If you ever report a faulty traffic signal... (Austin, Atlanta: school, inspector)

[Need4Camaro]

....dont dial 511. It lead me to someone that made me believe they literally offshored the DoT hotline to China. She could not understand a single street name I said. I eventually gave up and notified the police dispatch about the signal and they told me they'd get someone to fix it (and they did.)

It seems signals out here can be finicky. The one on Parmer near the apple campus is notorious for failing. I've seen several others go out for no apparent reason as well. (No storms, nothing changed, just quit working)

I know some are intentionally set to go into a passive state at night but this is happening in peak traffic hours.

[Trainwreck20]

511 or 311? Most of these streets are city streets, so we have usually called 311 to report them.

Some examples of inquiries that our ambassadors can assist with:
Alley & Street Maintenance
Animal Bites
Basic Needs / Food Pantry
Bicycle Lane Issues
Dead Animal Pickup
Downtown Parking Meters
Electric Vehicle Plug In Stations / Info
Graffiti Clean Up
Guardrail Repair
Illegal dumping
Loose Dogs
Noise Complaints
Overgrown lots
Park Maintenance
Police Non-Emergency
Pot Hole Repair
Proper Care of Dogs/Animals
Road Markings / Striping
School Zone Signs, Lights & Markings
Signs in the Right of Way
Special Events
Speed Bumps / Traffic Calming Devices
Storm Drain Issues
Street Closures
Street Lighting
Traffic & Street Sign Maintenance /Repair
Traffic Signals
Water Main Break
Water Theft
Water Waste
Watering Restrictions
Wild Animals

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

511 or 311? Most of these streets are city streets, so we have usually called 311 to report them.

I havent tried 311. In Atlanta it was 511 so I assumed the same here and couldn't really look it up while I was driving so I dialed it in good hope. Maybe that's the reason I got routed to China. Hah. But she did seem to be the person to report it to.

[FalconheadWest]

311 is for all non-emergency issues that you don't really think need the assistance of 911.

[Need4Camaro]

Good to know this. I've been wondering who to call for non emergencies.

[JackGriffin]

Same department responsible for Palmer being changed to Parmer in the first place?

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by JackGriffin

Same department responsible for Palmer being changed to Parmer in the first place?

Are you saying there should be a small case letter "L" where the "r" is in the street name Parmer Lane? Are you serious? I wonder how that happened. It looks like a QA inspector would have caught the error at final inspection before signing off on it and sending it to the customer. The customer, I suppose would be the Austin City Street Department. It looks somebody at the street department would have caught the mis-spelling. Sounds like there's plenty of blame to go around as it slipped passed all quality and accuracy inspection points. It should be obvious to anybody who knows how to spell that Parmer and Palmer are not pronounced the same way. It's a way more obvious mis-spelling than the Manchaca-Menchaca controversy.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by JackGriffin

Same department responsible for Palmer being changed to Parmer in the first place?

There is no documented evidence on why Parmer is named Parmer, although there is a lot of speculation. From a few years ago in the AAS:

[...]attributed the name to a colorful former Texan (1778–1850) who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence named Martin Palmer (and whose family later changed its last name to Parmer, according to the Texas State Historical Association), many readers have said the street was named after former Austin mayor Lester Palmer.

Austin History Center reference archivist Rusty Heckaman said the first mention of Parmer Lane in Austin was in our newspaper in 1958. It was an address in a classified ad. There’s no other mention of Parmer Lane in the center’s records until 1979, when the Austin City Council was discussing traffic congestion at an intersection on that road. At least two portions of today’s Parmer Lane were annexed from Travis County during the 1960s and 1970s. Heckaman says in his opinion, the connection to Lester Palmer is unlikely. He draws this conclusion because the lane’s name was already established in the 1950s, and Lester Palmer wasn’t mayor until the 1960s.

[TexasHorseLady]

Given that the area that Parmer Lane goes through wasn't part of Austin for quite some time (it was the boonies for quite a few years after I moved here in 1969), seems it would make more sense to look at the various towns that it went through for an explanation of the name. It's been Parmer ever since I moved here, in any case. That people have issues with it is on them, not on the street.

[centralaustinite]

I've never even heard of calling 511?! I call 311 for all signal light problems, they can re-route you if needed.