Should the Hudson Valley Ban Making Left Turns on Major Roads?

It could eliminate some of the traffic we see every day in the Hudson Valley.

Before you laugh yourself right off this page hear me out. If you spend any time driving around the Hudson Valley during high volume traffic times and you get to an intersection that has left turns available do you think if we took the ability to turn left away it would make traffic run smoother?

Honestly, I think it might and thanks to Kevin from Poughkeepsie who called us to let us know that he has some family in Michigan, and from what he said they made left turns illegal in some parts of Michigan and it really has made things run smoother.

Think about that one intersection that has legal left turns...I'm thinking of the one on the southbound side of route 9 in Wappingers Falls where you can turn left to get on Old Hopewell Rd, that light takes FOREVER and stops traffic for a good minute or so....Do you have an intersection like that?

Does Eliminating Left Turns Make traffic Flow Better?

Penn State University actually did a study and it says that eliminating some left-hand turns in heavily traveled intersections can help keep traffic flowing and reduce accident hazards. The study used a bunch of different variables and basically said that if we took out the time drivers spend waiting at left-turn lights and kept traffic flowing there would be fewer traffic jams.

Would you be in favor of something like this on some of our major roads like parts of Route 9, 17-K, or any of the well-traveled roads in the Hudson Valley? Gene texted us and said, "No for no lefts I have to make a left to get on my road coming home from work, otherwise I have to travel another 8 miles to make the right." I would also be against it if I was Gene, but I do think that if it's just done on major roads it might work.

What do you think? Call or text us through the Wolf country app.