[RC01]

Pretty new to CT, and really loving the state. One thing I’ve noticed though, the stoplights may be the worst timed out of anywhere I’ve ever been! At first I thought maybe just Middletown where I live was bad, but no, it seems to be a consistent theme wherever I go here. It’s like the lights are completely independent of each other and green waves don’t exist. It’s a little thing that just really bothers me. Anybody else have similar thoughts, or is this just in my head?

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by RC01

Pretty new to CT, and really loving the state. One thing I’ve noticed though, the stoplights may be the worst timed out of anywhere I’ve ever been! At first I thought maybe just Middletown where I live was bad, but no, it seems to be a consistent theme wherever I go here. It’s like the lights are completely independent of each other and green waves don’t exist. It’s a little thing that just really bothers me. Anybody else have similar thoughts, or is this just in my head?

You haven't been to Los Angeles, have you?
(rhetorical)

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by RC01

Pretty new to CT, and really loving the state. One thing I’ve noticed though, the stoplights may be the worst timed out of anywhere I’ve ever been! At first I thought maybe just Middletown where I live was bad, but no, it seems to be a consistent theme wherever I go here. It’s like the lights are completely independent of each other and green waves don’t exist. It’s a little thing that just really bothers me. Anybody else have similar thoughts, or is this just in my head?

Where are you seeing this? I know that on Main Street in Middletown they deliberately Time the signals so keep traffic from moving fast because it’s a heavy pedestrian zone.

Many of Connecticut traffic signals are interconnected and coordinated, particularly on longer state routes that have a lot of signals and traffic. Keep in mind though that unlike other parts of the country where there are multiple roads going in the same direction, we usually only have one and all traffic uses that route in BOTH directions. We also tend to not have heavily directional traffic meaning that we have a good amount of traffic going in both directions. That makes it hard to coordinate signals. Jay

[RC01]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Where are you seeing this? I know that on Main Street in Middletown they deliberately Time the signals so keep traffic from moving fast because it’s a heavy pedestrian zone.

Many of Connecticut traffic signals are interconnected and coordinated, particularly on longer state routes that have a lot of signals and traffic. Keep in mind though that unlike other parts of the country where there are multiple roads going in the same direction, we usually only have one and all traffic uses that route in BOTH directions. We also tend to not have heavily directional traffic meaning that we have a good amount of traffic going in both directions. That makes it hard to coordinate signals. Jay

It seems to be a consistent theme throughout. Middletown and Glastonbury seem like particularly bad offenders, but wherever I go, i seem to spend a lot of time waiting at lights that I didn’t notice as much in other places. Most of the main roads I drive on are freeways, so I don’t notice much in major roads (besides SR-66 heading west out of Middletown which seems to be a problem road, although maybe the lights are timed for 40 mph, but I’d get ran off the road if I actually went that speed lol).

Maybe I’m just spoiled from Michigan where they had things timed almost to perfection. It sort of feels like trying to force that small town slow feel ignoring that these roads actually can get pretty congested.

Sorry have to spread around more..

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by RC01

It seems to be a consistent theme throughout. Middletown and Glastonbury seem like particularly bad offenders, but wherever I go, i seem to spend a lot of time waiting at lights that I didn’t notice as much in other places. Most of the main roads I drive on are freeways, so I don’t notice much in major roads (besides SR-66 heading west out of Middletown which seems to be a problem road, although maybe the lights are timed for 40 mph, but I’d get ran off the road if I actually went that speed lol).

Maybe I’m just spoiled from Michigan where they had things timed almost to perfection. It sort of feels like trying to force that small town slow feel ignoring that these roads actually can get pretty congested.

Sorry have to spread around more..

Glastonbury? I live in town and I know the signals are well timed. The town has two roads that have signals that are coordinated, north Main Street and Hebron Avenue. I know both VERY well. The signal system on Main Street is run by the town, is new and very responsive to traffic conditions. The Hebron Avenue system is owned by the state and is designed to facilitate traffic movement between the Route 2 ramps and the commercial area ending at Eastern Boulevard. I drive this often and think it works pretty well.

You have to understand both of these systems have problem intersections that control the flow of traffic through the network. On Main Street it’s the Glastonbury Boulevard/Griswold Street intersection. On Hebron Avenue it’s the Oak Street/Western Boulevard/Route 2 WB Off Ramp intersection. Both of these have multiple signal phases and high volumes of traffic crossing each other. That makes it difficult to facilitate the flow of traffic on the major street.

Coming from Michigan, I think you may have noticed that our roads are very different. Being the oldest part of the country, our roadway network dates back hundreds of years. The intersections are closer together and the roads have less right of way (the land roads are built on) to make improvements. That makes it harder to facilitate the flow of traffic. Jay