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Georgia DOT selects designer for remake of 54-74 intersection —
Big changes are coming to Peachtree City’s biggest daily traffic jam. It’s called a displaced left-turn intersection, and it will change the way you make left turns going north and south on Ga. Highway 74 at its junction with Ga. Highway 54 when it’s finished sometime in 2023.
When the traffic lights turn green for traffic on Hwy. 74 to go north and south, left-turning traffic will be given the green light to go at the same time. Only left turns from Hwy. 74 will be affected. Left turns from Hwy. 54 onto Hwy. 74 will stay the same.
To make that happen, the north-south left turn lanes will be repositioned farther back from the intersection. Traffic making left turns will actually cross the opposite lanes.
How will that work? Online knowledge source Wikipedia explains:
“The continuous flow intersection moves the left-turn conflict out of the intersection and synchronizes it with the signal cycle of the intersecting road,” according to Wikipedia.
“While the left/right traffic flows through the main intersection, the left-turn traffic crosses to the opposite side of the oncoming traffic a few hundred feet away. Doing this removes the crossing conflict,” the Wikipedia explanation says. “When the north/south through traffic is allowed through the main intersection, the north/south left-turn lanes are also allowed through the intersections as their paths are no longer crossing. All traffic flow is controlled by traffic signals as at a regular intersection.”
The design engineers put it this way:
A DLT at this location will streamline the current eight-phase signal operation to a five-phase process by eliminating the phases needed for the north-south left turns.
Upon project completion, the crossovers for the left turns will be relocated approximately 500 feet north and south upstream of the main intersection, allowing left turns to run simultaneously with the north/south through movements.
The reduction in traffic signal phases will allow for the decrease in cycle lengths along Hwy. 54, which will also improve the efficiency of the other intersections east and west of Hwy. 74, according to the designer.
“With extensive experience in the design and implementation of such DLT projects, we are confident we can provide GDOT and the community with the best alternative to reduce congestion and increase safety along this central corridor,” Keith Strickland, PE, Stantec project manager, said.
The Georgia Department of Transportation has selected Stantec, a global design and engineering firm with three offices in Georgia, to provide analysis and engineering services to implement a displaced left-turn intersection (DLT) at one of the busiest intersections in all of Fayette County.
This $9 million construction project is anticipated to be completed in 2023.
These state roadways are two of the most congested corridors in Fayette County and are over-capacity during peak conditions.
The Stantec team was contracted to implement the most effective traffic solution, which was determined as a DLT.
The firm’s DLT experts have consulted on numerous new DLT feasibility studies across the U.S., with a focused expertise in the Southeast, including the implementation of the first two-leg DLT in the country in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For further information, visit www.stantec.com.
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