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Citizen complaint of the day: Sticking a pedestrian signal in the middle of a sidewalk not so bright

Traffic light

An annoyed citizen files a complaint from Mass. Ave. near Berklee:

Could this lamppost have been installed in a less convenient place? Doubtful.

The city agrees, replying:

The boston transportation department is working with the berkeley school of music contractor to relocate this traffic signal which was not approved in the field by btd.

Ed. question: What do local institutions have against pedestrians?

Neighborhoods: 


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Comments

Glad they're working with Berkeley; maybe they can involve Berklee in the conversation as well.

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I almost walked into this thing tonight, horrible placement, especially when you've got Berkley kids all standing against the building and people waiting to cross on the other side and this is in the way of getting through all the people.

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Interesting cause word on the street is it was installed from plans BTD approved and in compliance with ADA requirements for a flat plane at the signal request fixture. The city's answer can be parsed to agree with that rumor (e.g. there's plans approval and there's final sign-off on the actual construction work.)

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It doesn't look like they achieved a flat plane at the signal request fixture anyway (assuming it's on the side facing away from the camera). Why can't Boston have normal fucking walk lights??

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Why not mount the request button on the building with some obvious direction to it?

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So, its not just the students smoking weed at Berkeley.

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That intersection is probably one of the worst jaywalking spots in the city. Add to that the cars that speed through trying to make the light on Mass Ave and I'm shocked more people aren't hit there.

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Between this and the stretch of Boylston Street sidewalk between Mass Ave and Hemenway that's almost impassible thanks to the tiny gap between the iron patio fencing and the street, it seems like someone at Berklee has no idea how sidewalks work and/or just plain hates pedestrians.

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Why is it that a city full of so many smart folks has the absolute worst functioning traffic lights, pedestrian signals, etc?

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Why is the city outsourcing this to Universities? The city should be planning and installing these signals, not private institutions that have their own interests (or lack of interest) prioritized.

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And even if the university's contractor does the construction, why the heck wouldn't BTD have to approve the plans?

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There was a street sign in JP in the middle of an already narrow sidewalk. After a few months it was removed and moved to the edge of the sidewalk. Final result one street sign installation for the price of two; what a bargain!

Concerning stop light In San Francisco I saw lights that lasted for 30 seconds for each green and red. The result was that no one - driver or pedestrian - had to wait long.

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Quick-change lights make some sense on low-speed low-traffic streets.

But I still think vehicle sensors and pedestrian pushbuttons (the kind that actually work, and make the light change right away) make even more sense.

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Google Nagle algorithm. Its better to have some waiting in the hope other users wishing to cross will show up during that time. Otherwise, the light keeps changing, reducing efficiency. Pedestrians don't produce excess greenhouse gas while waiting an extra 10 seconds or so to cross, unlike motor vehicles. On low volume roads, the efficiency loss isn't a consideration, but on busy, often congested roads, it is. Smarter lights could do quick change (via walk buttons and roadway traffic sensors) when there is little traffic.

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Lights could use multiple traffic sensors to avoid excessive idling / greenhouse gases, but also to detect and impede drivers who exceed speed limits, run reds, or otherwise endanger nonmotorized road users. Better yet, to record dangerous behavior and issue citations.

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We're talking about low-speed, low-traffic roads. I was also assuming a freestanding light (more than 1/4 mile from any other lights).

The alternatives are:
1) Pretimed with long phases
2) Pretimed with short phases
3) Vehicle sensor and ped pushbutton for the quieter street

1 sucks for everyone involved. 2 is ok, but gets annoying when you have to stop even though nobody's coming on the other street.

That's why I think 3 makes the most sense. Most people are using the main street, and can breeze through on a green most of the time. When they do get a red, it's because someone is actually crossing. And then the light changes back right away.

If someone trips the sensor after it's just been tripped, then there can be a delay of about 20 seconds before the side street gets another green. That allows traffic on the busier street to clear. After the waiting cars on the busier street have cleared, it's back to random arrivals (since we assumed a low-traffic street), so it's fine to give a side street green again.

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