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Dangerous Intersection is Acknowledged 7 People want this fixed
Whalley and West Rock Avenues at rush hour...this morning, at 8:10AM, light turned red and four cars coming off of Fountain ran the light, one almost hitting a car turning onto W. Rock. Suggestion of putting a strobe in the red lights...people speeding off of Fountain are in their own world and strobe may wake them up. Total disregard for the rules of the road on this intersection will lead to a deadly crash before too long!
403 West Rock Ave,New Haven,CT 06515
submitted by JN
almost 2 years ago
6 Comments
wrote on 11/19/2008 at 10:42PM
A watcher was added to this issue.
wrote on 04/06/2009 at 05:42PM
Another person wants this fixed too!
A wrote on 08/30/2009 at 09:03PM
They run them on purpose because they can. Has nothing to do with seeing the light. This is a common problem throughout New Haven, not just at that point. Part of the problem? Cops do crap about it! People do it because they know they can get away with it without any concequences...until they hit someone or a car...but then sometimes that becomes a hit-n-run.
wrote on 10/08/2009 at 02:52AM
Acknowledged by CTLS
Fred wrote on 10/14/2009 at 10:56PM
I've seen this happen as well, but the light is far too short - you can end up sitting through it two times before getting across the intersection. I'm sympathetic to the right of pedestrians to be safe. Part of the problem in New Haven - and part of the reason I think people feel compelled to go through yellow->red lights is because 1. intersections aren't equipped with sensors, so people sit through lights while there is no opposing traffic and 2. the light intervals at many intersections are very short. It is incredibly frustrating to drive 15 blocks and sit through 15 lights, each of which turns red just as you approach it. It isn't that New Haven drivers are especially reckless or desiring to break the laws, it's that the city has some of the worst traffic light engineering imaginable. Any driver who lives in the city is aware of it, and it makes life more dangerous for everyone.
Carole wrote on 10/15/2009 at 11:13AM
Fred: I agree that NH has some terrible traffic light engineering, and that it makes for frustrating driving. I disagree with much of the rest of your comments, though. First, the original complaint about this intersection was not about pedestrian safety, although that's crucial. And it was not about drivers running the light as they turn onto Whalley from West Rock Ave, which is the very short green cycle that you seem to be addressing. The complaint was about drivers zooming down the hill on Fountain and not stopping for the light as they merge onto Whalley. That light is green most of the time on Fountain. It turns red when someone has waited for a green arrow to turn left turn from Whalley onto West Rock. More important, no one is ever "compelled" to run a light. I get frustrated too, but that's no excuse. And according to Police Chief Jim Lewis, New Haven drivers ARE especially reckless -- and he came here from Southern California!