Michigan left

Ever get tired of making left-hand turns at intersections because of all the congestion at the traffic light? You have to wait for the light to go green and even then it's not a guarantee that you can safely make a left, unless the green arrow comes on. It's not like right-hand turns where you can stop at red. Michiganders had the same thing in mind in 1960 when they came up with the Michigan left. Basically, there's no need to make left turns at all.

Let's say we have two roads: Preston, running north-south; and Legacy, running east-west. (These are the names of the two roads where the first Michigan left will be constructed in Texas. It's in my town of Plano.) Rather than going north on Preston to make a left on westbound Legacy, you'd have to first make a right turn (eastbound on Legacy), then make a U-turn to go westbound (this is represented by the green line below). The same would be true for southbound traffic on Preston wanting to travel east on Legacy. Similarly, when traveling eastbound on Legacy and wanting to go north on Preston, you'd make a U-turn to go westbound, then make a right on Preston (red line). Again, same thing for westbound on Legacy and south on Preston.



Seems confusing, especially to outsiders, but I've actually been doing the first maneuver all this time at the traffic light near my house. Damn thing never turns green when you're trying to make a left.

Here's an animation for the Michigan left.