New left-turn rules in effect at major Tucson intersections

Tucson drivers might have already noticed it, but a new left-turn policy has hit the streets at a number of major intersections.

The change was made “within the last month” at seven intersections — and will come to others soon — and was officially announced in a Facebook post Thursday by the Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility.

It’s in effect everyday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at certain intersections with “dual-left turn lanes” — two lanes for the same left turn — in an attempt to improve safety.

These intersections used to give the flashing yellow light to their dual left-turn lanes when the oncoming traffic had green signals, said Erica Frazelle, the department’s spokeswoman. This allowed vehicles to make their turn after yielding to oncoming traffic.

Now, those flashing yellows will be no more during the busiest traffic hours of the day.

Instead, Frazelle said, vehicles attempting to make a left turn will only be allowed to do so after oncoming traffic gets their red light and comes to a stop, and the left-turn lanes get a green arrow.

That’s meant to protect both the left turners and the oncoming traffic from having to dodge each other.

The intersections already changed are:

Grant Road and Craycroft Road

Houghton Road and Mary Ann Cleveland Way

Houghton Road and Rita Road

River Road and 1st Avenue

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

22nd Street and Wilmot Road

River Road and Oracle Road

Houghton Road and Valencia Road

The intersections of 22nd Street and Craycroft Road, Valencia Road and Tucson Boulevard, Kolb and Grant roads, and Grant and Tanque Verde roads will all see the change in coming weeks.

No timetable has been set officially, Frazelle said.

The city’s traffic engineering division has been evaluating the intersections to see if safety can be improved, she said.

As of April 23, Tucson police say there had been 38 traffic fatalities this year within the city limits. There were 30 at that point last year, police said.

Varied reactions to news of the left-turn changes from Arizona Daily Star readers commenting on X (formerly Twitter) included:

“Finally. Allowing two lanes to make left turns across oncoming traffic is insane.”

“Thank you, nanny state. This will rob minutes off my daily life — and for what? Life entails risk. It’s part of life.”

“Bravo. Simple use of common sense. Civil engineering that will save lives.”