Traffic engineers at Wayne State University say the median U-turn, which most drivers around here call the Michigan left, has been a great asset in moving traffic safely and efficiently for more than 50 years. While widely used in Michigan, other states and countries have not adopted it. Wayne State officials say that's because the design is not included in standard manuals and software that highway designers use. With the help of a $78,000 grant from Science Applications International Corp., a team led by Wayne State's Joseph Hummer, professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, aims to change that. They plan to develop equations, text and software so that the Michigan left turn and three other alternative designs can be included in the next edition of the Highway Capacity Manual used by highway designers. According to Hummer, numerous research efforts and publications on alternative intersections and interchanges sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration have taken place in the last decade to enable analysis and deployment of alternative intersections and interchanges.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/07/29/michigans-next-export-the-michigan-left/
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