You’re driving down the road late at night, and the signal in front of you turns yellow. You slow and stop. Then you notice that the cross street, just given the green, is a veritable ghost town. Not even a glimmer of headlights. Oh, come on!
If you’ve ever been in that situation, you’ll sympathize with our next Q-and-A reader.
Michael Standing Wolf of Arlington asks: “Why is Highway 9 given the priority at Highway 530 in Arlington? A lot of people eastbound on 530 turn left onto northbound Highway 9 after 11 p.m. If you are in a stretched out stream of cars and late to the light, the signal will change against you, even if there are no other cars in the vicinity. Very frustrating!”
Tom Pearce of the state Department of Transportation responds: “Our signal operations engineers reviewed the intersection in late December to make sure everything is functioning as it should. Based on what the reader described, we also modified the operation so that during off-peak overnight hours, the signal will remain green for whatever direction last had traffic on it. If traffic is heavier on SR 530 than on SR 9, it should stay green for SR 530 more consistently.”
Have a question? Email us at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your name and city of residence. Look for updates on our Street Smarts blog.
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