My New Calling: Traffic Engineer!

[bayonetbrant]

So there's a really, really problematic local intersection here in town right around the corner from my house, and it's been a pain in the ass for 20+ years.  Part of the problem is that you've got a left turn that feeds directly into a set of left turn lanes, and as the traffic pattern has shifted in the second intersection, the lanes that feed from the first into the second were never updated.

"Fixing" this intersection has been back-burnered for a while, because of the likelihood of redoing a bunch of the roads around the mall here, so everyone was just willing to deal with it until it got taken care of as a part of a bigger "fix" involving 5-6 different roads and intersections.

Well, after driving through this intersection 2-3 times/daily I hatched an idea for how they could fix it without waiting for a major rebuild of the road network - just restripe some of the lanes to the feeder pattern from the first turn into the second turn balances the load better.  I worked up the attached image, and the narrative below and fired it off to my city councilman (a fellow veteran, met him at a Cub Scout activity for my son) and hoped for the best.

I just found out about 30 minutes ago that they actually accepted my idea, and NCDOT is going to work with the city to implement it within the next month or so!  WOOT!  I know it's silly to get excited about traffic, but I'm pretty psyched that they actually took my idea and decided to run with it ;D

text of what I sent to city council

We spoke briefly about the issue of the intersection at North Hills Dr and Lead Mine Rd, and a possible solution to the immediate problem of drivers cutting across traffic on Lead Mine to get to their lanes on Glenwood Ave.
I believe that the underlying problem is that the intersection has never been updated since the mid-80s when the dominant traffic patterns were quite different than they are today.  I know that there are plans on the table for a large rebuild of the entire mall area traffic flow, but waiting for that plan to come to fruition ignores the fact that there's a pretty easy fix to the daily problem of traffic hassle in this intersection: repainting lane lines.
The attached graphic attempts to show the proposal of changing the lane markings, but in short the goal is better balance the traffic as it moves from North Hills onto Lead Mine, setting people up into the proper lanes they need on Glenwood Ave and Blue Ridge Rd.

(longer version follows)
The key problem is that currently, too much traffic stacks up in the right-hand lane on North Hills Drive, with drivers who are headed to the lanes they need on Glenwood and Blue Ridge, as well as the Outer Beltline.  Because the right-hand lane on North Hills Drive feeds so many high-traffic lanes around the corner, this lane gets quite long during red lights.
As a result, impatient drivers who are headed outbound on Glenwood, or across Glenwood to the mall or further down Blue Ridge Road, will bypass the cars stacked up in the proper (right) lane for the shorter left-hand lane that is only supposed to feed 2 of the 5 lanes in the Lead Mine-Glenwood intersection (and 2 more lightly-traveled lanes compared to the other 3).  These impatient drivers will then cut across other left-turning traffic coming onto Lead Mine from North Hills, sometimes crossing 3 lanes with no signal and no regard for their fellow drivers.  And these are not out-of-town drivers who are simply unfamiliar with the traffic pattern.  Many of them are sporting bumper stickers and car magnets for local schools and sports organizations, indicating that they travel that intersection quite frequently, and know *exactly* what they're doing.

Restriping the intersection so that the left-hand lane on North Hills Drive feeds all three left turns lanes from Lead Mine onto Glenwood would accomplish two things that would contribute to greater safety in the intersection:
1. It would balance the traffic stacking up on North Hills Drive, reducing the incentive for impatient drivers to fly up that left hand lane in order to bypass the longer line of traffic in the right lane.  With both lanes more evenly stacked up, impatient drivers no longer have a 'bypass' that involves illegal lane changes through the intersection to head to the mall or outbound Glenwood.
2. It would unify all traffic turning left onto Glenwood into one feeder lane from North Hills Drive, helping reduce some confusion for drivers making the turn from North Hills onto Lead Mine, and simplifying the signage that would be needed to inform drivers of the new traffic pattern.

Based on traveling through that intersection 2-3x/day for the past 4 years, I firmly believe that the key safety challenge is that impatient drivers are given an easy access route to breaking the law, creating greater frustration for those attempting to follow the law, in that they are both inconvenienced by an out-of-date traffic pattern, and they are menaced by speed-demons too selfish to wait their turn within the legal traffic pattern currently in place.

This intersection does not need a major rebuild.  It needs a can of paint, three new signs, and week's worth of attention from Raleigh PD to ticket any drivers that continue to break the law by making illegal lane changes through the intersection when they fail to follow the new signage.  I am hopeful that the council can take action on this traffic problem before a major accident with great bodily injury moves the problem from "perilous" to "imperative".

[undercovergeek]

traffic grog!!!

good for you - i think its awesome

[besilarius]

Great work, Brant.  Who says engineers are over rated?  Remember Margaret Thatcher got her big start as a food engineer.

[Tuna]

WTG!!! Must've been your strategy gamers mind that helped you devise the correct tactics to take the objective!

[TheCommandTent]

Very cool and it is nice to see the local government body working like this.  A citizen who deals with a problem everyday writing a valid and well laid out plan that is not ignored by the councilman but is take into consideration and is then reviewed and implemented.  Well done Brant and well done to the councilman for seeing a good idea and running with it.

[GDS_Starfury]

in todays world BB will get sued after the first accident.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Its good. Congrats for stepping up to the plate. Most people have no initiative. As long as it was looked at your idea was bound to be a winner.

[LongBlade]

Brant, that's awesome. Glad you've got the right stuff to be a civil engineer :)

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

City Planner. Civil Engineers design buildings.

[MikeGER]

Sim City The BB edition  8)

(PS: to much info on the net for your crazy man from the internet assortment of foes to find you  :o ....and the huge Groginati umbrellacorporationstyle underground compound ;) )

[Martok]

Very cool, Brant.  As a self-confessed "road geek", I have an especially strong appreciation for your proposed solution. 

[besilarius]

Remember, Brant, God began as a city planner.  Michaelangelo thought God must be an artist, but I think putting the amusement park inside the sewage works shows his real point of view.

[Staggerwing]

^ I had to think about that one for a few seconds...  :D

[MetalDog]

That's a fantastic story, Brant!  For all the reasons mentioned. 

[mirth]

Well done, Brant! I can see a new T-Shirt design for the Grogshop - "Road Warrior"  ;)