Pursuits
New Jersey Jughandle Bill Seeks End of Left-Turn Oddity
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The jughandle, a New Jersey highway oddity that forces drivers to turn right when they want to go left, would become a design relic under a lawmaker’s proposal.
New Jersey has at least 600 jughandles, more than any other U.S. state, according to Tim Greeley, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department. The turns were engineered to remove left-turning vehicles from higher-speed lanes and control the congestion approaching a traffic light. They send drivers on a right-hand exit, then onto a U-shaped stretch that ends at the intersection with the original road. Cars go straight across the road and continue on their way -- a three-step left turn.