'Comically confusing': Traffic lights confound drivers at Westmount intersection
From inside of her store in High Street, Katryna Springer sees a lot of close calls at the intersection of 102nd Avenue and 125th Street
"Lots of horn honking, people swerving to get out of the double red light and getting back into the other lane. Crazy traffic backed up," she said Wednesday.
The eastbound lanes at the intersection have an unusual light signaling system that uses two separate sets of traffic lights for the right and left lanes respectively.
The right lane is usually free flow with a green light, while the left lane is usually red until a turning arrow is activated.
The intersection is the only one of its kind in Edmonton. To Springer, the set-up doesn't make sense.
"It think it's fairly useless to be honest. I just impedes a major roadway. It just isn't beneficial," she said.
Initially the east-bound lanes at the intersection had a ban on left turns at 125th Street. That changed in May 2018 after the city installed bike lanes at the intersection and the single-lane light system was installed.
"High levels of non-compliance"
In a statement to CBC News, city spokesperson Derek Logan says the light system is to "address potential conflicts between cyclists using the protected bike lane on the northside."
"The intention of this intersection … is to accommodate travel needs for different road users without compromising safety."
Logans said after receiving inquiries from the public about the signal change, traffic safety crews assessed the intersection but didn't find enough reason to change it despite observing "high levels of non-compliance."
"We have completed several direct observations of the intersection and … it did not show any significant safety concerns with the current operation," said Logan.
Comically confusing
Helen Ramsay and Billy Smale work in the High Street area and often cross the intersection on foot.
"I think it's comically confusing," said Smale. "Drivers don't know what to do. Pedestrians often don't know what to do. You never know if someone's going to drive through the red light because right beside the red light there's a green light."
There's a solid double line separating the lanes and traffic signals going eastbound at the intersection, but Ramsey says that doesn't help.
"You can often see drivers being very frustrated because … there doesn't seem to be any reason why they can't move forward so you'll find them eventually swerving into the right hand lane or else just jumping the light," says Ramsey.
"You have a real potential for collision there."
