In this week’s Traffic Inbox, we’re talking about residents who want to prevent people from making U-turns in front of their entrance.

• U-turns block access to one Orlando neighborhood
• Residents living on Golderod at Barksdale say intersection is congested
  
• Officials say U-Turns are vital to reducing crashes

They say it's causing extreme backups and dangerous conditions at the left turn to get into their community.

Sam Reynolds wrote in to us this week:

“Trying to turn left into my neighborhood going north on Goldenrod Road at Barksdale is a problem. Too many people do U-Turns here, especially during the mid to late afternoon hours. The intersection is usually completely blocked. If they could stop U-Turns here and move it one block north, I feel this would eliminate the issue.”

We decided to take a look!

First impressions of the community off of Barksdale Road and Goldenrod Road is more likely to attract ducks than criminals but residents say there is still a safety concern ... just getting there.

"Yeah, it's very dangerous," said Antonio Lopez, a resident who was walking by.

Ralph Rink isn’t a resident but stays frequently at his girlfriend's house right on the corner, which is not only an entrance to the community but a frequently used U-Turn. And he claims they've seen several bad accidents.

"One time at night a vehicle ended up in her yard,” said Rink. “When we got home there was a car in the yard and junk all over the place."

Rink says although the neighborhood is quiet, the road outside is a different story.

"Yeah, there's a lot of beeping horns when people are coming around way too fast, because they don't see the light when they're coming around the turn to give them time and prep to slow down. Well over the speed limit many times," said Rink.

Rink feels that if nothing is changed soon, the area's problems will only grow, and so will travel times.

"The traffic just keeps getting thicker and thicker because the population is growing so ... it's just gonna take longer to get through the intersections."

So could the U-turn be eliminated at the intersection of Goldenrod Road and Basksdale?

I asked Michael Sanders, the Assistant District Traffic Operations Engineer for District 5, and he told me no.

Here is the reasoning: "U-Turns are vital to reducing crashes and improving corridor progression," he said.

Sanders also told me on roadways where there are raised medians, restricted turning movements must be accommodated elsewhere and typically at the nearest left turn location.

He claims U-turns are the safest and more efficient way to do that.

Sanders did suggest, however, that during busy travel times, drivers can choose to U-Turn at an adjacent location or use other options for access into the neighborhood."

Unfortunately for those residents, because of the community’s close proximity to the Curry Ford Road intersection, it doesn’t appear that that U-Turn is going away any time soon.

Hope that answers your question Sam.

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