Dean, while I agree it is disconcerting to have a green traffic light while the red crossing lights are flashing, there is a really good reason for it.
The often overlooked Rule #1: It is State law that you must stop for flashing RR crossing lights. It doesn't matter what the traffic lights are doing... Once those obnoxious bells start ringing and the lights flash, you must stop ahead of the RR crossing. When the system goes into its preempt cycle (a train is approaching and the white floods are on) the system begins to quickly cycle through the traffic light sequence. After Hiawatha's north/south traffic gets the red light, the system does a cross-street "flush," allowing cars that might be on the tracks or under the gates a chance to move out onto Hiawatha. When the train gets close enough, it trips a sensor in the tracks which starts the RR Crossing signal lights and bells. Again, no matter what the highway's traffic lights are doing, which are of course, *after* the RR signals, all traffic is supposed to stop. A few seconds later, the gate starts to drop. The traffic lights stay green a few seconds longer to allow the last-minute drivers or slowpokes (and there are many) a bit more chance to clear the tracks. If the traffic light went red at the same time as the RR crossing lights, there is a risk that cars, especially trying to turn left from 50th, would be caught with their tails on the tracks. Thus the delay. The problem is two-fold. First, drivers are watching the traffic signals and not the four RR crossing lights. Living a few hundred feet from the crossing, I can tell you that many, many, folks creep onto tracks when 50th is red, hence the need for the flush. Second, the trains trip the RR signals when they are still far away and often not even visible. It would appear that many drivers are practicing an "Out of site, out of mind" state because it's a pretty common to see cars running the flashing RR signals just to make that last itty-bitty bit of green. Doug Walter In the lovely, but noisy, Minnehaha quad of Nokomis East Dean Lindberg wrote: ...It is unnerving to be proceeding through green lights and then all of a sudden having the train bells and traffic bars start clanging and dropping. It triggers that "fight or flee" (hit the gas or hit the brakes) adrenaline rush. It's definitely a little thrill that keeps the blood pressure going almost in the same way a kid's ball bouncing into the street gets your attention. REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
