Description
There are a total of 48 stoplights at this intersection and Samuelson. WHY SO MANY? The light at Blackhawk makes you wait 5 minutes with no traffic. I want to know who got the kickback. Please put in pressure switch to change the lights hera nd at Samuelson
7 Comments
bagodaddy (Guest)
Anon (Guest)
rshort (Guest)
skr (Guest)
Chris Green (Guest)
The stretch of road on 11th Street between U.S. 20 and Blackhawk Road is a busy road with lots of semi truck traffic. On either side of 11th Street are frontage roads to businesses.
Before the early 2000s, that stretch of 11th Street was the location of several fatalities and numerous other accidents.
Scott Kullerstrand, an Illinois Department of Transportation design and planning engineer, said the cluster of stop lights at Samuelson and 11th Street and Blackhawk Road and 11th Street - particularly the center median traffic lights - are there for safety.
"It was a designer's decision to make them (left-hand turns off 11th Street) protected, meaning you can only turn left on the display of the green arrow," he said.
Between March 1996 and October 1999, six people were killed in three different fatal accidents in the 3900 block of 11th Street. Four of those deaths occurred on Oct. 9, 1999, when a family of four visiting Rockford for a family reunion were killed when their van was struck broadside by a southbound car on 11th Street.
It was after this accident when the traffic light upgrades were made.
cbar (Guest)
I agree these lights pose a much more risk than if they were less controlling. I live in this area and have seen multiple vehicles speed up to speeds of 60 mph or more to try and squeeze past these lights.
These lights are a hazard to people and the planet. School buses are required to shut off their engine if idling more than 30 seconds, what about all of the toxic fumes generated from these two intersections.
The frontage roads are seeing much more traffic due to people avoiding these intersections. People walk and ride bicycles down these roads and are at a much greater risk due to the increase in traffic, I recall that 2 people, on the frontage road, were hit and killed by cars from normal traffic long before these hazardous lights were installed.
There is absolutely no need for the right and left turn signals, as visibility of the on-comming traffic, or lack of traffic is well over a quarter of a mile.
I do not believe Chris Greens explanation of the reason for these lights. If you remember Doug Scott had a vision and he called it an international industrial park that was supposed to be built in that area. I believe that in anticipation of this pipe dream that the whole area was redesigned and these hazardous over controlling lights were installed. I do no doubt that they used safety as the scapegoat to push them through.
these lights are also a hazard to any pedestrian or cyclist wishing to cross 11th st as it is only possible to get half way across before they are changing.
關閉 Todd (Guest)