The in basket: Judy Naglich writes to ask “Why does the light
stay red for so long when coming from Port Orchard Boulevard to
turn onto Tremont?
“I have waited for as much as 10 or 15 minutes and sad to say I
have turned when no traffic is in sight. I can still see the green
light on Tremont when I get up to the Sidney stop light.
The in basket: Judy Naglich writes to ask “Why does the light stay
red for so long when coming from Port Orchard Boulevard to turn
onto Tremont?
“I have waited for as much as 10 or 15 minutes and sad to say I
have turned when no traffic is in sight. I can still see the green
light on Tremont when I get up to the Sidney stop light.
“This happens most anytime of the day and evening,” she said when I
asked for more detail. “I have tried backing up and going forward
on the detector. It happened to me (one) Saturday about 6 p.m. I
waited for 10 minutes and it finally turned green.”
The out basket: Time flies when one is waiting at a red light, and
it’s an amazingly patient person who would actually wait 10, let
alone 15 minutes without proceeding on red. My guess is Judy waited
somewhat less than that.
But long is long, and I asked Maher Abed, the Port Orchard public
works director about it. He went and tried it out and says, “The
detection loop underneath the pavement does work if vehicles are
stopped right on top of it behind the existing STOP bar. The
problem occurs when motorists pull forward ahead of the STOP bar to
get better visualization on the oncoming traffic.”
Pulling back and forth over the detector doesn’t work if the driver
doesn’t stay over the detector. Greg Cryder, whose staff maintains
that light, said no matter how long a car sits over the detector,
pulling off before the light controller box has begun changing the
light causes the controller to conclude there is no car there.
Has anyone else out there in reader land have this happen to them
at that intersection? Greg says no one should have to wait longer
than a minute and a half without getting a green turn arrow
there.
