Powder House Circle traffic violations

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

I've grown increasingly alarmed at the cars running red lights at Powder House Circle.  You take your life into your own hands crossing through there.   Having a walk signal isn't enough to ensure you will survive, you have to make sure no cars are close enough to reach you if they don't decide to stop for their red light.  I shudder to think how dangerous it would be to cross if one was a senior or not able to move quickly.

I realize the design of the rotary is somewhat confusing for the driver and somewhat easy to miss the traffic light as they go around the circle, but I don't really care, one of the most basic part of driving is obeying traffic lights and not injuring people.  

So I guess I'll take this to an alderman, or resistat, or the committee on traffic or something.  Just wondering if there have been efforts in the past.  It seems to me a camera should be installed there and fines issued.  Could be a revenue generator for the city.

Comments

[ron_newman]

Having some crosswalks controlled by traffic lights and others not is very confusing for everybody -- pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists.

I can't think of another rotary anywhere where you should sometimes stop inside the circle, as opposed to stopping before entering the circle.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a rotary except when it's not.

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with this. I take the rotary twice a week and it is never exactly the same experience twice.

Although the Rt 16 rotary is crazier, given that there is a road that goes straight through it.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

I am still confused if is OK to turn right on a red light when it is in a rotary.

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

Not in that rotary, I don't think. The light's there so pedestrians can cross, not so cars coming from a different direction can go.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

I understand that the design of the rotary is confusing in many places. However the red light that should make cars stop to the cross walk on the western side is not confusing. In this case you are crossing under a light that is red and it is clearly wrong. Just because you don't expect a light to be there in a rotary doesn't mean it is not and that it is OK to go under it. It is in plain sight.

[ftwhiterabbit.livejournal.com]

I understand how harrowing it must seem as a pedestrian, but writing as a driver, even with the best of intentions, one can still miss those particular red lights. In addition to the STOP sign vs. traffic light variable at that rotary, when it's super busy, you also have to track multiple cars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians coming from every which direction, which can be overwhelming to even the most experienced of drivers. I've driven that rotary several times a week for five years, and IMO the worst is heading toward Boston on Broadway. It often feels like a game of chicken. You're looking for that brief opening in foot/vehicle traffic while trying to keep your head from spinning (and ignoring the jerk behind you who is honking and urging you to drive like a maniac), and then you finally get an opening and go, only to then immediately think to yourself -- "Oh, cr*p, did the light turn red while I was tracking those 12 different moving people/vehicles?!? I really hope the light hadn't turned red!! Aaaaagh!!"

I say this as someone who is SUPER careful on the road, has been driving in major cities for 10+ years, and is confident in heavy city traffic. Also, I used public transit and walked for years before I started driving, so I very much respect and understand the pedestrian viewpoint. The bottom line is, that rotary SUCKS. We all have to work together to get through it safely.

Having said all of that, I have seen people heading away from Boston on Broadway blast through that STOP sign during lighter traffic, and it horrifies me. THAT is not okay, and I would love to see those jerks get ticketed.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

What's fun is when they set up the traffic lights wrong. I saw that happen two separate times while I lived a couple of blocks from there.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[squirrelitude]

I'm somehow under the impression that high winds can rotate the lights. Does that make sense?

(I feel like I've only seen it after severe winds.)

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I agree, I used to have to take this route quite a bit and always found it terrifying. I always wondered why the city didn't park a cruiser there -- think of all the tickets!!

[808.livejournal.com]

I find it relatively simple to drive through, but scary to walk through for the reasons you describe.

But at least it doesn't have eddies:

[ron_newman]

I usually find it quite pleasant to bike through, but I suspect that either driving or walking through it regularly would be less enjoyable.

[gingicat]

Yeah, I've been honked at for slowing down when I know I'm going to miss the green light... and I know that the person honking at me would have gone through on red, then!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I don't think the lights are ever green there. They blink red or yellow, for entering or leaving the rotary, respectively.

Which is I think part of the problem. I suspect many drivers don't even realize that the red light they are looking at is now solid instead of blinking.

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

concurring vote: that rotary sucks.

opposing vote: i'd campaign against any elected official who viewed traffic cameras as a source of revenue.

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

I would rather have more revenue generated from drivers breaking road rules rather than from ridiculous parking tickets. With cameras the city could enforce some rule on the streets of Somerville and make some money along with it. Without it, they'll just ticket you for taking out your trash cans too early.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

I can't stand walking or driving through it, it was my main motivation to move out of that neighborhood. I don't think traffic cameras would help at all, I think they should move the crosswalks so they aren't directly in the rotary, and let the rotary function like a normal one without the stupid walk triggered red lights that you never see because they happen with extremely little warning and you are already trying to figure out how to not hit a bike. Plus it's incredibly frustrating to be in the circle and have it trigger on the other side not related to you, and be stuck there while your opportunity to get out disappears in front of you.

As a walker I would not use the crosswalk button unless it was really really busy because I didn't want to screw up the traffic flow. I hate when entirely able bodied adults who are capable of sight can't just look up and see that there aren't cars coming and walk across broadway (the other sides are a little more understandable to use the button).

Really the stress and annoyance that rotary caused me, probably took a few years off my life. I have to drive through there tomorrow and I am already dreading it. It's almost enough to make me not want to ever go into that section of town again.

[enveri.livejournal.com]

Agreed entirely.

I will drive miles out of my way to avoid this rotary, and it seems like the stupidest design ever to have the crosswalks cross the rotary itself instead of the artery streets.

My utmost sympathy to anyone trying to walk it, but rest assured, it's hell trying to drive it.

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

It looks like a rotary, but it doesn't work like one. This is wrong.

Will Tom Champion rescue us?

[cden4.livejournal.com]

I would love to see the rotary turned into more of a roundabout and the traffic signal removed: tighten up the roadway so it's only one lane wide, make the entries and exits sharper turns, put yield markings for cars (and bikes) at all crosswalks (including the one through the middle). This forces traffic to go slowly and orderly and makes it very easy for pedestrians to cross.

[witchdogtor.livejournal.com]

this. I drive it every day and it seems it would function much better if turned into a real rotary.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

I drive through this every day on the way to work and I'm a little irritated with what the folks in the UK call the "lollipop man" -- the crossing guard. I appreciate that he has a job to do and he wants to protect pedestrians, but he'll pop out into the crosswalk even if the red light cycle just ended and he'll never make any pedestrian wait -- he immediately stops traffic to get them across. I've been stuck for pedx, then red light and then pedx again, with never being able to move a bit -- resulting in an irritated line of traffic (and more bold & dangerous behavior).

We won't talk about the seeming inability of the drivers to stop anywhere but on top of the crosswalks.

[squirrelitude]

And as a pedestrian, I hate that too. I'm fine with waiting 20 seconds for a clean break in traffic before using the crosswalk. No need to bring the whole rotary to a halt...

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

If people are running the red lights because they're confused, sending them a ticket in the mail 2 weeks later doesn't solve the problem.

Also, traffic cameras are not allowed in Massachusetts.

Which I'm thankful for. I don't trust the local authorities with cameras when they can't get the lights to work properly in the first place. For example, see the light at Beacon and Washington. It gives a 7 second yellow to Beacon. It's the longest yellow light on earth. The correct yellow length for a 30 mph road is about 3 seconds.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I don't trust the local authorities to know what time it is in regards to snow emergency laws and ticketing, so I REALLY don't like the thought of them using traffic cameras.

[molyflogs.livejournal.com]

I used to live in one of the 3 or 4 houses that are literally right on that rotary, and it was such a mess every day. One of my favorite hobbies when it was particularly icy or slick was to watch the cars skid all over the place trying to stop at the lights mid rotary.

I'd get honked at, screamed at and meanly gestured at for crossing the street at a crosswalk, with the walk signal on a regular basis. That rotary sucks.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

I think it is ironic that several folks are suggesting that the solution to cars not obeying red lights at crosswalks is to remove the crosswalks so pedestrians can't cross. Don't we choose to live in Somerville because it is a walkable city?

[witchdogtor.livejournal.com]

I drive it every day, but I often walk it, too. As a pedestrian, I never hit the walk button, yet manage to get to the other side just fine by looking both ways and waiting a few seconds. It works!

It baffles me how many people push the walk button (several times, of course - bam bam bam bam), there is a lull in the normal flow of traffic, but the person stands there on the curb, obediently waiting for the sign to tell them to walk. Or, they walk across during the lull, then the light turns red and the rotary traffic is at a standstill for no one.