Les Pederson of Arlington writes: “The traffic light at 51st Avenue NE and 172nd needs a unrestricted left turn light. The intersection is a disaster. This is located south of Arlington Airport.”
Tom Pearce of WSDOT responds: “We are looking at the intersection of State Route 531/172nd Street NE and 51st Avenue NE as well as at 57th Avenue NE right now to determine whether the traffic signals should be modified. We are considering adjusting the signals to allow permissive left turns — which means a driver can turn any time there’s a sufficient gap in oncoming traffic during a green light — at any time or during off-peak hours. At this time we plan to keep left turns protected — which means you can only turn left when there’s a green arrow. The combination of lane configuration and traffic volume may be enough that during peak hours that permissive left turns could increase the risk and severity of collisions.”
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