5 OF THE CRAZIEST INTERSECTIONS IN LAFAYETTE

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All cities have their traffic problems, but some of the road situations in Lafayette are bad enough to make it worth adding 10 minutes to your trip just to avoid them. Here are five that leave us terrified and sometimes pretty confused:

1.Pinhook Road.

Or more specifically, everything about Pinhook road between Evangeline Thruway and Kaliste Saloom. The roads are terrible and the lanes are impossibly narrow, but that doesn’t stop a lot of drivers from zooming through there anyway. Plus, turning right onto Pinhook from Bendel Road is super tricky because there are two right-turn lanes, and they just might be the narrowest lanes in the world. Unless you’re driving a Fiat, it feels like you will hit the curb, the guy turning with you, the guy stopped at the light, or maybe even all of them at the same time.

Trying to turn right onto Pinhook from Bendel Road…

2.Camellia Road and Johnston Street intersection.

There’s really not much to say about why this is dangerous. It makes no sense. Some days I really want to meet the engineers who designed it and just ask WHY.

3. Roundabouts.

Welcome to Lafayette, Louisiana! The capital of speed lumps and roundabouts! Roundabouts can be daunting even for people who use them often. Still, they reduce the number of deadly or serious crashes by up to 82% according to the AASHTO by reducing speed and “conflict” points.

Even if you know how to navigate a roundabout, it’s important to remember that other drivers may not.

4.Settler’s Trace and Kaliste Saloom Turn Lanes at Ambassador Caffery.

Turning right onto Ambassador Caffery from Kaliste Saloom and/or Settler’s Trace is actually pretty dangerous. Each of these intersections has two dedicated right-turn lanes. The problem is that drivers in the outside turning lane often forget that they should stay in the outside lane. Likewise, drivers in the outside lane often look for oncoming traffic in the inside lane (like they would turning right onto most other streets) forgetting that they should be looking at the outside lane. This makes both of those intersections very dangerous, especially when drivers aren’t used to them.

5. Anywhere there is road construction.

Road construction in Lafayette is basically part of the scenery. Which is great, because it means we are improving. But road construction is super dangerous for drivers. The lanes are narrower, sometimes they aren’t clearly marked, there is often no shoulder or room for error, cones get moved around, and sometimes there is debris on the road that could cause your tires to slip.

For all these reasons, it’s important to slow down when going through construction zones. And while it’s always important to pay attention when driving, it’s crucial in construction zones because of all the things that could go wrong. Drivers could face increased fines if driving carelessly through construction, but they could also hurt themselves or someone else really badly.