Cadiz, Ky.–Improving roadway safety for Kentuckians is a Team Kentucky priority, and recent analysis of a Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) built at U.S. Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 139 (South Road) in Trigg County confirms this type of safer road solution is better protecting travelers and improving traffic flow at the intersection near Cadiz.
RCUTs, which use median crossovers to eliminate side-street left turns, are being incorporated more often in highway projects today to promote a freer and safer flow of traffic. The innovative design eliminates multiple points of conflict where vehicles cross paths, including at right angles, which reduces the risk of severe crashes.
The RCUT intersection design was a first for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) District 1 office, and among the first in the Commonwealth, going into service on Nov. 9, 2020, with construction continuing into the spring of 2021.
Transportation engineers studied eight years of crash data at the Trigg County RCUT.
Analysis of four years of data before RCUT construction shows:
- 16 crashes
- 7 injuries
- 2 fatalities
- There was an additional fatal crash immediately before construction started.
Crash data for the RCUT Dec. 15, 2020, through Dec. 15, 2024, shows:
- 6 crashes
- 2 injuries
- 0 fatalities
KYTC District 1 Chief District Engineer Kyle Poat said the reduction in crashes, injuries and fatalities demonstrates the reconstructed intersection exceeded benefits found in a national study, which showed RCUTs reduced crashes by 54% on average.
“If you do the math, police crash reports show we’ve had a 64.5% decrease in total crashes since the RCUT was completed and a 71% decrease in injuries,” Poat said. “The greatest success is that no lives have been lost since the RCUT opened. This is a substantial enhancement of safety for drivers and passengers and the approximately 6,200 vehicles that travel through this intersection every day.”
Trigg County Emergency Management Director David Bryant said the crash reduction benefits more than just those who pass through the intersection.
“The RCUT has almost eliminated our emergency calls to that location, meaning less demand on our call-center personnel and fewer callouts for the responding agencies,” Bryant said. “That reduction in workload also helps to enhance emergency response efforts when there is an incident in other parts of the county.”
RCUTs and other safer road designs such as roundabouts will continue to be a part of Team Kentucky’s efforts to improve highway safety across the state, including in District 1.
“KYTC District 1 has now constructed 11 RCUTs in six counties,” Poat said. “It takes about four years to collect crash data for each site, so we’re excited that we will soon be able to provide meaningful data for additional RCUT locations.”
In the coming months, KYTC engineers expect to have enough crash data to analyze the effectiveness of RCUTs at the following intersections:
- U.S. 45/KY 408 in Graves County
- U.S. 45/KY 1288 (Lebanon Church Road) in McCracken County
- U.S. 60/KY 726 (Kelly Road) Intersection in McCracken County
- U.S. 60/KY 996 (Metropolis Lake Road) in McCracken County
- U.S. 641/KY 402 (Brewers Highway-Aurora Highway) in Marshall County
For educational information on RCUTs, roundabouts and other innovative highway designs – including fact sheets, diagrams and video overviews – visit the KYTC’s SAFERoad Solutions website at https://transportation.ky.gov/