JACKSON, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) recently announced that crews hope to have the intersection at WY22 and WY390 in its final configuration by the end of June. In the spirit of safe driving, Buckrail is sharing information about how to navigate the new alignment when traveling to and from Wilson, Jackson and Teton Village.
What’s a Florida-T?
According to a report by the Federal Highway Administration, the continuous green T-intersection (CGT), also known as the Florida-T, features channelized left-turn movement from the stem of the minor street (WY390) to the mainline (WY22) which enables the mainline through-movement to be executed at the same time. The intersection alignment is also popular in Maryland, Virginia and Michigan.
According to research published by the Federal Highway Administration, a review of five CGT intersections found that rear-end, sideswipe and angle crashes are the most common types of reported crashes at five intersections studied in Florida.
“The rear-end crashes were often caused by drivers who unexpectedly stopped in the continuous flow lane,” the report states. “Sideswipe and angle crashes occurred when drivers turning left from the minor leg of the intersection were turning or merging with the through traffic on the major road.”
The same study stated that, “with regard to operations, published research indicates that the vehicle delay, emissions and fuel consumption are lower at CGT intersections relative to traditional signalized T intersections.”
More yield points
As always, westbound drivers traveling on WY22 wishing to turn right onto WY390 (toward Teton Village), yield to WY22 eastbound drivers turning left at the traffic signal.
The eastbound bypass lane on WY22 opened April 3, allowing drivers to bypass the traffic signal at the intersection of WY22 and WY390. Drivers using the bypass lane are required to yield to traffic on WY22 that just turned left off WY0390.
This can be a bit confusing, because in the past, drivers waited for the traffic signal, then had the right of way. Now drivers are going to need to look left and give the cars that just turned left onto WY22 the right of way.
A Buckrail reader recently shared that he’s had a of couple close calls with other drivers not yielding in the bypass lane, “It’s being treated as a merge or zipper merge, or worse, as if that lane has the right of way, not a yield.”
WYDOT shifted the lanes most recently on June 15, moving the two southbound and the northbound lanes on WY390 to the west to accommodate paving on the eastern portion of WY390. They also opened the new lane for right-turning traffic off WY390 (headed toward Wilson), which will require drivers to yield to the WY22 westbound traffic.
According to WYDOT, in addition to having the final configuration of the intersection open by the end of June, crews also plan to move traffic onto the first phase of the new bridge before July 4.
The Snake River Bridge replacement project is scheduled to be completed by June 2025.
