Most of those left turns between traffic lights need to be eliminated. In addition to the safety issues, why is it OK to make pedestrians walk half a mile to the nearest legal crossing, but that same distance is too far to drive?
@@sexygeek8996 You get to vote. Your vote counts as much as that of the car makers. The car makers have more political power because they are active in local politics. If you people were more active in local politics, you'd have your influence. But, here comes the but, most people have cars and most people prefer to drive instead of walking. The majority would still prefer spending more money on roads for their cars than side walks, bike lanes and safe crossings for those or public transport. Most people value their cars a lot or even love their cars. Most people do not want public transport or good walkable streets. They want more roads for their cars. Car manufacturers got away with it, because it's what people wanted, because they like what the car manufacturers sell them.
I highly doubt that. Got so many "poor" "refugees" coming across borders into Europe. Bringing their terrible driving habits and acting all innocent when they get caught breaking a simple traffic law.
Near me there's a mcdonalds with easy access right next to a mom-and-pop diner that i love, but is a bear to get to. So I park in mcdonalds lot and walk over the 10 or 15 foot of grass.
there's a very good reason for that, when you channel parking lots together, you encourage assoles to speed through other parking lots getting to where they want, there are more fender benders in parking lots than on the roads, and the reason they stopped connecting parking lots together is because of pedestrian deaths from speeders, drivers don't want to wait for crossings
@@mmoarchives2542 And they also make it a massive pain in the butt for pedestrians, but we're in the US. We assume pedestrians don't exist. And handicapped pedestrians? I swear some drivers deliberately aim for us.
When making conflict diagrams you should try to include bike and ped movements! There are actually 8-9, depends on State law, conflicts at around 5:30. And 3 conflicts at 7:30.
@@JackVermicelli In the diagram and explanation at 5:30. There is a pedestrian (woman in red), using the sidewalk, who is not even accounted for. She makes 7. I would even contest that as pedestrians can come from either direction, we should tack on an extra conflict point. If this road had a green-painted dedicated bike lane, that would be another. 9 in total.
@@JackVermicelli Right, cuz ppl that don't have cars just don't exist in your world. Meanwhile back in the real world, my partner and I have been nearly hit by vehicles several times by ppl that just don't look for pedestrians when making turns.
@@SadisticSenpai61 Just an idea here but uh.. Look for cars/car turn signals rather than asking a fast moving vehicle to look for a slow moving pedestrian. You can stop in 1 step, the car may not be able to, look out for yourself rather than expecting other people to look out for you.
@@MrCODEmaster00 You think I don't? And even in that scenario, pedestrians still have the right of way, so the assumption should be that they're not going to hit the gas. In these situations, they were usually stopped when I entered the intersection.
Oh even better. I'm a car hauler, sometimes we need up to DOUBLE the space to make a turn without pinching the back of the tractor into the nose of that big f-150 at the front of our trailers. They love to squeeze as much car on us as they can, and it can make the actual driving part really dangerous. Doesn't help we drive 75 or 80 foot vehicles with ten feet in total overhang, and a pivot that's way way waaaay farther back from regular trucks. Some of these "truck friendly" u-turns, like out in Louisiana in donaldsville, are not car haul friendly.
Lion's Choice is a regional roast beef fast food restaurant. It will save roast beef sandwiches for anyone who has written them off, and ruin Arby's for anyone who them.
That car horn sound effect is the exact same one my train simulator uses for a.i. traffic when they get held up at a railroad crossing, traffic light or traffic jam.
I'm a traffic engineer in Portugal and I'm a bit shocked how far behind is America in traffic safety. This kind of left turn through multiple opposite lanes is very dangerous. Love your videos!
You can spend billions on designing the crap out of your left turns and paving more and more turning lanes. Or you could spend way less on building a denser suburb that is walkable and bikeable and that has decent transit and still have half of your transport budget left over. 🤷🏼♂️
Most local and state governments are aware. But part of the problem is $$$. Where I live, yes, it's the state that does the road project. But the local government foots the bill. So they have to dance around allocating enough funds to be able to do projects that can't be put off anymore. And some of these projects have been on the docket 20 maybe 30 years. Which then only makes them more expensive. It drives me nuts how my neighbors complain how our infrastructure is terrible. But then subsequently complain when the local government tries to do something about it because they had to take money from elsewhere. Or raise taxes in order to do it.
I personally believe its because we were the ones who really started seeing mass numbers of cars first, so we kind of made if up as we went along to see what works. Now americas full of failed road expirements that the rest of the world can take notes from. But thats just my uneducated opinion
@Andrew_koala any of us DO understand the metric system and use it for some things, but where it does not fit we don't use it. For example I know a field that is 1 mile by 1/2 mile is 160 acres. Don't have to calculate it, that fits our system. For weights and volumes, metric is fine. We are able to use both, don't need to be limited to only one system. And we can count beyond ten, just let me take off my shoes and socks! Don't be so arrogant until you earn the right.
@Andrew_koala My American town has roundabouts everywhere and I've literally never had an issue with them. Nor has anyone I've ever met. Also, yes. We use customary units. We all know how to use customary units. We were all raised learning our customary units, and the effort of switching because it's slightly more convenient to convert between sizes just isn't a big enough priority for us to be worth it. You never had to switch units, you lived your whole life with metric. Therefore calling a group of people that didn't idiots because they won't throw out what they've spent their whole life using just makes you look arrogant Also, who's flag is that on the moon again? I can't remember.
I have been on roads in Montana (with a 35 MPH speed limit) with roundabouts every quarter mile or so. No thanks! Single lane roundabouts are just annoying. Multiple lane ones are dangerous IMO, when you have to change lanes right near them, adding to the confusion.
@@kenmore01 The lane changes at roundabouts are the same as at an intersection. However, having intersections requires more lanes to handle more cars at once and can add to the confusion. The roundabouts also force people to drive the speed limit which is good for safety (even though it may be annoying).
@@kenmore01 It's good that you're feeling they are unsafe - that's not a design flaw, that's a feature. If you feel they are unsafe, you slow down, you are more cautious, and therefore, you are prone to making less / less deadly collisions.
Unless you have roundabouts every 50 feet, you'd still have the same problem in the same area Rob was talking about. Just replace every instance of "traffic light” with "roundabout" in the video and you can see where blocking left turns can't be solved by giving every business a roundabout for their driveway.
Road Guy Rob gets an automatic like as soon as I start each video. His words of wisdom are something everyone should hear. Should be required learning at driving schools across the country.
Thank you for the term "cross access." I've been wanting a word for the thing I noticed an intentional absence of. In one of the worst cases here, a local McDonalds has a barbed wire fence between it and a hotel next door.
@@HelloKittyFanMan. last hotel I stayed at shared their parking lot with the local Dennys. they also had an easy access gap in the safety barricade between them and the local truck stop/convenience store.
US road design is very fascinating from my 🇦🇺 perspective. Medians are so normal here it just seems like a non issue doing a uturn further up. Center turning lanes are very rare here. I’ve maybe seen it only a couple of times.
@@RoadGuyRob like most things here, I reckon that’s a pretty accurate description! Would love to see your take on our roads, I think it would be so interesting to see what you take for granted that we just don’t have here.
@@RoadGuyRob also did you notice that that our “loops” are more like squares in Australia? Wonder why they’re like that and not like the circles in the US?
@@johnmidwest5650 which contributes to my sadness towards that sandwich, I just got a Arby Classic sandwich which looked much thicker than that sad sandwich
Just want you to know that in South Australia (where I live), it's illegal to do a u-turn at traffic lights without a "u-turn permitted" sign, which not many have, so that example at the start would've taken quite a bit longer.
Ah yes, how to solve all the problems a stroad gives you. Honestly, it's pretty impressive how much thought solving these problems take and how many interesting solutions were made. In the Netherlands, the solution proposed would just be to have a seperate two way road on each side of the street for traffic that needs to get to the destination. The only problem with it is that you need to go to intersections to go to the other side but it makes up for it by being much safer and giving cyclists a space to cycle too (since these streets usually only allow for 30 m/h speeds, if not lower).
The two stroads at 3:10 are as wide as the city block they surround. And these stroads only solve car traffic; in no way does it help pedestrians and bicyclists.
The US is having a grid system unlike the Netherlands which is having a system of erf access roads, area access roads and through roads. Aside from that I don't think that should be an excuse to have such bad designs. Also commercial arguments shouldn't be a reason for dangerous road design, because the Netherlands also has commercial activity in industrial areas and plenty of trucks (not just flat front trucks) and they are still be able to maneuvre the streets.
@@hendrikdependrik1891 The reason most neighborhoods have cul-de-sacs is that government subsidized housing loans specifically stipulate cul-de-sacs as a loan requirement. Hence, all US suburbs are not in a grid pattern.
I used to despise the Michigan / Detroit metro No left turns with u turn medians but once I sussed it out and relearned them, I have come to appreciate them
what we have out here on the east such as PA NJ NY are jug handles. instead of making a turn on the light you essentially make the turn right after or before the light which then loops u on the other road for right or U-turns as well turning onto that road. Jugs are really useful at times
Completely agree. Now I only wish all the stop signs on local streets could be replaced with some nice roundabouts. So much easier to operate and navigate!
@@MiCnWww eeee i mean i would disagree on the Traffic circle thing lol. now keep in mind I don't think there bad unless there spammed lol or used on roads where traffic Is mostly straight. other then that i don't mind them. if its in an area that isn't a US routing number then sure cuz the issue with them is that small ones just slows down traffic especially in truck heavy areas like my state putting like 8 of them on a highway and traffic well isn't good maybe even worse when there were lights. tho i do belive there a good mix i just prefer if traffic is to much for a street light / stop sign and most of it is going in 1 direction then grade separation But if there mostly turning left or right then sure add a circle
@@MetroHam oh no definitely not a fan of traffic circle where a US highway meets a state highway! I like roundabouts where 2 or 4 lane at most streets or roads meet. From my experience, roundabouts are much easier to navigate due to the simplified point of conflict. That’s why I think roundabouts should be able to replace a lot of minor intersections controlled by a stop sign. Instead of stopping and look 3 ways, I just need to slow down and look 1 direction and then roll on through. So much more elegant!
@@MiCnWww well round abouts and traffic circles arent that diff pretty much the same thing tho people will say traffic circles are ones with lights and stop signs but that doesn't make sense due to the fact EU has plenty lights on modern roundabouts so lol play most but not all of our traffic circles look the same as round about with the yeilds and etc. but yah I see use of them tho idk if every single one needs to be circle since there land extensive like a clover leaf as well not great for like flow lol. there made for turning cars rather then long stretches of road so you can have them for entraces and stuff and yah they do work but like its not needed if there barely any traffic to begin with. if your talking about 2 lane roads here in the USA most of those types are considered highways but not all ofc tho having one is good when most cars want to make turns tho if most go in 1 direction it just makes it worse tho sometimes u can just do a raised median down the road to focus on small turns etc. Plus the jug handles since it still allows straight forward movement but any type of turn. THO in my opinion grade separation are better then circles in urban or sometimes non urban areas since they take up less space thena circle and allows the heavier street to still flow without interrupting the less frequent street. if that makes sense to you?
the style that moves the left turn to the right of the intersection looks absolutely frightening as a concept to me. and the other style is just a cloverleaf with a traffic light instead of an over/underpass.
A Michigan left turn? Explain? Now I call where someone turns left out of the right lane, or right, to out of the left lane, a “Russian turn” because if you watch a lot of crash videos you see this maneuver, with the resulting crash and storm of curses in Russian.
@@joyceneville9214 so in Michigan, most roads with medians do not allow you to turn left at intersections. Instead, you have to turn right, then turn left at one of the spots in the median that allows you to turn around. And a fun fact, you can turn left on red if it's a one way
@@joyceneville9214 They're also known as median U turns. To turn left at certain intersections, you drive past it, make a U turn at a designated spot, and turn right at the intersection. This video goes over it more: th-cam.com/video/fshW_O_XggI/w-d-xo.html
I just can't see how to take a road in the US and Canada and not have it become a Stroad, how will I get to stores and stuff when it's most convenient to have them on the road
@@coastaku1954 Stroad formation is just lazy planning on the part of the local council. They just need to be strict about whether something is a road or a street and design accordingly. A simple solution off the top of my head would be to change how the city blocks are divided up near roads, so you have businesses back-to-back along the block with the sides of the two nearest the road facing the road (good space to paint their logos, too), and all driveways on the streets. Force drivers who want to visit the businesses to get off the road and onto the slower streets while letting the traffic flow along the road. There's also a solution from the Netherlands for converting a stroad into something better: split it into three. A fast two-way road in the middle, and slower one-way streets on the sides with planted divisions separating them. Intersections provide opportunities to switch from driving on the road to the streets or vice-versa.
Same. I've had a few of these kinds of claims, with one of the worst being a guy from New Joisey turning left in his rented Bentley in Beverly Hills to top off the gas before returning it, only for this other car to "come out of nowhere" and hit him! Shockingly for him, the cops wouldn't just arrest the other driver at the scene like he wanted them to.
@Andrew_koala I updated it it to the correct their didn’t even realize when I read it I had used the wrong one. I also want to clarify if you are really curious. The person exiting the parking lot would be the one at fault, now if it’s 100% or not would depend on a couple different factors. Including points of impact and both people statements. Also you have put tat, did you mean that?
The fact that such flawed design is so common in the US is beyond me. I don't understand how commuters are safely expected to cross over 5 lanes of traffic at an unsignaled left turn, it's a literal death trap waiting to happen. Raised medians + traffic lights + dedicated left turn lanes or blocking out left turn lanes over two lanes of traffic would do so much to keep roads safe. It's either that or just replace low traffic intersections with roundabouts!
Cars and stroads are what do the killing. Not the medians. This would be a safe design if all cars were banned. You can keep tweaking and adjusting the details but one day you gotta wake up and realize that car dependent development was a deadly mistake.
@@weetikissa Disagree. Better road design and simply adding more roundabouts can greatly increase traffic flow while reducing traffic deaths. Also many people just don't understand that cars are a necessity in many places in the world. Not everyone lives in a high density city where transit is efficient and fast. Go even abit outside of the downtown of many major cities and all of a sudden transit becomes much worse. For many years I adapted to living without a car and transit didn't seem that bad, but once I got my first car it was like I was just released from prison and all of a sudden a whole new world of freedom opened up to me.
@@UzumakiNaruto_ Literally the only reason why cars are a necessity to some people is because they live in an area that was designed around cars. Areas like that didn't exist before cars were invented. Limiting the number of options people have for transport with car-only suburban experiments is never a good idea. I could go into the many reasons why...
The busiest strode in my town has C-curbs (the ugly ones with weeds growing out of the gaps, not beautiful, landscaped ones) down the middle restricting left turns to a few select driveways. Many business parking lots don't have cross-access. And, since it's only 2 lanes in each direction, there's no room for U-turns at intersections. Lovely.
You are amazing!! And thanks for the honorary mention of the "No Left-turn state", New Jersey. Here, on busy highways, Jersey barriers reign with jughandles at every signal to accommodate U & Left turns. It's interesting to see how in other parts of the country, transportation is designed so differently.
The shoutout was appreciated, but he misunderstood the point of the jughandle (no surprise, out of staters rarely get it). A jughandle is more like an at-grade cloverleaf interchange, it's a phenomenal design that keeps traffic from backing up in the travel lanes and should be used nationwide.
Originally from New Jersey, was about to mention we call them jug handles. Only issue is; are they before of after the traffic light? It seems so obvious, curious why other states don't use them.
Ugh. This video was very well made, but so painful to watch, especially the interview with the "senior" traffic engineer. All of this is only a problem because American traffic engineers insist on allowing business access along roads. This is the "stroad" problem that Strong Towns has been talking about for a decade. These stroads are fundamentally unsafe. Instead of designing roads safely, as a network of roads with streets for business access, American traffic engineers invent an increasingly complicated patchwork of "fixes" like this to make their six-lane stroads marginally less unsafe. If anybody thinks this is a reasonable way to design a city, they need to read up on the "stroad" concept by Strong Towns. I'd link to Strong Towns, but then TH-cam would shadowban this comment.
Exactly this looks like people discussing the best bar.bq sauce to put on their fried poo to make it taste better, when the real answer is DON'T EAT YOUR POO!!
american roads are designed for cars and not well designed for them anyways. i want to go to japan, netherlands, anywhere that doesn't fly the stars and stripes. i wouldn't miss this shithole of a country if it was nuked.
That bit at the very end is a really important topic on its own. When any crashes happen, we are always looking for ways to blame the driver first, which is definitely valid in the case of a DUI. But the issue is that once we find that valid object to blame, we give up on looking at any other factors -- all of us are inevitably going to do something stupid every so often (I'm talking about at least making innocent mistakes, not DUI -- but we're never going to completely eradicate that either) so we need to lower the stakes around mistakes.
other factors are generally assessed by authorities, but ultimately it comes down to how many crashes occur in what places and for what reasons, and how much it would cost to prevent those reasons causing crashes in those places and the projected savings for people in a given time span. Often times, its just not worth it to go and fix something that causes issues few and far between, and only when drivers are a serious contributor.
That kind of assessment is done for other things, too, like aviation. Even when a plane crash was clearly from pilot error, they don't just blame the pilot. They also look at contributing factors: what led the pilot to make that error, what made the error a bigger problem than it could've been, etc.
just subbed. omg the quality of the video is off the charts with experts interviews, amazing funny sound effects, wow. I need to catch up with previous videos. Will binge watch it.
In my opinion, the city should ask businesses next to a stroad-turned-road to put their back walls on touching the side walk or even extending out across the side walk and covering the bike lanes, so that the front walls move far enough back to have a smaller street parallel to the former stroad which sandwiches the business building between the road and itself and provides good access for bikes and pedestrians.
A median theoretically saved my life. A drink driver hit me head on but hit the median first. By the time he hit my vehicle, he was doing 73 mph with a combined speed of 108. The median theoretically slowed him enough to disable but not kill me.
The vast majority of gas stations are on corners with a traffic light, like your Arby's. You might not need a roast beef sandwich, but if you are driving, you will need a gas station (unless you drive electric).
European here In my city, every bigger street has a median, an they're used for trams, there are some where the rails are embedded in pavement, for busses to use, but like 70% are like your train track, but with green around and in between. Over these, you can't drive over or you'll get stuck, so... I've never seen a car crossing these, except for the gardeners trucks, of which some can use rails
Great video! Center left turn lanes are also a big issue for pedestrians and bicyclist with drivers looking only for vehicle movements and darting at driveways who are not paying attention to pedestrians and bicyclist. The comment about its hard for seniors to make a u-turn yet they can take on six different traffic movements is so representative of public input. Unfortunately, so much of community input into mobility planning comes from this single segment of the population to the detriment of active transportation modes.
In some states it's illegal to pull out into the center turn lane. The turning lane is only for leaving the road, not entering. You're required to pull into the travel lane.
Here, in Kyiv, Ukraine, we have the same problem. One of the fast foods decided to break the five-meter sidewalk, placing the entrance to himself instead. And this fast food is, who would have thought, McDonalds. They do this all over the world, it's a purposeful element of marketing.
I love the fact that all these problems came up because how we designed these roads and the city in general. It's also interesting how engineers tackles these problems. But again in my opinion, to solve these issues, we do need to see the main problem which are cars, too many cars. The car-centric plans are basically the main problem here to make long story short.
@@dangerousthoughts.1591 they only have to walk that distance because of car centric design. If cars were not the primary and in most cases only consideration for road and infrastructure design we would have more walkable and safer areas.
@@shawnpitman876 Sheeeeeeeesh. Don’t even start about the 401. Within the urban/mixed use areas in here Canada it’s fine because you don’t need to drive, but the second you enter the suburbs, it’s worse than America. 😬
@@lemonade4181 except we have even worse nightmares in the US. Your 401 at least is a quadruple highway. But we have wide, wide, roads that are jam-packed and are only regular divided highways, like the 405 in Los Angeles and the I-10 Katy Freeway (proper - not counting frontage road) in Houston
How to make a death trap less deadly… There should never be uncontrolled left turns with multiple lanes OR deadly speeds (>35 mph), no matter how much inconvenience this causes. Actually on a road like this, even uncontrolled right turns should be removed - aka requiring businesses to use side or back streets for access only.
I have no idea why I'm watching a TH-cam on medians at 1:30 a.m. but this is freaking great... you're a good presenter and entertainer! I'm going to start learning me about some roads 😂
@@PanchoPistolas45 Well if Mexico's roads are bad too, then that makes it a whole North America problem. Because the roads in Canada are juuuuust as shit as the ones in the USA, if not worse in some areas.
Yeah, I'm kinda surprised as well how bad the localities do road design. Like, I get you didn't get to layout the roads (most of the time) and you don't have a bottomless budget but you do have a brain and should be explaining the trade-offs better _or_ states should be requiring better design instead of the half-ass stuff we get dished up.
My area reconfigured the main road so that you can only turn right on or off of it. As a result, during rush hour, most of the road is a miles-long parking lot in both directions. What used to take me 40 minutes, now takes close to 2 hours.
You should suggest that someone like Rob look at your town to see what they did wrong. It might make a good video in how to screw it up, since as a rule this should improve things. Exceptions always help us to understand the mechanics better, and improve future results.
@@tristanridley1601 We also have some terrible drivers here in Louisiana (who I'm sure aren't helping.) I just avoid that road as much as possible these days.
They did one here where not only are you turning out into two lanes of traffic, You're turning into traffic lights so the turning lane you could have potentially used is now a turning lane and you also have to deal with changes in the flow that the light might be causing. The better option is to take a small side-street to join the school road that goes directly to the lights but many people don't know about it.
cross access can create secondary roadways people use to bypass traffic. I've seen it. They can create high speeds in parking areas, and creates a liability for property owners.
I remember seeing these down in Forth Worth, Texas. I thought they were a good idea, and something they should put in my own city to improve the flow of traffic. Now I'm second guessing it, lol. Great video as always.
This is the best youtube channel. Even though im subscribed, i havent seen any videos from this channel for a few years. Im glad i found it again. Its nostalgic for some reason
If someone's trying to cross, it takes a cold person to stop in front if traffic's heavy and you're going to stop anyway. There's one place in particular I know of where that person would be waiting a long time if nobody let them through. (I actually won't turn that way but will go further down the road where the turning is easier and you can get back through parking lots).
I liked and subbed purely due to the fact that this man personifies the thought that I’ve had on so many occasions that ultimately influenced my fast food or retail decision. Good TH-cam Algorithm.
I wonder what your point of view is on Dutch style road classifications - where roads like these would not exist. They'd either be limited access for higher speeds (no mcdonalds or arby's) or slow speed streets with lots of access to stores, homes etc, but lots of speed curbing measures and more space for transit, pedestrians and bikes. That would seem to be a better solution than raised medians or being so reliant locally on dangerous roads. Highway 17 in New Jersey as you leave New York is a great example of this. Why on earth is there shopping with store entrances and exits on a major highway out of New York City ?!
Maybe the problem is that we use surface in-town streets as multi-lane highways. Reduce the number of lanes and you've reduced the number of conflicts. Many cities are already putting over-bloated, high-speed (i.e., high-conflict) stroads on a diet. Traffic does not suffer for it. Seems counter-intuitive, but with fewer lane changes, there's fewer conflicts and jumping on brakes. Dedicate more space to people and not cars and you have MUCH more livable communities. Just jump to 11:18 in this video and look at how much space is dedicated to the storage or driving of cars. It's obscene. The spaces for people do do shopping, eating, or living is a pittance to what we dedicate to these metal beasts.
My experience is that after you drive the quarter mile to the lighted intersection to make a U-turn, there is usually a no U-turn sign. So, you go to the next...same thing. Often you must drive over a mile to make that U-turn, by which time the moment is gone.
This video really helped me understand why my local Walgreens has 2 exit points but only one entrance point and if you're not heading in the correct direction, you're going to have to make a U turn. If it's rush hour, forget it. But the side I'd like to get in on is right-only. I'm now 84.272% less frustrated
Cross access absolutely must be forced. It's so ridiculous to drive in to one parking lot just to find out there's a frigging curb or _wall_ between two parking lots with literally no space for anything else between! Just make an opening, dang it!! It took more effort to make the flipping curb/wall than to leave it open! (yes, I know one undoubtedly opened up first in new construction, but still)
I found your page yesterday and I am now working my way through the videos. I have many comments. I am based in Tokyo and your comments about U-turns caught my eye. Many roads in the metropolis have raised medians but there are also U-turn lanes near intersections. (We drive on the left) The U-turn lane is either a part of the right turn lane or has its own lane to the right of the right turn lane queue. As one approaches the intersection in the right turn lane, just 2 or 3 meters before the intersection there is a U-turn lane cut into the median and merges into the lanes going in the other direction so U-turns can be made without waiting for the light. The medians are wide enough to allow the U-turn lane a large radius so that buses and semi-trucks can navigate the turns. one caveat, major thoroughfares in Tokyo usually have bypass style intersections allowing vehicles to continue to avoid traffic signals by building roadways that either go over the intersection or under the intersection. This reduces the amount of through traffic one would encounter when coming out of a U-turn.
America: "you know that fast lane where you are supposed to overtake slower drivers? yeah let's make people turn in those both in to and out of traffic what could ever go wrong"
Somehow got myself into reading about how road design works and finding out about the benefits of the michigan left really made me appreciate them a lot too.
@@Noman1000 they are easy to find annoying until you realize there is almost never someone trying to make a left in front of you- they certainty seem slower
@@pizzaivlife the best part is the legal left turn on red which is something I never realized until a year or so ago. On lower traffic streets it basically makes a left turn into a quick red light right with how fast it is.
Hey Rob. Another great video! I really enjoy your enthusiasm while educating the people. I don't know if this falls within your video realm but, could you do a video explaining all the utility marking on roads and sidewalks? I'm referring to the ones that are made by utility service location companies. There are so many and it would be nice to get a better understanding of them. Thanks and keep up with the great content!
13:50 have you considered just walking there and leaving your car all the way over nextdoor? The "cross access" could be limited to a footpath that connects the businesses' front doors.
@@Welgeldiguniekalias I don't mean Drive-Through only, but a scary amount of Americans will drive around a block to drive through rather than walk in to the restaurant.
This channel deserves to be more well known, has great production quality. Really reminds me of the old school History channel content, a la Modern Marvels
Get rid of stroads. Problem solved. There is absolutely no reason why business or residential entrances should be allowed to exit onto a main road. This is a discussion caused by a problem that should not even be allowed to exist.
I had one simple thought during the whole video... "how about having roundabouts instead of the traffic lights?" that's how bad us roads looks ... how do you come, why is 70% of the space parking spaces, why is the option of leaving your car to walk to the store nextdoor not even mentioned while the "drive around the whole block" is... so many questions...
The US is a massive country and things are vastly different from state to state. This video is from California where driving are among the worst. Where I live in Florida there are a ton of roundabouts I couldn't say they improve the driving conditions. They sure as hell slow traffic down and make you avoid those areas.
There is a traffic light on my way to work that is triggered by a sensor so far away you can not even see the car coming. I don't believe it gets more than 75 cars a day on it lol.
11:35 I was a "Good Samaritan" in 1991. I was about 17-18 on a 4-lane (2 lanes each direction) street with a raised median. South bound traffic was backed up quite a bit from the intersection. I was in the number 1 lane approached a section where the north bound had a left turn lane to cross the number 1 lane (I was in) & the number 2 lane. I decided to let the driver of a mid-eighties Cadillac Fleetwood to make his left turn; he gunned it & T-boned a brand-new Honda Accord; still had paper plates. I thought I was going to be blamed for this accident; I wasn't. I felt bad for both drivers cause if I wasn't the "Good Samaritan", it wouldn't have happened. Still remember this accident to this day & I've never been the "Good Samaritan" again.
You should do a video discussing America's dire need for an actual infrastructure plan and what should be done...I could see you being able to do it without bringing the political b.s. into it.
10:00 Ah, so that's what those bays are up in New South Wales. There's a really bad unsignalled intersection crossing a median near where I live, the problem is it's near two other sets of lights on a major highway so that creates a problem. The area was designed at least as far back as 1966 (that's as far back as I've found maps of the area) back when the area was rural and the whole idea was to use T-intersections to prevent fatalities. Heck, it was only about 30 years ago that the two previously mentioned sets of lights were built.
Most of those left turns between traffic lights need to be eliminated. In addition to the safety issues, why is it OK to make pedestrians walk half a mile to the nearest legal crossing, but that same distance is too far to drive?
You're on to something here...
Stay tuned!
Because pedestrians don't have the same political power as drivers.
@@TheRealScooterGuy The car makes are the ones with political power, not the drivers who have to pay increasing prices for shitty cars.
@@sexygeek8996 -- In the context of local politics, pedestrians (often too poor to buy cars) have less political power than people who drive.
@@sexygeek8996 You get to vote. Your vote counts as much as that of the car makers. The car makers have more political power because they are active in local politics. If you people were more active in local politics, you'd have your influence.
But, here comes the but, most people have cars and most people prefer to drive instead of walking. The majority would still prefer spending more money on roads for their cars than side walks, bike lanes and safe crossings for those or public transport. Most people value their cars a lot or even love their cars. Most people do not want public transport or good walkable streets. They want more roads for their cars. Car manufacturers got away with it, because it's what people wanted, because they like what the car manufacturers sell them.
In Europe we don't have Arby's and that's why our roads are safer.
Yeah, because everyone isn't rushing to destroy the nearest toilet after eating Arby's...
@@jblyon2 Nah just because Arby's is the #1 reason for left hand turns in America. #LFT4ARBY
I highly doubt that. Got so many "poor" "refugees" coming across borders into Europe. Bringing their terrible driving habits and acting all innocent when they get caught breaking a simple traffic law.
Arby's is terrible, anyway.
Almost every sentence that starts with 'in Europe' is wrong. There's an Arby's in Istanbul.
I get so pissed when businesses don’t share parking lots
Near me there's a mcdonalds with easy access right next to a mom-and-pop diner that i love, but is a bear to get to.
So I park in mcdonalds lot and walk over the 10 or 15 foot of grass.
there's a very good reason for that, when you channel parking lots together, you encourage assoles to speed through other parking lots getting to where they want, there are more fender benders in parking lots than on the roads, and the reason they stopped connecting parking lots together is because of pedestrian deaths from speeders, drivers don't want to wait for crossings
@@robc4191 And the stupid McDonald’s would tow your car.
they're just begging for their grass to get run over
@@mmoarchives2542 And they also make it a massive pain in the butt for pedestrians, but we're in the US. We assume pedestrians don't exist. And handicapped pedestrians? I swear some drivers deliberately aim for us.
All my homies still love infrastructure videos, and they don't mind staying up late to watch them.
Hot infrastructure - served up fresh late ('til 2 AM or later)!
I'm a homey, I guess :D
That’s right, Esse
@@RoadGuyRob Right next to the Arby's?
Practical Engineering has tons of Infrastructure vids 🤷
When making conflict diagrams you should try to include bike and ped movements! There are actually 8-9, depends on State law, conflicts at around 5:30. And 3 conflicts at 7:30.
No one in their right mind is walking or biking across that, and those that do are taking their lives into their own hands.
@@JackVermicelli In the diagram and explanation at 5:30. There is a pedestrian (woman in red), using the sidewalk, who is not even accounted for. She makes 7. I would even contest that as pedestrians can come from either direction, we should tack on an extra conflict point. If this road had a green-painted dedicated bike lane, that would be another. 9 in total.
@@JackVermicelli Right, cuz ppl that don't have cars just don't exist in your world. Meanwhile back in the real world, my partner and I have been nearly hit by vehicles several times by ppl that just don't look for pedestrians when making turns.
@@SadisticSenpai61 Just an idea here but uh..
Look for cars/car turn signals rather than asking a fast moving vehicle to look for a slow moving pedestrian.
You can stop in 1 step, the car may not be able to, look out for yourself rather than expecting other people to look out for you.
@@MrCODEmaster00 You think I don't? And even in that scenario, pedestrians still have the right of way, so the assumption should be that they're not going to hit the gas. In these situations, they were usually stopped when I entered the intersection.
The commitment Rob has to these videos is intense 😂 literally protested outside a government building for our entertainment. God bless this man 💕😂
Also note his license plate at 0:48. It's the little things that make his videos a couple cuts above everyone else's.
The protest outside city hall is easy compared to the time he must spend on editing these videos (especially those graphics!).
for like 8 seconds
@@lifeinhd4053 Nice catch!
Even more impressive is he actually ate at an Arby's. That takes balls.
"It's a shame we have to make left turns..."
...unless you're a truck driver and right-turns suddenly become the worst!
Oh even better. I'm a car hauler, sometimes we need up to DOUBLE the space to make a turn without pinching the back of the tractor into the nose of that big f-150 at the front of our trailers. They love to squeeze as much car on us as they can, and it can make the actual driving part really dangerous. Doesn't help we drive 75 or 80 foot vehicles with ten feet in total overhang, and a pivot that's way way waaaay farther back from regular trucks.
Some of these "truck friendly" u-turns, like out in Louisiana in donaldsville, are not car haul friendly.
"LFT4ARBY" License plate. 0:48 So many details! Great vid bye the way.
Timestamp 0:49
This was genius touch! Thanks for the extra effort, Rob!
I asked the DMV for that plate, but they said it was taken.
A road design that makes cars in the left lane turn left, let's see.... oh, it's a roundabout!
Eh, why make you wait until Monday - the video seems ready now. Happy weekend!
Yaaay! I just watched the other video and was bummed that I had to wait >_< Thanks! :D
Yes!
You're such a tease!
Love you! Thanks for educating us in such a humorous and lighthearted way.
Hey, thank you!
When he opened the Arby's, I died laughing. "That was hardly worth it"
Still tastes better than a single patty McD's burger
Should have gone to the gas station for some bread and ham plus their sodas are cheaper 😂
Lion's Choice is a regional roast beef fast food restaurant. It will save roast beef sandwiches for anyone who has written them off, and ruin Arby's for anyone who them.
@@LoneHowler
So does 90-year-old cooter.
0:49 props for the attention to detail making a fake license plate instead of just blurring it out
Maybe he got a real one from the state!
that’s called attention to decal
Did you guys know it's only an American issue? Heck even Canada and Mexico don't have the ability to look up personal information from plates
@@LeafBoyethis is not the issue, people can use the same licence plate for their car and do speed speed
That car horn sound effect is the exact same one my train simulator uses for a.i. traffic when they get held up at a railroad crossing, traffic light or traffic jam.
I'm a traffic engineer in Portugal and I'm a bit shocked how far behind is America in traffic safety. This kind of left turn through multiple opposite lanes is very dangerous. Love your videos!
You can spend billions on designing the crap out of your left turns and paving more and more turning lanes. Or you could spend way less on building a denser suburb that is walkable and bikeable and that has decent transit and still have half of your transport budget left over. 🤷🏼♂️
Most local and state governments are aware. But part of the problem is $$$. Where I live, yes, it's the state that does the road project. But the local government foots the bill. So they have to dance around allocating enough funds to be able to do projects that can't be put off anymore. And some of these projects have been on the docket 20 maybe 30 years. Which then only makes them more expensive.
It drives me nuts how my neighbors complain how our infrastructure is terrible. But then subsequently complain when the local government tries to do something about it because they had to take money from elsewhere. Or raise taxes in order to do it.
It's because of their sense of entitlement.
@@weetikissa I wish more people thought like you.
I personally believe its because we were the ones who really started seeing mass numbers of cars first, so we kind of made if up as we went along to see what works. Now americas full of failed road expirements that the rest of the world can take notes from. But thats just my uneducated opinion
A solution for U-turns at intersections? Roun... Rou... R... Hmmm...
Janky JiffyLube logo lane. Perfect.
For three lane stroads roundabouts aren't so great. Too many cars merging in too many lanes. For two lane stroads roundabouts are more debatable.
@Andrew_koala any of us DO understand the metric system and use it for some things, but where it does not fit we don't use it. For example I know a field that is 1 mile by 1/2 mile is 160 acres. Don't have to calculate it, that fits our system. For weights and volumes, metric is fine. We are able to use both, don't need to be limited to only one system. And we can count beyond ten, just let me take off my shoes and socks! Don't be so arrogant until you earn the right.
@Andrew_koala My American town has roundabouts everywhere and I've literally never had an issue with them. Nor has anyone I've ever met.
Also, yes. We use customary units. We all know how to use customary units. We were all raised learning our customary units, and the effort of switching because it's slightly more convenient to convert between sizes just isn't a big enough priority for us to be worth it. You never had to switch units, you lived your whole life with metric. Therefore calling a group of people that didn't idiots because they won't throw out what they've spent their whole life using just makes you look arrogant
Also, who's flag is that on the moon again? I can't remember.
Your comment + the replies made my day lmao
I was wondering why I had never had an issue with this then I remember we have roundabouts everywhere .
Wonder if anybody questioned what he was doing off camera
I have been on roads in Montana (with a 35 MPH speed limit) with roundabouts every quarter mile or so. No thanks! Single lane roundabouts are just annoying. Multiple lane ones are dangerous IMO, when you have to change lanes right near them, adding to the confusion.
@@kenmore01 The lane changes at roundabouts are the same as at an intersection. However, having intersections requires more lanes to handle more cars at once and can add to the confusion. The roundabouts also force people to drive the speed limit which is good for safety (even though it may be annoying).
@@kenmore01 It's good that you're feeling they are unsafe - that's not a design flaw, that's a feature. If you feel they are unsafe, you slow down, you are more cautious, and therefore, you are prone to making less / less deadly collisions.
Unless you have roundabouts every 50 feet, you'd still have the same problem in the same area Rob was talking about. Just replace every instance of "traffic light” with "roundabout" in the video and you can see where blocking left turns can't be solved by giving every business a roundabout for their driveway.
Road Guy Rob gets an automatic like as soon as I start each video. His words of wisdom are something everyone should hear. Should be required learning at driving schools across the country.
Your interviews are great. I love how you find "that guy" who is an expert and wants to discuss this stuff with us viewers.
I think he found the guy before the topic for the video.
Thank you for the term "cross access." I've been wanting a word for the thing I noticed an intentional absence of. In one of the worst cases here, a local McDonalds has a barbed wire fence between it and a hotel next door.
that seems like a really bad idea on the part of the McDonalds.
Yeah, exactly, just shooting themselves in their feet! Why make it harder for the hotel tenants to give them business?
@@HelloKittyFanMan. last hotel I stayed at shared their parking lot with the local Dennys. they also had an easy access gap in the safety barricade between them and the local truck stop/convenience store.
@@kenbrown2808: That's nice. See, they weren't afraid, but they were even smart!
Super dumb. Having a hotel at your disposal is a license to print money as far as a restaurant is concerned
US road design is very fascinating from my 🇦🇺 perspective. Medians are so normal here it just seems like a non issue doing a uturn further up. Center turning lanes are very rare here. I’ve maybe seen it only a couple of times.
I'd love to see Aussie roads one day. From Google Streeview, it looks like North America and Europe had a baby.
@@RoadGuyRob like most things here, I reckon that’s a pretty accurate description! Would love to see your take on our roads, I think it would be so interesting to see what you take for granted that we just don’t have here.
Uturns are part of our driving test in Australia - that must been they’re very important here for road engineers!
@@RoadGuyRob also did you notice that that our “loops” are more like squares in Australia? Wonder why they’re like that and not like the circles in the US?
@@eXcalibre_ No, I hadn't. To Google Streetview then-!
As a doordash driver, this stuff is extremely important to me
How much can you make delivering full time?
@@adamlynch9153 $24+ /hr in the evenings
@@Rheologist wow that’s good
@@adamlynch9153 yup.
@@Rheologist nice
1:16 Road Guy Rob ordering Arby's roast beef sandwich
1:23 Road Guy Rob roasting Arby's roast beef sandwich
that sandwich made me sad
@@solidsnaker1992 Arby's is expensive too!
@@johnmidwest5650 which contributes to my sadness towards that sandwich, I just got a Arby Classic sandwich which looked much thicker than that sad sandwich
1:24 - add Arby's Horsey Sause to that
@@johnmidwest5650 I go to my local Arby's with coupons.
Just want you to know that in South Australia (where I live), it's illegal to do a u-turn at traffic lights without a "u-turn permitted" sign, which not many have, so that example at the start would've taken quite a bit longer.
Ah yes, how to solve all the problems a stroad gives you. Honestly, it's pretty impressive how much thought solving these problems take and how many interesting solutions were made.
In the Netherlands, the solution proposed would just be to have a seperate two way road on each side of the street for traffic that needs to get to the destination. The only problem with it is that you need to go to intersections to go to the other side but it makes up for it by being much safer and giving cyclists a space to cycle too (since these streets usually only allow for 30 m/h speeds, if not lower).
Those are just GIANT medians, that's all.
The two stroads at 3:10 are as wide as the city block they surround. And these stroads only solve car traffic; in no way does it help pedestrians and bicyclists.
The US is having a grid system unlike the Netherlands which is having a system of erf access roads, area access roads and through roads. Aside from that I don't think that should be an excuse to have such bad designs. Also commercial arguments shouldn't be a reason for dangerous road design, because the Netherlands also has commercial activity in industrial areas and plenty of trucks (not just flat front trucks) and they are still be able to maneuvre the streets.
@@hendrikdependrik1891 The reason most neighborhoods have cul-de-sacs is that government subsidized housing loans specifically stipulate cul-de-sacs as a loan requirement. Hence, all US suburbs are not in a grid pattern.
I take it you have watched Not Just Bikes too?
I used to despise the Michigan / Detroit metro No left turns with u turn medians but once I sussed it out and relearned them, I have come to appreciate them
what we have out here on the east such as PA NJ NY are jug handles. instead of making a turn on the light you essentially make the turn right after or before the light which then loops u on the other road for right or U-turns as well turning onto that road. Jugs are really useful at times
Completely agree. Now I only wish all the stop signs on local streets could be replaced with some nice roundabouts. So much easier to operate and navigate!
@@MiCnWww eeee i mean i would disagree on the Traffic circle thing lol. now keep in mind I don't think there bad unless there spammed lol or used on roads where traffic Is mostly straight. other then that i don't mind them.
if its in an area that isn't a US routing number then sure cuz the issue with them is that small ones just slows down traffic especially in truck heavy areas like my state putting like 8 of them on a highway and traffic well isn't good maybe even worse when there were lights. tho i do belive there a good mix i just prefer if traffic is to much for a street light / stop sign and most of it is going in 1 direction then grade separation But if there mostly turning left or right then sure add a circle
@@MetroHam oh no definitely not a fan of traffic circle where a US highway meets a state highway! I like roundabouts where 2 or 4 lane at most streets or roads meet. From my experience, roundabouts are much easier to navigate due to the simplified point of conflict. That’s why I think roundabouts should be able to replace a lot of minor intersections controlled by a stop sign. Instead of stopping and look 3 ways, I just need to slow down and look 1 direction and then roll on through. So much more elegant!
@@MiCnWww well round abouts and traffic circles arent that diff pretty much the same thing tho people will say traffic circles are ones with lights and stop signs but that doesn't make sense due to the fact EU has plenty lights on modern roundabouts so lol play most but not all of our traffic circles look the same as round about with the yeilds and etc.
but yah I see use of them tho idk if every single one needs to be circle since there land extensive like a clover leaf as well not great for like flow lol. there made for turning cars rather then long stretches of road so you can have them for entraces and stuff and yah they do work but like its not needed if there barely any traffic to begin with.
if your talking about 2 lane roads here in the USA most of those types are considered highways but not all ofc tho having one is good when most cars want to make turns tho if most go in 1 direction it just makes it worse tho sometimes u can just do a raised median down the road to focus on small turns etc.
Plus the jug handles since it still allows straight forward movement but any type of turn.
THO in my opinion grade separation are better then circles in urban or sometimes non urban areas since they take up less space thena circle and allows the heavier street to still flow without interrupting the less frequent street. if that makes sense to you?
the style that moves the left turn to the right of the intersection looks absolutely frightening as a concept to me. and the other style is just a cloverleaf with a traffic light instead of an over/underpass.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the "Michigan Left Turn".
Same I'm kinda sad he didnt mention it
Designed by a genius squatting in a crackhouse in flint evidently
A Michigan left turn? Explain? Now I call where someone turns left out of the right lane, or right, to out of the left lane, a “Russian turn” because if you watch a lot of crash videos you see this maneuver, with the resulting crash and storm of curses in Russian.
@@joyceneville9214 so in Michigan, most roads with medians do not allow you to turn left at intersections. Instead, you have to turn right, then turn left at one of the spots in the median that allows you to turn around. And a fun fact, you can turn left on red if it's a one way
@@joyceneville9214 They're also known as median U turns. To turn left at certain intersections, you drive past it, make a U turn at a designated spot, and turn right at the intersection. This video goes over it more: th-cam.com/video/fshW_O_XggI/w-d-xo.html
road in US: actually highway
street in US: actually stroad
cross-access in US: the actual street
I just can't see how to take a road in the US and Canada and not have it become a Stroad, how will I get to stores and stuff when it's most convenient to have them on the road
@@coastaku1954 Lol you must be from the suburbs. Where I live the only thing I drive to is hockey and baseball practice.
@@lemonade4181 I am from the suburbs and you didn’t answer my question
@@coastaku1954 You simply live in the city for the cheap price of 1,500,000 CAD.
@@coastaku1954 Stroad formation is just lazy planning on the part of the local council. They just need to be strict about whether something is a road or a street and design accordingly.
A simple solution off the top of my head would be to change how the city blocks are divided up near roads, so you have businesses back-to-back along the block with the sides of the two nearest the road facing the road (good space to paint their logos, too), and all driveways on the streets. Force drivers who want to visit the businesses to get off the road and onto the slower streets while letting the traffic flow along the road.
There's also a solution from the Netherlands for converting a stroad into something better: split it into three. A fast two-way road in the middle, and slower one-way streets on the sides with planted divisions separating them. Intersections provide opportunities to switch from driving on the road to the streets or vice-versa.
0:48 he literally got a special license plate for this video. That's dedication to your craft.
You make some of the best videos on TH-cam, whilst also quenching my thirst for interesting engineering content.
11:52
I am an auto adjuster and these happen all the time. It’s also a pain cus neither driver thinks their at fault.
Same. I've had a few of these kinds of claims, with one of the worst being a guy from New Joisey turning left in his rented Bentley in Beverly Hills to top off the gas before returning it, only for this other car to "come out of nowhere" and hit him! Shockingly for him, the cops wouldn't just arrest the other driver at the scene like he wanted them to.
@Andrew_koala
I updated it it to the correct their didn’t even realize when I read it I had used the wrong one. I also want to clarify if you are really curious. The person exiting the parking lot would be the one at fault, now if it’s 100% or not would depend on a couple different factors. Including points of impact and both people statements.
Also you have put tat, did you mean that?
I caused one of these indirectly 30+ years ago. I don't ever do it again.
The fact that such flawed design is so common in the US is beyond me. I don't understand how commuters are safely expected to cross over 5 lanes of traffic at an unsignaled left turn, it's a literal death trap waiting to happen. Raised medians + traffic lights + dedicated left turn lanes or blocking out left turn lanes over two lanes of traffic would do so much to keep roads safe. It's either that or just replace low traffic intersections with roundabouts!
Cars and stroads are what do the killing. Not the medians. This would be a safe design if all cars were banned. You can keep tweaking and adjusting the details but one day you gotta wake up and realize that car dependent development was a deadly mistake.
@@weetikissa
Disagree. Better road design and simply adding more roundabouts can greatly increase traffic flow while reducing traffic deaths.
Also many people just don't understand that cars are a necessity in many places in the world. Not everyone lives in a high density city where transit is efficient and fast. Go even abit outside of the downtown of many major cities and all of a sudden transit becomes much worse.
For many years I adapted to living without a car and transit didn't seem that bad, but once I got my first car it was like I was just released from prison and all of a sudden a whole new world of freedom opened up to me.
@@UzumakiNaruto_ Literally the only reason why cars are a necessity to some people is because they live in an area that was designed around cars. Areas like that didn't exist before cars were invented. Limiting the number of options people have for transport with car-only suburban experiments is never a good idea. I could go into the many reasons why...
The busiest strode in my town has C-curbs (the ugly ones with weeds growing out of the gaps, not beautiful, landscaped ones) down the middle restricting left turns to a few select driveways. Many business parking lots don't have cross-access. And, since it's only 2 lanes in each direction, there's no room for U-turns at intersections.
Lovely.
You are amazing!! And thanks for the honorary mention of the "No Left-turn state", New Jersey. Here, on busy highways, Jersey barriers reign with jughandles at every signal to accommodate U & Left turns. It's interesting to see how in other parts of the country, transportation is designed so differently.
The shoutout was appreciated, but he misunderstood the point of the jughandle (no surprise, out of staters rarely get it). A jughandle is more like an at-grade cloverleaf interchange, it's a phenomenal design that keeps traffic from backing up in the travel lanes and should be used nationwide.
Originally from New Jersey, was about to mention we call them jug handles. Only issue is; are they before of after the traffic light? It seems so obvious, curious why other states don't use them.
Ugh. This video was very well made, but so painful to watch, especially the interview with the "senior" traffic engineer.
All of this is only a problem because American traffic engineers insist on allowing business access along roads. This is the "stroad" problem that Strong Towns has been talking about for a decade. These stroads are fundamentally unsafe.
Instead of designing roads safely, as a network of roads with streets for business access, American traffic engineers invent an increasingly complicated patchwork of "fixes" like this to make their six-lane stroads marginally less unsafe.
If anybody thinks this is a reasonable way to design a city, they need to read up on the "stroad" concept by Strong Towns. I'd link to Strong Towns, but then TH-cam would shadowban this comment.
never expected you here, cool i guess
Exactly this looks like people discussing the best bar.bq sauce to put on their fried poo to make it taste better, when the real answer is DON'T EAT YOUR POO!!
american roads are designed for cars and not well designed for them anyways. i want to go to japan, netherlands, anywhere that doesn't fly the stars and stripes. i wouldn't miss this shithole of a country if it was nuked.
I was already wondering if you would show up in the comments hah.
That bit at the very end is a really important topic on its own. When any crashes happen, we are always looking for ways to blame the driver first, which is definitely valid in the case of a DUI. But the issue is that once we find that valid object to blame, we give up on looking at any other factors -- all of us are inevitably going to do something stupid every so often (I'm talking about at least making innocent mistakes, not DUI -- but we're never going to completely eradicate that either) so we need to lower the stakes around mistakes.
other factors are generally assessed by authorities, but ultimately it comes down to how many crashes occur in what places and for what reasons, and how much it would cost to prevent those reasons causing crashes in those places and the projected savings for people in a given time span. Often times, its just not worth it to go and fix something that causes issues few and far between, and only when drivers are a serious contributor.
That kind of assessment is done for other things, too, like aviation. Even when a plane crash was clearly from pilot error, they don't just blame the pilot. They also look at contributing factors: what led the pilot to make that error, what made the error a bigger problem than it could've been, etc.
just subbed. omg the quality of the video is off the charts with experts interviews, amazing funny sound effects, wow. I need to catch up with previous videos. Will binge watch it.
It sounds like this problem needs a roundabout solution. One of them is to remove the stroad structure
This is a great point. It would just take a lot of work on the part of the city and I don't know if that is an easy sell for American legislatures.
Yes. America is just one giant “strip mall”.
@@matthewcubbage5335 all the homies love not just bikes here on city planning youtube
In my opinion, the city should ask businesses next to a stroad-turned-road to put their back walls on touching the side walk or even extending out across the side walk and covering the bike lanes, so that the front walls move far enough back to have a smaller street parallel to the former stroad which sandwiches the business building between the road and itself and provides good access for bikes and pedestrians.
a roundabout slows traffic, and would have to be HUGE to accommodate trucks. Dumb idea for this situation
A median theoretically saved my life. A drink driver hit me head on but hit the median first. By the time he hit my vehicle, he was doing 73 mph with a combined speed of 108. The median theoretically slowed him enough to disable but not kill me.
The vast majority of gas stations are on corners with a traffic light, like your Arby's. You might not need a roast beef sandwich, but if you are driving, you will need a gas station (unless you drive electric).
you mean the McDonalds. the arbys was midblock. and the corner lots cost a premium, because of the better access.
@@kenbrown2808 Try watching it again.
@@stevengordon3271 I don't need to. The Arby's isn't on a corner with a traffic light. That's why making a left turn into it isn't an option.
European here
In my city, every bigger street has a median, an they're used for trams, there are some where the rails are embedded in pavement, for busses to use, but like 70% are like your train track, but with green around and in between. Over these, you can't drive over or you'll get stuck, so... I've never seen a car crossing these, except for the gardeners trucks, of which some can use rails
Great video! Center left turn lanes are also a big issue for pedestrians and bicyclist with drivers looking only for vehicle movements and darting at driveways who are not paying attention to pedestrians and bicyclist. The comment about its hard for seniors to make a u-turn yet they can take on six different traffic movements is so representative of public input. Unfortunately, so much of community input into mobility planning comes from this single segment of the population to the detriment of active transportation modes.
In some states it's illegal to pull out into the center turn lane. The turning lane is only for leaving the road, not entering. You're required to pull into the travel lane.
Less than a minute in and that numberplate at 0:47 is a GREAT touch, haha.
Here, in Kyiv, Ukraine, we have the same problem. One of the fast foods decided to break the five-meter sidewalk, placing the entrance to himself instead. And this fast food is, who would have thought, McDonalds. They do this all over the world, it's a purposeful element of marketing.
I love the fact that all these problems came up because how we designed these roads and the city in general. It's also interesting how engineers tackles these problems. But again in my opinion, to solve these issues, we do need to see the main problem which are cars, too many cars. The car-centric plans are basically the main problem here to make long story short.
Yeah but then explain how Americans are supposed to walk 5+ miles between their destinations
@@dangerousthoughts.1591 they only have to walk that distance because of car centric design. If cars were not the primary and in most cases only consideration for road and infrastructure design we would have more walkable and safer areas.
A right turn then a U turn through the median is called a "Michigan" left turn around here. It's a bit of a hassle but traffic flows better.
You cover so many issues that I've internalized about driving in the US
Not just the USA. Canada too.
@@shawnpitman876 Sheeeeeeeesh. Don’t even start about the 401. Within the urban/mixed use areas in here Canada it’s fine because you don’t need to drive, but the second you enter the suburbs, it’s worse than America. 😬
@@lemonade4181 except we have even worse nightmares in the US. Your 401 at least is a quadruple highway. But we have wide, wide, roads that are jam-packed and are only regular divided highways, like the 405 in Los Angeles and the I-10 Katy Freeway (proper - not counting frontage road) in Houston
@@edwardmiessner6502 Yeah but the 401 is only 4-6 lanes in some areas, yet it connects half of the country along with QC-20.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Seriously? You think the I-10 Katy freeway is worse? Are you crazy? There's aprox 4x as many people in proximity of the 401.
How to make a death trap less deadly… There should never be uncontrolled left turns with multiple lanes OR deadly speeds (>35 mph), no matter how much inconvenience this causes. Actually on a road like this, even uncontrolled right turns should be removed - aka requiring businesses to use side or back streets for access only.
could you please do a video on what happens when cities need to reroute a road? what happens to the old roads????? how do they pick the new route????
I would like that too. But if you are curious, look up the abandoned Pennsylvania turnpike tunnels. It would answer a few of your questions
To be efficent - only buy the Right Turn Property on the main Lane.
USP knows why only these turns made during delivery are efficient
🎶 Buh buh BUH Buhhh... I'm on my phone! 🎵
I love the way you flow so seamlessly between Orange County, Las Vegas, and Happy Valley without U-turns
I’m only a minute in, but wow the jokes are already great.
"BA DA BAH BAH BAAAHHH IM ON MY PHONE" made me stop watching and let my laughter catch up with me! Hahahaha
I have no idea why I'm watching a TH-cam on medians at 1:30 a.m. but this is freaking great... you're a good presenter and entertainer! I'm going to start learning me about some roads 😂
The more I watch your channel the more I realise that America don't do roads well😅
😂😂😂 yes certified Mexican American here. Don’t go to Mexico either lol it’s worst
@@PanchoPistolas45 Well if Mexico's roads are bad too, then that makes it a whole North America problem. Because the roads in Canada are juuuuust as shit as the ones in the USA, if not worse in some areas.
Yes
Post wwii american roads are quite possibly one of the worst designed roads in the world
Yeah, I'm kinda surprised as well how bad the localities do road design. Like, I get you didn't get to layout the roads (most of the time) and you don't have a bottomless budget but you do have a brain and should be explaining the trade-offs better _or_ states should be requiring better design instead of the half-ass stuff we get dished up.
My area reconfigured the main road so that you can only turn right on or off of it. As a result, during rush hour, most of the road is a miles-long parking lot in both directions. What used to take me 40 minutes, now takes close to 2 hours.
You should suggest that someone like Rob look at your town to see what they did wrong. It might make a good video in how to screw it up, since as a rule this should improve things. Exceptions always help us to understand the mechanics better, and improve future results.
@@tristanridley1601 We also have some terrible drivers here in Louisiana (who I'm sure aren't helping.) I just avoid that road as much as possible these days.
5:10 I avoid these left turns like the plague! And I will go way out of my way to do it.
God I get suck anxiety when I need to do one
They did one here where not only are you turning out into two lanes of traffic, You're turning into traffic lights so the turning lane you could have potentially used is now a turning lane and you also have to deal with changes in the flow that the light might be causing. The better option is to take a small side-street to join the school road that goes directly to the lights but many people don't know about it.
cross access can create secondary roadways people use to bypass traffic. I've seen it. They can create high speeds in parking areas, and creates a liability for property owners.
I remember seeing these down in Forth Worth, Texas. I thought they were a good idea, and something they should put in my own city to improve the flow of traffic. Now I'm second guessing it, lol. Great video as always.
This is the best youtube channel. Even though im subscribed, i havent seen any videos from this channel for a few years. Im glad i found it again.
Its nostalgic for some reason
11:45 I was taught in drivers Ed or by my parents years ago that you were supposed stop there.
When I lived in South Florida there were even signs a short distance from traffic lights that were posted with "Don't block intersection" signs
If someone's trying to cross, it takes a cold person to stop in front if traffic's heavy and you're going to stop anyway. There's one place in particular I know of where that person would be waiting a long time if nobody let them through. (I actually won't turn that way but will go further down the road where the turning is easier and you can get back through parking lots).
I liked and subbed purely due to the fact that this man personifies the thought that I’ve had on so many occasions that ultimately influenced my fast food or retail decision. Good TH-cam Algorithm.
I wonder what your point of view is on Dutch style road classifications - where roads like these would not exist. They'd either be limited access for higher speeds (no mcdonalds or arby's) or slow speed streets with lots of access to stores, homes etc, but lots of speed curbing measures and more space for transit, pedestrians and bikes.
That would seem to be a better solution than raised medians or being so reliant locally on dangerous roads. Highway 17 in New Jersey as you leave New York is a great example of this. Why on earth is there shopping with store entrances and exits on a major highway out of New York City ?!
Maybe the problem is that we use surface in-town streets as multi-lane highways. Reduce the number of lanes and you've reduced the number of conflicts. Many cities are already putting over-bloated, high-speed (i.e., high-conflict) stroads on a diet. Traffic does not suffer for it. Seems counter-intuitive, but with fewer lane changes, there's fewer conflicts and jumping on brakes. Dedicate more space to people and not cars and you have MUCH more livable communities. Just jump to 11:18 in this video and look at how much space is dedicated to the storage or driving of cars. It's obscene. The spaces for people do do shopping, eating, or living is a pittance to what we dedicate to these metal beasts.
My experience is that after you drive the quarter mile to the lighted intersection to make a U-turn, there is usually a no U-turn sign. So, you go to the next...same thing. Often you must drive over a mile to make that U-turn, by which time the moment is gone.
Rt 22 in Union, Nj is a bunch of businesses jammed into the middle of bullet nosed medians. It’s mental trying to navigate it any time of day.
This proves that if people work together it’s better for everyone.
Seems like the most valuable lots aren't corner lots but the mid-block ones that someone can actually get into
Excited about Arby's until you see it.
Rob, your videos are top notch. Thanks for another topic that I’m sure few of us ever thought twice about, yet now afterwards makes so much sense!
Rob’s got the meats.
This video really helped me understand why my local Walgreens has 2 exit points but only one entrance point and if you're not heading in the correct direction, you're going to have to make a U turn. If it's rush hour, forget it. But the side I'd like to get in on is right-only. I'm now 84.272% less frustrated
Yuck. Demolish all stroads and build them full of dense housing. They're ugly death traps.
Walking and biking to Arby's > Doing a U turn to Arby's
Cross access absolutely must be forced. It's so ridiculous to drive in to one parking lot just to find out there's a frigging curb or _wall_ between two parking lots with literally no space for anything else between! Just make an opening, dang it!! It took more effort to make the flipping curb/wall than to leave it open! (yes, I know one undoubtedly opened up first in new construction, but still)
Or do as Somerset Kentucky did and just limit left turns and u-turns to traffic lights along our main business stretch.
I have never seen before this level of quality combined with funny edits working so beautifully together
Rob is gonna get his own show, I can feel it.
I found your page yesterday and I am now working my way through the videos. I have many comments. I am based in Tokyo and your comments about U-turns caught my eye. Many roads in the metropolis have raised medians but there are also U-turn lanes near intersections. (We drive on the left) The U-turn lane is either a part of the right turn lane or has its own lane to the right of the right turn lane queue. As one approaches the intersection in the right turn lane, just 2 or 3 meters before the intersection there is a U-turn lane cut into the median and merges into the lanes going in the other direction so U-turns can be made without waiting for the light. The medians are wide enough to allow the U-turn lane a large radius so that buses and semi-trucks can navigate the turns. one caveat, major thoroughfares in Tokyo usually have bypass style intersections allowing vehicles to continue to avoid traffic signals by building roadways that either go over the intersection or under the intersection. This reduces the amount of through traffic one would encounter when coming out of a U-turn.
America: "you know that fast lane where you are supposed to overtake slower drivers? yeah let's make people turn in those both in to and out of traffic what could ever go wrong"
Rob puts a lot of hard work and research into these videos and it shows keep it up!
I'd love to see your discussion on the Michigan left- as a Detroiter I no longer hate them!
Somehow got myself into reading about how road design works and finding out about the benefits of the michigan left really made me appreciate them a lot too.
@@Noman1000 they are easy to find annoying until you realize there is almost never someone trying to make a left in front of you- they certainty seem slower
@@pizzaivlife the best part is the legal left turn on red which is something I never realized until a year or so ago. On lower traffic streets it basically makes a left turn into a quick red light right with how fast it is.
Hey Rob. Another great video! I really enjoy your enthusiasm while educating the people. I don't know if this falls within your video realm but, could you do a video explaining all the utility marking on roads and sidewalks? I'm referring to the ones that are made by utility service location companies. There are so many and it would be nice to get a better understanding of them. Thanks and keep up with the great content!
This is one of the most American videos I have ever seen - needs more dragons, though....
12:50 Florida (Orlando and surrounding counties anyway) seem to handle this really well, most plazas and businesses have cross access, so handy!
13:50 have you considered just walking there and leaving your car all the way over nextdoor? The "cross access" could be limited to a footpath that connects the businesses' front doors.
You realize you're suggesting that Americans leave their cars. I bet these are all drive-throughs too.
@@tristanridley1601 If they are drive-through only, they shouldn't even HAVE a parking lot.
@@Welgeldiguniekalias I don't mean Drive-Through only, but a scary amount of Americans will drive around a block to drive through rather than walk in to the restaurant.
This channel deserves to be more well known, has great production quality. Really reminds me of the old school History channel content, a la Modern Marvels
Come experience New Jersey jug handles. They work well.
They really do, I do not understand the hate
Get rid of stroads. Problem solved. There is absolutely no reason why business or residential entrances should be allowed to exit onto a main road. This is a discussion caused by a problem that should not even be allowed to exist.
I had one simple thought during the whole video... "how about having roundabouts instead of the traffic lights?" that's how bad us roads looks ... how do you come, why is 70% of the space parking spaces, why is the option of leaving your car to walk to the store nextdoor not even mentioned while the "drive around the whole block" is... so many questions...
The US is a massive country and things are vastly different from state to state. This video is from California where driving are among the worst. Where I live in Florida there are a ton of roundabouts I couldn't say they improve the driving conditions. They sure as hell slow traffic down and make you avoid those areas.
There is a traffic light on my way to work that is triggered by a sensor so far away you can not even see the car coming. I don't believe it gets more than 75 cars a day on it lol.
4:58 Made me laugh. I replayed it several times!
Blocking half the traffic from entering the Arby’s parking lot is probably the greatest roadway contribution ever made to safety.
One simple answer, don't use stroads
The first minute of hook into this video is just golden. The main content is even more valuable.
This is fabulous.
I gotta stop eating when I watch these cause I was about to spit out my food when he did the Micky D jingle Lmaoo
11:35 I was a "Good Samaritan" in 1991. I was about 17-18 on a 4-lane (2 lanes each direction) street with a raised median. South bound traffic was backed up quite a bit from the intersection. I was in the number 1 lane approached a section where the north bound had a left turn lane to cross the number 1 lane (I was in) & the number 2 lane. I decided to let the driver of a mid-eighties Cadillac Fleetwood to make his left turn; he gunned it & T-boned a brand-new Honda Accord; still had paper plates. I thought I was going to be blamed for this accident; I wasn't.
I felt bad for both drivers cause if I wasn't the "Good Samaritan", it wouldn't have happened. Still remember this accident to this day & I've never been the "Good Samaritan" again.
You should do a video discussing America's dire need for an actual infrastructure plan and what should be done...I could see you being able to do it without bringing the political b.s. into it.
10:00 Ah, so that's what those bays are up in New South Wales.
There's a really bad unsignalled intersection crossing a median near where I live, the problem is it's near two other sets of lights on a major highway so that creates a problem. The area was designed at least as far back as 1966 (that's as far back as I've found maps of the area) back when the area was rural and the whole idea was to use T-intersections to prevent fatalities. Heck, it was only about 30 years ago that the two previously mentioned sets of lights were built.
That last time I was this early, Arby’s still had 5 for $5 roast beef.
@Andrew_koala I’ve long been advocating feeding the homeless to the hungry as a solution for both problems.
@Andrew_koala BRUH....