DEAR SGT. AL: LEFT TURN ON WILSHIRE VAN NESS OR PARK AVE?

Whether you're driving on MacArthur, Park, Wilshire, or Van Ness, America's grand Boulevards can in some spots present a challenge in making a left turn.

DEAR SERGEANT AL: When turning left from a boulevard onto an intersecting cross street that has a grassy median that divides the three-lane boulevard in each direction, must a vehicle come to a stop and wait for the cross street signal lights to proceed, or must that vehicle be guided by the boulevard traffic lights and execute the turn without regard to the traffic lights governing the cross streets? –DARLING I LOVE YOU BUT GIMME THE KEYS TO YOUR BUICK ELECTRA PARK AVENUE

Motorists face a challenge when making a left turn on a boulevard and there are no control devices telling you how to proceed: are you governed by the boulevard or the cross street traffic lights?

DEAR DARLING GLAD YOU LOVE MY BUICK ELECTRA PARK AVENUE: This is a good question; it requires some thought, and the answer depends upon your city, its statutes, and the signs posted on a given intersection on case-by-case basis. First lets take a look at what kind of thoroughfare you’re referring. “Boulevard” is a French term originating in the mid-1700’s in European cities at the height of the Enlightenment Period, and around the beginning of the first phase of the Industrial Revolution about 1763, in affluent or upscale business or cultural areas. On these thoroughfares, high-end horse driven coaches would stroll up and down wide streets that were elegantly landscaped with trees, shrubs, and flowers, either on the side or in the center with elaborate finely manicured medians, some having a separate thoroughfare for bicycles and pedestrians.   Probably one of the first and most famous boulevards in the world is the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France. Some of America’s most famous boulevards came along as soon as her major cities became industrialized, and include Park Avenue in Manhattan, Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, Sunset Boulevard in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, Indian Creek Drive/Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, the Loop in Chicago, and MacArthur Boulevard in the Palisades section of Washington, D.C., among others.

New York makes it easier on Park Avenue for making a left turn: execute your left, wait at the sign and the marked stop line for the cross street red light, then proceed off the boulevard.

At certain stretches of some of these roadways, unless there is a left-hand turn lane to execute a turn at the center median, over the opposite direction, through, then off the thoroughfare, you sometimes have to execute a left turn by yielding the right of way to opposite traffic. To abate traffic accidents, some boulevards over the years, like Park Avenue, have pavement markings installed and signs directing motorists to wait for cross street signal lights to leave the boulevard when executing a left turn. Others have left it to the motorists to determine how to proceed cautiously. This now gets me to your question.

This is what happens at a boulevard intersection when drivers are inconsiderate and don't know how to drive: especially for trucks and buses, if you wait too long at a median intersection on a boulevard, you are going to create GRIDLOCK!

To give you a generic but the best answer for this blog post, my suggestion is unless there are traffic control devices like on Park Avenue to specifically guide you as to how to leave the boulevard, I would always be guided by the traffic signals you last COMPLETELY passed through when executing your turn. To avoid gridlock I would attempt to leave the boulevard as expeditiously as possible and cautiously. If   opposite traffic is too heavy then use the cross-street lights as a fall back plan to leave the intersection. Regardless of how you decide to leave the intersection, like any other kind, once you enter it with the intention of executing a left hand turn, YOU ARE COMMITTED to making that turn, whether under the direction of the boulevard lights or the cross street lights. DO NOT GET STUCK IN AN INTERSECTION, thus being in the position of obstructing traffic on either roadway (GRIDLOCK). This is something that trucks and buses do at these medians creating gridlock to the annoyance of everyone else on the road. So when in doubt, make the left turn and leave the intersection.


DARLING BUICK ELECTRA PARK AVENUE, because you asked a good question, you get a let-go with just a VERBAL WARNING this time: Unless there is a regulation posted, your best bet is to be guided by the DOT regulations in your city, use the boulevard bound lights where possible, and in cases where there are no left-hand turning lanes, get off that boulevard with a left turn as expeditiously as possible without causing gridlock. Unless there are signs posted expressly telling you what to do I wouldn't worry about being cited for an improper turn or running a cross street red light. I hope this answers your question the best way possible.

CONFIDENTIAL TO MR. ROSE: Thinking of you with this post. Thanks for the year of your support, and my best to you and the Mrs . . .