Kathryn, Local advocates asked years ago for the City to eliminate the "flying right turn lane" there (I asked as a member of PBMVC during discussions of the issue prompted by an email from Tom Simmons to that committee). As you point out, there is a sign prohibiting right turns on red pretty much all day, and it is routinely ignored by drivers who don't even bother to look to their right (because there's no traffic coming from their right, right?)
There really is no need for that flying right turn lane there if right turns on red are truly to be prohibited during the day. When the traffic coming off of North Shore has a green light, there's no reason why they can't use both east/south bound lanes of John Nolan to make their right turn, since the east/south bound traffic has a red light. And at night, if the traffic is light enough to allow for right turns on red, then it's probably light enough to allow vehicles turning right onto John Nolan from North Shore to use both east/south bound lanes then, too (and if not, then why are right turns on red allowed at those times of day?) To make matters worse, there have been many, many times when I've been waiting on that "pedestrian storage area" when there were way too many bicyclists and pedestrians to fit on the island itself while waiting for a green light to cross John Nolan. That path crossing is so treacherous that another local advocate I know said that she rides in the street on North Shore because she feels its safer than the sidepath next to it, precisely because that crossing is so dangerous there. I know that moving curbs costs more money than putting up a sign. But if even municipal officials ignore the sign, then it does nothing to achieve the objective. And relative to, say, $20+million projects aimed primarily to reduce the delays of motorists (LRTPC is hosting a special meeting on the Verona Road project on November 19, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. in MMB 300) of which the City is anticipating paying half of that (and yes, I know that there will be some bike/ped paths built there to accommodate bicyclist willing to go half a mile out of their way to get through one intersection), then it seems like we ought to be able to come up with the relative chump change to start eliminate all of these very problematic "flying right turns." Flying right turns are engineering designed to facilitate moving more cars faster that no amount of regulation/enforcement is going to overcome. They were designed when there was no consideration for road users other than motor vehicles, and they have virtually no place on surface streets in urban areas. They need to be re-engineered so that right turning motor vehicle traffic has to come up to a squared off intersection and actually come to a stop and look. The flying right turns off of John Nolan/Blair onto Williamson St/E Wilson St are another example of highway oriented design that's out of place in an otherwise walkable urban area. Chuck ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 1:35 PM To: bikies Subject: [Bikies] Red light violations Speaking of blowing red lights, I thought I'd share with you a complaint I sent to the City of Monona yesterday regarding the behavior of one of their ambulance drivers. I haven't received a response yet. I also submitted a complaint on the City of Madison Web site: Tonight at about 5:30 pm, I was disappointed to find an ambulance marked as belonging to the City of Monona ignoring traffic laws and public safety. The ambulance, which was not in emergency use (no sirens or flashing lights), was preparing to turn right onto John Nolen Dr. from North Shore Drive and was in the "flying right"-style turn lane. The right turn signal was red and the lightpost has had a sign on it for years that reads something approximating: "No right on red 6 AM-9 PM." There are three issues of concern: (1) The ambulance was blocking the crosswalk that connects the bike-ped path on North Shore Dr. and the pedestrian island at the same intersection (the one that separates the left-turning traffic on North Shore from right-turning traffic). At the time, the crossing light was green; since the ambulance was on top of the crosswalk, however, people were unable to cross. (2) Even if there had been room to cross, it would have been dangerous to try, because the ambulance was not at a complete stop, but rather rolling slowly forward. (3) As the crosswalk signal turned from green to flashing red and the right-turn traffic signal remained red, the ambulance driver proceeded to turn right despite the fact that he or she did not have a green light.The "No right turn on red" regulation is there in large part to protect the safety of pedestrians and cyclists who want to use the crosswalk. I can't imagine that the driver broke this law in order to allow pedestrians to finally cross, since their window of opportunity (the green crossing signal) had already ended. Indeed, the driver was looking left and did not appear to see anyone to his/her right who was waiting to cross. I hope you will discipline the driver in question. The ambulance driver's behavior was illegal, unsafe and - given that ambulances are supposed to enhance safety and are viewed by the public as intertwined with law enforcement - laughably ironic. I have also contacted City of Madison Traffic Enforcement about this issue. Kathryn
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