Chuck Holtman wrote: "I also would suggest --largely from my own reaction (and I suppose this is somewhat of a confession) -- that poor signal coordination contributes to aggressive driving. I am familiar with many stretches where one must drive at 15 mph to time the light and then 45 mph to time the following light --and when missing one light will result in hitting the red lights at each of the next three, or four, or five lights. Speaking for myself -- as the rat in the cage--, this is my major source of stress when driving. I prefer to drive slowly and continuously to my destination. However, the system creates an incentive to drive erratically and magnifies the inconvenience that is posed by the vehicle in front that dithers, stops to turn or wanders into one's lane without signaling."
JM: I think that's a reasonable speculation, Chuck. Here's my question: Who has tried to voice their complaint to those responsible, and what was the result when that was attempted. I have an inlaw who programmed lights for a long, long time, and anytime a light griped me, I'd call him up and say "Why is this happening". It isn't always stupidity. You have to realize there is some conflicting politics out there. There could, in some cases, be neighborhood residences that WANT the traffic slowed down or want drivers aggravated enough to stay out of that neighborhood. And the traffic engineers can certainly do that. They were studying one light for removal in Longfellow because business on the intersection didn't like the effects of the light. I thought the light was necessary. One time, Walt Dziedzic, my CM, drove up to me when I was standing on the street asking if I thought a certain no parking sign could be removed. I said "yes, it should be OK", and he said "Good. We'll remove it." That's an anecdote of how politics intersects with traffic. So, think about these things when something about traffic annoys you. Politicians are always involved. I was at a town meeting once when Tony Scallon said traffic signs and lights are the biggest thing in the council member's job. Tim Connolly brings up a good point. Why take a busy two way street like Nicollet when you can take adjacent streets to go one-way north OR south? And he reminds me of a question I always have. WHY is it that people always insist on making left turns on 2-way streets when a little foresight could bring them to the same turn on the same side of the street? And while I'm on this topic, how come so many drivers enter busy streets like Lake Street from a side street where they have to wait for a fabled opening in the traffic to make their left turn. They stick the nose of their car WAY into the busy street in apparent hopes that traffic BOTH ways will come to a halt so they can turn left into the far lane. I mean, how dumb are they to think this is all they can do? I know where all the traffic lights on Lake in Cooper are and if I want a left turn onto Lake, I go to that street and turn on a green light. Granted, the driving exam might not ask about this, but it isn't rocket science, either. ===== Jim Mork Cooper Neighborhood Minneapolis ------------- Paul Wellstone: Best friend Minneapolis ever had in Washington. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
