Sarasota: Come For the Olympic Rowing, Grow Old At All The Traffic Lights! (Bradenton: home, construction)
Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice areaManatee and Sarasota Counties
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So, Olympic Rowing is coming to Sarasota. That combined with the beautiful beaches, amazing wild life and plentiful sunny days is enough reason to fall in love with this area, I know I have. But OMG, what is with the traffic lights?!? You cannot go anywhere in the Sarasota/Bradenton area without getting 9 out of 10 red lights! It's literally as if they are programmed so that once you get the green light from the intersection you've been sitting at for the past 3-5 minutes (not exaggerating on some of them), the next traffic light is expecting you and turns red just in time to catch you. You can almost hear it say, "Awww... you almost made it... HAHAHA". And from there it just keeps happening- I can't be the only one that has noticed this.
I take a couple different routes to and from work (M-F, 8-5) and I am not stretching the truth when I say that the red lights are the same over 90% of the time. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself, here are some examples during rush hour:
Driving north from the Bee Ridge Rd area to University Blvd on Cattlemen in 5PM rush hour, you WILL get the light at Bahia Vista, then Palmer, then Fruitville (SUPER long light!!!). This is a 3 mile stretch that WILL DRAIN TEN MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE EVERY TIME!!! Once you cross Fruitville (a nightmare road all the way) and make a left on University, you will ALWAYS get the light at Honore... ALWAYS. After that, you will get most of the next lights all the way to Lockwood Ridge. If you manage to get through any of the lights on the way to Lockwood Ridge, you WILL get the red on Lockwood, just as you're approaching it, of course. In case you can't tell, I've got this traffic pattern memorized because it happens to me EVERYDAY.
Why don't I take I-75, you ask? I-75 is the most worthless highway I have ever had the displeasure of traveling on. If there's not construction, there is an accident or bottle-necking from the 3 to 2 lane changes. I take Cattlemen Rd often, which is parallel to and visible from I-75, and I can clearly see that I'm going faster than the cars on I-75, even with the speed limit of 40 on Cattlemen.
When you factor in all the people who completely ignore the "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs, it is just a nightmare driving in this city! And let me be clear; 80% of the drivers here do NOT obey that law (written and unwritten). And before you reply and say that I have road rage, the truth is that I have a problem with inconsiderate drivers, not road rage. I NEVER get in other drivers way, but I cannot go anywhere without multiple drivers driving slow in the left lane and/or not using turn signals. Just inconsiderate!
Why am I taking the time to write this? Because I can feel my blood pressure rise every time I drive and it feels like I'm going to stroke out or have a heart attack. Again, not kidding! So, if I can save some people from the stress and/or get the idiots in charge of programming the traffic lights to fix the problem, we will all be better off.
Last edited by Slower Traffic Keep Right; 08-29-2016 at 07:28 PM..
I have another easy solution: Get your phone out and try to finish a text or post something on Facebook each time you're at a light. Guaranteed you will have green lights all the way.
So, Olympic Rowing is coming to Sarasota. That combined with the beautiful beaches, amazing wild life and plentiful sunny days is enough reason to fall in love with this area, I know I have. But OMG, what is with the traffic lights?!? You cannot go anywhere in the Sarasota/Bradenton area without getting 9 out of 10 red lights! It's literally as if they are programmed so that once you get the green light from the intersection you've been sitting at for the past 3-5 minutes (not exaggerating on some of them), the next traffic light is expecting you and turns red just in time to catch you. You can almost hear it say, "Awww... you almost made it... HAHAHA". And from there it just keeps happening- I can't be the only one that has noticed this.
I take a couple different routes to and from work (M-F, 8-5) and I am not stretching the truth when I say that the red lights are the same over 90% of the time. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself, here are some examples during rush hour:
Driving north from the Bee Ridge Rd area to University Blvd on Cattlemen in 5PM rush hour, you WILL get the light at Bahia Vista, then Palmer, then Fruitville (SUPER long light!!!). This is a 3 mile stretch that WILL DRAIN TEN MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE EVERY TIME!!! Once you cross Fruitville (a nightmare road all the way) and make a left on University, you will ALWAYS get the light at Honore... ALWAYS. After that, you will get most of the next lights all the way to Lockwood Ridge. If you manage to get through any of the lights on the way to Lockwood Ridge, you WILL get the red on Lockwood, just as you're approaching it, of course. In case you can't tell, I've got this traffic pattern memorized because it happens to me EVERYDAY.
Why don't I take I-75, you ask? I-75 is the most worthless highway I have ever had the displeasure of traveling on. If there's not construction, there is an accident or bottle-necking from the 3 to 2 lane changes. I take Cattlemen Rd often, which is parallel to and visible from I-75, and I can clearly see that I'm going faster than the cars on I-75, even with the speed limit of 40 on Cattlemen.
When you factor in all the people who completely ignore the "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs, it is just a nightmare driving in this city! And let me be clear; 80% of the drivers here do NOT obey that law (written and unwritten). And before you reply and say that I have road rage, the truth is that I have a problem with inconsiderate drivers, not road rage. I NEVER get in other drivers way, but I cannot go anywhere without multiple drivers driving slow in the left lane and/or not using turn signals. Just inconsiderate!
Why am I taking the time to write this? Because I can feel my blood pressure rise every time I drive and it feels like I'm going to stroke out or have a heart attack. Again, not kidding! So, if I can save some people from the stress and/or get the idiots in charge of programming the traffic lights to fix the problem, we will all be better off.
First, you have your directions a bit mixed up ~ that might explain why you sit at red lights ~ if you are having road rage at the present time, you'd do well to leave before season & the gridlock that's to come ~
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Why don't I take I-75, you ask? I-75 is the most worthless highway I have ever had the displeasure of traveling on. If there's not construction, there is an accident or bottle-necking from the 3 to 2 lane changes. I take Cattlemen Rd often, which is parallel to and visible from I-75, and I can clearly see that I'm going faster than the cars on I-75, even with the speed limit of 40 on Cattlemen.
...
Why am I taking the time to write this? Because I can feel my blood pressure rise every time I drive and it feels like I'm going to stroke out or have a heart attack. Again, not kidding! So, if I can save some people from the stress and/or get the idiots in charge of programming the traffic lights to fix the problem, we will all be better off.
So not sure your background, but I just moved to the state, and I knew coming here that traffic was going to be a top issue for me. But knowing that coming here, I had to resolve to just be a much more patient driver, and expect there to be a ton of traffic and expect there to be all types of drivers (idiots, elderly, people in a rush, people in no apparent rush, etc.). I think to survive here, you have to adopt an expectation that there will be a lot of traffic, and it will take a long time to get anywhere.
Specifically regarding the red lights, I too seem to feel like they are red more often that not. But for your specific road, I think you're going the wrong way at the wrong time. First, Fruitville has so much traffic that the east-west cars will (and should) get a much longer green light than the north-south cars. Secondly, traffic flows out of the city in the evening, meaning East. If the lights were synchronized at all, it would be for the cars heading east on University. But you are heading west at this time, so you might be battling that pattern. (This later point assuming of course that their system has the smarts to synchronize - which you may be totally correct in observing they do not.)
Now regarding I75, I'd recommend it. I've been taking it from Clark to University right around that 5:00 pm time. A couple times I tried alternate routes, including the frontage road (Cattleman). While I did move faster on Cattleman at times than the cars on I75, when I factored in the time spent at the red lights, my overall net speed was lower. So now I just take I75 every day unless there really is a major accident. But typically even factoring in the slowdown around Fruitville on I75, you are still moving at 20+mph which is faster than you are at a stoplight. I've bookmarked my Google Maps route home and check it right before I leave work. It factors in the traffic and I75 is always the fastest route even if parts are orange/red (heavy traffic). And you get used to the flow and slowdowns because they are fairly consistent.
Your only other alternative is to try to live closer to work. Obviously this is often not an easy solution. Ultimately, learning patience and to be at peace with the drive as it is will be your only saving grace. Good luck.
"Go back to Alaska"... very clever! Thank you so much for contributing this remarkable statement, it totally helps! You should be very proud knowing you have a following- I think Avalon08 would love to subscribe to your blog... You do have a blog, don't you? Could you please let us know what it is so that we can all be enlightened?
I have another easy solution: Get your phone out and try to finish a text or post something on Facebook each time you're at a light. Guaranteed you will have green lights all the way.
Or: Follow Pomarco's advice above.
OMG, thank you so much! This statement makes total sense and the time it took for you to come up with it was valuable, I'm sure. Are you a writer? Have anything published? I seriously doubt that this was just some garbage that was written while you were on the toilet like some other people (not gonna mention any names... but rhymes with "fomarco"...
So not sure your background, but I just moved to the state, and I knew coming here that traffic was going to be a top issue for me. But knowing that coming here, I had to resolve to just be a much more patient driver, and expect there to be a ton of traffic and expect there to be all types of drivers (idiots, elderly, people in a rush, people in no apparent rush, etc.). I think to survive here, you have to adopt an expectation that there will be a lot of traffic, and it will take a long time to get anywhere.
Specifically regarding the red lights, I too seem to feel like they are red more often that not. But for your specific road, I think you're going the wrong way at the wrong time. First, Fruitville has so much traffic that the east-west cars will (and should) get a much longer green light than the north-south cars. Secondly, traffic flows out of the city in the evening, meaning East. If the lights were synchronized at all, it would be for the cars heading east on University. But you are heading west at this time, so you might be battling that pattern. (This later point assuming of course that their system has the smarts to synchronize - which you may be totally correct in observing they do not.)
Now regarding I75, I'd recommend it. I've been taking it from Clark to University right around that 5:00 pm time. A couple times I tried alternate routes, including the frontage road (Cattleman). While I did move faster on Cattleman at times than the cars on I75, when I factored in the time spent at the red lights, my overall net speed was lower. So now I just take I75 every day unless there really is a major accident. But typically even factoring in the slowdown around Fruitville on I75, you are still moving at 20+mph which is faster than you are at a stoplight. I've bookmarked my Google Maps route home and check it right before I leave work. It factors in the traffic and I75 is always the fastest route even if parts are orange/red (heavy traffic). And you get used to the flow and slowdowns because they are fairly consistent.
Your only other alternative is to try to live closer to work. Obviously this is often not an easy solution. Ultimately, learning patience and to be at peace with the drive as it is will be your only saving grace. Good luck.
First of all, thank you for the only intelligent response so far. All of your points are legitimate but I do not have a choice on the direction that I am traveling to and from work due to my current address. However, I do have plans to move closer to work in the next couple months so that will improve my situation. But I would still like something to be done about the lights, they are ridiculous! Some of these lights are so off that you sit for 3 minutes while hardly any other cars go by and you are just waiting for no reason. But I digress; I don't want to cause any more strain on some of the other respondents minds that feel that their clever retorts are needed.
"Go back to Alaska"... very clever! Thank you so much for contributing this remarkable statement, it totally helps! You should be very proud knowing you have a following- I think Avalon08 would love to subscribe to your blog... You do have a blog, don't you? Could you please let us know what it is so that we can all be enlightened?
No, I do not have a blog. Never did.
I stick with my statement above. If you don't like it here, go somewhere else where you don't have to ***** about it. No one is forcing you to stay. We all have to deal with traffic congestion & signals, but it's people like you who make it worse by whining about it.
OMG, thank you so much! This statement makes total sense and the time it took for you to come up with it was valuable, I'm sure. Are you a writer? Have anything published? I seriously doubt that this was just some garbage that was written while you were on the toilet like some other people (not gonna mention any names... but rhymes with "fomarco"...
Yes I have, thanks for the compliment! (And I was serious about both recommendations.)
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