What the Hell is a Michigan Left?
Thu., Apr. 9 2009 @ 11:11AM
The Post-Dispatch reports today that St. Louis County officials plan to solve the traffic clusterfuck that is the intersection of Manchester and Hanley Roads with something called a "Michigan Left," rather than the overpass solution that was previously being considered.
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No, it's not a football play. It's a type of intersection that is only found in the state of Michigan. And it will cost about about $50 million to build versus $80 million for the overpass.
Here's how the County Council described it in the set up in a meeting late last year: "Motorists traveling eastbound on Manchester Road to northbound Hanley Road by turning right and basically making a U-turn."
Having a hard time visualizing how that's going to work? Yeah, me too.
The Michigan Highways Web site (which seems to have been hacked by some zealous Michigan State basketball fans) has a lengthy explanation and history of the turn, as well as this handy-dandy diagram:
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| www.michiganhighways.org |
Now, imagine that here:
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| Google Maps |
Now imagine 60,000 St. Louis drivers trying to make that U-turn every day. Yup, maybe there's a reason they only install these things in Michigan.
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