Work is underway to upgrade the traffic signals at the intersection of 15th Ave NW & NW Leary.
As part of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s city-wide Intelligent Transportation System Program, the changes made “will enhance traffic flow and responsiveness to roadway conditions,” Peg Neilsen of SDOT writes in a press release. To get more specifics into what changes are being made we contacted SDOT. “The improvements now being made at 15th Avenue NW and Leary include video detection to regulate the traffic signals (more accurate than loop detection), new traffic signal heads, new sidewalk ramps, new traffic control cabinet with larger capacity, closed-circuit television camera (“CCTV” camera through which SDOT and the public can view traffic) and pedestrian push buttons. Although we are installing the equipment now, it won’t be on line and operating until later this year,” Marybeth Turner tells us. Work on this intersection is expected to last until February 19th. Down the road, several more intersections along the 15th Ave corridor will get these upgrades.
God help us. Please, PLEASE spare us the SDOT's grand and oh-so-ironically named “Intelligent Transportation System Program.” Honestly, everything this city does to “improve” things only makes our lives more miserable, I swear that must be their secret mission.
Just what we should be spending money on: closed circuit TV systems so SDOT and the public can watch the traffic on Market Street. Hey, morons: it's gridlock most of the time. What else do you need to know? You have to install video cams so you can confirm the gridlock continues to be as bad as you can possibly make it? Looking for more ways to make the gridlock continue 24/7? Gee, thanks for that, visionaries.
Please go away, leave us alone, and “improve” some other neighborhood for a change – we can't take any more of the city's “intelligent” systems.
Does anyone know if they plan to put at light at the intersection of 20th & Leary in front of Olympic Athletic Club? I find that intersection esp. with the cross walk to be sketchy at best when there is traffic for left turns onto Leary.
How does video detection work with bikes? I know the loops are supposed to work with bikes, but it can be hard to get them to work.
heh heh
why why why why…? driving needs to be DIScouraged so that we use less gasoline. making driving as painfully slow and annoying as possible is one way to accomplish this, especially since they refuse to raise the price of gasoline to reflects it's true environmental cost.
Please, gag me with the largest spoon in the drawer.
“making driving as painfully slow and annoying as possible is one way to accomplish this”
Ah, finally some truth in government! Mister Mayor, what took you so long? You've been utterly dishonest up until now, it's refreshing to see the city's plan made public: the war on drivers, with the goal of making you as miserable as possible.
That's our Seattle visionaries – hard at work, making you miserable!
Oy. A few months ago, they “upgraded” the intersection of Elliott & Mercer in Interbay for “better traffic flow.”
Now the afternoon buses from Ballard wait up to 4.5 minutes at the light (used to be no more than 45 seconds).
I'm sure SDOT's work here will be just as helpful.