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Transplants. No question about it. Still, not nearly as bad as in Boston or NY. Not yet.
Nope. Population. The same issues would exist with an equal population that consisted entirely of natives. Increased volume on roads increases aggressive driving.
Driving in Boston or NY isn't insane because it's the north, it's because the populations are high.
What gets me is that people expect that EVERYONE who is waiting at a light should get through in one green cycle. But that's not the intent of traffic signals. If there's lots of traffic, and you're far enough back and there's lots of cars you just might have to wait through 2 cycles. Maybe even 3 before you make it. Traffic signals are about controlling the FLOW of traffic, and that's exactly what they do.
I see complaints about this all. the. time. over on SeeClickFix and it kills me every time someone posts that a "signal timing is off because I had to wait through 3 cycles to get through the intersection." At least most of the time they're not taken too seriously and they just make sure the signal is functioning as intended and leave it at that.
What gets me is that people expect that EVERYONE who is waiting at a light should get through in one green cycle. But that's not the intent of traffic signals. If there's lots of traffic, and you're far enough back and there's lots of cars you just might have to wait through 2 cycles. Maybe even 3 before you make it. Traffic signals are about controlling the FLOW of traffic, and that's exactly what they do.
I see complaints about this all. the. time. over on SeeClickFix and it kills me every time someone posts that a "signal timing is off because I had to wait through 3 cycles to get through the intersection." At least most of the time they're not taken too seriously and they just make sure the signal is functioning as intended and leave it at that.
If there's a high number of turns and there's a road that has heavy volume, the priority there is to move the thru traffic on the road with the heaviest volume. That means that at times, you might have to wait through 2 or 3 cycles before you can make a left turn at an intersection. (Same goes with a side street approach on a busy street). The maximum signal cycle length is 180 seconds (most of the time they try to keep it towards 120 seconds if possible for busy intersections) so that time gets divided among all the signal phases as necessary.
I remember complaining about sitting at a 4 minute light years ago at Northclift and Six Forks. I try to avoid that light when possible. Has it changed to a 3 minute light? Doesn't seem like much, but when you're sitting there at the start of the cycle, it felt like forever.
I remember complaining about sitting at a 4 minute light years ago at Northclift and Six Forks. I try to avoid that light when possible. Has it changed to a 3 minute light? Doesn't seem like much, but when you're sitting there at the start of the cycle, it felt like forever.
That's definitely a long light, although I haven't timed it. Fortunately I'm usually making a right out of there, although even that is tricky to do on red due to poor visibility up Six Forks and the 45 mph speed limit. My wife is so uncomfortable with that right on red that she refuses to do it and will pull over to the side of Northclift if the light is red and wait for the green so that she doesn't feel pressured to make that turn on red by people behind her.
That's definitely a long light, although I haven't timed it. Fortunately I'm usually making a right out of there, although even that is tricky to do on red due to poor visibility up Six Forks and the 45 mph speed limit. My wife is so uncomfortable with that right on red that she refuses to do it and will pull over to the side of Northclift if the light is red and wait for the green so that she doesn't feel pressured to make that turn on red by people behind her.
Yes, that is a tricky R turn. If it's clear, you pretty much have no time to hesitate and have to go right then.
Part of the problem is lack of turning lanes. especially right turn lanes. Half the people don't even want to go through the intersection, they want to turn. But they have to wait along with all the people that are going straight through.
The one that I get stuck at a lot is Cary Pkwy and Kildaire Farm, travelling SW on Cary Pkwy. A ton of cars want to turn right here but can't because of no turning lane. Add to that the, "keep left unless overtaking" mentality and that right lane becomes clogged, sometimes taking 2 or 3 cycles to get through. No wonder cars take a shortcut through the office park.
I understand this is difficult at established intersections, but turning lanes should be a consideration when new intersections are built, such as Judd Pkwy and Broad St in FV, and the re-design of Ten Ten and HWY 1 intersection in Cary/Apex. The latter is an absolute joke, a total re-do but nobody considered the volume of traffic turning right onto HWY 1 from 1010?? Of course traffic backed up for miles. So now, as an afterthought, they have now added an almost temporary looking right turn lane.
I remember complaining about sitting at a 4 minute light years ago at Northclift and Six Forks. I try to avoid that light when possible. Has it changed to a 3 minute light? Doesn't seem like much, but when you're sitting there at the start of the cycle, it felt like forever.
As far as I know, there are rarely any lights with cycle lengths over 3 minutes. It says in my NCDOT guidelines sheet "Maximum recommended cycle length is 180, but circumstances may warrant cycle lengths up to 240 seconds". NCDOT usually avoids longer cycle lengths because people feel like they're waiting forever on the side streets. I don't know what the signal plans are for Six Forks & Northcliff so I can't comment on that.
Part of the problem is lack of turning lanes. especially right turn lanes. Half the people don't even want to go through the intersection, they want to turn. But they have to wait along with all the people that are going straight through.
The one that I get stuck at a lot is Cary Pkwy and Kildaire Farm, travelling South on Cary Pkwy. A ton of cars want to turn right here but can't because of no turning lane. Add to that the, "keep left unless overtaking" mentality and that right lane becomes clogged, sometimes taking 2 or 3 cycles to get through. No wonder cars take a shortcut through the office park.
I understand this is difficult at established intersections, but turning lanes should be a consideration when new intersections are built, such as Judd Pkwy and Broad St in FV, and the re-design of Ten Ten and HWY 1 intersection in Cary/Apex. The latter is an absolute joke, a total re-do but nobody considered the volume of traffic turning right onto HWY 1 from 1010?? Of course traffic backed up for miles. So now, as an afterthought, they have now added an almost temporary looking right turn lane.
Right turn lanes don't really do much to the efficiency of a signal or reducing the cycle length so a lot of times they aren't added if they're unnecessary or there isn't the right of way available to do it. Left turn lanes are absolutely necessary because there are more conflict points preventing left turns than right turns and they can block thru traffic if they're not there. The only thing right turn lanes do is allow a vehicle to make the right turn quicker. But a lot of times, if there's heavy traffic during rush hour, the right turn lane can get blocked from queuing from the signal so the lane becomes useless anyways and it's just a waste of pavement. (we run simulations to see if there could be any potential blocking problems) I usually recommend right turns for projects if there's a decent number of cars making that right movement (30+ an hour) but I can understand why they may not be there.
(from a bicycle/pedestrian standpoint, the wider the intersection, the less bike/ped friendly the intersection becomes in terms of crossing it safely and a right turn lane would add to that)
Right turn lanes don't really do much to the efficiency of a signal or reducing the cycle length so a lot of times they aren't added if they're unnecessary or there isn't the right of way available to do it. Left turn lanes are absolutely necessary because there are more conflict points preventing left turns than right turns and they can block thru traffic if they're not there. The only thing right turn lanes do is allow a vehicle to make the right turn quicker. But a lot of times, if there's heavy traffic during rush hour, the right turn lane can get blocked from queuing from the signal so the lane becomes useless anyways and it's just a waste of pavement. (we run simulations to see if there could be any potential blocking problems) I usually recommend right turns for projects if there's a decent number of cars making that right movement (30+ an hour) but I can understand why they may not be there.
(from a bicycle/pedestrian standpoint, the wider the intersection, the less bike/ped friendly the intersection becomes in terms of crossing it safely and a right turn lane would add to that)
30 an hour??? Dang, try more like 30 every 5 minutes at the intersections I mentioned.
Keep in mind it is not just the right turners inconvenienced by the lack of a turning lane. The right turners take up space in the through lane, causing less cars to be able go straight through the intersection.
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