CHARLOTTESVILLE — Though INDOT officials emphasized that the plan is still only in the exploration stage, residents turned out in force at a meeting of the Eastern Hancock School Board to oppose a plan to create a J-turn at the intersection of U.S. 40 and County Road 600E.
Parents, school officials and others expressed their concerns that due to the large number of buses, semi-trailer trucks and farm vehicles in the area, the change to the intersection would do more harm than good. Several suggested adding a stoplight or yield sign instead.
“It’s just an invitation for a bunch of bad crashes,” resident Tim Henderson said of the proposed changes, which INDOT argues would make the intersection safer.
The Hancock County Commissioners have declined to support the project, which wouldn’t take place until around 2024, but INDOT is still considering it as an option. The school board invited INDOT representatives to give an informational presentation on Monday, Dec. 9.
INDOT did not field public comments, but members of the public were asked to give their feedback during the general public comment section of the board meeting.
A J-turn, also sometimes called a “Michigan left” or a “reduced conflict intersection,” prevents vehicles from crossing all four lanes of a highway at once. Instead, left-turning vehicles would turn right, merge into a “safe lane,” and then make a U-turn in a specially designed median before merging back onto the highway in the intended direction. INDOT statistics show the configuration has reduced the number of crashes significantly at four other locations in Indiana.
The most common concern expressed Monday night about the design was that it would be too difficult for larger vehicles to navigate, leading to more accidents.
“The dangers are going to be multiplied, because they’re going to spend more time in the intersection — and school buses as well. It’s a bad idea,” resident Steve Price said. He added that large-vehicle traffic might avoid the intersection entirely, leading to more damage to and traffic on other county roads.
Greg Turner, director of transportation at Eastern Hancock schools, was also concerned about the idea. He said the J-turn intersection might make sense if the road was used only by cars and small trucks, but large vehicles navigating the turn lane seems likely to lead to more right-angle crashes, in which one vehicle strikes another broadside.
“In a rural area like this, I can come up with many more reasons why it’s a bad idea than it’s a good one,” Turner said.
No members of the public spoke in favor of the potential intersection change.
County Commissioner Marc Huber also attended the meeting and asked INDOT to take into account that the commissioners had spent time carefully considering the proposal before recommending against it.
“Everybody I talked to was against it,” Huber said. “It wasn’t a knee-jerk decision.”
Studies in several states have found that J-turn intersections are effective in reducing crashes and fatalities. For example, a 2017 study by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found that eight intersections where the change was made had experienced a 50 percent reduction in crash injuries; a 77 percent reduction of all right-angle crashes; and a 100 percent reduction in fatal right angle crashes.
INDOT spokeswoman Mallory Duncan and engineer Nathan Sturdevant pointed to statistics and video of larger vehicles navigating J-turns as evidence of the intersections’ effectiveness. They also emphasized that the idea is still in the early stages. If INDOT puts the project on the docket for 2024, they will be required to spend the preceding year collecting public feedback at a series of formal meetings.
“We’re looking at several alternatives. There’s issues at this location, and it’s a consideration,” Sturdevant said.
The department’s presentation wasn’t persuasive to many in the crowd about the value of “Michigan lefts.”
“Michigan’s four-and-a-half hours north,” resident David Wicker said. “It should stay there.”