jughandle

A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at an at-grade intersection (in a country where traffic drives on the right). Instead of a standard left turn being made from the left lane, left-turning traffic uses a ramp on the right side of the road. In a standard ''forward jughandle'' or ''near-side jughandle'', the ramp leaves before the intersection, and left-turning traffic turns left off of it rather than the through road. Right turns are also made using this type of jughandle. In a ''reverse jughandle'' or ''far-side jughandle'', the ramp leaves after the intersection, and left-turning traffic loops around to the right and merges with the crossroad before the intersection.

The jughandle is also known as a Jersey left due to its high prevalence within the U.S. state of New Jersey (though this term is also locally used for an abrupt left at the beginning of a green light cycle). The New Jersey Department of Transportation defines three types of jughandles. "Type A" is the standard forward jughandle. "Type B" is a variant with no cross-street intersected by the jughandle; it curves 90 degrees left to meet the main street, and is either used at a "T" intersection or for a U-turn only. "Type C" is the standard reverse jughandle.

History

The first mention of jughandles in the ''New York Times'' is on June 14, 1959, referring to jughandles having been built in New Jersey on US 46 in Montville, US 22 between North Plainfield and Bound Brook, and Route 35 at Monmouth Park Racetrack. By the beginning of 1960, New Jersey had 160 jughandles, most if not all standard before-intersection jughandles. The 160th one was on U.S. Route 1 between New Brunswick and Trenton.

Usage

Australia

In Perth, Western Australia
* Guildford Road at East Parade (reverse jughandle)

Canada

In Nanaimo, British Columbia:
* Highway 1 south to Highway 19A

In Markham, Ontario:
* Warden Avenue at Enterprise Boulevard ( busway)

In Toronto, Ontario:
* York University Busway at Dufferin Street (busway)

In Edmonton, Alberta:
* Baseline Road at 17 Street

Germany

In Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia:
* Aachener Straße at Universitätsstraße,
* Innerer Grüngürtel at Innere Kanalstraße and Subbelrather Straße

Singapore

In Tampines:
* Junction of Tampines Avenue 10 and Tampines Avenue 1

United Kingdom

In England:
* A322 at Bagshot,

In Northern Ireland:
* A8 at Ashley Road,

United States

States with a prevalence of jughandles include New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Vermont. Jughandles are particularly associated with New Jersey. Jughandles are possible in other locations as they are a valid type of intersection control to consider for intersection design.

Signage

On New Jersey State Highways and Pennsylvania State Highways, a white sign is placed before a jughandle or at the beginning of a stretch of jughandles saying "All turns from right lane", or a similar message. Each jughandle is marked with a white sign below the standard green sign, saying "All turns", or "U and left turns" in the case of a reverse jughandle.

On locally maintained roads, and in other states, jughandle signage can appear to be haphazard and confusing to out of state drivers.

Advantages

* Safety
** Removes left-turning vehicles from travel lanes, particularly from higher-speed left lanes.
** Pedestrian crossing distance is reduced across the mainline.
** Reduced left-turn conflict points as compared to a standard four-leg intersection.
** Removes conflicts with right-turning vehicles and pedestrians/bicyclists at the primary intersection.
* Operations
** Reduced overall travel time and delay through the intersection.
** Reduced signal phases due to the elimination of the associated left-turn phase(s).
** Increases queuing space for left-turning vehicles.
** Shorter pedestrian crossing distance across the mainline may provide for shorter cross street signal phases.
** May improve U-turns by reducing the need for a tight-radius turning maneuver which conflicts with cross-street right-turns.
** Reduced need for rights-of-way acquisition when there is not any room for a left turning lane; focuses