The Median U-Turn Intersection Treatment (MUTIT) as an Alternative for Congestion at Intersections

Abstract

Throughout urban and suburban areas, congestion at intersections going continuously to worsen, especially, in such high religious tourism cities like Najaf city. One potential treatment to combat congestion and safety problems at intersections is the Median U-Turn Intersection Treatment (MUTIT), which has been used worldwide extensively for many years and has been implemented successfully in recent years. This paper summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the MUTIT as alternative to conventional, un-signalized and signal-controlled intersections with left turns permitted. Furthermore, presents the design guidelines including the location and design of the median crossovers on the major roads. Many of the guidelines presented here are from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), and the 2004 AASHTO Green Book (AASHTO2004) The paper also takes three intersections in Najaf city in traffic volume counting, evaluation as intersection controls by roundabout once and by traffic signal in another, and discusses application criteria for the MUTIT, and presents how the performance of intersections, can be improved.