CHARLOTTE Local Charlotte News — As more people move to Charlotte by the hundreds every week, and thousands more head back to the office; commuting and rush hour traffic is a problem again for commuters.
In North Charlotte, traffic engineers are looking back at the year since the intersection of Mt. Holly/Huntersville Road at Brookshire Blvd was transformed into a Continuous Flow Intersection.
“Seems like it’s worse — it’s confusing if you’ve never been here. with the way the traffic lights go. If you make a wrong turn you can cause an accident.”
One driver told FOX 46 they think the flow of traffic is better, but the complexity of the new crossover can cause issues.
The idea of a Continuous Flow Intersection is to move turning traffic out of the way of through traffic so those drivers can continue unimpeded. A new form of traffic circle that is most compared to a diverging diamond interchange. Chris Sunde, traffic engineer and founder of GoodRoads.io says these kind of projects are done for one reason.
“You have to take each intersection into consideration individually — it’s a custom design every time. Turning left in front of traffic is the most dangerous turn. Agencies like the Charlotte and North Carolina Department of Transportation — what they’re trying to do is improve safety and efficiency.”
Sunde says that this first-in-Carolina intersection is being looked at intensely by other states and cities to study its effectiveness at reducing traffic congestion.
“They’re looking at their peers — other cities around seeing what works. Their problems are similar but different — always trying to find solutions that will work for them.”
