Traffic feedback loop
Thanks to many years of Simcity, I harbor a secret desire to be a city planner. In particular I am fascinated by traffic patterns and how stop lights should work to allow for maximum efficiency. Of course, I don’t actually know anything about city planning, and I can’t spot a properly working stop light, but I like to think I can at least spot the crappy ones.
Presented for your approval, the stoplight on Highway 119 and Weld County 3 and 1/2. Highway 119 runs east/west and the county road runs north south. There is a medium sized trailer park on the north side and businesses on the south side. The light is timed in such a manner that any car traveling on the county road immediately switches the stop light and triggers about a 1 minute cycle of lights and turn signals. The problem is that there isn’t any timeout on the light (or it is very short) so that a car arriving just as the east west lights go green can trigger the cycle again.
Without a timeout, moderately heavy traffic or unfortunately spaced cars can cause a backup of the heavy morning traffic on 119. That in itself is bad enough, but it gets worse. True to human nature, impatient individuals stuck in traffic will find any way they can to avoid standing still even if the cure is worse then the disease. In this case, the only opportunity to avoid the traffic is to turn off of 119 into the business park to the south of the highway and then emerge again by turning right on county road 3 and 1/2 and then left at the light. At this point, you can see the problem. The increased traffic through the business park increases the frequency at which the light turns and thereby increases the traffic on 119, and the cycle intensifies.
Luckily this only happens every once in a while, but it still pisses me off. I wonder who lives or works in the area to convince the county fathers in far away Greeley to provide such an advantageous stop light? Hmmm….
on November 17, 2009 at 11:46 pm
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Roundabouts are king…