An ongoing problem

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 at 3:45 p.m.
When it comes to the issue of traffic lights and red-light runners in Chesterfield, few people know the cause better than the Chesterfield Observer.

Over the years, Chesterfield Observer publisher and editor, Greg Pearson, has received many letters from readers fed up with waiting and waiting at intersections in Chesterfield County. And he's agreed to share a few of the letters with us.

From May 5, 2007: "Hull Street needs traffic lights to be synchronized"

Dear Editor,

After reading your article [May 16] on the impending additional disaster[s] west of Winterpock Road on Hull Street Road, it once again stoked my anger about the horrible job that continues to be done on "Little Northern Virginia." This area has been and continues to be a disaster for well over three years now. The Virginia Department of Transportation or Chesterfield continues to build, widen, barricade, add lights, many of them totally unnecessary and make life miserable for those of us who must use that horrible piece of roadway.

There are five signals between Winterpock and Old Hundred roads, [a distance of] just 2.5 miles. At least two of those signals have access and egress for only business centers and shopping centers which could be easily right turn only with no light. I have personally called both the county and VDOT and requested that they synchronize the signals [all red and then all green] instead of you having to stop for two to four of them -- backing up traffic. This would cost a whopping $0 and just think of all that precious gasoline that could be saved!

Now, they want to do the same to the west corridor that they have done to us. I say to those already living here -- get active. Beg, plead, do whatever to stop the "monster" from growing, and worry your legislators until they "see" the problem, and have it fixed. By the way, 10 lanes won't be enough if they don't correct the signal situation!
-- Irvin F. Maslow Sr., Chesterfield

(Dale Totten of VDOT's Chesterfield Office says those traffic lights are already sequenced and monitored but his staff will check. Editor)

From Oct. 24, 2007: "Traffic light is unfair"

Dear Editor,

I read with interest your article, "Traffic sting nets 31 tickets" in your Oct. 3 issue, an article concerning motorist traffic light violations at the intersection of Huguenot Road and Midlothian Turnpike. As a traffic citation victim myself at this intersection, I went back to the intersection to develop statistical data in rebuttal to my citation, prior to my court appearance. I conducted a practical study, based on actual observations of many vehicle transits of the intersection. I am a retired engineer, and I do my homework. It was my determination the yellow light is not timed to be long enough to allow vehicles to cross the intersection at normal speeds …

When you approach the intersection from any direction, you must cross 11 lanes of traffic to clear the intersection. Furthermore, the traffic lights are installed on beams across all roads at the far side of the intersection. In other words, when the light changes, you must cross 11 lanes of traffic before you pass under the traffic light that controls traffic in your direction. The next part of the problem is the timing of the traffic light cycle. The yellow light duration is only 3.41 seconds. This was based on timing many cycles of the yellow light in the north and south directions with a stopwatch. This is not enough time for vehicles to cross 11 lanes of traffic at a reasonable speed. If the light changes from green to yellow at the time a vehicle enters the intersection, the vehicle cannot make it across the intersection before the light changes to red, unless the vehicle is going faster than 30 mph (average speed through the intersection).

The final complication is the traffic congestion problem. During peak traffic periods, traffic backs up with vehicles required to wait more than one cycle to get through the light. During these times, traffic slows to much less than 30 mph through the intersection. This means that the last one or two vehicles in every string of traffic, even if they enter the intersection under a green light, will not be able to clear the intersection before the light changes to red! This is obviously an unfair situation … (to read the full letter, visit the Chesterfield Observer online). 
-- David M. Dean, Midlothian