codyg1985’s Think Tank

I was sitting at the Sonic near the intersection of Jordan Lane (Alabama Highway 53) and University Drive (US Highway 72) eating and watching the traffic flow (or not) through the intersection during the evening rush hour. I sat and watched as many as fifteen cars turn from Jordan left onto University even as the left turn signal turned back red. Not just once mind you, but at the end of each left turn cycle the same thing occurred. Traffic on Jordan going straight across University was forced to wait through their short-lived green light for all the left-turning cars to run the traffic signal.

All of us know that every car that is in a queue at a traffic signal will not instantly start to move from the intersection as a traffic signal turns green. The reaction time is about 3/4 of a second for the average driver, but that builds the farther back in the queue one is. For example, if you were eight cars back from the front of the queue when the traffic signal turns green, you should begin to move forward 6 seconds after the light turned green. Assuming that the green light cycle lasts for fifteen seconds, this would be enough time for you to clear the intersection before the light begins to turn red. However, if at the end of the previous light cycle a total of six cars run the traffic signal turning left, the time it takes for all of those cars to clear the intersection is taken away from the available time for the queue you are in to clear. As a result, at the end of each cycle, more and more cars are in a given queue from red light runners than there would be without.

I admit I am guilty of trying to get through a light right as the left-turn cycle ends. But the more cars that run the traffic signal only means more delays for other drivers. The obvious other risks of running red lights are also present. Eliminating the problem of red light running may save lives, time and fuel.

Perhaps red light cameras would actually be a deterrent for red light running, which would in turn create less delays for motorists. Proponents of red light cameras say that the devices would prevent deadly side-impact accidents while opponents say that red light cameras would be nothing more than a revenue-generating device for the agency that installs the cameras.

Another option would be to fix the cycles for traffic signals. During the ongoing project to install overpasses along Memorial Parkway in Huntsville (US Highway 231), frontage roads are constructed along the outside of the right of way for through traffic to use until the overpasses can be constructed. Those frontage roads usually have less capacity than the road it replaced. Moreover, the traffic signals that replaced the original ones are timed to give the crossroad more priority than it had with the original traffic signal in anticipation of the overpasses. Even more, the left turn cycle from Memorial Parkway to each side road has to last longer because left-turning traffic has a longer distance to travel (across the widened median) than it did beforehand. That all adds up to additional traffic congestion along Memorial Parkway. Engineering traffic signal cycles for busy intersections is a balancing act to say the least, but a lack of foresight, and in this case a lack of foresight in the state DOT’s lack of initiative and progress will only cost motorists precious time.

Another option, the most unorthodox of all, would be to remove traffic signals altogether and replace them with traffic circles or, even crazier, just leave it up to the driver or pedestrian that gets to the intersection first. Imagine what it would be like when there is no electricity and half the drivers don’t know how to treat the intersection. Now imagine this on an every-day basis. Would it work? It has already been done in Belgium, and accidents have been reduced dramatically as a result of increased courtesy and awareness among motorists.