Possible to get light timing adjusted on Penn Ave?

[DCLiz]

Yesterday, I joined a group of commuters that went through the light at the entrance to the westbound Penn Ave cycletrack at 1st St. Why? It is not humanly possible to wait for the green light and then make it through the light at 2nd St. It has grown frustrating to patiently wait for the light, only to watch other cyclists go through (when safe) and continue halfway down Pennsylvania Avenue while I wait at the next light.

I understand the importance of having the lights timed so that car and bus traffic can flow through the area smoothly. However, I’m wondering if there’s any possibility of getting this one light adjusted slightly, so that bikes are able to make the 2nd light. There’s hardly ever traffic there, so it’s especially frustrating to wait at a red light with no cars proceeding through the intersection, know that by doing so, you’ll be stuck at the next light as well.

Here’s a case where a minor tweak would make a huge difference in people not going through a red light. (By the way, I feel the same way about getting lights timed properly so that motorists are not incentivized to speed to make lights — get them timed so that you’re rewarded for following the speed limit, instead of penalized by having to stop for lights.)

WABA, what do you think? Can you raise this issue with DDOT?

Topic

[americancyclo]

I spoke with a guy at DDOT a while back and he said that all the lights in DC are timed manually, at the intersection. That’s why if someone takes out the control box in an accident at the intersection, it defaults to flashing yellow/red. There is no master control station, and only two people are trained to do it. One is about to retire and the other is relatively new, and learning as much from him as he can. Granted this info was from 2009, but I doubt much has changed.

[dasgeh]

This is what I mean when I explain to DC-newbies why they should consider moving to Arlington (or anywhere but DC)…

Anyway, if we do get them into retiming lights, can we get them to look at the area North of the Lincoln Memorial. There are a bunch of pedestrian crossings, and times when peds have red, but there’s no possible way for a car to be coming (because the only entrance to that stretch of road has red as well).

[Greenbelt]

The light timing at PA ave at 3rd street seems to be frustrating for cars too. I see cars wait for the left turn signal from Constitution on to 3rd street southbound then get angry because they get a red light at PA ave as soon as they make their left on to 3rd. Lots of cars just run the red light at PA ave, which can be very dangerous if bikes are simultaneously jumping the green to try to avoid waiting at another long light cycle just a half block up (going west). It’s usually manageable because sightlines are good, but yesterday an frustrated SUV driver went around a tourbus on the right and ran the red light in front of me. Could have easily mowed down an unwary cyclist crossing legally on green.

[DaveK]

@americancyclo 23883 wrote:

I spoke with a guy at DDOT a while back and he said that all the lights in DC are timed manually, at the intersection. That’s why if someone takes out the control box in an accident at the intersection, it defaults to flashing yellow/red. There is no master control station, and only two people are trained to do it. One is about to retire and the other is relatively new, and learning as much from him as he can. Granted this info was from 2009, but I doubt much has changed.

I don’t work for DDOT but I can’t possible imagine this is true. The signal can default to flash if something happens regardless of if it’s networked or not, and if the control box gets completely taken out chances are it will go dark. Their signals have to be coordinated to a master. It may be that the coordinated corridors during the AM and PM rushes are north-south to get people in and out of the city, hence the bad timing on Penn, but there’s just no way that their signals aren’t coordinated or networked at all.

If I’m wrong, I weep for how useless DC is. I don’t think I’m wrong though.

[americancyclo]

@DaveK 23903 wrote:

If I’m wrong, I weep for how useless DC is. I don’t think I’m wrong though.

I’ve seen articles on the amazing technology that New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo and London have. I’ve seen nothing on DC. I hope that information I got was wrong, but I’ve seen nothing to argue against it.

[americancyclo]

@DaveK 23903 wrote:

I don’t think I’m wrong though.

Just read a piece on GGW that speaks to this…

DC doesn’t have a state-of-the-art system to control all of the lights centrally.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/18821/dont-expect-green-lights-all-the-time/

[DaveK]

@americancyclo 51444 wrote:

Just read a piece on GGW that speaks to this…

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/18821/dont-expect-green-lights-all-the-time/

Wow.

[Author]

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