Huckleberries Online

Letter: Longer Yellow Lights Needed

Posted by DFO

Dec. 4, 2009 5:34 p.m. • 6 comments

I write this letter to the editor hoping that it will reach the eyes of whichever authority has jurisdiction over the traffic signals at the 95-Prairie intersection. Surely I am not the only one who thinks this issue needs addressing. It has to do with the length of time the signals show yellow before they change to red. Traveling south on US 95 at the Prairie Ave. intersection: The yellow signal lasts approximately four seconds. I timed it for five cycles. The times ranged between 3.46and 3.88 seconds/Jay Barbieri, Dalton Gardens, Kootenai MPO (from Coeur d’Alene Press letter to the editor). More here.

Question: Do you agree that a second or two should be added to the yellow lights at Highway 95 intersections north of Appleway?

Six comments on this post so far. Add yours!

hhuseland on December 04 at 6:07 p.m.
Absolutely. Four seconds is not long enough when traveling at hwy 95 speeds, which at that intersection is 55 mph.
hhuseland on December 04 at 6:07 p.m.
Oops, make that 45.
lastdemoinidaho on December 04 at 6:54 p.m.
I travel thru this intersection almost once each day, sometimes more. The entire light cycling pattern is poor and needs study and adjusting. It is a mess. Not enough time for the Prairie lines of traffic to get through during peak hours.

IDT must set these once and then walk away. If you want to see an efficient light, try the Govt. Way and Canfield intersection. This ones works, the sensors are good and it adjusts nicely to the traffic.

C’mon IDT, open your eyes.
hmoffsuite on December 04 at 7:15 p.m.
Longer yellow lights just plain makes sense. Lots of folks have kids in seats, briefcases on the passenger seat, and other stuff that gets tossed on the floor by rapid stops. Having enough time to make a logical stop enables less red light running. We have them in Arizona and it is great. Then, given ample time to stop safely, a red light runner should be ticketed. Here they do that with the cameras.
BigMac on December 05 at 7:10 a.m.
A bigger priority should be to fix the rush hour mess on NW Boulevard/Ramsey from Riverstone to Kathleen. The timing on those lights is so poor that we have near-gridlock every day from 4:30-5:30 PM.

It gets very frustrating sitting motionless in my car while the Appleway light stays green for non-existent cross traffic. And the new Golf Course Rd. light just backs up traffic even more.
cpalisa on December 05 at 11:38 p.m.
Yes! I hate the short yellow lights, though I am used to them. Every time I go to Seattle I look like a doofus stopping at all the yellow lights when 5 more cars typically go through them.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.