Raised medians necessary for traffic safety and flow

Although raised medians are troublesome and unavoidable, they do help to prevent accidents.

Raised medians are designed to direct traffic flow in a certain direction and prevent drivers from making unsafe turns.

For example, an unsafe U-turn caused the four-car accident that occurred two weeks ago at the intersection of South Broadway and Loop 323.

Although raised medians have several positive effects there are a few downfalls as well.

Where medians are in place along South Broadway and the loop, it’s necessary to drive all the way down to the intersection to make a U-turn.

Another problem is traffic begins to pool at lights making the waiting time to just get through a single light taking up to two and three turns sitting at the same intersection.

The short turning lanes cause the traffic to back up farther into other lanes.

Although I can see the necessity for raised medians along busy highways such as South Broadway and the loop there could be fewer medians and more areas for turning.

The chief engineer at The Texas Department of Transportation said after the medians have been finished on the loop there are no more plans for any raised medians until 2016.

Although the medians tend to be a hassle they are there for the safety of all drivers.

My advice to other drivers is watch out where you turn, and watch out for those turning around you.

By Jennah Lewis