Tag Archives: Traffic light

The Evening Post: Anniston Police Building Demolition / Traffic Light Removals

Posted on by
Reply

Geek Alabama Evening Post

Today, the old Anniston Police Building at the corner of Gurnee Ave. and 12th St. is being taken down.  This building was very old and had to be replaced.  The new Justin Sollohub Justice Center is already open and the Anniston Police has already moved in.  Also, two traffic light intersections at Gurnee Ave. and 12th St. and Moore Ave. and 11th St. were turned off today.  4-way stops now replace these traffic lights.  The lights will stay up on red light flash mode so drivers can get used to the changes for 30 days.  Enjoy the photos!

light 002 light 003light 005light 012light 018light 043light 045light 054light 057light 062light 085light 091light 093light 099

Related articles
About these ads

Roadscapes Wednesday: AL-202 at Hunter Street Traffic Light

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

On Tuesday, a truck had a hydraulic leak and leaked a lot of oil onto AL-202.  It took ALDOT a couple of hours to clean up the road.  When I got to the intersection, you could tell they used a lot of sand to clean up the roadway.  I would not want to be traveling along this road after the first rain.

road 003road 006road 014

I am doing this post to talk about another problem at the AL-202 and Hunter Street intersection, and it’s the traffic light.  The light will turn red for AL-202 traffic even if no one is at the Hunter Street intersection.  While I was at the intersection, I caught something I have never seen before.  Traffic turning left onto Hunter Street got the left turn signal.  Normally, traffic on AL-202 would get the green light after the left turn cycle is done.  But that is not the case at this light.

road 008road 011

In the video below, you will see why this light is malfunctioning.  And sadly this light has been broken for around six months now!  I really hate talking about the road infrastructure in the Anniston/Oxford area and how such bad shape it really is.  It does hurt this area with recruiting and having people visiting.  If we maintained our roads and traffic lights the right way, I would not be talking about this right now.

This is just another case of ALDOT and their practices.  This is why they don’t like Geek Alabama and Nathan Young!

Related articles

Sunday Discussion: The Same Traffic Light Problems In Oxford

Posted on by
Reply

Geek Alabama Discussion

The same traffic light problems are still occurring along Leon Smith Parkway at the Oxford Exchange.  I did this post and video in March about this problem.  View it below!

http://geekalabama.com/2013/03/24/sunday-discussion-traffic-light-problems-in-annistonoxford/

The traffic light at the Oxford Exchange / Oxford Commons intersection is working mostly properly.  The light needs to allow more time for traffic turning left into the Oxford Exchange.  Otherwise, the sensors are at least working.

797932394_2828122571_0

But the big problem is the light at the Interstate 20 eastbound ramp, this one.

797932258_2828122143_0797932309_2828122308_0

The light’s sensors are broken and will turn red even if no one is there to turn onto Leon Smith Parkway.  The left turn signal to turn onto Interstate 20 is staying green for a very long time.  And here’s the worst part, traffic going north on Leon Smith Parkway only gets around 20 seconds of green light time.  This is why so much traffic is backing up and blocking intersections.

797932313_2828122321_0797932338_2828122398_0797932351_2828122437_0797932378_2828122522_0797932384_2828122540_0797932320_2828122343_0

A while back, there was a story in the Anniston Star saying these lights along Leon Smith Parkway would be re-timed.  Sadly, this is not the case!  If this light is not re-timed soon, Oxford is going to lose out on tax revenue as people quit going to the Oxford Exchange / Oxford Commons area so they don’t have to deal with the traffic.  I have talked about these lights since Summer 2012.  I would have thought these lights would be fixed by now.

Related articles

 

 

Roadscapes Wednesday: Downtown Gadsden Traffic Lights

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

Lots of road geeks online loves to talk about the traffic lights in downtown Gadsden Alabama.  The city took a very interesting approach with the intersections along Broad St. in downtown.  They took three classic 4-way traffic lights all painted black and placed them at six downtown intersections.  Here’s the interesting part, only two of the lights are lighted in each direction.  The left traffic light facing your direction is not lighted and is blank.  There is also a three traffic light configuration in downtown Alabama City along Wall St. as well.  Here are some pictures of the intersections in Gadsden that has this three traffic light configuration.

road 2 086road 2 090road 2 096road 2 098road 2 101road 2 104road 2 112road 2 114road 2 116road 2 117

Sadly, one downtown traffic light along Broad St. does not have this three traffic light configuration.  At least it’s painted black!

road 2 120

Related articles

Roadscapes Wednesday: New U.S. 431 Traffic Light

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

Over the past few months, I have followed the progress of a new traffic light on U.S. 431 in Anniston.  This location used to have an overpass for Pelham Road.  This was mostly for a quick connection to the former Fort McClellan from Noble St. and downtown Anniston.  Now that the bridge is gone, the new intersection connects Pelham Road to a shopping center.

Former bridge. From Google Maps.

Former bridge. From Google Maps.

I wanted to start off by showing the construction of the new intersection.  These are pictures before everything was paved over.

stuff 118stuff 120stuff 124stuff 125stuff 127

These are the pictures while the area was being paved.

stuff 002stuff 004stuff 007stuff 010stuff 012stuff 013

These are the pictures while the traffic light was on flash mode.

stuff 042stuff 043stuff 047stuff 050stuff 051stuff 053stuff 056

And here are the pictures of the intersection today.

stuff 068stuff 069stuff 264stuff 256stuff 272stuff 259

Sadly, there are already problems with this light.  The green light time on U.S. 431 is only 15 seconds and its way too short!  Several cars are either running red lights or almost rear-ending other cars because of the short green light time.  More green light time between the traffic light sensors and the traffic light white line is needed!  Here’s video of what I mean.

There are also other changes to get ready for the Anniston Eastern Bypass.  The W 43rd St. intersection at U.S. 431 has been re-located.

stuff 061stuff 063stuff 065

Related articles

Roadscapes Wednesday: 10th St. / 8th St. Malfunctioning Traffic Lights

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

This week I wanted to talk about some traffic lights along Quintard Ave. that are still malfunctioning!  The lights along Quintard at 10th St., 8th St. (AL-202), and Greenbrier Dear Rd. are still going through light cycles when no one is there to trigger the lights.  The 10th St. and 8th St. lights are malfunctioning because ped signals to cross Quintard Ave. are still malfunctioning.  The ped signal buttons are broken and that causes the ped signals to go to walk on each cycle when they are not supposed too.  I have talked about these lights being broken since Summer 2012!

stuff 032stuff 048

When these lights are malfunctioning, it causes short green light times on Quintard Ave.  During the day time, this causes major traffic backups.  If no one is paying attention, this causes accidents.

stuff 038stuff 040stuff 055

So I have to wonder when the city of Anniston or ALDOT will ever fix these traffic light problems.  It could be worse, traffic lights in the city of Oxford are malfunctioning and causing massive traffic problems as well!  Here’s video from last Wednesday highlighting the malfunctioning lights at 10th St. and 8th St.

Related articles

 

Roadscapes Wednesday: Quintard Dr. Reconstruction / Greenbrier Speed Limits

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

Last weekend I went to look at the construction along Quintard Dr. / AL-21 in Oxford.  This  part of the road in front of Wal-Mart has been dangerous for a long time now.  Here’s a former picture from Google Maps.

oxford

Construction is taking place to make these intersections a lot safer!  When finished, only left turns off of Quintard Dr. will be allowed.  While construction is taking place, the median crossovers between the two traffic lights are closed off.  Since all traffic has turn at the traffic lights, this is causing big traffic backups!

stuff 036stuff 029stuff 037

One thing I found funny was at the Wal-Mart traffic light.  There are two left turn lanes but many cars choose the far left turn lane.  This causes traffic to back up onto the left lane of AL-21.  If you are going to Chick-fil-A or the gas station, why not cut through the Wal-Mart parking lot?

stuff 033stuff 040stuff 051

I wish people would use the left turn lanes properly instead of making a dangerous U-Turn at the Wal-Mart traffic light.  Cars are making U-Turns while cars are turning right from the Wal-Mart parking lot.  It won’t take long for an accident to happen!

stuff 056

I also wanted to talk about Greenbrier Dear Road.  I thought the speed limits were going down to 35 between Hillyer Robinson Parkway and Quintard Ave.  But nope, the speed limits are 35 from Golden Springs Road all the way to Quintard Ave.

stuff 261stuff 267stuff 269stuff 274

Since I live along this stretch of road, I have noticed NO ONE following the new speed limits.  All the cars are going 45-50 including me!  I am afraid this is setting up to be a speed trap for the city to make some money.  I guess I will be getting the media involved in this as well.

By the way, the Sunday Discussion post talking about the major traffic problems along Leon Smith Parkway was viewed by many people.  Read that post below!

http://geekalabama.com/2013/03/24/sunday-discussion-traffic-light-problems-in-annistonoxford/

Related articles

Sunday Discussion: Traffic Light Problems in Anniston/Oxford

Posted on by
2

Geek Alabama Discussion

NOTE: This post is being sent to all four TV stations in Birmingham.  This post is also being sent to The Anniston Star as well!  Enjoy video footage of the problems!

Last Saturday I experienced the worst traffic backup ever seen in Oxford!  Leon Smith Parkway at the new Publix and Oxford Exchange was filled with traffic jams.  It was so bad, traffic was backing up and blocking intersections!  I have talked about these traffic problems for a year now.  You think these traffic light problems are bad now, just wait until the Eastern Bypass opens!  Here’s a post talking about these issues from last December.

http://geekalabama.com/2012/12/20/roadscapes-wednesday-leon-smith-parkway/

I will begin with some pictures of the massive traffic backup.  Just take a look!

stuff 063stuff 070stuff 192stuff 174stuff 116stuff 121stuff 135stuff 188stuff 190

I have contacted The City of Oxford and ALDOT about these malfunctioning traffic lights for close to a year now.  But nothing has been done!  The new traffic light at the Oxford Exchange / Publix is on a timer.  There are sensors installed in the pavement but they are not working.  The eastbound I-20 light is a big problem.  It only has 20 seconds of green light time for traffic heading north into Anniston.  That is a big reason all of this traffic backup occurred.

As you can see in this picture, the traffic backup in the exchange went back a long distance!

stuff 131

The big reason for all of this traffic is the eastbound I-20 traffic light.  The short green light time and broken sensors is causing a big problem!

stuff 105stuff 110stuff 088stuff 093stuff 100stuff 117

With the light malfunctioning at the Oxford Exchange intersection.  This is causing the intersection to be blocked and this almost causes accidents.  So dangerous!

stuff 139stuff 080stuff 086stuff 147stuff 150stuff 156stuff 165

These traffic backups are causing problems at the next intersection down.  When traffic backs up, people will run the stop sign to get out!

stuff 186stuff 178stuff 183

The sad thing is the other side of the interstate also has problems!  The traffic lights at the Jimmy Hinton Dr. and I-20 westbound intersections are also not timed properly.  Turning right onto Leon Smith Parkway from the I-20 westbound ramp is very dangerous.

stuff 201stuff 205stuff 214stuff 221stuff 226stuff 232

Also, The other problem is with Jimmy Hinton Dr.  When only one car wants to go straight and the others wants to go right.  It backs up so much traffic that it blocks access to other businesses.

stuff 240stuff 258

This has been an ongoing issue with traffic light and road problems in the Anniston / Oxford area.  Many traffic lights in Anniston and Oxford have broken sensors and malfunctioning ped signals.  Also, Anniston decided to drop the speed limit to 35 along Greenbrier Dear Rd.  No one is going to follow this!

stuff 267

I have been shocked that neither the cities or ALDOT have fixed these problems!  I guess getting the TV media involved will be the only way to fix this!  Here are some videos showing some of the malfunctioning traffic lights in Anniston and Oxford.  I guess it’s going to take someone getting killed before something is done!

Related articles

Roadscapes Wednesday: Henry Road at Anniston Eastern Bypass

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

One intersection in Anniston has already been the talk of the area.  When a portion of the Anniston Eastern Bypass opened; Henry Road was moved to connect to the new roadway.  Sadly; it has not taken very long for accidents to occur at this intersection.  Several people are calling for a traffic light to be installed at this intersection.  The biggest problem is traffic is traveling south down the mountain at high speeds.  This causes a problem because much traffic has to turn left onto Henry Road.  Many close calls have been encountered including this one.

stuff 138

ALDOT has installed caution lights before you reach the intersection.  But this does little to slow down traffic.  Could ALDOT also install caution lights over the intersection?

stuff 004stuff 113

Here is investigation lines from a past accident.  It did not take for an accident to occur after the road opened.

stuff 149

The left turn lane for traffic to turn left onto Henry Road is not long enough!  At times, cars back up onto the left lane.  Traffic often pulls out in front of speeding traffic going downhill to turn left.  As you see below, there is ample room to extend the left turn lane and even add a second left turn lane.  When you turn onto Henry Road, traffic going north has 2 lanes.

stuff 154stuff 156stuff 160stuff 167stuff 124

The right turn lane southbound to turn onto Henry Road is much longer!

stuff 173

Traffic turning left onto Henry Road, not only has to manage fast-moving traffic coming down the mountain.  They also have some sight distance problems with all of those signs blocking the traffic’s view.

stuff 151

And let’s talk about traffic turning onto the bypass.  Many drivers will turn right to head south.  This traffic has to yield but I witnessed several drivers not even turning their necks to see if traffic was coming.  They were relying on their driver side mirrors while not slowing down.  There are plans to add an acceleration lane but I would like to see stop signs replace the yield signs.

stuff 126stuff 145stuff 136stuff 134

Good luck if you are wanting to turn left onto the bypass from Henry Road.  Once the bypass fully opens, this intersection is going to become much more dangerous!

stuff 128stuff 147

ALDOT recently installed signs pointing drivers to historic downtown Anniston.

stuff 007stuff 117

And I am still pointing this out!  When the old Henry Road was taken out, they forgot the school zone signs.  Why has the city not moved this yet?

stuff 118stuff 121

In my opinion, this intersection is already dangerous.  If you think it’s dangerous now, just wait until the bypass fully opens and U.S. 431 traffic is coming down that mountain.  I believe ALDOT will have no choice but to install a traffic light at this intersection.  It’s going to be the only way to slow down traffic coming down the mountain.  Caution lights don’t work as well to slow down traffic.  Before this post ends, here are pictures of the Anniston Eastern Bypass or Veterans Memorial Parkway that is currently open.

Related articles

 

Roadscapes Wednesday: Same Quintard Avenue Light Problems

Posted on by
Reply

Roadscapes Geek Alabama

This is one of those posts that I wish I would never have to do because I would have thought that these problems along Quintard Ave. would be fixed by now.  But sadly, these problems are still going on.  The lights along Quintard Ave. at the intersections of Greenbrier Dear Rd., 8th St., and 10th St. are still malfunctioning.  This has been going on for months now!  The Greenbrier Dear Rd. light has broken traffic sensors.  And the lights at 8th St. and 10th St. have malfunctioning ped signals.  During certain times of the day, traffic on Quintard only gets around 30 seconds of green light time while the side streets gets 35-40 seconds of green light time because of the malfunctioning ped signals.

Because of the short green light time for traffic on Quintard Ave.  Traffic often backs up and this almost causes accidents.

stuff 053stuff 061

Since so much traffic backs up.  Traffic turning from 10th St. can not clear the intersection and get out-of-the-way.  Here is an example of one car not able to clear the intersection.  This is dangerous!

stuff 071stuff 076

Here is video showing the traffic light problems along Quintard Ave. at 8th St. and 10th St.  I wonder how long it will be before this gets fixed for good?

Related articles