New “J” Turns Now In Effect On Highway 90

Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announces major lane/signal changes for the intersection of Albertson's Parkway and Highway 90 in Broussard

Imagine this:  You are watching TiVo'ed episodes of "Honey Boo-Boo" and realize that you are out of Moon Pies and Ramen Noodles, so you decide to head to Wally World in Broussard (you'll probably also find a live version of Honey Boo-Boo there, too).  As you get to the end of Albertson's Parkway at Highway 90, you notice that the arrow is green in both lanes, so you proceed to cross Highway 90.  In the midst of the intersection, you look to your left, and you see the hot-shot truck, moving along at over 50 miles per hour, just a split second before impact.  Your life flashes in front of your eyes, and the last thing you remember seeing is the green arrow.  You think "But my light was green!!".  You hear the beginning of the crash, the brakes screeching, the metal crunching, the glass shattering; then, everything goes silent before the sound of the crash has a chance to fade.

Don't be the next victim.  At the time of this writing, there have been 3 such crashes TODAY at that intersection:  motorists aren't noticing the new signals and signage.

Yes, the light was green, but it is now an arrow, a RIGHT TURN ONLY arrow.  If you are on Albertson's Parkway, you can no long cross over Highway 90 to gain access to St. Nazaire Road (Raising Cane's, Wal Mart, Walgreen's, Home Depot, etc.).

As you are approaching Hwy 90 from Albertson's Parkway, you have two lanes traveling in the same direction.  At the intersection with Hwy 182 (Main Street), there is also a left-turn lane to turn on to Hwy 182.  The middle lane crosses Hwy 182, and the right lane is for either a right turn on to 182 (to Cade) or for crossing Hwy 182.  Once those two lanes cross Hwy 182, they MUST BOTH TURN RIGHT ONTO HIGHWAY 90!!  If you must have your Moon Pies, once you get onto HWY 90, you must travel East (toward New Iberia) down to the newly-installed "J" turn (be in the left lane for this) and make a "J" turn onto the West-bound lanes of Highway 90, so you can double back to your Moon Pie haven.

The government calls them "J" turns instead of "U" turns (I am guessing specifically for the Honey Boo-Boo crowd - when they hear "U" turn, they take the median.  Don't do that.  Go down to the "J" turn, k?), so some people might be confused as to what a "J" turn is.  In the image below (from the LA DOTD website), notice the boulevard that is traveling north and south, and how they can NOT make a left-hand turn onto the highway that runs east and west.  They must make a right-hand turn, travel down the road about a fourth of a mile, and then turn left (in the shape of a "J") onto the highway they wanted to make a left onto in the first place.

The Federal Highway Administration has posted more examples/illustrations of "J" turn intersections on their website.  Please take time to familiarize yourself with the 'new' type of intersection; I want you to be safe when you make that Moon Pie run...

(Via LA DOTD, FHA)