Improvement
Many years ago, I was driving through Georgia at night on US 27. It was very flat land and it was about 3:00 in the morning with no other traffic on the road. In the distance I saw a green traffic light and before I got there the light turned to red and then to green again. When I finally arrived at the light it was red and I stopped. I looked around and there were no other cars in sight, either on the crossroad or on my road. It was a bit wierd, this light holding me there when nothing was in sight.
The other day I was on FL 17 at 5:00 in the morning and as I drove I could see ahead that I had a green light. It stayed green for a long time and I made it through on the green. There were a few other cars on FL 17 with me and all were going through the green light. The next light also stayed green and we all got through that light. It was obvious that the lights were not timed, they just stayed green.
When getting onto FL17 from my subdivision, the light will change shortly after I arrive. There are electrical lines embedded into the street that sense the presence of the car. Once detected, the light will take a little while to change and if there are cars behind it stays green until all the cars are through. When the sensors show the street cleared of cars the light changes to red. These sensors are at all four corners of the street and are very effective when someone needs to make a turn. If nobody needs to turn, the light does not change but allows traffic to continue. It is amazing to see three lanes of traffic on FL 17 meeting three lanes of traffic on a crossroad. Everybody is accomodated as needed. If a lane does not need a light change it does not change and traffiic flows smoothly.
I like and appreciate changes like this.
posted by Marcel at
1:51 PM
6 Comments:
Our lights here in South Bend do that same thing and I love it. Even when there is ice and snow the sensors work. There is only one light in town that turns on the green left turn arrow even if there is no one in that lane and, even though it lasts about 60 seconds, I avoid it whenever I can. It is amazing how quickly we can get used to little conviences.
By
EZ Travel, at 8:58 AM
In Glendale, there is a route that avoids the freeway traffic to get across town. The traffic division calls it the "local" route. There is one light and a few stop signs, but the one light stays red all the time always until a car approaches--then it turns green for that car. It is really cool. Unfortunately, there are also extra long quirks for the lights near the mall (where my office is). Those lights are designed to get people in, but do very little to get traffic out. It is so frustrating. There is a censored left turn light that is timed just right to get to my office, but leaving is always a hassle--short lights and long lines. And don't get me started about the way the lights deal with a train--if you've just turned green, but a train is coming within a mile, then you immediately turn red and it will be five minutes before the train has cleared and the lights go back to their schedule. If you are were on green when they go back to their schedule, the other side gets the green and you wait two cycles to get back to green. Thank goodness we locals have our own route.
By
KathrynVH, at 12:16 PM
Kathy, The traffic engineers have not solved everything for you and appear to have done only a partial job. I don't like that. They must look at the overall problem, not just a part of it. It almost sounds like a political consideration was involved in those solutions. I am pleased with what has been done in Green Cove Springs.
By
Marcel, at 12:35 PM
I agree traffic light sensors are a big improvement when they work properly. Not so much when they don't.
There are two lanes exiting our subdivision. One is for left turns where the sensor works OK. The other is for straight through where the sensor dosn't work anymore. If you want to go straight and there are no other cars in the left turn lane the light DOES NOT turn green! I've waited 5+ minutes until another car enters the left turn lane to turn the light green.
By
John Beauregard, at 7:07 AM
John, Malfunctioning switches are replaced by our County Maintenence Dept. We only need to call them and it is repaired that day. Of course, we do not support a vast group of people with social services as you do in California, and we still have money for regular citizens.
By
Marcel, at 5:30 PM
Marcel,
You got it right. Broken traffic light switches are near zero priority. Instead, Schwarzenegger is spending $4B on "fighting" man made global warming!!
By
John Beauregard, at 6:38 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home