. Left turns don't have to cross any traffic, making it very safe.
Hey Mileage Mike! I love your videos! If you live in Metro Detroit, the Michigan left is just part of life here in Southeast Michigan. I never think about it. I remember in driver's ed, they taught us how to drive through them!
If you ever get back to Michigan Mike, there are several examples of the Michigan left far away from Detroit on US 31, going through Holland, Grand Haven and other areas. If you didn’t get a chance to visit the Lake Michigan shoreline while you were here you must make it back again to do so!
Also, Lake Michigan Drive through Allendale, where GVSU is located.
If he wanted to find some in Grand Rapids, he would have had to go down to the East Beltline, otherwise there aren’t many in the area. I can’t think of a single example near Kalamazoo, maybe on M-89 east of town.
Up, tons of em in Muskegon too. Honestly, never even though of them as an inconvenience.
Don't forget the chaos that is called seaway drive running through Muskegon
@@Dan-bp8ts most of Lake MI Drive and almost all of 44th/rivertown as well.
I grew up near Mound Rd and was very used to these "Michigan Lefts". They are used mostly on boulevard type roads (wide medians). This makes it easy to joint the left lane without crossing the other lanes. Some just had stop signs. While others had the extra lights, but you were allowed on some to make the left on red. This kept the traffic flowing and I never avoided them.
I live in Utah now and there are a couple of these right next to the freeway on roads without any medians. The first couple of years was really bad with many drivers not knowing what to do. Now days, it is mostly the Californian's that are confused by these. However, even in a small car, I end up in the third lane from the left. Thus, you are not allowed to turn on red and people move slow through them. Hence, I try to avoid them whenever I can.
Way better than a U turn at the light. When I first moved out of Michigan I thought it was chaos lol.
Nobody avoids Michigan lefts. There's nothing weird about them, I don't get it. If you allow people to make left turns off of large roads like Telegraph or Mound, the traffic backups it would cause from people trying to pile up in the medians and such would be so impractical. Imo, the only working way to not use Michigan Lefts is to not have divided roads and add super long left turn lanes.
I live right by Mound Rd how funny!!! Mound and Hall Rd
The michigan left is so prevalent on divided highways, that there is one intersection near where i live that doesnt use it and it stands out like a sore thumb
You did an excellent job covering the Michigan Left in this video! As someone from Metro Detroit who recognizes Telegraph Road in Southfield where some of the footage was filmed at in the beginning and end of the video, the Michigan Left really is a safe way to reduce accidents. One thing worth mentioning though, is the Michigan Left is only implemented on divided highway with a boulevard in the middle dividing the 2 directions of traffic. Otherwise if there’s no divider, you’ll see intersections with traffic lights and lanes permitting left turns.
The biggest downside is that people who are not used to them are not used to them. This problem would be easily and quickly solved if they were more widely adopted.
I live in a Michigan apartment complex who's sole access is from a Michigan left road. I couldn't avoid that one even if I wanted to, but I never saw a reason to avoid them anyway. The main road curve on a hill in front of my apartment complex used to be known locally as "the dead-man's curve" because of how many accidents it had as a simple two-lane road, but remaking it into a boulevard with Michigan left turns solved that.
There are many times when I have realized that I missed my turn, and then was glad that I was on a Michigan left road. These roads are very forgiving when people miss turns. No need to look for a parking lot or side road to make a U-turn, when you can just use the next turnaround lane built precisely for that purpose.
What about being forced to wait on traffic flow. Since legally you must maintain your lane an turn to the left most lane, establish that lane and then signal and move over.
So it 6 step maneuver an at each step gives an opportunity for a moving violation or wreck.
You don't have to do all those steps. Just be in the outside (right)lane of the Michigan left for a left turn. If you want to just make a u turn you use the inside(left) lane. No need to over complicate it @@bowez9
@@bowez9 I don't follow you. In my experience, making a left turn off of a Michigan left road involves no more waiting than a left turn off of a conventional major road. The fact that the traffic light has only two phases usually makes it faster.
First you merge left into a specialized lane that leads into the U-turn. This is no more difficult, dangerous, or time consuming than sliding into an exit ramp from a freeway. Then you complete the U-turn by merging into a one-way flow of traffic, added by a traffic light for cases with heavier traffic. This is no more difficult or dangerous than a right turn onto a major road would normally be, either with or without a traffic light.
Yes, a left turn onto a Michigan left road requires two merges into one-way traffic, but even there you usually break even on time, and it is still safer than simultaneously turning through oncoming traffic and both directions of cross traffic, which is what you need to do in order to make a conventional left turn.
@@jeremykraenzlein5975 are you merging into the inside lane-the legal way to make the turn-and then establishing than lane before you signal an attempt to move to right all before the turn comes up while no impeding traffic ?
Or are you doing the common lazy and illegal way an turn straight to the outside lane?
@@bowez9The only thing I'm getting from your convoluted comment is that you're attempting to shoehorn some biased assumption within a rhetorical question, which is especially cringe to do on-of all possible topics-a discussion about Michigan Lefts.
I understand you likely have something that recently happened to you that has made you very triggered/enthusiastic about this topic, but I think you need to take a moment and consider how absurd it is to be doing that.
As a Michigander, I had a good time recognizing all of the places you showed in the video! My friend’s house is almost in the 12 mile and telegraph aerial still you used, and I got jumpscared by the sudden Ann Arbor footage at the start lol
The Ann Arbor footage startled me as well - especially since I will be right in the State and Liberty area tomorrow morning for an appointment!
Grew up in the Detroit area and I'm astounded that more places don't use these. They're slick and easy to use.
because people who didn't grow up with them don't like them they are currently removing one they had here where i live
@@j317why not just a left turn arrow?
I used to live in Michigan and now live in Pennsylvania. I miss the Michigan left turn. It is a brilliant design.
I used to travel from MI to PA often in the 80s and eventually moved there for a few years. The PA turn signal was the brake light back then.
We have the Pittsburgh left where we allow left turns to proceed first when light turns green.
Omgarsh the intersections in Pittsburgh are from another world!
@@MrGreatness412 Same near Philly with the left yellow blinker arrow. I used to live in South Jersey. I miss Jersey roads tbh.
Allisonville Road at 96th Street in Indianapolis/Fishers was once home to an intersection with a Michigan Left, but they replaced it with a roundabout (no shocker there) in 2024. Only operated as a Michigan Left for ~10 years!
Haha Indiana loves its roundabouts
As a Brit, my very first thought was to tink, why not just make them all propper roundabouts? Roundabouts, not "Traffic Circles" which from what I understand is something different in the USA that we no longer have here in the UK.
@MileageMike485 used to hate them but actually like them now. Unfortunately, we still have people who can't for the life them use them correctly and therefore should lose their privilege to drive.
Roundabouts are way more logical. I really do not understand why not just use them instead.
@@danv2888The roundabouts in metro Detroit have the most accidents. Don't know if it's the design or people haven't learned how to use them. Had a taxi take me in the traffic circle around l'arc de Triomphe. One of the roundabouts here reminds me of that. Crazy!
I was born and raised in Michigan so the Michigan left was just normal to me while growing up. I moved to the Chicago 'burbs in 2007 and it took me some time to get used to doing left turns at the intersections of divided roads. I truly hated it at first (still kinda do all these years later), but as mentioned, you adapt to it. I still highly prefer the Michigan left though,. Keep up the great work Mike! Love your videos
TBH, most of the examples that he showed would have been better off as proper roundabouts. They've started building similar things here, but they're mostly being used to handle traffic coming and going from driveways. So, you're blocked from turning left into driveways mid block, but you get a left turn lane with a left turn light and explicit sign saying that both u-turns and left turns are permitted. It allows for all of the businesses along that block to be accessed in the same way. The traffic on the other side is stopped for people to change lanes and it's just so convenient.
And, if you miss your turn, it's usually no biggie as there's usually another opportunity to do a u-turn at the next light anyways.
Having to do this for intersections though seems very inefficient when you can just add a left turn arrow and be done with it. Especially since it appears that you're not guaranteed clear lanes to get into the right turn lane in a rather short distance. I assume that's less of an issue than I imagine, but the video didn't explain that.
The videos from Telegraph are extremely close to my current neck of the woods. Good explanation!
us24 the bypass of i-75
Same where I live
Thanks
Man I was think the same thing😂started calling out which roads he was at
Me too.
I have used those particular Mich Left turns also.
7:11 Yes! You were missing something. The East Beltline in Grand Rapids have Michigan Lefts all along it.
I moved to Michigan and lived and worked there for several years. After moving there, I found the Michigan left to be easy to navigate even as an "out of state" driver. I'm not a driving genius, I just figured it out. I think the MI left is actually a lot less stressful than making a "normal" left turn, because it breaks the movement into easier chunks. The downside that I can think of is that you have to have a slightly larger median...and I'm not sure if that is strictly true actually. I'd say they overall work pretty well.
This is true. A narrower divided highway struggles to provide turning radius for the turnaround making lane retention difficult or impossible. Properly designed, this isn't an issue but there are places where planners try to squeeze them in and it causes problems. (Evergreen Rd in Southfield between 10 Mile and 11 Mile is an example)
I've lived in Michigan for 11 years. At 1st they made me crazy, but now I appreciate them , because I see how much better traffic flows, and I haven't seen a single accident here in 11 years that was due to a left turn.
Virginia Beach built something similar a couple years ago at the intersection of Kempsville Rd. & Ferrell Pkwy -- one of the most congested and dangerous intersections in our area. That intersection has always been a nightmare since I moved there 10 years ago, and the new layout seems to have alleviated a lot of congestion once people got used to it and the light timings were tweaked. The U-turns are signalized with these cute U-turn shaped traffic lights that I've never seen anywhere else. And the lights at the main intersection are straight arrows to remind people they can't directly turn left.
I grew up in Michigan, but learned to drive in Florida. I’ve just always done a Michigan left without really realizing it until I met my husband. He asked why I always take the long way, and I just said it felt safer. We recently moved back to Michigan and now he understands and doesn’t mind it anymore. Interestingly though, I’ve never been in an accident and have been driving nearly 20 years now.
Michigan recently finished an alteration of the intersection at Big Beaver Road and I-75 where the Big Beaver Rd. directions of traffic do a double-figure-8. It's to avoid having to build extended offramp loops from I-75. And yes, the I-75 intersection number is actually exit 69.
That's called a Diverging Diamond intersection and Michigan has built several of them and are building more. You also find them at I-94 & Telegraph, I-75 and University and other places. They will put one at 8-mile and telegraph soon.
@@Naris48 they are also putting one up north in Gaylord at the M-32/I-75 interchange.
Now that's a new thing which I despise lol. Hate that intersection
I visited Detroit about a year ago and loved it there! There's one somewhat similar to a MI left in my area, and it's used to enter a Walmart along McCart Avenue in Fort Worth, TX. Always liked using that entrance and can honestly appreciate it way more than before.
Anyone who either never liked the Michigan left or doesn't understand why it exists has never tried to make a left turn onto Boulder Hwy from E Harmon Ave in Las Vegas during busy times before mid-2009.
The absolute whiplash as a Michigander seeing my job of three years that I recently left in this video
I personally like the Michigan Left... no huge backup of traffic waiting for the green arrow at the intersection to make a left turn. You just go through the intersection, make the left and then zip back to the intersection and make the right. Traffic flows so much nicer and quicker than I've seen in other states with standard intersections. And yeah, Grand Rapids has Michigan lefts, just check 44th Street and M-37 (aka Broadmoor/Beltline Ave)
They're just backed up further down the street where the U-turn is, and traffic on the second road has to stop twice, while the traffic that ultimately wants to go left has to navigate three intersections and weave a lot. Seems like _more_ conflict points to me!
@@jovetj Having lived with Michigan lefts over the last 15 years, it works far better than a first glance would lead ya to believe. I was pretty skeptical of it initially, but it has won me over.
I have learned to avoid roads that don't have a Michigan Left like Cooledge and 15 mile that corn is nightmare as Cooledge has Michigan left but 15 mile doesn't
@@parsin4793agree that's a screwed up intersection as well as Eton at 15 down the road
As an immigrant to Michigan from neighbouring Ontario, my first encounter with Michigan turn was to drive through the cross street, turn around in a Target parking lot, and turn right onto the street I needed to go down. I figured it out after that.
The advantage is the elimination of left turn accidents at the intersection, though when making the U-turn, you're turning left to get going in the opposite direction. And when the traffic is heavy and there's no signal at the U-turn, you're risking an accident trying to not be stuck at the U-turn for too long. You'll also end up spending more time idling since you'll be stuck at the red light at the U-turn (though you're allowed to turn on red if it's safe to do so), then since the lights at the U-turn are synched with the intersection, you'll end up waiting two whole cycles to cross the intersection where a simple left turn would have done it in one.
The best use of the Michigan turns is for lightly used cross streets where you can block the cross traffic and eliminate the need for signals at the intersection, though you'll have to turn right, then make the U-turn before turning right again to continue along the cross street.
I visited the Detroit Metro this summer, and my opinion on the Michigan left is mixed. I did not find them particularly confusing, especially after the first go. That said, my experience was that these turns enabled very high speeds for a suburban road. It was never a problem where the U-turn was signalized. From a stop sign though, I needed to be ready to accelerate hard, and then switch lanes two or more times in order to turn right into my destination. Also, the roads with the Michigan lefts were very wide -- usually six lanes (three each direction) with a very wide median. I think it's the most car-centric design I've ever seen that wasn't a full blown limited access highway. It was very appropriate for Motown.
West Michigan has Michigan Lefts on US-31, and they are deadly for pedestrians.
@@wheresbicki We *despise* these things in western Michigan.
@@ASNS117Zero Western Michigan doesn't have the traffic (economic activity) to warrant them. There will never be 40000 cars a day rolling past them like in Metro Detroit.
@@GOPRepubliklan How to tell me you've never been to western michigan w/o telling me you've never been to western michigan.
Grand Rapids alone has them all over the place outside of downtown, and that's mostly a real estate issue since the roads can't really be expanded to fit them properly in most places (and in the places where it can be, it was more feasible to just put in a roundabout).
It's the motor city, motown is a music label company/ type of music.
Having lived in Michigan I gotta say I like the Michigan lefts, once you're used to them you do notice how much they improve not just safety but also efficiency of traffic flow. Because of the way the Michigan left is set up the lights for intersections don't need a separate signal state for left turns, which increases the time traffic is able to flow in both directions, although in hours of peak traffic Michigan lefts can cause backups which lead to some of the worst blocked intersections you'll ever see. One interesting benefit of the Michigan left that you touched on is how its usage has affected the design of divided roads across Michigan, u-turns in divided roads are much more common here than other states and this just generally makes divided roads in Michigan much easier to drive on for people who aren't familiar with the area. In some states dedicated u-turns are quite rare and to turn around or access the other side on a divided road you have to turn off the road entirely and re-enter in the opposite direction, but in Michigan it's rare to go multiple intersections without there being a u-turn turnaround.
Been to MI many times and always thought this worked really well.
Another thing they do well is typically having access roads that run along the interstates. This keeps people from hopping on the interstate just to travel to the next exit, and gives a place for some traffic to flow if there's an issue on the interstate. Where I live if you don't hop on the interstate for an exit it can mean a lengthy and convoluted network of back roads to get to the same destination, so everyone always hops on the interstate. The excessive merging and vehicles is terrible for the flow of thru traffic.
I'm so used to freeways having service drives here in Michigan I've never thought about not having them! They really are convenient.
Yeah, Michigan invented those and then Texas stole them and claimed credit.
LOL. I grew up near one of those Telegraph Road intersections and I assumed they existed everywhere. After I moved to California, someone told me it took him a while for him to figure out how to make a left turn. I enjoyed this analysis of the pros and cons of the Michigan Left. Reminds me of when I started travelling out of Michigan and first encountered roundabouts and rotaries.
When I went up to Michigan, I called them "The Michigan U turn thingy". I loved them. Not like here in Ohio where every new traffic design is meant to back traffic up harder. Like making all lights with left turn signals use the left turn phase first, even though in many cases (maybe half) if they started with straight traffic, by the time they get to the turn signal, there may no longer even be a need unless there's lots of traffic.
Mike - I appreciate your concise explanation, history lesson, and the many examples you provided. Living in Michigan, I have used this infrastructure before many times. I do believe they are MUCH safer than intersections with a lefthand signal. Looking forward to more of your videos!
Slightly funny hearing “go up to Michigan to experience them”, for me, grew up in the UP and these confused me a bit when I went down to Detroit. After getting used to them though they seem to work very well.
Yeah. A few of them around Escanaba. But in Detroit, Eight Mile Road and Telegraph Road are full of them.
Living in Michigan my whole life I love them. When I go to other states I just appreciate them even more. Also after becoming a local truck driver here in Michigan, my appreciation grew even more. It’s not that complicated once you adjust, and it’s much safer. I couldn’t imagine having to make a left turn on some of these major roadways around here, traffic for sure would be backed up.
As someone from NJ now living in Ohio and frequently driving through Michigan... I'd rather just have my jughandles and roundabouts back 😭 Looking at the example at 1:02 with minor roads intersecting main road, they didn't even always require a full clover to move traffic from the minor road left on the major road. They just used a left turn signal for the minor road onto the major road and a jughandle to turn the major road left onto the minor road. That used up less space and moved traffic just as fast. Sure it was a pain to sit at a light on a main road like that but the cycles were usually shorter in favor of the main road. It's hust so damn convenient not having to drive forever to make a left, even if there is a little confusion
Nothing like a Jersey jug handle!
This is cool! I grew up on the road and remember my parents suddenly discovering these things and keeping on reminding each other every time we got back in the vehicles. Motor City❣️
These are commonly used in and around New Orleans and they do make traffic flow so much better
Part of the reason I love visiting new orleans is it's like a smaller, warmer version of metro Detroit.
There are a few places in Michigan that have the New Jersey style "jug handle". The first one that comes to mind is Van Dyke Ave and Chicago Rd in Sterling Heights.
As a michigander, the worst part of making a michigan left is having to make a wide right turn into the far left lane to make the u turn... coming out of the u turn is also hard if you need to get over to the far right lane
So if it is signalized, what is the problem? Right/left turn on red is an option, not a requirement.
This is exactly what people do not want to talk about. However, claim it is "so much better." You get more steps to complete a "left turn," and more possibilities to make an accident when merging or turning. The only reason why it is reducing accidents is because people are forced to slow down. That is the only benefit I can see. In a normal intersection you are not forced to slow down and people speed through creating major accidents.
I grew up in Detroit I learned how to drive in Detroit I believe the Michigan left is the safest other than around about. It may seem inconvenient or slow but it's really not. 8 Mile, telegram, Michigan avenue, Ford road it was actually when I drove other places that I realized that left turns and major intersections are really dangerous. I've never had to explain to somebody who actually visited, but I look forward to it just to see their reaction and to get their feedback
His first time encountering a Michigan Left is the ONLY time I've ever heard my father -- a very reserved, conservative person, very much averse to profanity -- come close to dropping an F-bomb. He was visiting for my sister's college graduation, and I was riding in the car with him to a restaurant for dinner afterward. We were on the arterial, thankfully, so he didn't have it TOO bad, but he was confused until I explained it to him. His exact response was, "Well WHO the FU-- what IDIOT came up with THAT idea?!"
To this day, he denies any and all knowledge of those words coming out of his mouth, but I know what I heard 😆
And yes, I did extol their virtues in defense against his repulsion.
But.. it's.. a really good idea? There would be massive traffic jams and probably way more accidents if you could turn left on to the main roads that intersect US-24 (Telegraph Road) in Michigan. It would cause gridlock from people lining up to turn left on to divided highways/roads/avenues. I've lived around it my whole life and there's a lot of really good reasons behind it. There are actually divided roads in less populated areas where they do allow you to turn left off of a divided and onto a 2 or 4 lane undivided road. Fort St & West Road is one example, and that's not even particularly a lower population area, it's part of metro Detroit. It's really nice not having to sit in long lines to turn left and it's nice not having to worry about idiots creaming you if you try to make a left as a light changes colors. We've also massively adopted roundabouts in Michigan, too.
@@podunkest Yep! It's a very efficient and safe way of keeping things moving. Which is what I explained to him: it sacrifices a **little** bit of convenience for the sake of alleviating problems at the busiest intersections.
Roundabouts, however... they really only work in low- to medium-traffic areas, mostly on local and collector roads. M-DOT has been going crazy building them everywhere, including places where they don't belong, make no sense, and are actually more dangerous (don't even get me started on the dogbones at freeway exits). But that's just M-DOT: they see the latest fad and they go for it. I'm not **anti** roundabout, I'm just anti-roundabouts-where-they-don't-belong.
@@JoshColletta Roundabouts work in a lot more areas than they seem, even in high traffic situations. The bigger problem is not high traffic but mismatched traffic, especially in regards to what nearby signalized intersections can do to them.
Also, as a first responder (and my anecdotes are backed up by the statistics), ive yet to see a single person killed in a roundabout, and even in these mismatched intersections faralities are massively reduced.
@@tlpineapple1 That's kinda the same thing as what I said, but statistics do show that the higher-traffic a setting, the less helpful a roundabout is. And yes, other intersections surrounding a roundabout do play a role. But even in places like Carmel, Indiana, where they've replaced a ton of crossings with roundabouts in a way so as to maximize efficiency and traffic flow, you're still going to find that connecting two arterials or an artieral and a collector via a roundabout is going to provide a diminished return compared to two collectors or a collector and a local.
Plus, speed and the requirement to curve in a through movement are, indeed, a dangerous combination. We had a manure truck miss a newly constructed roundabout on an I-94 ramp here in Michigan not too long ago. Luckily nobody was hurt, but it wouldn't have been a sideswipe accident if they had been; the truck failed to stop at all and hit the island at speed, jumping it and overturning. If it were still a straight-through interchange, the truck would have just flown through the box and continued down the other side of the ramp. Like I said: there are some places where roundabouts are just a bad idea.
I live in Michigan currently and never understood why we had our own u-turn. After this video thinking about it on these roads that have them, its a blessing to have them. Some roads are 3 lanes each way. Thats alot of of traffic to be mindful of. And as other commenters have pointed out, the light is most of the time there to guarantee a space, used mostly during rush hour and busy times really, but most of the time you can turn on red as long as its safe. The worst part for me is having to drive past my destination by a few 100 feet just to turn around and come back
I've lived in the Detroit metro for nearly 30 years. I have to say, I like the Michigan Left. You only have to concentrate on traffic coming from one direction, as opposed to three (left, right, and straight ahead.) Yeah, usually it costs you a little time, but it's so much safer.
while not born here, ive lived in Michigan all my life and never knew it was called the Michigan left (perhaps bc im not the one driving) and mainly a Michigan thing, this video explains it so well
In Fishers, IN (near Carmel) we gave up on our Michigan left at Allisonville and 96th Street, and they put in a ROUNDABOUT!!!
majority of people simply didn't like it.
Roundabout are becoming ubiquitous up here in MI. Most people don't like them, but I prefer them over Michigan Lefts hands down.
Roundabouts>
@@brandonpatterson8517 It’s a difference use case. A roundabout gives equal priority, a Michigan left prioritizes the higher traffic road.
Every place they put the roundabouts, it has caused more congestion. Michigan doesn't know how to build them correctly.
I remember when they put that in. I thought it was the stupidest thing ever. Then, when I was up that way, I had to do the Michigan left and realized it was the dumbest thing ever and was more of a pain than it helped.
I grew up with these so I've never seen them as odd until I started heading out to other states or people would come to visit. I'd say the other disadvantage of them is impatient drivers. In busy interactions where there are 2 lanes to do the turnaround, a large queue will form in the outer lane of those who want to turn left and impatient drivers will take the inner lane of the turn around and then cut into the outer lane that is trying to compete the left often either slowing everyone down or nearly hitting them in the process.
You should make a video on the Taconic State Parkway in NY where you have to make 90° left and right turns, merge with 5 feet of on-ramp, and play chicken across 4 lanes of traffic usually moving anywhere from 55 to 75 mph! 😀
What is super interesting is that the same road you highlight throughout most of this video, Telegraph Rd, also features the New Jersey Jughandle just further up the road as you approach Pontiac. Very interesting how these two designs come together in the same place.
The Michigan Left is also nice because it makes for a safer u turn too
As a Michigander, I have found the opposite when I go out of town and learn one can make direct left turns off divided roads. I just instinctively find the next turnaround and use it.
Also, my old neighborhood is Telegraph and Grand River. This was one of the few divided highway intersections (junctions since both have route numbers) that one could make a direct left turn. Not anymore. Telegraph is under constructions and with it comes the latest in highway design toys. That Short Street is gone (I disagree with this decision) in favor of more turnarounds. A mile north of here a DDI is being installed to replace a cloverleaf interchange.
I also believe these turnarounds are the reason that in Michigan, one can make a left turn on a red light as long as the turn is onto a one way street and it is not a NO TURN ON RED intersection.
Thanks for giving the Michigan Left some love.
They took out Short Street?! Dammit, that little bit of pavement was my good friend heading back to Redford from Dearborn Heights.
The cloverleaf at Eight Mile & Telegraph was overdue for an upgrade.
Being born in Michigan makes it so much more convenient because you can understand how it works.
The extra lane changes aren't an issue? That's the detail that I was hoping would come up in the video. Because you take that u-turn and in some of those intersections, you have to cross several lanes of traffic in order to complete the turn and I couldn't see any traffic signals to make that any easier.
We use something similar around here, but mostly to handle issues with cars trying to turn into driveways. So, they get a median to stop that, and then at the next light, there'll be a left turn lane with an arrow and a sign specifying that u-turns and left turns are OK. It's very similar to these but it works for driveways and doesn't require the bulk of the drivers to continue past their intended turn.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade If the light is green for you turning right, its red for the other people going straight, meaning going across 2-4 lanes of traffic is not an issue
@@SmallSpoonBrigade So the michigan uturn would have 2 lanes. You can go when it is clear, but usually you have a light that goes green and allows you to turn. Now he didn't mention a variation of one of these same Michigan intersections. So on Hall road crossover next to the Harbor freight there is a 2 lane Michgan left intersection that has a light, and lets cars either turn left or go straight to harbor freight. This same intersection also has cars going right to exit out of Harbor freight. In this case the Michigan left must Yield to the people turning right out of Harbor Freight. They can only turn if it is either clear, or they have a green light without having to yield.
Not sure how I stumbled into this video, but I definitely saw the roof of my house and thought that was random and interesting. Thanks for the video!
Okay Mike now you have to get north of Saginaw, Clare, or muskegon to really see Michigan. You’ll even find Michigan Lefts there too!
On most roads in Michigan you can make a left turn. Just the very busy roads and intersections have the turn around to go left.
I had a buddy from Florida who at first, could not grasp the idea of how double and triple right turn lanes work. He almost caused a couple of accidents. I actually spent a few minutes drawing him a simple illustration of how it worked and he got it.
There's plenty of Michiganders who don't understand the concept of multiple turning lanes either lol
Being from detroit and having been to other states like Florida, I really missed my michigan lefts. Sure, turning left is more complicated, but it lets anyone going straight or right go faster by not needing to have a light specific for left turns.
Ontarian here. Certainly noticed the Michigan Lefts on a visit years ago, found them quirky, but got used to them quickly. To me, anyway, they made sense. Up here we're now seeing traditional circular British style roundabouts being built. These too avoid ninety degree left turns...but I don't care for them, as you need to be an expert in choreography to use one without getting crashed into...
As people get familiar with them, accidents go way down. Carmel Indiana replaced over 100 traffic lights with roundabouts, crashes way down, pedestrian/bike injuries way down. Drivers, walkers and cyclists love them. No energy/maintenance for signals. Major win.
Agree. MICHIGAN IS GOING CRAZY WITH ROUNDABOUTS!! THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. SOME ARE OK BUT, MANY ARE TOO SMALL( CRAMMED INTO CONFINING SPACE) THAT ONE MUST CRANK THE WHEEL TO COMPLETE THE CIRCLE. OUT OF METRO Detroit area the Roundabouts are sprouting like mushrooms.
Great vid Mike! Big trucks must love these tight u-turns and worrying if the inside lane will try to go left instead of u-turn. Yes, used the MI Left in Mi, MS (US80), NC (multiple locations including 74 you mentioned).
LOL I live in NJ - and we don't do left hand turns very often here, either.
The city of Pontiac just replaced a dangerous intersection on a road near my job with a michigan left. Glad we're still building them.
The Michigan Left sounds stressful. I’m sure I would get used to it over time but I would still be annoyed about it. Great video Mike.
It's only stressful when you have more than 2 lanes of traffic to worry about. Hall Road is the most egregious example of a bad time using Michigan Lefts.
@@SergeantTeabagalso Michigan Ave in Canton with it being 55 mph with few traffic lights to break up traffic
@@SergeantTeabag Hall Road is poorly designed. There are too many individual driveways, and some of the left turnarounds face oncoming traffic at lights which defeats the purpose. If some of the roads that intersect Hall Road, like Van Dyke, Schoenherr, Hayes and Romeo Plank were also divided and offered Michigan lefts, at least where they intersect Hall Road, a lot of the problems would be mitigated. Although, having grown up in the area, it is still better now than it was when it was a two lane road.
@@paulwindisch1423 I've only been familiar with the area for two years or so. I had no idea Hall used to be two lanes. Yes, it's horribly designed. I've had close calls with other drivers at those turnarounds too. I had a guy in a white Ram cut me off by going into the rightmost lane from the turnaround while I had ROW and turning right. I feel like the unsignaled ones are much worse during rush-hour traffic since you can't find a gap at all!
@@SergeantTeabag Yeah. 1997 was when they put the finishing touches on eight lanes of divided highway. Prior to that it was two lanes from Van Dyke all the way east to where it ends in front of Selfridge ANG. At that time, almost all of it was farmland, except for Lakeside Mall (which just closed) and a few restaurants. I try to plan routes so I don’t have to be on Hall Road because of the issues you highlighted.
I grew up with the MI Left, so I was always used to it. Also always got a kick out of people visiting talking about the MI Lefts.
I've lived in Michigan my entire life, and I honestly hate driving in any other state. The Michigan Left just seems so natural and sensible.
Another downside is people making right turns need to merge across several lanes of traffic, which can be very dangerous where there’s a lot of traffic. One of many design factors that contribute to the deadliness of Rte. 22 here in NJ.
So wait until there is a green light. Right turn on red is an option.
Live in Austin and we do not have these but there are a couple Michigan Lefts in Tucson where I visit family for the holidays. I have grown to appreciate them more and more each time. I feel that they are more efficient since left turns at traffic lights can get really backed up. 👍
As a citizen of the State of New Jersey, the “no left turn”, we use the “jughandle”. 😃👍
Also in New Jersey, we do not have the “flashing yellow 🟡 arrow” at intersections with a left turn lane. In addition, the “Jersey Barrier” 🚧 are cement slaps that run through a divided highway 🛣️ and protect vehicles from going into oncoming traffic 🚦.
we have "jersey barriers" all throughout Ohio and Michigan as well. I didn't even know they were called that until I looked it up but yeah I guess they were first developed in New Jersey which is where they got their name.
also question, how do left turns work without flashing yellow? is it just flashing red or are you not allowed to turn unless it's green?
At intersections without a flashing yellow arrow, you just turn left on the regular green light, like you would at a regular intersection without a separate left turn signal.
Sometimes lights have a separate left turn signal that only has 3 lights for red, yellow, and green, so you can only turn left on the green arrow, but the more common configuration would just be a left turn signal that is combined with a regular 3-section traffic light with the circles. The sequence for the light would be green arrow, yellow arrow, and then no arrow, when there’s no arrow you can just turn left like normal when the light turns green for through traffic. It actually works pretty much the same as a flashing yellow arrow, it’s just that the unprotected left turn movement can’t be separated from the through traffic like it can be with the extra yellow arrow.
In Pennsylvania, the arrangement for such a light would be 5-section “doghouse” light, but I think New Jersey tends to use a dumb arrangement where the green and yellow arrows are in the same signal section, it just changes color.
@@cr128 We have something similar here. It's green arrow, flashing yellow arrow, solid yellow arrow, red arrow. It works pretty well as the flashing yellow happens while the oncoming traffic has a green light. So, you can still get a bit more traffic through the left turn lane, if the oncoming traffic isn't too busy.
The 4-section flashing yellow arrow left turn signals are now starting to be used for new traffic lights around my area, instead of the 5-section doghouse arrangement, but they first appeared here only a few years ago (the flashing yellow arrow and that 4-section arrangement have been in the MUTCD since 2009).
There is one intersection in my area like this and I never understood why it was. Thanks for the explanation.
It's alright. I'm more excited to see Michigan finally phasing in modern roundabouts. Especially in rural and suburban areas these make a huge difference.
My impression is that because Michigan was the home of a lot of traffic engineering experiments, and many Michiganders remember using or hearing about poorly designed and marked roundabouts; by and large, people in Michigan complain about roundabouts and claim to be confused about them.
But from what I've seen on the handful of modern roundabouts in Michigan is that locals are good at navigating them.
Roundabouts definitely work better in the rural/suburban locations. But people do not understamd their capacity is limited once on a high volume urbanized corridor.
I live in a rural town in MI and absolutely nobody knows what to do in the 3 roundabouts we have. It actually annoys me so much 😂 It feels like almost everyone completely stops at the yield, or comes to a complete stop when a car is merging in front of them. I hate that I had to use one to get to my apartment bc of how misunderstood it was. We also had a lifted truck ramp the middle of the roundabout and crash into the apartment welcoming sign 😂
I worked in Battle Creek for two years and there is only one of these, but the first time I encountered it was a definitely a head-scratcher.
They have actually turned one of the intersections at home (Virginia Beach) into one of these, and it works, people seem to have adapted pretty well.
I wonder why intersection designs that move the left turn conflict away from the main intersection are so rare outside of the states they were created in. Many state DOTs have been going full steam ahead on building roundabouts, but hardly any have built Michigan Lefts or Jersey Jug-handles.
Michigan Lefts would be useful on roads with flex lane configurations. It would provide some left turn access for the deprioritized direction, and make it safer for the prioritized direction. I bet part of the reason flex lanes along the 7ths in Phoenix get their unfortunate nickname is that left turns are allowed from the prioritized direction.
Must be limited land available in other countries.
The Jersey Jughandle requires extra space. And the Michigan left requires at least one spaciously divided highway.
Because roundabouts are better
because a roundabout is a safer type of intersection (if you build it correctly) and a roundabout gives already gives you a safe way of making a u-turn.
so at a road with at both sides a roundabout you can make left turn illegal and it wouldn't impact traffic negatively, but it would prevent traffic slowing down for people wanting to make a left turn and it would prevent lots of accidents.
added benefit of roundabouts: you don't need any traffic lights, so the maintenance are way lower than that of a signalized intersection.
so if you look at all the pro's and con's other countries have found that the roundabout is just the better option in almost all the cases.
The video was informative, thank you. I live in Utah and enjoy the use of center lanes here to break up a left turn into two movements, if traffic is busy I can worry primarily about my near side first and cross to the center lane, provided nobody from my right is turning into the driveway, then I can merge stopping in the center lane if I have to.
That being said I can understand your engineering perspective about reducing crashes. I have seen a place in Orem where they put a no turn left sign meaning you can’t even go to the center lane from that spot. There must have been enough crashes there that the city changed it.
Telegraph road has broken me personally. Also the first time I came to Michigan, my gf did a michigan left turn on red which is apparently legal and I shit my pants. Really thought a red light camera was gonna go off. Also apparently we don't have those either! Funny place
From a two-way street?
@@traffic.engineerGenerally the left is on a boulevard section so you only have traffic coming one direction (straight at you). Since it is a left onto a one way, you can go through. It really keeps things moving when you have one predominate direction of traffic (like the respective rush hours).
@@miketimmerman6336 Most states allow left turn on red from one-way to one-way, but Michigan and 4 other states allow left turn on red from a two-way to one-way. Wanted to know the specific detail of this left turn on red maneuver.
There is always a sign at signaled Michigan turns that tell you a left turn is allowed at a red light if traffic is clear. Remember, you are not at an intersection when you make that left turn.
My first encounter with this no-left-turn paradigm was Tucson, Arizona. There were two examples of this. The one I remember most prominently was the intersection of Valencia and Kolb. At first, it thoroughly confused me, but after I got used to it, it wasn't too bad.
Glad to see you in MI!
I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life and haven’t been aware of this, but these signs are very common and I recall a lot of one way turns growing up and didn’t realize it was pretty much only right turns. Obviously not all streets it just depends I’m sure he goes into detail in the video.
At 6:40 there are actually no signals you have to wait for with that Michigan left. That lack of an intersection means you don't need ones at those locations which tends to only happen when its a nearly no flow situation. Harrison goes into a residential area to the north with no through traffic anyways. Growing up with the Michigan Left it feels a lot safer especially in areas with lots of Semi-trucks.
You once did a video on Florida's Turnpike, the New Jersey Turnpike, and the Oklahoma toll roads. You should do a video on the history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike as the first cross country superhighway. There were highways like the Merritt Parkway, a highway in Manhattan, and in Los Angeles before the Turnpike but they were in the city. The Merritt Parkway was built in stages that took longer than the Turnpike to fully complete.
Michigander here. It's unfortunate that the greatest drawbacks and reasons for not implementing them nationwide are purely based on public displeasure or ignorance. Safety and efficiency should should always be prioritized over 'muh feelings'.
My city did this with the East/West lane, where East/West drivers couldn't turn left. I thought it was stupid at first, but after seeing how it directs traffic, I started to understand its genius. Now, all four directions turn at the same time, leaving more time for through traffic.
As a Michigander who has had these introduced into our area recently, I've thought that the concept that there is NO left turn to be false. It's a delayed left turn. Instead of turning left to get where you want, you continue past it, take a left into a U-turn, then must cross 2 lanes to the right-turn lane. While the Michigan Left DOES reduce the chances of an accident IN the intersection while left turn drivers wait or cross, it just moves the bottleneck to a spot AFTER the signal while the drivers wait for ONCOMING traffic to clear so that they can zip across those lanes to turn right. So, in effect they turned a left when traffic clears to a leftward Uturn across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic to turn right. I'm not saying that it isn't working, but I think that MOST of the benefit is that drivers NOW have to preplan their trips and are paying more attention due to the new situation. It's new enough in our area that the data is still out on whether it will work long term.
But at least it isn't a tight double traffic circle at each end of an overpass! (I'm looking at YOU Sprinkle Rd./I94 overpass - Kalamazoo MI)
I think the biggest advantage is unlike a normal left turning lane at the intersection, at a Michigan left u-turn you can clearly see all lanes of oncoming traffic. Your sightline isn't blocked by people turning left on the opposite side of the intersection from you.
For years Michigan was an introvator when it came to road/ traffic issues. I have lived in Michigan most of my life. It was not until I married & moved to SE Michigan that I ran into the " Michigan Flip". I had never seen or heard of it coming from a very rural area further up state. Traditional Left turns are used else where in the state. These " Flips" are generally used only in areas of high traffic volumes.
I hate the Michigan left as a semi truck driver. It makes it such a pain having to do all these different loops around
Crashes happen when cars tries to pass a truck on a Michigan Left
I don’t get why a longer left turn light wouldn’t solve the issues…