posted by Joe Polk at 11:06 AM /
Driving through the South Hills could get easier as four communities seek money to synchronize traffic signals and relieve stop-and-go crawl along Route 19.
Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair and Peters are chipping in a combined $71,000 for the $355,000 project, seeking the rest in federal money distributed by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, said Mt. Lebanon Municipal Manager Stephen Feller.
The municipalities will contribute to the project according to how many traffic lights have to be upgraded or reprogrammed within their borders. Mt. Lebanon has budgeted $35,000; Bethel Park, $2,500; Upper St. Clair, $12,500; and Peters, $21,000.
Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_613224.html
Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair and Peters are chipping in a combined $71,000 for the $355,000 project, seeking the rest in federal money distributed by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, said Mt. Lebanon Municipal Manager Stephen Feller.
The municipalities will contribute to the project according to how many traffic lights have to be upgraded or reprogrammed within their borders. Mt. Lebanon has budgeted $35,000; Bethel Park, $2,500; Upper St. Clair, $12,500; and Peters, $21,000.
Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_613224.html
Labels: traffic
9 Comments:
Hardly seems fair. We spend the most but our neighbors to the South get the same benefit. I'd venture a guess that there are more of them coming this direction than we are going the other way. Rt. 19 from Lebo to downtown wouldn't be so congested if it wasn't for the increased traffic from points South.
Perhaps we should boycott the program, keep Rt 19 in Lebo at a slow crawl and maybe then those folks would give up and find another route.
Oh wait, they already do that . . . See Mapleton/Marietta.
Agghhhhh! Please stop throwing good money after bad . . . . the traffic isn't going away! You can push it or pull it to another part of Lebo, but it's not going away.
Like Dave, I question the value of this. Mainly, I think that we have too many cars speeding through MtL today! Can you imagine how fast they'll go if the lights are synchronized to "ease" traffic flow?
As Mr. Ravita notes in the article, if the lights are timed properly, they should reduce speeding, as there is no incentive to do so. Fifth Avenue in Oakland is a perfect example. If you travel at or just below the speed limit, you can often hit all green lights on your way out of the area. If you speed, you will find a red light at the next intersection. If the traffic moves through Mt. Lebo more efficiently, that DOES benefit us. I don't see the traffic going anywhere else, as there are few other options. Now if they can do something about the timing along West Liberty Ave. that would be most welcome.
I think that the timed lights on 5th give many people free license to drive like they're at Daytona. Weaving in and out, speeding up, slowing down, just to ensure that they GET the timed light. I'll admit (and I think others would too) that 5th may be the one stretch of road in Pittsburgh where I drive just a bit crazier because I know what to expect.
I disagree and I don't understand your driving style on Fifth Avenue at all. Speeding up just makes you slow down (as you said you do both). Slow and steady makes all the lights. Synchronized lights in Mt. Lebanon would be a very good thing.
I hear the swirling sound of money going down the drain? This is a dumb idea, without adequate development and likely without targets. Can the answer be as simple as getting folks to the Liberty and Fort Pitt Tunnels faster? What happens when they get there?
I like Dan Miller's idea of taking a more global look at the MTL traffic situation - and - I would do it with an expert not from these parts.
If there was ever anything the screamed for countywide consolidation it is the state of traffic lights throughout Allegheny county.
Individual municipalities should no more have control of the traffic lights on the traffic arteries that run through their territory than they should have the right to impose tolls.
The south hills is especially in need of cross-municipality coordination, because of its terrible lack of a freeway.
This plan seems like a small step in the right direction, although without Dormont and the City participating, the worst offenders on the West Liberty/Washington corridor will still remain.
The county really needs a solution like they have in Austin, where traffic lights are synchronized city-wide, and major intersections have cameras linked to a central traffic control center where operators can see if there are problems and make adjustments if necessary. Too bad the people of the region are too distrustful and the government to scared, weak, an self-serving to make that kind of bold, forward-looking undertaking possible.
Let me clarify - this is dumb - not because synchronized lights are bad - but because it is not a systemic solution – and there is no indication that we want to pursue one (except for Dan Miller).
In the last month or so, the Municipality ran a big spread in the magazine about a road diet for Washington Road. The volume is a little high for a classic road diet, but there were some ideas worth further consideration. Of course, should Washington Road become the path of least resistance, the volume will pick up even more.
Maybe we should prohibit street parking in-bound in the a.m. and out-bound in the p.m.?
Maybe no left turns during rush hour?
Maybe less traffic lights? (Academy & Washington for starters and couldn’t we do something different with Alfred)
Maybe another traffic light at the Galleria’s Washington Road entrance? (This is not my idea, but one that was favored by the Municipality not so long ago.)
How about finishing the Painters Run corridor to 79, to take volume out of Mt. Lebanon?
Oakland's Fifth Avenue traffic lights only work the way they do because Fifth Avenue is a one way street. The traffic lights can easily be timed up to facilitate the flow of traffic.
However, the streets were talking about are two way streets. You may facilitate traffic going north in the morning and south in the evening, but anyone unfortunate enough to be going the other way is going to hit twice as many traffic lights.
Besides, I would much rather see money towards going towards pedestrian improvements, especially around our schools and in the business districts. Shouldn't we be encouraging walking over driving?
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