Study Details

Study Title: Safety Evaluation of Installing Center Two-Way Left-Turn Lanes on Two-Lane Roads

Authors: Persaud et al.

Publication Date: 2008

Abstract: The Federal Highway Administration organized a Pooled Fund Study of 26 States to evaluate low-cost safety strategies as part of its strategic highway safety effort. One of the strategies chosen to be evaluated for this study was the installation of center two-way left-turn lanes on two-lane roads. This strategy is intended to reduce the frequency of crashes involving a turning vehicle, which could be classified as head on or rear end. Geometric, traffic, and crash data were obtained for 78 sites (34.9 km (21.3 mi)) in North Carolina, 10 sites(9.7 km (6.0 mi)) in Illinois, 31 sites (10.95 km (6.8 mi)) in California, and 25 sites (21.25 km (13.2 mi)) in Arkansas. Empirical Bayes methods were incorporated in a before-after analysis to determine the safety effectiveness of installing the two-way left-turn lanes. There was a statistically significant reduction in total and rear-end crashes in each of four States whose installations were evaluated. Rural installations were found to be more effective in reducing crashes than urban ones in each of the four States. Lower cost installations of TWLTLs can be a cost-effective treatment for two-lane rural locations, especially those with a high frequency of rear-end collisions involving a lead vehicle desiring to make a turn.

Study Citation: Persaud, B., Lyon, C., Eccles, K., Lefler, N., Carter, D., and Amjadi, R., "Safety Evaluation of Installing Center Two-Way Left-Turn Lanes on Two-Lane Roads", Report No. FHWA-HRT-08-042, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., (2008)


CMFs Associated With This Study

Category: Roadway

Countermeasure: Introduce TWLTL (two-way left turn lanes) on rural two lane roads

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.64365 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.65355 StarsAllA,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.53475 StarsRear endAllNot specifiedRural