A new traffic pattern that highways officials said will alleviate traffic backups at the intersection of Oakwood Road and Corridor G debuted Wednesday. It’s part of the Oakwood intersection improvement project. Highways officials said the project will feature two new Restricted Crossing U-Turns (R-Cuts) to improve the traffic flow on and off Oakwood Road. The Oakwood interchange is West Virginia’s first R-Cut project, which officials believe will help alleviate traffic backups that frequently occur at Oakwood in the mornings while students are on their way to school, in the afternoons when school lets out, during rush-hour traffic, during the holiday shopping season and at other peak times. State highway officials said drivers coming off Oakwood will turn right, significantly reducing wait times at the Oakwood intersection traffic light.
Drivers from Oakwood Road can either keep going once they have turned right or use the new R-Cut at Hickory Road to make a U-turn, aided by a traffic light. A second R-Cut intersection, between Lawndale and Lucado Road, will serve traffic flowing in the opposite direction. According to the DOT, the new traffic pattern also cuts in half the amount of time drivers will spend waiting at stoplights by reducing each traffic signal.