Ken Woolfe
As many may have noticed, timing of the traffic lights on Lincoln at
Head Royce have been changed - dramatically. I believe this is in
response to the recent fatal accident on Lincoln and a request from Head
Royce.
In response, the City made a rapid but poor reaction. The upper
light used to be tripped by a car coming out of Head Royce parking lot
and the lower light by pedestrian pushbutton. Now they are on a constant
timer as if the car and pedestrian where always tripping the signal. The
result is they now trip every 12 seconds, and stay red for over 24
seconds!
I do not think that the timing of these lights is warranted or
appropriate. In the morning, particularly, traffic is backed up the
hill onto Highway 13. Lincoln is a major east-west thoroughfare and
should have smooth traffic flow at the posted speed limit.
The original
placement of tripped lights at the 2 Head Royce locations was needed and
appropriately set for tripped operation (not timed). If the lights are
to be set to a regular timed interval (I don't not believe they should
be) at least the timing needs to be changed to a more reasonable time
interval.
Additional concerns about speeding should be addressed with
appropriate enforcement, not traffic signals. Using the same logic, one
would stop speeders on Hwy. 580 by putting in signals. The main purpose
of signals is to regulate crossing vehicle/pedestrian traffic to avoid
accidents. I've talked to a city traffic engineer and he basically
agreed but said it was a political decision and he thought that the
"Community" had requested this drastic action.
The city will likely change only if they hear an opinion from "the
Community". You can express yours by calling the city