Columbus motorists should be cautious as road project begins with daily lane closures

The Georgia Department of Transportation on Tuesday urged motorists to proceed with caution while driving through an area of north Columbus in which road construction will take place for several weeks.

Crews began work Tuesday on a “reduced conflict U-turn” intersection on U.S. Hwy. 80, also identified as Georgia 22 and Macon Road, in the Beaver Run and Wynfield area of the city.

Penny Brooks, communications officer with GDOT’s District 3, said the project at the intersection of U.S. 80 and Mallard Drive and Wynfield Way, will first require the installation of pipe for a storm drain and work on turn lanes. That could mean delays for those living in the area or moving through it on the multilane highway.

“This project is expected to be complete by mid-January, 2019, weather permitting,” she said via email. “The construction will cause closures of the inside lanes in both direction from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day through the duration of the project. Motorists are urged to drive with caution through the area and watch for workers.”

Current construction of the reduced conflict U-turn (RCUT) intersection is one of a handful planned for the heavily trafficked east-west corridor that connects Columbus with Macon, Ga. It also sees plenty of local motorists and commercial vehicles due to the many housing developments in north Columbus, as well as companies located in the area, including the major Pratt & Whitney complex and Muscogee Technology Park, which is home to several businesses, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia.

Other intersections in the vicinity scheduled for RCUTs are U.S. 80 at Beaver Trail and Woodbriar Lane, and U.S. 80 at Psalmond Road. An RCUT was installed earlier this year at U.S. 80 and Jenkins Road.

A traffic study conducted by the GDOT, which took a look at crash data from 2011 to 2015, found higher rates at the highway’s intersection with Jenkins Road, which included a fatal wreck. There were four crashes at Beaver Trail and Woodbriar Lane, with Mallard and Wynfield Drives experiencing eight crashes.

RCUTS are used to reduce angle collisions at intersections involving divided highways, the GDOT said. They keep motorists from making “dangerous” left turns or attempting to drive across the four lanes in any manner, with a raised concrete island preventing them from doing so.

The new RCUTs instead will require drivers to make a right turn from their neighborhoods onto U.S. 80 and, if they want to travel the opposite way, use a special U-turn that allows them to see oncoming traffic better while making the turn. The GDOT said RCUTs nationally have been shown to reduce crash injuries by 42 percent and fatal crashes by 70 percent.

“RCUTs decrease congestion by allowing traffic to flow through the area in all directions, yet they reduce opportunities for collisions by keeping all motorists within the flow of traffic,” Brooks said in the email.