http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov

SOURCES

1 FHWA, Field Evaluation of a Restricted Crossing U-Turn 

Intersection, FHWA-HRT-11-067 (Washington, DC: June 2012). 

Available at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/

safety/hsis/11067/11067.pdf

2 Ibid.

3 Minnesota DOT web page, “Reduced Conflict Intersection.” 

Available at: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadwork/rci.html

AN INNOVATIVE, PROVEN 

SOLUTION FOR IMPROVING 

SAFETY AND MOBILITY AT 

SIGNALIZED AND UNSIGNALIZED 

INTERSECTIONS

CONTACT

Jeffrey Shaw, P.E.

FHWA Office of Safety

202.738.7793

jeffrey.shaw@dot.gov

Mark Doctor, P.E.

FHWA Resource Center

404.895.6210

mark.doctor@dot.gov

Boone County, MO RCUT Intersection

Source: RCUT Video FHWA-SA-14-020

A TIMELY, COST-EFFECTIVE 

SOLUTION

Whether signalized or unsignalized, the cost of 

an RCUT often is comparable to an equivalent 

conventional design. However, compared to a 

full, grade-separated interchange, RCUTs are 

much less costly, have fewer impacts, and can be 

constructed in a fraction of the time.3

 This makes 

an RCUT an attractive option as an interim design 

where an interchange may not be needed for 

many years.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE 

COMMUNITY 

The RCUT is an effective way for an agency to 

balance providing local access to the major 

highway with the need to deliver safer, more 

efficient projects. Access to local businesses and 

commercial areas can be maintained because 

the U-turns accommodate all movements. When 

signalized, the RCUT provides great flexibility in 

traffic signal timing to accommodate unbalanced 

traffic flow that may result from commuter 

patterns or retail developments.

An RCUT also can support community goals for 

pedestrians and bicycles. Provisions for walking 

and biking must be considered throughout the 

project development process, with the needs 

of pedestrians and bicycles shaping the overall 

design of the RCUT accordingly. This includes 

pedestrian crossings that are accessible to 

all users, and when signalized, phases that 

accommodate both pedestrians and bicycles. The 

channelization used in the RCUT design can serve 

as effective refuge islands for pedestrian crossings 

and/or as bicycle queuing areas.

FHWA-SA-14-040

RESTRICTED CROSSING 

U-TURN 

INTERSECTION

Frederick County, MD RCUT Intersection 

Source: RCUT Video FHWA-SA-14-020

Updated July 2020
Figure 1: Frederick County, MD RCUT Intersection

Source: Google Earth

Furthermore, in an FHWA study of nine Maryland 

intersections with unsignalized RCUT treatments:

• A simple before and after analysis found 

intersection crashes were reduced by 49 

percent.

• A control group crash rate comparison 

revealed a 28 percent reduction in crashes.

• Most notably, fatal crashes decreased by 

70 percent and injury crashes declined by 

42 percent over the 3-year post-installation 

period.1

The RCUT design also improves overall roadway 

operations, even when considering the additional 

distance traffic entering from the minor road must 

travel. While RCUTs can cause a slight increase in 

travel time during periods of low traffic volumes, 

they have been shown to decrease delay during 

periods of higher volumes, reducing the time it 

takes to clear an intersection and resume normal 

travel speeds.2

Instead, all minor road traffic makes a right turn 

followed by a U-turn at a designated location—

either signalized or unsignalized—to continue in 

the desired direction, as shown in Figure 1.

The RCUT is suitable for a wide variety of locations 

and circumstances, including, but not limited to:

• As a safer form of stop- or yield-control at 

minor road intersections along rural, highspeed, four-lane divided highways.

• As an alternative to signalization at select 

intersections to maintain the integrity of the 

major highway as a through route.

• As a corridor treatment along signalized 

routes to minimize travel times, while 

maximizing capacity and managing traffic 

speed.

• As an interim alternative to constructing a 

full, grade-separated interchange.

RCUTs work well when consistently used at 

intersections along a corridor, but they also can 

be used effectively at individual intersections.

IMPROVING SAFETY AND 

OPERATIONS

The Restricted Crossing U-Turn design reduces 

the total number and overall severity of 

vehicle-to-vehicle conflict points. Comparing a 

conventional four-leg intersection to an equivalent 

RCUT design, and accounting for the U-turn 

locations on both sides of the main intersection, 

the total number of conflict points is reduced 

from 32 to 18– a nearly 50 percent reduction.

Motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists face 

greater mobility challenges and safety risks 

at intersections as traffic volumes grow and 

congestion worsens. Agencies need safer, more 

balanced designs that keep people moving. 

Innovative intersection designs represent a 

solution, and are being built more often because 

they can deliver more for less.

WHAT IS A RESTRICTED 

CROSSING U-TURN?

The Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) is an 

innovative intersection design that improves 

safety and operations by changing how minor 

road traffic crosses or turns left at a major 

road. The RCUT does not change any of the 

movements that are possible from the major 

road.

At an RCUT, drivers stopped at the minor 

road waiting to cross or turn left no longer 

must navigate a complex intersection of two 

directions of traffic often traveling at high speed.

An RCUT is sometimes

referred to as a J-Turn or a 

Superstreet