Overhead view of intersection of E. Hwy 290 and Canyonwood Drive, and how concrete “Jersey Barriers” could be put in to help prevent center lane head on collisions.
Diagram of how “Jersey barriers” would work to prevent head on collisions.
Letter to the Editor Tomasz Johannsen
Dear Editor,
I have narrowly escaped death several times on Highway 290 West (between Oak Hill and Dripping Springs). The center left turn lane was always the reason that a deadly situation developed. One time an oncoming driver experienced a heart attack and swung his vehicle across the center into my lane. Another time a driver entered the center lane too early and came towards me at high speed. The whole concept of a center left turn lane is deeply flawed because it guarantees head-on collisions. At highway speeds the idea is positively insane!
TXDOT should remove the center left turn lane and provide U-turns at all lights (and increase the number of lights) to allow vehicles to access their left-side destinations safely. This can be done with concrete highway barriers (Jersey barriers), resulting in a much safer road design because:
1. Vehicles can no longer drift across the center into oncoming traffic.
2. The concrete barrier will absorb partial frontal collisions at traffic light left turns,
3. It eliminates the head-on collision scenarios, when opposite driveways are too close together.
4. It removes the “sitting duck” scenario, where a turning vehicle is vulnerable to being clipped on either side.
- Tomasz Johannsen