What’s With Only 8 Seconds to Get Through 24th & Broadway?

It is bad enough that we, at times, all get somewhat aggravated with each other when we drive, but to have the traffic signals do it to us as well?  It is well documented in Quincy that a person could have 2 birthdays during the time spent waiting at the light to get onto Broadway from 25th Street. I have become conditioned to watching the employees at Culver's change the "soup special" on the marque as I wait each day.

My newest driving frustration is at 24th and Broadway. Has anyone noticed if you are driving south toward Broadway on 24th Street waiting for the light to change you might have to go through two rotations of light changes before you can get through the intersection? This usually occurs after 6 p.m. Now if you happen to be the 4th car in line, chances are you won't get through that light before it changes to red again.

It has happened enough to me that I have actually timed the light and guess what? You, my fellow drivers, get 8 seconds to get through the light before it changes. Considering it takes a second for your brain to realize the light has changed, that leaves 7 seconds before the light changes. Wow, that certainly will open up traffic flow won't it?

To get around the problem, people who are aware of the short time available to them are now getting into the right turn lane and driving straight just to cross Broadway and then merging left to get into single lane traffic to proceed south on 24th Street. Now I don't expect 24th Street drivers should get more or even equal time to go through that intersection based on traffic flow, but 8 seconds?

I chose to write about this in hopes that the engineer in charge of traffic flow (either state or city) should really take a good hard look at this and give the 24th Street drivers some love here.