GUNTERSVILLE — To improve traffic safety, the Alabama Department of Transportation will convert the intersection of U.S. 431 and Buck Island Drive in Guntersville to a Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) intersection.
ALDOT said construction should start early next year, after the materials are acquired and as weather permits.
The RCUT plan includes installing channelizing curbs and flexible posts on Buck Island Drive and in the median crossover to prevent left turns from the side street, ALDOT said.
Instead, drivers will make a right turn followed by a U-turn at a designated turn lane and crossover north of the main intersection.
Left turns from U.S. 431 southbound to Buck Island Drive will still be permitted, ALDOT said.
The modifications will also prevent northbound-to-southbound U-turns at the main intersection and redirect those movements to the designated U-turn farther north.
RCUTS have proven effective at reducing crashes at other North Alabama intersections.
U.S. 72 at Dug Hill Road near Huntsville was previously the site of multiple deadly wrecks. ALDOT maintenance forces converted it to an RCUT in 2019. Since the improvements, total crashes dropped 80% and injury crashes went down nearly 90%.
RCUTs on U.S. 72 at Alabama Highway 79 in Jackson County and on Highway 75 at Highway 68 in Marshall County also brought about significant reductions in the number of injury crashes as well as the severity of those crashes.
Intersections in Cherokee and Lauderdale counties underwent conversion to RCUTs this year.
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