Traffic Light A Traffic Menace

Keep it green longer!Gas is not cheap yah know!!!The light by the bridge in gouvereur.

Which direction? North-south on Main St or crossing Main (Route 58)? ALL of the traffic lights in Gouverneur are poorly timed. A driver could wait a lifetime on Gordon St before the light at Jreck turns green. Thank the DOT...the idiots who don't live in this community but dictate our driving patterns.

Literally this thread: http://xkcd.com/277/

Funny, Randall!!(No sarcasm intended-it is a funny comic.) You, however, must be an engineer. The engineer in the comic references "hours of simulation and testing" and working out "complicated timing sequences". Too bad the engineers don't LIVE in the neighborhood & DRIVE on the secondary/side streets every day.

Right, but they likely operate on data that's collected locally, or still otherwise meaningful to the area.

I see these things: http://i.imgur.com/Gvxdp.jpg around Route 11 a few times every year. Traffic studies, population data (did you fill out your 2010 census?), and nearby intersections all play into the timing of the light.

Engineers aren't just blindly tossing up a signal, giving it a default program, and hoping for the best. There's planning involved, and while it might not always be perfect, I wouldn't call the DOT "idiots" over a poorly-timed light.

If you do think it's a real problem that needs addressing, contact the DOT and see what they say. They might look into it and collect more data about the intersection and the local traffic patters if enough people raise concerns.

Oh, and while you're at it, this was a pretty good book: http://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Drive-What-Says...

Traffic control and infrastructure engineering is often very counter-intuitive.

It happens to be the one near kinneys before you go over the bridge right by jumbos!

Randall...CONTACT the DOT??? Ha ha ha ha ha
That is a GOOD one! The engineers at NYSDOT are not generally considered "receptive" to street-user input.

Exactly which light at that intersection would you like to stay green longer. One light green longer means another is red longer. Counter productive if you ask me.

It is annoying when there are zero vehicles moving north or south through that intersection, and my light remains red for its entire progrsmmed cycle. I think the light should be programmed to change if sensors do not detect any traffic for, oh say,20 seconds.

be patient. maybe you should be more concerned about the crosswalk near the lifesaver that people refuse to stop at while someone is waiting.

put a police man out there to direct the traffic. he or she could see when to let each lane move.

spence wrote:

put a police man out there to direct the traffic. he or she could see when to let each lane move.

That's a very expensive solution.

Randall Stevens wrote:

Literally this thread: http://xkcd.com/277/

Hilarious

Randall Stevens wrote:

<quoted text>
That's a very expensive solution.

Especially since the police just went through a budget cut or something right?

at least they could write something in the police blotter that showed they did something. not expensive. you have to pay them anyway. they might as well have something useful to do.

I agree that the light by Jumbo's going straight towards Williams Street is a pain in the butt. I have seen times that I have had to sit and wait for the light to turn green. Approximately three minutes. During some of these times there has been minimal traffic.

clc wrote:

I agree that the light by Jumbo's going straight towards Williams Street is a pain in the butt. I have seen times that I have had to sit and wait for the light to turn green. Approximately three minutes. During some of these times there has been minimal traffic.

Just blow on thru, your chance of getting caught is minimal