At signalized intersections, permitted left turns (i.e., on a green ball, after yielding) across multiple through lanes and across a separated bike lane or bike path present a threat to bicyclist safety. A conflict study of two such intersections with a bidirectional bike path found that when cyclists cross while a vehicle is ready to turn left and there is no opposing through traffic to block it, the chance of the left-turning motorist yielding safely was only 9%, and the chance of their yielding at all—including yielding only after beginning the turn, then stopping in the opposing through lanes—was still only 37%. Motorist non-yielding rates were worse toward bikes arriving during green, toward bikes approaching from the opposite direction (i.e., riding on the right side of the road), and toward bikes facing a queue with multiple left turning vehicles. Of 112 cyclists who arrived on green when there was at least one left-turning car, but no opposing through traffic blocking it, 73 had to slow or stop to avoid a collision. Although these conflicts could be essentially eliminated using protected-only left turn phasing (turn on green arrow), common existing criteria prefer permitted left turns to reduce vehicular delay. A case study shows how, by considering multiple signalization alternatives, it can be possible to convert left turns to protected-only phasing without imposing a substantial delay burden on vehicles or other road users.
Construction of an Estimation Method of the Capacity of each Approach at Signalized Intersections which Deals with the Effect of the Right-Turn Traffic