Restricting left turns off of 23rd Street during peak afternoon traffic hours is a common-sense step to improve safety and traffic flow on the busy thoroughfare.

On the recommendation of the city’s Traffic Safety Commission, Lawrence city commissioners unanimously approved a plan Tuesday to ban left turns from 23rd Street onto Learnard Avenue and Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Tennessee and Ohio streets from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. It’s the first time the city has restricted left turns based on the time of day, but it seems like a workable improvement for traffic flow in this area for a couple of reasons.

Because there are no turn lanes on this stretch of 23rd Street, cars trying to make left turns can cause serious backups during heavy traffic times. The turning car is stopped in traffic, raising the possibility of a rear-end collision or perhaps spurring other drivers to change lanes abruptly and without due caution.

This action may have some positive benefits from Massachusetts to Ohio streets, but it will cause an even longer backup of westbound vehicles waiting to turn left at Louisiana Street. Between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., this line could easily back up past Massachusetts Street to the east.

The turn ban was prompted in part by an annual safety audit conducted by the Kansas Department of Transportation that gave poor marks to this section of road. KDOT recommended adding a center turn lane, but that is a costly solution that would take considerable time to implement.

The turn restriction may be a reasonable step to take now. However, it is not likely to relieve the situation sufficiently to eliminate the need for a turning lane. There is no doubt that long-term action will be needed to relieve traffic on 23rd Street. The completion of a traffic loop south of Lawrence is an obvious, pressing need, becoming more serious every month.