How many cycles are too many cycles when you're waiting at a traffic light to make a turn?
- Congestion at Chancellor Drive at Oak Ridge
- Drivers say long traffic light cycles to blame
- Orange County to send someone to check timing
That’s this week’s Traffic Inbox question, which comes from Benjie Skreets.
He claims he's waiting more than ever at one particular intersection: Chancellor Drive at Oak Ridge Road, which is just east of John Young Parkway.
"From where we are standing, it takes about four light cycles," said Skreets.
Skreets says the congestion makes the intersection dangerous and in the last several weeks he has dreaded his afternoon commute home.
"It's kind of dangerous because some people don't expect it, people cut into the right turn only lane and end up turning left," he said.
Chancellor Drive has two lanes at the Oak Ridge Road intersection. Drivers can only turn left in the left lane because the right lane is a right turn only lane.
However, that doesn't stop drivers in the right lane from trying to turn left to avoid waiting in line. Skreets says the traffic signal went out several weeks ago and when it came back on, that's when the problems started.
"It seems the timing is off to where when cars want to turn left out here, they end having to go in the right and the left lane to turn left to get onto Oak Ridge," he said.
Skreets says a simple recalibration could fix the intersection's traffic issue.
"I think the timing has everything to do with it,” Skreets said. “If they could time it where the John Young and Oak Ridge Road light is in sync, that when you're turning left, it allows more cars though? Then there wouldn't be a backup."
Spectrum News 13 contacted Orange County Government which maintains the intersection. The agency said it sent an engineer out to take a look at the timing and see what could be done.
The engineer found an issue with the detector, which was fixed on Friday.
Thanks for your question Benjie Skreets!
If you have a traffic issue or problem you want looked at or solved, write in to Ryan Harper’s Traffic Inbox at mynews13.com/trafficinbox and fill out the simple form.