Broken stop lights?

[mr-fancy-pants.livejournal.com]

What's up with the blinking stop lights across from Domino's/Wing Works in Davis? It's been going on for over a week now - anyone know the story?

Comments

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

i don't know, but i've noticed that whenever lights are broken like that in the city (ie, where they'll blink, but not cycle) it's really slow to get fixed. the webster street intersection was broken the same way for most of last winter. i wonder if it's at all related to the road work further down elm, at beech street. THAT started the same time as the porter sq construction. seems odd that the wires and lines and stuff would all be related, but the Public Works Dept is like a great big, mysterious, secret society. I mean, you gotta sacrifice a chicken or something just to get a pothole filled.

[chuckm.livejournal.com]

I noticed a stop sign mounted on a traffic horse out there the other week, usually an indicator that they are doing a "what if this light wasn't here" type expirement.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, but I hope they stay like that for a long, long time. The pedestrian signals never work (I think I've seen it change once in nearly five years) and with the lights blinking like they are now, I can actually get across the street without risking my life!

[mrcairo.livejournal.com]

I've had the opposite experience. I've almost gotten hit numerous times by people who come down
the little part of Summer street in front of the Rosebud, and make a left on to Cutter. The red light
at least slowed them down a little. I've seen numerous cars just blast through that left turn, not even
considering that there might be a pedestrian there. I've talked with a couple of other people who walk
that route regularly, and it's a miracle that there aren't more accidents.

The intersection where Elm turns right on to cutter looks like it has similar problems. I expect that people
are only going to start taking these intersections at higher speeds now, since there's even less slowing them
down.

[alierak.livejournal.com]

I regularly approach that intersection from Mass Ave on Russell, and I find the blinking lights annoying and usually just plain dangerous, since it's blinking yellow on Elm and people don't seem to know what to do with that. I've seen people in front of me who apparently assumed it was an all-way stop situation. Bad news, nearly.

[theviper.livejournal.com]

personally, i kind of like it as a driver...i can make the right turn from elm on to whatever street it is without having to worry about some person that doesn't know how to drive sitting at the red light that won't make a right turn on red.

however, from the pedestrian standpoint...yeah, that's a bad thing.

[tekunokurato.livejournal.com]

I'm a bicycler, and I like the broken light; a lot of us bikers do. Anarchistically-organized traffic is very often safer, because people don't know what to do, so they default to slower. They'll never speed by to try to beat the red or anything.

[aslant.livejournal.com]

hmm. i was at the broken light the other day and witnessed a near-wreck because one jerk simply zoomed along behind the guy in front of him instead of waiting for his own turn at the intersection. i think many drivers are too ignorant about how to treat a broken light...the anarchistic scenario didn't work so well in that case. aggressive drivers + a sense of invincibility = not good for anyone.

How to get a Stop Light Fixed

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Call your Ward Alderman or an Alderman at Large. Ask him or her to please look into why it is the way it is and when you can expect to see it fixed. They will respond to you if they want your vote in the next election.

Go here: http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/Department.cfm?orgunit=ALDERMEN (http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/Department.cfm?orgunit=ALDERMEN)

Click on your alderman's name on the left and their contact information will appear on your screen. This particular light is located in Ward 6.

Call them. It is what they are there for!