Moline makes changes to right turns on 41st street to improve safety
Drivers along Moline’s 41st Street will notice a change in where they can turn starting next month.
Traffic on 41st Street in Moline heading to John Deere Road will be restricted to no turns on red lights for right-hand turns, starting March 11. The city will use LED message boards, media advisories and social media alerts on their platforms to get the word out.
Why the change? According to a news release from the city, the Moline Police Department has seen a 140% increase in traffic crashes at this intersection since 2018. Over the past two years, there have been 153 traffic crashes at this intersection with John Deere Road; 16% happened in the west turn lane of southbound 41st Street and 42% took place in the east turn lane of northbound 41st Street.
The Moline Police Department asked the city’s Traffic Engineering Department to review the traffic patterns to see if traffic safety could be improved. The Moline Police Department, Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and City of Moline Traffic Engineering met last December to review data and make recommendations to IDOT, who has primary jurisdiction over John Deere Road because it is a state highway.
The groups recommended prohibiting right turns at both red lights, due to the high rate of crashes. IDOT reviewed the recommendation and authorized the city to place signs prohibiting right turns on red at this intersection. The Traffic Engineering department has installed enhanced traffic detection systems in the turn lanes in the intersection and prepared the light patterns to respond to traffic stacking in the turn lane.
In Illinois, state law allows right turns on red unless signs at the location prohibit it. It was determined that these incidents were rear-end crashes happening in the turn lanes. In all these incidents, the trailing car’s driver had looked over their left shoulder to see approaching traffic and rear-ended the lead car. The trailing cars thought the lead car had turned right on red but had not cleared the intersection.
The city will advise the driving public about the change for two weeks and officially prohibit right turns with signage and activate the enhanced traffic detection on March 11.
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