The most annoying intersection in your hometown?

[ilvny]

The intersection of Bellevue Ave and W Highland Ave in lower Bucks County, PA.

[SD Mapman]

The three stoplights at Exit 14 in Spearfish. It's not even close!

[Lytton]

The intersection of Isabella, Flora, Tolita and E in Coronado. Drivers who are going straight through the intersection on Isabella don't need to stop. However, when you stop at the intersection from Flora, Tolita or E. There is no stop sign, there is only a yield sign. Another problem is that drivers on Isabella speed through and there is a parking lot on that street, which blocks your view around the cars, so you can't see the car that might speed and make a T-bone collision with your car.

The intersection is literally like a gamble. Sometimes, you have to stop in the middle of the intersection when you finally spot the speeding car from Isabella.

Here's the street view of the intersection: http://goo.gl/maps/QjIDD

[Ned Weasel]

Do all the lights ever go green at the same time? If so, then perhaps the yield signs serve a purpose in terms of helping drivers coming from the left who want to turn right at the second light (although from looking at the map I'm unsure why they'd want to do that except to park on the curb along there).

Not all at the same time. When the signal in the background is green, one or the other of the foreground signals will also be, but not both. I think the only time the second signal goes red is when Dickinson Ave. has the green.

And you're right, there's not much non-redundant reason to turn right on Dickinson other than parking and a couple of service entrances for the senior apartments there.

That certainly is a frustrating intersection, and if the combination of the traffic signal and yield sign isn't a clear violation of Section 2B.04, paragraph 10 of the MUTCD, it certainly violates the intent.

I've seen yield signs used in conjunction with traffic signals before, but only where it falls under the permissible use for a "channelized turn lane...not controlled by a traffic control signal" (from the section cited above).

This example, however, while it should be permissible under the above-referenced MUTCD provision, is a little confusing because of the presence of a green right turn arrow: https://maps.google.com/?ll=38.942079,-94.706655&spn=0.004656,0.010568&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.942147,-94.706847&panoid=nwgAu1DoXJykGnshMcw2vg&cbp=12,306.42,,0,4.66

I suppose that green arrow is just there to say, "Ignore the yield sign; you're good."

[dgolub]

In Port Washington, NY: The intersection of Shore Road, Sands Point Road, Cow Neck Road, and Manorhaven Boulevard.  Even though all four streets are major thoroughfares, the traffic light takes forever to change if you're coming from Sands Point Road.  Probably because it's a town road and the other three are county roads.

[TCN7JM]

There are a couple here in Sioux Falls that are slightly confusing, but not too terribly rage inducing.

Arriving at Cleveland Avenue's intersection with 26th Street from the north, I still forget where I am sometimes because the only street blade telling me I'm at 26th Street is a really small on the middle of the stoplight post on the other side of the street (see for yourself).

The other used to be fine until they repainted the lanes when the intersection of N 60th Street and Cliff Avenue was undergoing construction. They're painted so horribly, and it confuses me all the time because you have to drive at a weird diagonal angle when crossing Cliff Avenue to stay in your lane, and the right lane abruptly ends a few meters after the intersection. Sadly, it's not updated on Google Maps yet, so I can't show you at the moment.

[pctech]

Hmmm....too many to chose from in Baton Rouge!

[roadman]

Before it was signalized in the early 2000s - principally due to the high crash rate, the worst intersection in Wakefield, MA (and one that I would go well out of my way to avoid) was North Ave and Albion Street.  Standard 90 degree 4 way intersection, except that a) Albion Street on the east side of the intersection was (and still is) one-way into the intersection, so that eastbound traffic approaching on Albion from the west has to turn left or right onto North Ave, and b) the MBTA Reading/Haverhill commuter rail line crosses at grade across Albion through the west leg of the intersection, which meant it was impossible for traffic approaching eastbound on Albion to pull up far enough into the intersection to see approaching traffic on North Ave without straddling the tracks.

Since North at Albion has been signalized, my current "worst" intersection in Wakefield I normally try to avoid is Salem Street at Vernon Street.  While both streets are minor collectors with relatively low traffic volumes, they intersect at about a 60 degree skew.  Vernon is under stop control, which actually doesn't help much because you can't see approaching traffic on Salem when you're sitting at the stop lines.

Improving the intersection geometrics and installing signals has been on the state's Chapter 90 wish list for some time, but the abutters and other locals have continually objected to the project going forward - citing the need for takings.

[MASTERNC]

Since this was brought up, the intersection of PA 320 and US 30 near Villanova is annoying.  Not only is it the intersection of two major state routes, there are also two offset residential streets that have their own signal phases.  One of them is often used as a shortcut around the Villanova campus.  Furthermore, because of those side streets, there is a No Turn on Red condition for traffic coming south on PA 320, which prohibits the majority movement (right turn on red) and causes big backups.  Traffic also gets bad coming from the Villanova campus on major event days due to the long light cycle.

http://goo.gl/maps/iKDTf

[mrsman]

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

I tend to agree, given the size and capacity of Los Angeles, the actual construction of the intersections are reasonably good.  But there are some notable bad intersections:

I grew up in Los Angeles, and one of the worst intersections was Westwood/Santa Monica (and Veteran/SM and Beverly Glen/SM), because of the way that "Little SM" and "BIg SM" would conflict with each other.  It was basically designed as two very closely parallel streets with lights.  Making a left from BIg SM to Westwood and I'd immediately face a red light.  If two more cars followed me, We'd block the intersection.  But these problems have largely been eliminated thanks to the Santa Monica Blvd Parkway Project that converted the street onto one boulevard.  But problems remain in Beverly Hills.  See Santa Monica / Beverly Drive.

6-way intersection with no lights: Beverly/Canon/Lomitas in Beverly Hills

Other bad multi-ways with lights: La Cienega/San Vicente/Burton Way, Sunset/Hollywood/Virgil/Hillhurst, Temple/Virgil/Silver Lake, Fairfax/Olympic/San Vicente

Another bad intersection, and my vote for the worst in L.A.: Wilshire / Sepulveda.  I-405 has a full cloverleaf exit with Wilshire.  Cloverleafs are their own problem, but the only way they can even try to work is if there are no traffic lights involved.  Right in the middle of the cloverleaf, we have a fairly busy traffic light of Sepulveda to contend with.

https://www.google.com/maps?q=sepulveda+and+wilshire+los+angeles&hl=en&ll=34.056019,-118.4515&spn=0.009155,0.014677&sll=40.867704,-73.928719&sspn=0.066335,0.117416&hnear=Wilshire+Blvd+%26+S+Sepulveda+Blvd,+Los+Angeles,+Los+Angeles+County,+California+90025&t=h&z=16

[mrsman]

Washington Circle in the District of Columbia. Poorly designed in many ways, uses traffic lights whose cycles often make little sense, and a general feeling of anarchy whenever I drive there (so I avoid it).

I can think of other intersections that annoy me at certain times of day (such as the one nearest my house because the red light is too long, but if I said what intersection it is, I'd basically be pinpointing where I live) or if I'm in a certain lane (due to poor traffic flow or the like). But those are more esoteric.

If voting for my current hometown (DC area), I would have to include the Seven Corners in Falls Church.  Traffic goes in every direction there.  Don't forget Mount Vernon Square,  and the area by RI/Connecticut/M Street that doesn't seem to have a name.

[JMoses24]

The intersection of Dixie Highway, Main Street, Rose Street and Turfway Road. It's a 5 leg intersection. The through movement for Dixie Highway involves a curve, and the intersection takes forever to get completely through unless you just say "screw it".

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Circle in the District of Columbia. Poorly designed in many ways, uses traffic lights whose cycles often make little sense, and a general feeling of anarchy whenever I drive there (so I avoid it).

I can think of other intersections that annoy me at certain times of day (such as the one nearest my house because the red light is too long, but if I said what intersection it is, I'd basically be pinpointing where I live) or if I'm in a certain lane (due to poor traffic flow or the like). But those are more esoteric.

If voting for my current hometown (DC area), I would have to include the Seven Corners in Falls Church.  Traffic goes in every direction there.  Don't forget Mount Vernon Square,  and the area by RI/Connecticut/M Street that doesn't seem to have a name.

Seven Corners is bad, though it would be much worse if U.S. 50 (Arlington Boulevard) did not "bypass" much of it in a trench.

My candidate for such scorn - U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike) and Fairland Road, in Silver Spring, just south of the Md. 200 interchange.  The local master plan calls for this intersection to be replaced by an overpass, but there is predictable opposition from the usual suspect groups in Montgomery County.

All of the turning movements southbound have been replaced by a jughandle, but crashes here are frequent and sometimes high-speed (posted limit is 50 MPH).

[CapeCodder]

Katherine Lee Bates Road/Gifford Street/Main Street in Falmouth.

You turn right onto Gifford Street and it's only fifty yards to Main. At Main you have a Quick Lube and a fire station. When the fire station is dispatching vehicles, the emergency traffic light turns solid red and it backs up quickly. You're blocked in on KLB and if you have somewhere to go, don't plan on going too quickly.