STOP!-GO-STOP- GET MAD

Posted by Mike Johnston on June 29, 2009 - 11:25pm
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Downtown Batavia Traffic LightsWith all the talks of construction of the round about and Oak St. as well as cleaning up the city in other road construction ways, I would love to know when something is going to happen with the lights on Main St. Has anyone tried to drive down Main St. at lunch time? Rush Hour? It is always backed up and takes forever to go from one end to the other. Now most cities always have some congestion but this is avoidable! Why does the city feel that people need to stop at every single light! One turns green, then the next one turns red. That one turns green, then the next one is red and so on. Even more, I love stopping at the light on Delinger only to most of the time, see that there is no or one car waiting to turn that stops 20-30 others. Why can't something be done? Why can't the lights be syncronized like surrounding Amherst, Buffalo etc.? I have heard the "lights make people stop and observe the shops downtown" speach, but how much can you observe the same shops? I have noticed it has shifted from looking at the stores, to looking to see how often you can switch lanes to get a car up and get through the light before it changes.

Let's make some adjustments that make sense here! 

Posted by Bea McManis on June 30, 2009 - 6:30am
The traffic light situation is terrible and has been discussed many times before.
It just doesn't make sense. The other day we were in a line of traffic on Ellicott waiting to turn west on Main St. at the monument. Only three cars could make it through the light before it changed. Coming back down Main, we were stopped at the light and noticed that six to seven cars were moving from Ellicott to Main. Do they change the timing after 4pm?
Also, the light at the footbridge allows more than ample time for a person to walk across Main St. In fact, an entire platoon could march across the street before the light changed again.
However, at the intersections of Main and Vine and Main and Harvester a person attempting to walk across the street puts their life in jeopardy. I find it ironic that these two lights, in the neighborhood where there are TWO senior living complexes, allow 15 seconds or less to navigate the crossings.