There are no Jug Handles in Tucson

Years ago, the Tucson city council adamently opposed building a city interstate highway loop around the town,  like you find in other metropolitan areas.  As a result, Tucson's main streets have been turned into 6 and 8-lane thoroughfares in order to handle the current volume of traffic.  There is only one interstate highway leading from Tucson to Phoenix and no Tucson community has easy access to it.  Coming from New Jersey,  where all shopping centers are accessed via highway exit or entrance ramps, and local roads are mostly the two-lane variety;  driving around town inTucson took some getting used to.  I-10 is reserved for traveling outside of the City.  Try to imagine New Jersey's US Highway 22 or 17 as your main street through town; but with fewer cars. 

What was really unsettling at first, was making left-hand turns and U-turns while crossing 6 lanes of oncoming traffic.  You won't find a jug handle anywhere in Tucson.  Don't even mention a circle or "rotary."  Folks here have never heard of these either.  When using a left-turn lane, you won't see anyone inching out into the center of the road at the instant the light turns green.  That's because no one in their right mind would attempt to make a turn until the green arrow flashes.  Here the green arrow light follows the RED light rather than preceding the GREEN light.  Go figure.  But, like "i before e except after c," you need to be aware that a few intersections don't abide by the red light/green arrow rule.  Some intersections conform to the familiar northeast logic of green arrow/green light rule.  I have yet to  figure out why most left-hand turn lanes work one way and a few work the other way.   It's not easy to remember which intersections operate which way.  So, I've learned from experience, why it's better not to venture out into the middle of the intersection.  It's pretty unnerving to be caught in the middle of an intersection operated by the opposite traffic light sequence.    

Watching someone make a U-turn in the middle of an intersection is another strange looking phenonomon the first couple of times you witness it.  I soon learned to master it as well.   Although, it helps to have a car with a tight turning radius.   

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