SPOKANE, Wash. — Your commute through Highway 195 and Thorpe Road will soon look different.
The Washington Department of Transportation is getting ready to make changes to a known trouble spot at Highway 195 and Thorpe.
WSDOT in installing what is known as a "J-Turn."
Construction begins on Monday and will finish sometime in early fall. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction and will not occur during peak hours.
The project also includes paving, additional lighting and guardrail improvements as well.
Here's how a "J-Turn" works: The new pattern blocks the median and forces drivers to turn right. Drivers will no longer drive into the median while crossing highway traffic to get to the opposing side. Now, drivers will turn right onto north or south on Highway 195, merge into the far left lane, and then make a U-turn in the direction they want to travel, thus making a J-turn.
"Now they're just looking to the right to make sure those lanes are clear. Once those lanes are clear, they either pull into the drive lanes or they pull across to into an acceleration lane that they then accelerate into traffic," Chad Simonson with WSDOT explained.
WSDOT says the department does whatever it can to reduce the chance of collision as much as possible.
"If you take away signalized intersections, Highway 195 and Thorpe is a priority for for us," a spokesperson for WSDOT said.
The main reason? Drivers trying to turn left or go straight across have a lot of variables to consider.
"They're making all these decision points every time they pull up, so on a driver that can be very taxing, very stressful," Simonson explained.
There might be a few more steps when using a J-turn but, Simonson said it's less drivers have to think about all at one time.
Indiana added J-turns and saw a major drop in crashes. Before they averaged six crashes per year in one spot, and since adding the J-turn they only had one in the last four years.
The area along Highway 195 has grown, Simonson said the current pattern isn't safe.
"Now all of the sudden it's those 10 cars trying to fight for half as many gaps. It's creating that consternation and anxiety, that frustration every morning," he said.
Spokane will be the first city in the state to use the J-turn pattern. If this works there could be more installed in other areas.
