West Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur GA
April 23, 2015 Eye on the Street (1)
April 17, 2015 Eye on the Street (3)
April 22, 2015 Eye on the Street (15)
DarenW
Rick Julian
Bulldog
7.62 x 39
smalltowngal
4 Walls Realty
unclecharlie
Walker1
Christian Holyoak
sansho1
J_T
J_T
Decatur's Pub Shed
Would be nice to have some newer mast arms for traffic signals instead of the overhead wires. That’s a want and not a need but I think it looks better.
It’s like running the gauntlet to bike that in the morning.
Rival — new mast arm traffic signals will be coming. DeKalb County received a grant from the Ga DOT to upgrade all of the traffic signals in DeKalb County. Since DeKalb is responsible for all traffic signals, this upgrade includes those located in the City of Decatur. We are currently working with them on installation plans for several locations and look forward to the day when all of them have been changed out. Not only will they look better but they include upgraded pedestrian signals and improved technology to allow for
better traffic management.
Thanks, Lyn! I figured downtown lights are GDOT system signals and that takes quite a bit of coordination. Great that they are getting upgraded.
And a grant to upgrade ALL the signals in Dekalb County? Holy moly, that’s a lot of traffic lights…
Hmm. Are all mast arms more attractive than overhead wires? I think I’ve seen some industrial-size, massive concrete/metal mast arms that were pretty ugly.
Your mileage may vary. I’m just not a fan of the lines. And I really grit my teeth when I see an intersection with separate poles with just a few lines on each. I have seen some really massive mast arms and I wonder how they stay up.
Aesthetics aside, I assume the signals on wires go out easier in high winds. Isn’t that the reason for replacing them?
True that high winds, falling trees, ice storms would have less impact on mast arms. I’m convinced. I’m not a big fan of power outages. And less wires should be an improvement aesthetically even if not all mast arms are gorgeous. Now if we could just get all those power lines and telephone wires buried.
I hadn’t really given it a thought until many years ago my young (then) nephew visited from Southern California. He just laughed and laughed every time he saw a light hanging from the wires. He thought it looked like something kids would do with extension cords. It was obviously the exception where he grew up.
Gee, Lyn, that would be great if the county had anyone on board who understands the basics of traffic management. Hardly any two lights within the city are coordinated, and all of the lights on Commerce are crying out for some kind of rational coordination. Two maddening examples: 1. Heading east on Commerce at Church, the light at North Candler is set to turn red a few seconds after the light at Church turns green. 2. The lights on Commerce at E. Ponce and at Sycamore are only a few feet apart, but they run on entirely different (and uncoordinated) cycles. Most maddening is driving south on Commerce at E. Ponce, in the off hours, with little or no traffic, and getting a green cycle to proceed across E. Ponce, only to look up at the light at Sycamore turning red, often with no one on Sycamore. If the county can’t fix things this simple, I have little hope that new lights will make things any better. In this case, I certainly hope I am wrong, but someone at the county has to show me they can fix a problem.
Bill, you win the internets. The lack of red light coordination all over Atlanta is maddening, and Dekalb Co is perhaps the worst. Another good example is the last few lights on Memorial as you approach 285. It is routine to hit every. single. red. light. in the span of half a mile. Until these basic problems get fixed, no one in government should be concerning themselves with the aestehtics of traffic lights.
We stopped taking that way to 285 on our many trips to Florida.
Now we head out 2nd ave all the way to flat shoals.
Those red lights on Memorial would make my blood boil, and that’s not a good way to start a 6 hour drive!
No one has mentioned yet the stupidity on display on DeKalb Ave/Decatur St.
I’m no traffic engineer, but where is it written that “basics of traffic management” means that you hit every green light in cycle?
I can imagine a scenario where a larger mess is created if the entire system lights were timed to simply allow green in one direction while holding red in the other. How many blocks, in your opinion, should the lights hold green? What about traffic stopped at a cross street with a stop sign or non-signalized? Commerce is not a straight road. Maybe traffic engineers have decided the best way for that road – a road with a nearly 90-degree curve in it, by the way – is to slow cars down in some managed way.
I imagine it is a bit more complicated than that. But I’m not a traffic engineer and I rarely win any internets.
Many of the lights that are on, cross, or connect to state routes are GDOT system lights. Talk to them. But I would suggest you raise your concerns with just a little bit of respect for those that are tasked with managing a very complicated system.
I’m no traffic engineer, but where is it written that “basics of traffic management” means that you hit every green light in cycle?
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Strawman.
All of his examples involved him going through one light only to be stopped by the next. As did your. point. about. Memorial.
You also wrote that this “problem” was “basic.” I submit that it is not.
Use of anecdotal evidence is also a logical fallacy, by the way.
While not exactly a straw man argument, the original post was about the coordination of multiple lights. Which in turn applies to the overall flow of traffic and not just one car and driver.
Give me a break. The guy makes a perfectly valid point, DEM, and you are trying to turn this into some sort of debate class. What about his point? “Strawman” or not, doesn’t Rival have a point? Sometimes in life you just aren’t gonna hit every green light. It’s not always the government’s fault.
Maybe the gubmint should just quit meddling in traffic anyway. Doesn’t the Constitution grant everybody the right to drive like they durn well please?
Of course it doesn’t. As every good progressive knows, the only rights granted are abortion, contraception, and gay marriage.
No, I’m not. No one said anything about hitting “every single green light in a cycle.” It was obviously a more general point about a lack of signal coordination. Speaking for myself, I don’t expect to hit every green light, but I also don’t think it is reasonable to have to stop at every single signal. And yes, it is pretty basic to synch lights in some cases, though admittedly, not all.
And while it is not “always the government’s fault,” the realists among us know that the government does often screw up.
The DeKalb County government screws up sometimes? No way. I hadn’t heard. I will now reassess my entire political outlook.
I don’t know why this was about political outlooks to begin with. You’re the one who injected that. I’ll admit to being quite ideological when it comes to the role of government, but synching traffic signals? I would have thought that’s simply a matter of doing things correctly, as Arriba mentioned.
Off the top of my head, I would say the goal of any traffic management plan would at least include:
– minimize idling due to smog considerations
– maximize traffic through-put
The main way to accomplish this would be to coordinate lights, and have smart lights for off-peak hours.
People get paid to do this, they might as well do it correctly.
“People get paid to do this, they might as well do it correctly.” Ha! This is my favorite quote of the month. I’ll bet I can find an appropriate use for it just about every day. And I can adopt it for home use too–“You have to set the table, so you might as well do it correctly!” “You have to do your homework, so you might as well do it correctly.”
Exactly and it’s relatively low hanging fruit. Along with alternative transit options, this will become increasingly more important and noticeable as the economy improves and more people move intown. The traffic increase over the last year is already noticeable.
Miami synchronized their lights along US1 in 2007 and it has made a world of difference.
Thanks for the update, Lyn!
I wouldn’t say “any” traffic management plan. For an arterial thoroughfare, sure, but in places where pedestrians are prioritized over cars (or even considered equally), there’ll be a good deal more idling and considerably slower throughput. And that would be by design.
A traffic engineer should be able to easily recognize the contextual differences between downtown Decatur and Memorial Drive. Sadly, many — as well as the technical manuals they refer to — do not.
I don’t think DeKalb Traffic Engineering can even install a stop sign competently.
what is this, midtown Manhattan?
jeebus, i mourn the loss of our simple village.
why, i can remember when this place was nothing but shacks, saloons, and cow paths.
Please don’t ever stop commenting here, Rick. At least once a week, one or more of your posts makes me snort with laughter (including this one). 😀
don’t encourage me, Cuba, a little of me goes a long way.
Yeah, but this comment made me laugh, too. So we’ve (at least I’ve) not yet hit that threshold.