Centerline Turn Hardening

Image Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI)

DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION

Centerline turn hardening entails installing features such as bollards and rubber curbs to prevent drivers from cutting across intersections at a diagonal. They can improve pedestrian safety and address failure-to-yield crashes caused by left-turning vehicles by encouraging drivers to make left turns at slower speeds.  

Implementation Categories

CONSIDERATIONS

• Check the turning path of the design vehicle.
• Determine acceptable materials (e.g., raised medians, quick curb, flexible delineators, rubber speed bumps) for centerline hardening.
• Stripe the border of curbs and rubber speed bumps yellow to increase their visibility.
• Delineators and pavement markings must comply with the MUTCD.
• May require specialized material or equipment to maintain/replace.
• Potential for snowplow impacts on rubber curbs.

APPLICATION

• Use on intersections with high pedestrian and left-turn volumes or a history of pedestrian crashes.
• Up to the stop bar, hardening may consist of cast-in-place curbing materials, quick-build curbing materials, or flexible delineators.
• An additional centerline treatment that places curbing beyond the crosswalk may be used to further enhance safety.

example

Image Source: NYC Department of Transportation

Complimentary Countermeasures

• Leading Pedestrian Interval (LPI)