The most annoying intersection in your hometown?

[Billy F 1988]

Where you live, which intersection annoys you?

For me in Missoula, MT, it's South Avenue, Russell Street, and Brooks Street, known as "Malfunction Junction". Fittingly so.

[Ian]

The intersection of PA 320 and Bullens Lane near Wallingford is my new least favorite intersection around here. They recently installed a traffic signal at that intersection that has actually increased back ups dramatically. Before the signal, the intersection wasn't a problem at all. Now that the signal is there, I avoid going that way as much as possible because of all the back ups it has created.

[cpzilliacus]

Annoying?  Plenty. 

But ones that I truly dislike are the ones with frequent wrecks.

Here are some near Washington, D.C. that I believe are a hazard to the traveling public:

U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike) and Fairland Road, just south of the new Md. 200 interchange in Montgomery  County.  Over and over again there have been injury wrecks there.  The local master plan contains provisions that call for this signalized intersection to be replaced by a grade separation.  Can't happen soon enough for me, though there is no funding currently to build it (presumably, the next signalized intersection to the south, at Musgrove Road, would also be eliminated as part of the same project).

Md. 355 (Frederick Road) and Shady Grove Road near the west end of Md. 200 in Montgomery County has had many bad wrecks.

In Prince George's County, Maryland 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue Extended) has three at-grade signalized intersections just outside the Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495) that have many crashes, at Westphalia Road, the federal Suitland Parkway and at Dower House Road.

Va. 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) at Va. 644 (Old Keene Mill Road), in Fairfax County has had many serious crashes (including some fatalities).  The next intersection to the north, at Va. 645 (Burke Lake Road) has also had quite a few wrecks.

[corco]

Idaho 55 and Railroad Avenue in McCall, Idaho.

Try making a left turn from Railroad onto 55 south on weekends. I dare you.

[kphoger]

I can't think of any intersections in Wichita that are really annoying.  Traffic here is pretty good.

This one bothers me, but not because it ties up traffic.  Why end the lane on northbound Woodlawn before the light?

[Billy F 1988]

Here is why I'm not fond of Malfunction Junction in Missoula. As you see in these Google Earth snapshots, the one on the left is from far back as 2002 when on South Avenue, you actually can cross BOTH Russell Street AND Brooks Street/US 12 Business. But, just as recently as 2006, Missoula decided to hash that idea and stub off South Avenue, hence what you see on the right. Now, you CAN'T cross BOTH Russell OR Brooks. When heading eastbound on South Avenue, it dead ends at Blackjack Pizza. That means you have to loop back, head to Washburn Street, then make a right onto Brooks. Okay, yeah, that's confusing for those who never been to Montana and have never visited Missoula. Now, that goes for when you head westbound on South Avenue. It doesn't dead end, but, you have to make a right turn only onto Brooks. Heading southbound on Russell Street, you can turn right onto South Avenue, same with heading southwestbound on Brooks/US 12 Business, but you CAN'T go left from either street.

Ah, I love it when a name like Malfunction Junction lives up to its bidding. Imagine what would happen next if either route were to be bypased. What a mess that will make!

[roadman65]

There is really none that stand out above the others around my way.  Just your typical bad signal timings and of the sort, but nothing that really has something uniquely bad about it to mention.

Maybe the John Young Parkway and LB. McLeod Road intersection would come close if any.

[tradephoric]

Basing it entirely on safety, here are some annoying intersections in Southeast Michigan.  Data compiled from SEMCOG and looks at 5 years of crash data from 2007-2011.

The intersection with the highest crash rate in SE Michigan...
Ford Road @ Haggerty Rd (Total Crashes = 402; Injury crashes = 75):



The intersection with the highest number of injury accidents in SE Michigan...
12 Mile @ Dequindre (Total crashes = 368; Injury crashes = 97):


Both intersections seem innocuous enough but for one reason or another they are plagued by high accident rates.   

[1995hoo]

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.

[PHLBOS]

In my area, southeastern PA, the most annoying intersections are local (township-controlled roads) that have STOP signs placed in completely illogical locations as a means of speed control; which is an MUTCD No-No BTW... regardless of which authority owns the road (state, county or town).

One annoying intersections near me:

(Secane) Upper Darby/Springfield Township: Providence Road/North Ave./South Ave. intersection/traffic/train signal at the SEPTA train station.  Northbound traffic along South Ave. (heading towards the intersection) can sometimes back up for about 1/2 mile during and after the gates go down (for a train).  The reason: despite having a center/left turn lane, many don't completely move over to that center lane; traffic turning onto eastbound Providence Road aren't obstructed when the gates are down and have a green right-turn arrow.

[deathtopumpkins]

In Boston: Kenmore Square. Too many separate crossings for pedestrians, too many diverging routes with signals for vehicles. Cars frequently get confused by seeing two adjacent signals, one for traffic going slightly to the left, one for traffic going slightly to the right.

In Ipswich: Every intersection along Central/East Main Street (MA 1A) because there is too much traffic to ever get to turn unless you just go, oncoming traffic be damned. Also, East Street and County Street is pretty bad. It's a T where East ends at County, but it's on the outside of a curve on County and there is a building right against the road on the corner that blocks any view of oncoming traffic, plus people tend to do 40-45 through there since it is just south of where the speed limit changes from 25 to 40 on County. Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/UoVXk

[Also, looking at that map, I had always thought that the through road was County on both sides. I guess that's what you get when you never post street signs.]

[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).

Most traffic circles in the District of Columbia are terrible in terms of traffic engineering (they are definitely not roundabouts). Dupont Circle is bad, but perhaps the worst two are on the D.C./Maryland border. 

Chevy Chase Circle on the border where Connecticut Avenue (Md. 185 north of the line) crosses Western Avenue has had more than a few bad wrecks.

16th Street at Eastern Avenue and Colesville Road on the south side of Silver Spring is (unlike most other circles in D.C.) mostly  unsignalized and very crash-prone, yet there has been no serious effort at re-engineering this busy intersection.

[citrus]

In San Francisco: Oak and Octavia. I live very close to the stub end of the Central Freeway, and I generally think think the re-do of Octavia was reasonably well done, even when I'm walking through the area on foot. But this intersection is always a mess, with lots of aggression in drivers trying to get to the right-turn lane (or lanes, depending on time of day), and making illegal turns from the left lanes.

Next up: Mission, South Van Ness, Otis, and 12th St, which includes US 101. I may not drive through here very often, but when I do, I always get confused. This needs more advance lane signage and/or pavement markings.

Next: Alemany, Crescent, Peralta, Putnam, and an I-280 ramp, which gets easily overwhelmed. The Alemany/Bayshore/San Bruno/Industrial mess below the US 101/I-280 interchange is also extremely convoluted.

Honorable Mention: Howard and South Van Ness (heading south on Howard and want to continue south? no can do), Fell and Divisadero, Duboce and Guerrero, pretty much any intersection involving 13th St.

When I lived in San Diego: Torrey Pines, North Torrey Pines, and La Jolla Village Dr.

[kurumi]

In San Francisco: Hayes and Gough. If you're making a right turn from Hayes EB to Gough SB, here's your traffic signal cycle:

* 00:00: Red: about 60 seconds (not sure of exact duration, but there's no right turn on red, so it doesn't matter)
* 01:00: Walk signal for pedestrians across Gough begins, with about a 10-second countdown
* 01:01: Your green begins (but yield to pedestrians!)
* 01:10: Your green ends (as pedestrians are still crossing; continue to yield to them, and no turn on red!); restart cycle

This adds seasoning to your simmering "can't find parking" rage.

(Yes, Caltrain + Muni, etc. which is fine for us, but not as much for the grandparents and kids)

[agentsteel53]

in San Diego, CA-52 at CA-125.  it's a freeway interchange that completely clogs up between 6:15am and 9:30am on a weekday.  if I don't leave my house by 5:50, I am cooked.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

There are probably a good many intersections in Baton Rouge that could qualify, but my personal nomination is actually a series of too-closely spaced signalized intersections - College Drive @ Rabey/Bennington, College @ Constitution/I-10, and College @ Corporate Boulevard. Avoid at all cost during rush hour.

Honorable mention: Airline Highway @ Old Hammond Highway

[kkt]

In my particular neighborhood of Seattle, NE 75th St. & 25th Ave. NE.  Fairly heavy traffic in all directions, no left turn phase of the signal, lots of drivers going 40+ in both directions even though the posted limit is 30, no left turn lanes going E-W.  Pedestrian traffic due to fairly busy bus stops and a middle school 1/4 mile away.  It's really having no left turn phase of the signal that's the biggest problem; if drivers wait to make their turns until the intersection is clear there's often no chance during the green light.  So they run the yellow/red or try to turn quickly before oncoming traffic and cause an accident.

[vdeane]

Rochester, NY: Winton Rd, Elmwood Ave, and Monroe Ave (NY 31) (Twelve Corners).  Lots of lights, lots of traffic turning left and right.  Takes about five minutes to get through, as you can count on getting two lights red most of the time.  No right on red, for reasons unknown.

Potsdam, NY: US 11, NY 345, Clarkson Ave, and Maple St; this 5-way intersection takes a long time to cycle.  If you're a pedestrian here, you also have to wait for the light to cycle.  Amazingly, rights of red are allowed, but they're dangerous if you don't know which "spoke" of the intersection has the green light.  For example, turning right from US 11 north to Clarkson Ave, you have no less than three different conflicting movements (Maple to Clarkson Ave, US 11 south to Clarkson Ave, and straight from NY 345).

[empirestate]

Rochester, NY: Winton Rd, Elmwood Ave, and Monroe Ave (NY 31) (Twelve Corners).  Lots of lights, lots of traffic turning left and right.  Takes about five minutes to get through, as you can count on getting two lights red most of the time.  No right on red, for reasons unknown.

Two words: school crossing.

[empirestate]

Where you live, which intersection annoys you?

Damn near every intersection in my neighborhood is annoying. So I'll just examine one: http://goo.gl/maps/TMZeI

It's the intersection of:
1) Van Cortlandt Park South, the west leg. VCPS continues through the NE quadrant as a pedestrian/stair street, but the roadway itself becomes:

2) Van Cortlandt Avenue West, erroneously known to NAVTEQ, and thus much of the world, as Van Cortlandt Park West. (Such a street, if it existed, would actually be Broadway.) That's the east/southeast leg.

3) Bailey Avenue, the south leg.

4) I-87 NB on/off ramps, along with the Van Cortlandt Park golf course access road, as the north leg.

Much of what's annoying has to do with signals and timing. The north and south legs have their own separate green phases, but there are no arrow indications, so it's not evident that you have a protected green. Motorists in the know who want to turn left will just barrel through the green lights (creating conflict with pedestrians of course), and get impatient with unfamiliar motorists, who might be inclined to yield to oncoming traffic, not knowing that it still faces a red light.

Pedestrian signal timing is even more annoying. Imagine you're a pedestrian at the SW corner and want to cross Bailey Ave. Traffic next to you, on VCPS, gets a green light along with a left arrow onto I-87. There is absolutely no traffic that conflicts with you, since there's no turn on red in NYC, and even so, right turning traffic off of VCPS has its own channelized lane behind you.

Then the left arrow goes out, and it's green both ways, for VCPS and VCAW. Now you get a Walk signal...but of course, there's left-turning traffic coming at you from VCAW, and it makes up a significant percentage of the intersection's traffic. And this being an outer borough, turning motorists are hazardous because they try to beat the oncoming traffic, and don't encounter as many pedestrians as in Manhattan.

(Incidentally, the same Walk signal timing exists on the next eastward intersection as well.)

A few other annoyances stem from the confusing array of street names, traffic speeds and volume in relation to pedestrians, and from the existence of the park access road, an unexpectedly two-way street merging into the I-87 ramps. Wisely, at least, it's park traffic that has to yield to freeway ramp traffic and not vice-versa.

But yeah, head east up VCAW to the intersection with Sedgwick Avenue, Gouverneur Avenue and Stevenson Place, or further to the intersection of Sedgwick, Goulden and Dickinson Avenues with Mosholu Parkway (the signal situation here is especially weird) and you have enough annoyances for a week.

[vdeane]

Rochester, NY: Winton Rd, Elmwood Ave, and Monroe Ave (NY 31) (Twelve Corners).  Lots of lights, lots of traffic turning left and right.  Takes about five minutes to get through, as you can count on getting two lights red most of the time.  No right on red, for reasons unknown.

Two words: school crossing.

Wouldn't the no right on red be only during school hours then, rather than 24/7/365?  Plus they have crossing guards during the morning and afternoon rushes, and even a ped-only light placed in the worst possible location (between the middle school and high school, close to twelve corners such that it's arguable un-needed for northbound ped traffic and useless to southbound ped traffic).

[empirestate]

Rochester, NY: Winton Rd, Elmwood Ave, and Monroe Ave (NY 31) (Twelve Corners).  Lots of lights, lots of traffic turning left and right.  Takes about five minutes to get through, as you can count on getting two lights red most of the time.  No right on red, for reasons unknown.

Two words: school crossing.

Wouldn't the no right on red be only during school hours then, rather than 24/7/365?

Maybe, if that were the only reason, which I admittedly gave by way of simplicity. But the complex geometry of the intersection(s), combined with traffic volumes, adjacent driveways and all of that are also contributing factors, no doubt. It's my observation in that area that anything other than a bread-and-butter four way intersection with no arrow signals tends to get the NTOR treatment. Just look up north on Winton Road at East and University Avenues...simple, 4-way intersections (save for the I-490 WB on ramp from East/Winton), but also NTOR because of these added factors.

[bugo]

Tulsa is on a grid, so there aren't very many odd surface street intersections where 3 streets cross or anything like that.  The worst intersections here are freeway to freeway interchanges.  One of the worst is US 64/US 169/OK 51, which is a cloverleaf.  It gets backed up during rush hour, especially the movement from NB 169 to WB 51.  There are no C/D ramps, so the loop ramp just dumps you onto the highway.  There are several other underpowered interchanges in the metro, but this is the one that stands out to me.

[Alps]

Oh, hey, NJ's not here yet.

* Any intersection in Essex County with a pretimed traffic signal. This isn't the 1960s, we have technology to solve this problem now. I don't need to sit for 60 seconds in backed up traffic at a light with no cross traffic.
* US 46 @ Beverwyck Rd., Parsippany - Every afternoon, 46 reliably backs up half a mile or more, often taking 10 minutes to get through the intersection. The problem is a 4-phase traffic signal with a busy cross street. The solution is not only obvious, but easy to implement - 3 through lanes each way on 46 instead of 2, and a longer WB second left-turn lane so that demand isn't getting starved on each cycle. There's room to do this through restriping and maybe a little curbline modification without taking anyone's property.
* US 46 @ Smith Rd., Parsippany - Timed so that you can't get a green light at Vail Rd. (just to the east) and a green light turning onto Smith. The problem at Smith Rd. is that a 2-phase signal at 46 is right next to a 3-phase signal at Smith/Littleton Rd. The timing is coordinated between them, but 46 has WAY too much green time for its own good. The WB left turn to Smith Rd. is largely going to Littleton, but whereas both WB left-turn lanes go to Smith, only the right one has the option for Littleton. The intersection should be restriped to let both lanes turn onto Littleton (with the left lane going to 287 North) and retimed to give more time to cross traffic and less to the 46 mainline.

[J N Winkler]

I can't think of any intersections in Wichita that are really annoying.  Traffic here is pretty good.

We are indeed blessed in Wichita, but so much goodness causes the moderately bad to stand out more--I-235/Zoo Blvd. comes to mind.

This one bothers me, but not because it ties up traffic.  Why end the lane on northbound Woodlawn before the light?

Given that the hatched-off area approaches the width of a full traffic lane at the light, I think it is an interim treatment until a later project widens Woodlawn (probably to a five-lane curb-and-gutter section) north of 37th Street.