If the diagram above looks a bit confusing to you, or maybe more than just a bit, you’re likely not alone. It’s a ‘turbo traffic square,’ pioneered in the Netherlands, and now arrived in Ghent, Belgium.
Unlike a classic intersection or even a roundabout, which it somewhat resembles, the ‘turbo square’ is designed to operate without traffic lights to control turns out of it, but rather to use signage before the intersection to put drivers in the proper line for where they want to exit. Once in the square, there are no more choices, and no way to switch destinations.
Research has shown that the signage has to give about 400m warning for drivers to be in the right place. Dutch experience indicates that once drivers use it a few times, it becomes less confusing, and allows about 11,000 vehicles an hour rather than 8,000 to pass through.
