Signalized Merges

[SkyPesos]

I don't think there's anything esoteric about "traffic signal". That's a very common term. In fact, I find "stoplight" to actual be a more retro term that seems to have fallen out of fashion.

I think it's matter of regional dialect. "Stoplight" is very common in Oklahoma, and "traffic signal" is basically only used in formal contexts. "Traffic light" is used too.

If I had to rank the most common terms in the Seattle area: (1) "light", (2) "traffic light", (3) "signal", (4) "traffic signal", (5) tie with everything else.

Around here, "stoplight" just isn't a term. I would associate more with older people, and then more rural areas, and then other parts of the country. But it's not a normal term here by everyday drivers.

That's approx how I would rank it from what I hear the most too. Rarely hear people say "˜stoplight'.

[Dirt Roads]

I don't think there's anything esoteric about "traffic signal". That's a very common term. In fact, I find "stoplight" to actual be a more retro term that seems to have fallen out of fashion.

I think it's matter of regional dialect. "Stoplight" is very common in Oklahoma, and "traffic signal" is basically only used in formal contexts. "Traffic light" is used too.

As I think back on it, back in most of West Virginia the term "stoplight" applied to everything:  traffic signals, flashing reds, and beacons.  Most of the stoplights that I saw as a child were old-fashioned traffic signals that illuminated the yellow phase in all directions at the same time:  green then yellow then red, then yellow then green.  Beware: that's why many of the older folks in West Virginia begin to move into the intersection when the opposing signal turns yellow.  When you've been waiting for two minutes and have seen no cars anywhere near the traffic signal, you should go when the signal turns from red to yellow.

[capt.ron]

Searcy, AR has "stop on red signal" from SB US 67-167 to WB Race St. https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2506161,-91.6906553,3a,62y,235.62h,96.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNZNyU1giD7LVEaSjN1Buuw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Little Rock, AR has a similar setup from WB I-630 to NB Shackleford. https://www.google.com/maps/@34.748773,-92.3935799,3a,51.3y,299.85h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdf8tc7BrNg9ieS5UqNeF0A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[Revive 755]

EB I-190 to SB River Road in Rosemont, IL for now, but the interchange is supposed to be redone with the current SB to EB loop ramp becoming a jughandle.

[jakeroot]

Searcy, AR has "stop on red signal" from SB US 67-167 to WB Race St. https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2506161,-91.6906553,3a,62y,235.62h,96.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNZNyU1giD7LVEaSjN1Buuw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

That is insanely out of compliance. Yield sign and yield markings (sharks teeth), but an overhead signal mentioning a "right on red"? What?!!

I know of locations where a yield sign and signals are unintentionally combined (it was left up after reconstruction), but your example doesn't seem to be an accident, despite MUTCD rules against combining signs and signals for the same approach. As a driver, that slip lane movement would be very confusing, as it's not clear which traffic control device I should be following.

[Big John]

Wisconsin uses "stop and go lights".

[jay8g]

SB I-5 at WB SR 18 is signalized due to a nearby intersection with heavy left turn movements. It's also interesting since it's about the only place I can think of with an HOV signal bypass that's not a ramp meter -- but if you're going to make that left turn, you definitely don't want to use the bypass lane! There's been lots of talk of reconfiguring this area, but there hasn't been any progress from what I can tell.

An odd case is N Phinney Way (the ramp from N 46th St) at SB Aurora Ave N. The signal normally operates in flashing yellow, but it's supposed to turn red when a bus approaches on Aurora. In my experience, by the time the signal cycles through yellow to red, the bus is normally long gone.

[SeriesE]

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.6437895,-117.8592279,3a,75y,26.1h,89.73t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGozgdGFUEVCThfbJAEjaFQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DGozgdGFUEVCThfbJAEjaFQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D41.886414%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

CA-73 N Exit 14 to MacArthur Blvd

[BrianP]

I-270 NB Exit 11 at MD 124 north of Gaithersburg:

https://goo.gl/maps/PphuXcfMmH2KuCCQ6

Another one nearby, MD 119 at Sam Eig Hwy:
https://goo.gl/maps/egNMUJJ2D1ZFtUwW6

[MCRoads]

Exit 51 (SB I-95 to SB US-1 in New Haven, CT) is possibly the shortest off ramp ever, because of a merge with a signal.