I'm intrigued by the City's approach to improving safety at 9th/10th and Van Dorn, especially in regard to northbound trucks turning left onto Van Dorn. It's not your standard left turn lane (PDF) by any stretch of the imagination. But oftentimes that's good. Non-standard traffic features -- assuming they are well-designed -- can actually be quite a bit safer, in part because the fact they are different makes people pay better attention.
The project comes with some potential problems, though. First and foremost, there will have to be some very good signage indicating that the left turn lane starts quite a ways back from the intersection. I'm not so worried about truckers as I am about out-of-town drivers. (And, to be honest, in-town drivers, too.) Likewise, will left turns at the old location now be banned? That'll require some good signage as well. I'm sure plenty of signage is in the plan -- probably even big, green, completely unmissable freeway-style signage. Sadly, that's probably not enough.
I am also worried about drivers being smart enough to stop in the right places so that they don't get in the way of turning traffic. Let's face it, Lincoln's drivers love to stop in crosswalks or beyond "Stop at Line" signs. In this case I suppose I shouldn't worry; we should just give truck drivers the green light to push those cars out of the way. It seems a suitable solution to me.
What do you think about the proposed intersection?
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I think the change is good. It would be really bitchin’ if they’d just make Van Dorn cross over the top of 9th Street right there, then the trucks could turn and go straight through. The stopped trucks cause as much headache as the turning trucks.
I deal with that intersection a bunch since I live close. Seems like a pretty good idea to me. Heading north can be confusing just lane wise currently.
The tree huggers finally got their answer, which is good.
Lincoln drivers figured out the one way 56th St/Cotner Blvd thing. They’ll be ok, I’m sure.
We drivers is smart.
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