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It's not just you, its awful. I avoid it at all costs. If I MUST go, I plan to go first thing on a Monday morning and I wont go anywhere near there over the holidays.
I think it was a mistake when they made the entrance into the SteinMart parking lot (where Meeting Street feeds straight in) one-way a few years back. That's when it started taking 3-4 light cycles to turn left from Crossroads Blvd. onto Caitboo. I wish they'd change it back.
They'd have to have more light cycles if they reverted as then there'd be an additional problem of dealing with traffic from Steinmart's direction. The turn onto Caitboo and the one-way at Steinmart aren't really related. The specific problem is due to the addition of second turn lane from Crossroads Blvd onto Caitboo when they did that work.
Everyone doesn't want to be in that far left turn lane onto Caitboo because they want to make a right onto Meeting to get to Walnut after that light. The light "assumes" that there'd be more traffic in that second lane but people for whatever reason avoid it like the plague. People pile into the first lane to the point that it blocks access to the second turn lane. So it takes more cycles to get people through.
TLDR ~ the problem isn't the one-way only at Meeting, it's that not enough people effectively use the second left turn lane from Crossroads Blvd onto Caitboo.
I think the ideal solution that someone else here mentioned (albeit extremely expensive) is that Meeting needs to be punched straight through to Crossroads Blvd and Caitboo eliminated as a main form of access between Meeting and Crossroads Blvd.
That or extending that second turn lane further back and killing the cross-access further back between the Caitboo light and the light allowing turns into where Best Buy is with a concrete median.
It's terrible no matter what really. Whomever designed Crossroads traffic patterns needs to be hit upside the head.
TLDR ~ the problem isn't the one-way only at Meeting, it's that not enough people effectively use the second left turn lane from Crossroads Blvd onto Caitboo.
The one-way at Meeting absolutely contributes to the problem because it puts all the traffic volume at the left turn on Crossroads, instead of allowing some of the volume to exit by Men's Warehouse (or whatever that end of the strip is now). I clearly remember when they made the change, and the impact that it had. That was when the long backups started.
They problem is that the left most lane will have someone waiting to go straight, thus freezing it while the right lane is free to turn right on red. If only someone could creatively solve that issue.
I'm no traffic engineer but it boggles my mind how some of the shopping plaza's are designed around here - even the new ones.
The problem is that traffic engineers didn’t design it, landscape architects did. (By statute, they’re allowed to design parking lots and traffic operation within.)
These particular architects ignored the advice of the traffic engineers, and insisted on the layout that you see. (And the town council/staff approved it.). The traffic engineers then have to work with what they have. Specific to this location, the main goal is not to have entering traffic at Meeting back out onto Walnut. The signals are designed/timed for that. That’s why you you wait on Caitboo trying to get to/from Target; the signal holds green on Meeting to allow all entering traffic to flow into the mall.
Afterwards, the Town Approved the land use across from Crossroads, creating a fourth leg, and adding signal phases to the cycle, sucking out more green time/capacity. The two signals are tied together to ensure that coordination (there were and still should be two signal cabinets next to each other next to Walnut. That’s so the technicians can open and watch both controllers at the same time.). There had to be two controllers because the original equipment didn’t have enough phases to run both intersections in one box. (If you can imagine it eould have been even worse operations)
If you see traffic operating poorly at a commercial development, you can likely blame the developers and their political connections ( “if we don’t get our way, we’re walking, and you won’t get your contributions to your campaign funds”.)
Southpoint is another example. The main entrance HAD to be centered on Nordstrom’s, and they HAD to have X amount of parking next to thei4 entrance. That’s why the entrance drive is so short, and the only way to ensure it wouldn’t back out to Fayetteville was to curve it so there was enough distance away from the signal.
The one-way at Meeting absolutely contributes to the problem because it puts all the traffic volume at the left turn on Crossroads, instead of allowing some of the volume to exit by Men's Warehouse (or whatever that end of the strip is now). I clearly remember when they made the change, and the impact that it had. That was when the long backups started.
I see what you're saying and I agree that in an ideal world restoring that would indeed allow for another point of access to Walnut via Meeting Street. However, having it be two-way would probably worsen the problem with increasing the number of light cycles there to accommodate the additional movement.
If more people would utilize the second left turn lane at Crossroads Blvd onto Caitboo they wouldn't cause as severe of a backup down Crossroads Blvd. More traffic could make it through each signal cycle onto Caitboo.
In an ideal world I'd love to implode the Meeting and Caitboo interchange and make it limited access. That or bulldoze the Olive Garden and re-align Crossroads Blvd to exit w/ Piney Plains.
Haddock Collision beside the Crossroads Ford service shop, off Piney Plains...
Yup, now Caliber Collision but it's right there.
The problem with Meeting St running right into the parking lot causes problems within the lot as well. I went to Stein Mart a few weeks ago, trying to turn onto that part of the lot was near impossible with all the traffic coming from Meeting St.
It's as bad as Roosevelt Field on Long Island but at least Roosevelt Field has the excuse that it was once an airport!
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