The most annoying intersection in your hometown?

[doorknob60]

In Bend, some annoying ones were Powers Rd. at Brookswood Blvd, and Simpson Ave. at Mt. Washington Dr. During after school hours and rush hour, it can be nearly impossible to turn left (it was 2 way stops on Powers and Simpson, with the cross traffic free flowing). One time, I saw cars backed up for about a half mile on Simpson behind the stop sign at Mt. Washington, to the point where people were just turning around rather than waiting 20 minutes at the stop sign. Luckily, they just built roundabouts at both intersections, that should fix that.

And look at this silly Google sattelite timing. I wonder how long there will be no road shown at Brookswood/Powers? They took the pic during construction https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=44.028248,-121.319361&spn=0.006611,0.016512&t=h&z=17 And same exact thing at Simpson and Mt. Washington: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=44.04581,-121.343157&spn=0.006609,0.016512&t=h&z=17 ...and Empire and 18th: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=44.089997,-121.279192&spn=0.006604,0.016512&t=h&z=17 Great timing Google, 3 major intersections not shown on your new sat images And if you're guessing that traffic has been hell all summer in Bend, you'd be right

Another bad one is Reed Market Rd. and the intersections with American Ln. and 9th St. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=44.036827,-121.289119&spn=0.002337,0.004128&t=h&z=19
Combine the constant stream of traffic on Reed Mkt with people attempting to turn left off the narrow bridge at American, and the train that goes through there at seemingly the worst times, backing up traffic on Reed Mkt for a mile, and it can be pretty bad at times.

[tradephoric]

The terminus of Northwestern Hwy at Orchard Lake Road forms the 'Bermuda triangle' of traffic signals in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  At least one direction of travel gets poorly timed green-to-red signal coordination due to the geometry of the area.  There are plans to construct a multi-lane roundabout in the coming years but only time will tell if this helps improve traffic flow in the area.

[Takumi]

While not the most congested intersection by any means, the most annoying intersection in my hometown is Conduit Road and Old Town Creek Way, which is home to a few businesses (including Sheetz). The signal often changes for just one car on the cross street while traffic on Conduit is flowing normally. Conduit northbound traffic is just past the busiest signal in the city and southbound heads down a hill to the signal.

[DandyDan]

In Omaha, I can't really think of anything that's truly annoying.  There used to be some, but with reconstruction, I think a good number of intersections are better than they used to be.  The only thing that really irritates me is in Bellevue, they still have the traffic lights on Fort Crook Road set up as if US 75 still follows it, which means the timing of the traffic lights makes absolutely no sense if you are unfamiliar with that fact.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Beauharnois: Hwys 132 and 236. Here's a quick chart (chevrons denote traffic direction, X's denote stops) :

Code Select Expand

                X
132 <<<<<<<<<<  |<<<<<<<<<<<<< 132 WB
    >>>>>>>>>>  |<<<<<< (< must turn left)
              v¯X
              v^
     132/236  v^
              v^
              v^>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 132 EB
              v^>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
              v^
              v^           ^
             236           N

In case you don't know about Québec's numbering scheme, 132 is a primary and 236 is a secondary. Traffic counts are consistent with this (12,100 vs. 2,800).

Traffic from 132 EB (from the left on the chart) does not stop nor yield (despite the presence of a ramp). Traffic from 132 WB does stop. Traffic from 236 stops too. It's a two-way stop in a T.

Technically, when turning from 132 WB onto 236, it's the same as having to cross the other lane of traffic in the absence of a couplet. It would be a nightmare during rush hour no matter what.

However, with people being people, and Greater Montreal drivers being Greater Montreal drivers, it doesn't quite work that way in practice. Turning traffic from 132 WB will try to wedge themselves into traffic, possibly making dangerous manoeuvers, or just sit there honking because they think 132 EB has to yield; often in the middle of the thing, blocking everyone else. People sitting at the stop line like they should will get honked at by the drivers behind them, and the quickly-filling turn lane will spill on the mainline.

Coming from 132 EB, you have to be on the watch for drivers cutting you off as explained above. Or the driver in front of you slamming the brakes because he's been cut off. Or the driver in front of you yielding or even letting several vehicles pass. You get the idea.

Add to the equation vehicles trying to leave the Subway restaurant on 132, in the middle of the T. Usually, nobody cares about those.

Coming from 236 and turning right on 132 EB, you have to watch for oncoming drivers turning into 132 EB's right lane by automatism or pure ignorance. And if you're a pedestrian on 236, I wish you good luck crossing that intersection despite the marked crosswalk.

The opening of A-30 next month will put a long-awaited relief on this.

[kphoger]

This is the closest I get to being annoyed at an intersection in Wichita.  Almost all cars exiting eastbound Kellogg onto the frontage road are either going straight through the Woodlawn light or turning right at it–either of which requires changing lanes, since their lane turns into a crossover.  At the afternoon rush, red light traffic frequently backs up to the gore point, leaving no room for drivers to merge.  I drive through there at least once a week during this rush period.  However, I'm usually starting out on the frontage road and making the U-turn to go back west.  So it's actually quite nice for me, because I (1) don't have to wait behind 700 cars for a green light, and (2) find it rather fun to box my way through everybody into the (empty) U-turn lane.

[mcdonaat]

This intersection in Monroe is the worst... traffic merging in from US 165B/LA 15 onto I-20 East goes from one ramp lane to two, then back down to one, in a short distance. Not only that, but look to the west, and Layton Avenue doesn't even have an acceleration lane, just a yield sign. Combine that traffic that's slowly speeding up to 60 MPH, along with the bottlenecked LA 15 traffic, and you have a danger for the traffic going from I-20 to LA 594 (the next exit).

Other than that, Monroe is relatively fine with intersections.

[InterstateNG]

The terminus of Northwestern Hwy at Orchard Lake Road forms the 'Bermuda triangle' of traffic signals in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  At least one direction of travel gets poorly timed green-to-red signal coordination due to the geometry of the area.  There are plans to construct a multi-lane roundabout in the coming years but only time will tell if this helps improve traffic flow in the area.

Is everything in that roundabout proposal at grade?

[Sanctimoniously]

Other than that, Monroe is relatively fine with intersections.

The West Monroe end of the Endom Bridge. A stop sign for North Riverfront Street traffic, a yield sign for Coleman Street traffic, and nothing at all for traffic coming off the bridge. Trying to make a left turn onto the bridge from North Riverfront Street can be pretty fun because you can't see traffic coming off the bridge unless you pull dangerously far into the intersection. Trying to make a left turn on North Riverfront from Coleman during rush hour can get pretty hairy, too, because it blocks off all the bridge-bound traffic and anyone trying to get off South Riverfront.

[tradephoric]

The terminus of Northwestern Hwy at Orchard Lake Road forms the 'Bermuda triangle' of traffic signals in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  At least one direction of travel gets poorly timed green-to-red signal coordination due to the geometry of the area.  There are plans to construct a multi-lane roundabout in the coming years but only time will tell if this helps improve traffic flow in the area.

Is everything in that roundabout proposal at grade?

Yes it is. 

There may be issues with traffic backing up through the roundabout due to the close proximity of the traffic signal just north of the roundabout on Orchard Lake Road (roughly 300 feet away).  However, the design calls for Orchard Lake, 14 Mile, and Northwestern to be widened to 6-lanes before the roundabout (currently all 4-lane roads) which should help increase capacity and queuing space.  Also, the traffic signals in the surrounding area are simple 2-phased signals making shorter cycle lengths possible (which should also help reduce the length of queues between the signal and the roundabout).  That being said, having a traffic signal just 300 feet away from a multi-lane roundabout may be problematic.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Here in Salinas, it would have to be Natividad Rd. at Boronda Rd. Very jammed on Boronda as it is a very busy two-lane road which no one with the right mind would even think about not widening it. On the other hand, Natividad Rd. is six-lanes south of Boronda while it it only two lanes north of Boronda. Traffic is backed up until a mile to the east and half a mile to the west.

[roadman65]

Actually I stand corrected about intersections in my hometown.  I forgot about the Orange Blossom Trail and Hunter's Creek Blvd./ Falcon Trace Blvd. intersection with TWO left turn lanes that have no traffic to warrant it.  Then nearby, the Orange Blossom Trail & Town Center Boulevard Intersection has only ONE turn lane going NB to WB with far more traffic  than that going from SB OBT to Falcon Trace.  Furthermore, both intersections were modified during the Orange Blossom Trail widening 7 years ago under the same engineer. 

Then you have the the Central Florida Parkway & Orange Blossom Tail intersection with the signal mast arms on the wrong side of the intersection.  A simple fix is to unbolt the current assembly and turn them 90 degrees and you have them where they need to be along with reversing the default setting of the timers so its not reverse in operation.  The thing is the County who maintains the signal says that because the stop bar is 40 feet from the signal installation no rules are being broken.  However, as true as that is that is what makes it so annoying is the fact the stop bar is too far away from the actual intersection.  It makes you feel that you are being reprimanded from being too close to an intersection for an unknown reason.

[NE2]

Orange Blossom Tail

[US71]

http://goo.gl/maps/sxMSJ

Rogers Ave (AR 22) at 19th St and A St in Ft Smith

3 different green sequences and if you're not paying close attention, you forget which signal is yours.

[roadman65]

Oh, NE 2 if you think OBT is annoying then you should see what they did from Landstreet to Oakridge.  Now they paved the two right lanes as well as the auxillary lanes, so all signal loops are inoperative and you can get nailed at both Lancaster and Orlando Central Parkway waiting for the long timed greens on the two side roads.  I mean you get stopped at one, wait a while, then proceed to the next to repeat the process again.  Two lights in almost five minuets to pass at times.

I do not think it will be fixed as the project is no where near started, as it is to rid the center turn lane for a grassy median like from Oakridge to I-4 was done all Winter and Spring.  I do not even know why the two right lanes were resurfaced anyway because they cannot do the left lane until after the median is completed that may be months as FDOT gives the contractor until May 13 to take their time and finnish the job.  Plus, they have to add the water lines for the sprinkler system that requires to dig up some of the newly laid asphalt to have it reach.  So prepare yourself if you travel through the area.

Good news is they finally started work on Desination Way from John Young Parkway as you stated that will ease some congestion through that area upon completion.

[NE2]

Good news is they finally started work on Desination Way from John Young Parkway as you stated that will ease some congestion through that area upon completion.

Uh, they started work on this a couple years ago. What they're doing now is temporarily connecting it to Futures Drive.

[DaBigE]

There may be issues with traffic backing up through the roundabout due to the close proximity of the traffic signal just north of the roundabout on Orchard Lake Road (roughly 300 feet away).  However, the design calls for Orchard Lake, 14 Mile, and Northwestern to be widened to 6-lanes before the roundabout (currently all 4-lane roads) which should help increase capacity and queuing space.  Also, the traffic signals in the surrounding area are simple 2-phased signals making shorter cycle lengths possible (which should also help reduce the length of queues between the signal and the roundabout).  That being said, having a traffic signal just 300 feet away from a multi-lane roundabout may be problematic.

I would guess that they would place a detector (loop or otherwise) several feet downstream of the roundabout, which would call for a green to prevent from queues backing up into the roundabout/locking the roundabout up. That was the plan on a another project I worked on a few years ago, where there was a roundabout and a signal with no more that 250 feet between them.

[hm insulators]

In the Phoenix area, the Grand Avenue (US 60) corridor with a closely paralleling railroad track and the three-way intersections was always a bear. In recent years, many of the intersections were improved somewhat with overpasses to eliminate some of the hassles, but I still usually avoid trying to cross Grand Avenue unless I use a bridge. I've never been much for waiting for trains to go by.

[Billy F 1988]

Six words: Avoid Bancroft Street and South Avenue! Why? I hate crossing there as a foot pedestrian because some idiots in Missoula just don't know when to stop or where to stop. I nearly got run over on 39th and Reserve this summer, and again approaching Russell and McDonald Avenue. But Bancroft and South Avenue tops my cake. It is a four-way intersection with a blinking red light hovering over it. Not exactly perfect traffic control now, is it? I really didn't think any of it until I started noticing how people can be so plum rude as I walk around town crossing Malfunction Junction, especially Bancroft and South Avenue.

[NE2]

Walking across the street in a short skirt? You're asking for it.

[Federal Route Sixty-Nine]

Almost all intersections here are completely sensor-actuated, therefore the level of service outside of rush-hour is pretty good.

So I don't have any annoying intersections to state. Thank you, CalTrans. <3

[agentsteel53]

the level of service outside of rush-hour is pretty good.

that's like saying that your car's crumple zones work well, except during a crash.

[kphoger]

Flashing red lights should be outlawed.  People can't be expected to see them and stop.
Every four-way intersection should have neon stoplights, rumble strips, spike strips, and armed police officers.

[kphoger]

the level of service outside of rush-hour is pretty good.

that's like saying that your car's crumple zones work well, except during a crash.

It's like having health insurance but having to pay the doctor's office whenever you actually get sick.  Oh, wait, that's how insurance works.

It's like saying your child is well behaved, except when you tell him to do something he doesn't want to do.
It's like saying you're committed to your wife for life, except in the event she does something unforgiveable.
It's like saying your sofa is really comfortable, as long as you don't sit there for very long.

On the other hand.....

It's like saying planes and trains run on time, except when there's a blizzard.
It's like saying orders are processed very quickly, except during the holiday season.
It's like saying you're a brave man, except when facing death.
I mean, really, what do you expect?

[pianocello]

53rd Street and Ripley in Davenport, just outside of my high school. The problem is that it's a 3-cycle light (NB and SB are separate) that runs on a timer, NOT a sensor, and 53rd has a 90-second green. This gets incredibly bad when school gets let out, especially because the majority of the students make a right turn out of the school. (Link)