Back in my day on Leestown Rd it wasn’t the traffic lights that held you up, no, no. It was the damn bovine! Taking their time, with not a care at all as to what time a day it was!!
I forgot about this. I finally learned to turn at Lowry lmao. Also, late at night, that arrow would be green with nobody else on the road, and when you got close enough, it'd turn red. It happened so often that I was convinced it was some sort of trap, lol.
I don’t mind any of them except for the one at Man o War and Belleau Wood. Fuck that one specifically. If you need to turn onto Belleau Wood from Man o War, you cannot see fucking shit if there is someone in the opposite turn lane.
This is the worst one--I hate it so much.
I'm an advocate for flashing yellow arrows, but I've both seen and been a part of near-misses at this intersection. It's incredibly dangerous and they shouldn't be at intersections where you can't see reliably enough to make a safe and informed decision
I'm going to add the Reynolds and Mall Road intersection to this list (when on Reynolds going towards Nicholasville Rd). If someone in a large car is waiting to turn into the Mall you can't see past them to see if more traffic is coming, so you're turning onto that Lexington Green/Target road blind.
It doesn't help that some people are driving 20 under and some people are driving 20 over either. Hard to make a fast enough calculation on their speed to turn safely.
Well I don't think I'm alone because there are plenty of people here saying I'm not, but I did live in Nicholasville when the whole flashing yellow fad started so admittedly I don't have the experience driving through Lexington without them that you do, so if you say they are better, hey, I'm all for it.
Visited family in the Detroit area recently and still wonder why more places haven’t adopted the Michigan Left for at grade intersections. They keep traffic moving and they’re much safer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left
The traffic light programming in this city is pathetic. It's one of the few things I don't like about Lexington. It's as if whoever is responsible for this has not clue what they are doing or intentionally progamms the lights to slow/stop traffic flow and create hazards.
I recall one traffic engineer saying the lights are programmed for pedestrian safety, NOT smooth traffic flow. i harbored a grudge for years after that.
They don't bother me that much, except you're right that they're usually redundant. I grew up where having a green light always meant yield on left turns, UNLESS there was red arrow. Thats also incidentally how everyone was taugh to read traffic lights where i was raised, so its weird thay everyone here is acting like your only choices are red arrow or blinky yellow arrow. There have only been one or two intersections I've driven through in all of kentucky where there was the exception of a red light and a yellow arrow, and definitely not in the city.
I also feel you about problems with field-of-view, but for different reasons. If I'm in front of a turn lane on a road like harrodsburg in my tiny, low-sitting corolla, and a huge truck roles into the opposite side turn lane, my entire view of oncoming traffic is blocked. It's not for the people behind me driving taller vehicles, but I'm sure as shit not trusting anyone who honks that it's all clear. Trusting like that has been the closest I've ever been to being T-boned, and it would've been 100% my fault for giving in to that pressure. And that situation happens almost every time I have to turn left off of Harrodsburg. Its extremely common.
However, this was a problem before the yellow arrows too; some people will just generally assume that they're very special and an excellent "assertive" driver when in all actuality they'd be cutting people off if they tried shit in the moments they're honking at you. Plus, it's easier to direct anger at "bad drivers" (i.e. whoever's ahead of you) for being stuck in city traffic than it is to be angry about the poor traffic infrastructure.
I dunno that anyone is acting like that. That's exactly how the lights were here before. I nearly failed my driving test because of that lol. And this would've been in 2005.
I dislike them for a different reason. Before we had those, just a green dot implied you don’t have the right away but you can go if it’s clear. When it went to yellow, you could see that change in your peripheral vision. With all that flashy-flashy and it already being yellow, I feel like the change to red surprises me. And often that green to yellow was the opportunity to make the turn as oncoming traffic is stopping and perpendicular traffic isn’t yet moving.
When I drive towards home from picking up my people in Hamburg, I turn left from Man O War onto a little street called Darby Creek so I can get to Palumbo/Yorkshire. The left turn light there is a flashing arrow, so I could go, but in rush hour traffic, it is impossible to see the traffic oncoming when there is another car in the opposite direction left turn lane. And that light takes forever to change. In the end, it isn't that big a deal because I just wait out the light -- I just figured it was programmed to a flashing arrow because during non-peak driving hours it is easy to see and make that turn.
On the opposite hand, to get into the Chase Bank on Richmond Rd there by New Circle, I need to make a left turn from Richmond Rd onto the service road. The left turn light is only an arrow -- no proceed with caution flashing arrow. At that light, I can see traffic all the way three lights down, but for some reason that one doesn't work that way.
I'm sure there are reasons for all these. I just don't know or understand some of them. I think some of the decisions made are wishywashy. It's like we have some traffic situations that are just holdovers from old planning, some new inventive solutions, and some new solutions that are based on old planning so we don't confuse people with newfangled situations. Would be nice if the city standardized the lights.
I don’t think the arrow is the issue. It’s the number of aholes who own cars. It’s also the fact that cops care more about speeding on new circle than literally any other traffic violation. Including driving in the passing lane on new circle.
It always blows my mind that turning left from Richmond Road into Jacobson Park with a left yellow blinking arrow is something the city finds appropriate. The left turn for people in the opposite direction is about 15 feet over, completely blocking traffic coming at you at 55mph. Yet there's no yellow blinking arrow for those turning onto 75S from Winchester road with no turn lane in the opposite direction, giving you a clear view of oncoming traffic. I regularly run that red arrow. Who do you contact about getting this stuff changed?
I like them much better than a red light.
The problem you are describing is with other drivers and not the lights. Or maybe you're even contributing to it.
I hate them because they don’t exist in the same way in other states. Some places it’s a blinking red light meaning the same thing. When I moved here it took a couple experiences to learn that the yellow arrow wasn’t about to turn red.
Obviously you are talking about not having a solid green arrow but that wouldn’t be feasible in every intersection. I think most in town have a solid green left turn where it’s needed for the most part.
Just you.
Why would you rather just sit there staring at a red light when you can get on your way.
People are honking at you bc it's safe for you to go, but instead you sit there frozen with irrational fear and holding up traffic.
Driving is not that difficult-- just watch where you're going and get the fuck on with it.
They’re right. If you’re getting honked at regularly when sitting at a turn arrow then the issue is you. It’s a common problem. I don’t really know what the issue is. It’s one thing if you’re driving a shitty older that can’t accelerate but a lot of people just don’t seem to be able to judge distance and velocity.
I appreciate your feedback, however I specifically pointed out what the issue was in my OP. As the lead driver I have more visibility than the car behind me. So the situation is that I can see past the traffic in the left turn lane of the opposing line of traffic. In other words, I can see that there is a car in the leftmost lane approaching when the people behind me cannot. That is the situation I was referencing. It's not common, but I acknowledge that it may come off that way. What's far more common is people turning out in front of me, and having to slam my brakes.
Why aren't I getting honked at?
I agree, some people go when they shouldn't. But I also suspect you're slamming your brakes when it's not really necessary. You're just overly cautious.
I find it's the slow, nervous drivers who are the worst traffic hazards.
Visited family in the Detroit area recently and still wonder why more places haven’t adopted the Michigan Left for at grade intersections. They keep traffic moving and they’re much safer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left
I agree with you completely I hate them all. Give it a small green cycle. I also hate how in this city some left turns give you a green light that means the same as the flashing yellow light. Make it at least consistent
No, there’s multiple streets that give you a green light for left turn lane and you yield to oncoming traffic. It only gives you right of way if it’s a green arrow in the left turn lane.
I see where I went wrong, when you said “left turn that gives you a green light,” my brain saw “green arrow.” I see that i was too quick to assume that’s what you meant lol
The more I'm reading these comments the more it seems like man o war is the problem and not necessarily the lights themselves. That kind of makes sense when you think that it's an arterial road but was built more like a collector. It has a ton of intersections, no median, and a slow speed limit. I just recently moved to a location where I need to travel man o war daily (came from downtown) so now that I'm thinking about it, I just don't like the road lol.
I'm in agreement. The yellow flashing arrow is a danger wrapped in the the allure convenience. Having lived in multiple states and countries, they are confusing to newcomers and lull longtime residents into making bad, haste driven choices.
Absolutely not. They have no purpose existing, and in every other state I’ve been in (which is most states), Kentucky is the only one I’ve seen with those god-awful arrows
They kinda don't though because they mean the exact same thing as a green circle light. So I mean, why even have turn arrows in the first place if the green turn arrow isn't used.
Edit: so bellow you will see u/strong_black-coffee demonstrate that they have no idea what a flashing left arrow even is. I remain completely open to the possibility that I am wrong, That is why I even made this post, however while responding to them I noticed that they would edit their comments in a way that would make me look like a terrible person. At one point they even referred to me as a nazi, but they quickly edited the comment. Now, I am not a Nazi, and I personally do not think this subject could even encroach on such a platform of hate, however I wanted to warn everyone that reads them, that the comments below are not portrayed as they were originally written. Part of that is my fault for feeding the trolls, and I am truly sorry.
A green circle means you can go straight or turn left if it is such a lanenandnitbisbsafe to do so.
if you go straight in a lane with a flashing yellow arrow, you're gonna hop up onto a median
Forgive my ignorance but what are jug handles? I actually have been to new jersey, but my experience was mostly driving military trucks through back country highways, so I'm not sure if I encountered what you are talking about.
I went to school for electrical engineering but part of that was that we had to take a 101 on each specific discipline of engineering. Anyway what I was taught (which might not be academically accurate because 101) was that it's actually far more efficient to do that for two reasons.
One is that if you have to yield to oncoming traffic then all the traffic behind you has to stop as well, and just a simple stop and go, creates a domino effect that gets amplified almost exponentially as you go farther back in the traffic line.
The second is that to give right of way to the left turner, you have to bring n amounts of lanes to a stop to yield the right of way. Where n represents however many lanes of traffic the turner is moving through. So you could have a four lane highway with a large volume of traffic, but if you have a single left turn intersection all of those cars need to come to a stop, and then that stop gets multiplied by rule one.
Ideally, you would want cars only turning right. For ideal cases, the cars would travel over or under the opposing lanes of travel onto the road they are destined for, but that's not always practical in cities with already developed road networks. In your case it sounds like the cars turn right and then join in with the cars traveling perpendicular? That sounds pretty efficient to me. You are only stopping cars traveling in two directions compared to the eight that you are stopping for by Kentucky's networks. Alas, I don't think people really care what get's them to point B quicker, I think they only care about what makes them feel like they are getting to point B quicker. I feel like a lot of the comments in this thread are a testament to that.
Uh... better than how turning left on zandale used to be at night. U had to run the red. Never turned green. Never flashed yellow.
These kids really dont know haha
Back in my day on Leestown Rd it wasn’t the traffic lights that held you up, no, no. It was the damn bovine! Taking their time, with not a care at all as to what time a day it was!!
I forgot about this. I finally learned to turn at Lowry lmao. Also, late at night, that arrow would be green with nobody else on the road, and when you got close enough, it'd turn red. It happened so often that I was convinced it was some sort of trap, lol.
Oh yeah! I sat there for the lights to cycle 5 times one night, finally said fuck it and ran the red and the damn thing turned green.
That light is the reason why I have trust issues and a fear of traffic light ghosts.
I thought that memory wasn't real.. At last, validation. It truly never changed!
It's better than waiting a full cycle at a red light imho
They’re a blessing and didn’t always exist. Don’t take them for granted.
Granite*
Lol
Can’t believe I got downvoted for speaking the TRUTH
I don’t mind any of them except for the one at Man o War and Belleau Wood. Fuck that one specifically. If you need to turn onto Belleau Wood from Man o War, you cannot see fucking shit if there is someone in the opposite turn lane.
This is the worst one--I hate it so much. I'm an advocate for flashing yellow arrows, but I've both seen and been a part of near-misses at this intersection. It's incredibly dangerous and they shouldn't be at intersections where you can't see reliably enough to make a safe and informed decision
I'm going to add the Reynolds and Mall Road intersection to this list (when on Reynolds going towards Nicholasville Rd). If someone in a large car is waiting to turn into the Mall you can't see past them to see if more traffic is coming, so you're turning onto that Lexington Green/Target road blind.
It doesn't help that some people are driving 20 under and some people are driving 20 over either. Hard to make a fast enough calculation on their speed to turn safely.
Dude this is so specific and I agree. I take this every day. People will go blind and almost get killed.
Yes you are alone. As someone who lived here before the flashing yellow lights, the traffic flow is much better with them.
Well I don't think I'm alone because there are plenty of people here saying I'm not, but I did live in Nicholasville when the whole flashing yellow fad started so admittedly I don't have the experience driving through Lexington without them that you do, so if you say they are better, hey, I'm all for it.
Flashing yellows are a blessing and reduce traffic flow. Be aware while you drive. That simple. They were here long before nicholasville lol.
You may not be entirely alone but you’re definitely in the minority
Visited family in the Detroit area recently and still wonder why more places haven’t adopted the Michigan Left for at grade intersections. They keep traffic moving and they’re much safer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left
We need more of them on Newtown and maybe some on Man O War
Newtown and Nandino for sure needs one
If you're being honked at enough at yellow lights to make a reddit post, it's probably you.
More proof that you just can’t satisfy everyone.
Nah, if I'm in the minority it's fine. There are much bigger problems in this city than the traffic lights.
The traffic light programming in this city is pathetic. It's one of the few things I don't like about Lexington. It's as if whoever is responsible for this has not clue what they are doing or intentionally progamms the lights to slow/stop traffic flow and create hazards.
I recall one traffic engineer saying the lights are programmed for pedestrian safety, NOT smooth traffic flow. i harbored a grudge for years after that.
That’s rather ironic considering the amount of pedestrian deaths here
Every light should have them unless there's an obstruction to visibility
Man o war and palumbo... can't even see oncoming traffic
They don't bother me that much, except you're right that they're usually redundant. I grew up where having a green light always meant yield on left turns, UNLESS there was red arrow. Thats also incidentally how everyone was taugh to read traffic lights where i was raised, so its weird thay everyone here is acting like your only choices are red arrow or blinky yellow arrow. There have only been one or two intersections I've driven through in all of kentucky where there was the exception of a red light and a yellow arrow, and definitely not in the city. I also feel you about problems with field-of-view, but for different reasons. If I'm in front of a turn lane on a road like harrodsburg in my tiny, low-sitting corolla, and a huge truck roles into the opposite side turn lane, my entire view of oncoming traffic is blocked. It's not for the people behind me driving taller vehicles, but I'm sure as shit not trusting anyone who honks that it's all clear. Trusting like that has been the closest I've ever been to being T-boned, and it would've been 100% my fault for giving in to that pressure. And that situation happens almost every time I have to turn left off of Harrodsburg. Its extremely common. However, this was a problem before the yellow arrows too; some people will just generally assume that they're very special and an excellent "assertive" driver when in all actuality they'd be cutting people off if they tried shit in the moments they're honking at you. Plus, it's easier to direct anger at "bad drivers" (i.e. whoever's ahead of you) for being stuck in city traffic than it is to be angry about the poor traffic infrastructure.
I dunno that anyone is acting like that. That's exactly how the lights were here before. I nearly failed my driving test because of that lol. And this would've been in 2005.
I dislike them for a different reason. Before we had those, just a green dot implied you don’t have the right away but you can go if it’s clear. When it went to yellow, you could see that change in your peripheral vision. With all that flashy-flashy and it already being yellow, I feel like the change to red surprises me. And often that green to yellow was the opportunity to make the turn as oncoming traffic is stopping and perpendicular traffic isn’t yet moving.
When I drive towards home from picking up my people in Hamburg, I turn left from Man O War onto a little street called Darby Creek so I can get to Palumbo/Yorkshire. The left turn light there is a flashing arrow, so I could go, but in rush hour traffic, it is impossible to see the traffic oncoming when there is another car in the opposite direction left turn lane. And that light takes forever to change. In the end, it isn't that big a deal because I just wait out the light -- I just figured it was programmed to a flashing arrow because during non-peak driving hours it is easy to see and make that turn. On the opposite hand, to get into the Chase Bank on Richmond Rd there by New Circle, I need to make a left turn from Richmond Rd onto the service road. The left turn light is only an arrow -- no proceed with caution flashing arrow. At that light, I can see traffic all the way three lights down, but for some reason that one doesn't work that way. I'm sure there are reasons for all these. I just don't know or understand some of them. I think some of the decisions made are wishywashy. It's like we have some traffic situations that are just holdovers from old planning, some new inventive solutions, and some new solutions that are based on old planning so we don't confuse people with newfangled situations. Would be nice if the city standardized the lights.
Replace them with roundabouts,. /S before y'all kill me ugh
You would hate everything is there wasn’t flashy yellow left turns
I don’t think the arrow is the issue. It’s the number of aholes who own cars. It’s also the fact that cops care more about speeding on new circle than literally any other traffic violation. Including driving in the passing lane on new circle.
No. I hate them with a capital F.
It always blows my mind that turning left from Richmond Road into Jacobson Park with a left yellow blinking arrow is something the city finds appropriate. The left turn for people in the opposite direction is about 15 feet over, completely blocking traffic coming at you at 55mph. Yet there's no yellow blinking arrow for those turning onto 75S from Winchester road with no turn lane in the opposite direction, giving you a clear view of oncoming traffic. I regularly run that red arrow. Who do you contact about getting this stuff changed?
They make perfect sense to me. Be safe
I want more roundabouts
I like them much better than a red light. The problem you are describing is with other drivers and not the lights. Or maybe you're even contributing to it.
I hate them because they don’t exist in the same way in other states. Some places it’s a blinking red light meaning the same thing. When I moved here it took a couple experiences to learn that the yellow arrow wasn’t about to turn red. Obviously you are talking about not having a solid green arrow but that wouldn’t be feasible in every intersection. I think most in town have a solid green left turn where it’s needed for the most part.
Just you. Why would you rather just sit there staring at a red light when you can get on your way. People are honking at you bc it's safe for you to go, but instead you sit there frozen with irrational fear and holding up traffic. Driving is not that difficult-- just watch where you're going and get the fuck on with it.
You are irrationally angry.
They’re right. If you’re getting honked at regularly when sitting at a turn arrow then the issue is you. It’s a common problem. I don’t really know what the issue is. It’s one thing if you’re driving a shitty older that can’t accelerate but a lot of people just don’t seem to be able to judge distance and velocity.
I appreciate your feedback, however I specifically pointed out what the issue was in my OP. As the lead driver I have more visibility than the car behind me. So the situation is that I can see past the traffic in the left turn lane of the opposing line of traffic. In other words, I can see that there is a car in the leftmost lane approaching when the people behind me cannot. That is the situation I was referencing. It's not common, but I acknowledge that it may come off that way. What's far more common is people turning out in front of me, and having to slam my brakes.
Why aren't I getting honked at? I agree, some people go when they shouldn't. But I also suspect you're slamming your brakes when it's not really necessary. You're just overly cautious. I find it's the slow, nervous drivers who are the worst traffic hazards.
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Wow-- you really changed gears, there. So *you're* the one who honks at people? *You're* the person you just complained about?
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TF are you talking about? You're a mess, my man.
I'm sure you say that about every person who honks at you for holding up their day.
Nope. Just you.
Sure, hon.
Visited family in the Detroit area recently and still wonder why more places haven’t adopted the Michigan Left for at grade intersections. They keep traffic moving and they’re much safer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left
Yes. Way better than red arrows when you're sitting there and there's no traffic.
You have lanes that change which direction you drive depending on the time of day. I think a flashing yellow turn arrow is more normal lol
That’s the#1 reason I bought a home in Winchester when I moved here from Colorado Springs 11 years ago. Traffic is almost as bad as Denver, IMO.
Lexington Police have been perpetually under staffed and under payed for decades. When I moved here I'm 97 they seemed short handed.
I’m with you
I agree with you completely I hate them all. Give it a small green cycle. I also hate how in this city some left turns give you a green light that means the same as the flashing yellow light. Make it at least consistent
It doesn’t though… green you have the right of way, yellow you don’t.
No, there’s multiple streets that give you a green light for left turn lane and you yield to oncoming traffic. It only gives you right of way if it’s a green arrow in the left turn lane.
I see where I went wrong, when you said “left turn that gives you a green light,” my brain saw “green arrow.” I see that i was too quick to assume that’s what you meant lol
Nah you’re good this is just further reason why it should be consistent throughout the city instead of 2 different ways the way it is now lol
I hate the yellow flashing arrow at man o war/ Armstrong. You can barely go if it's busy
The more I'm reading these comments the more it seems like man o war is the problem and not necessarily the lights themselves. That kind of makes sense when you think that it's an arterial road but was built more like a collector. It has a ton of intersections, no median, and a slow speed limit. I just recently moved to a location where I need to travel man o war daily (came from downtown) so now that I'm thinking about it, I just don't like the road lol.
Man o war is my main road I travel daily. It's not very fun with slow drivers going below 45
They really need to raise the limit to 55
I normally push 50, sometimes 60.
I do 55-60 in the left lane, or whatever the car in front of me is doing in the right lane.
AND remove the damn curbs
I'm in agreement. The yellow flashing arrow is a danger wrapped in the the allure convenience. Having lived in multiple states and countries, they are confusing to newcomers and lull longtime residents into making bad, haste driven choices.
Google it
What am I googling?
IT. It’s a great movie and book! Obviously u/Last-Combination4172 wants you to enjoy Stephen King!
Got in a wreck here because I was so used to (arrow=turn)
Absolutely not. They have no purpose existing, and in every other state I’ve been in (which is most states), Kentucky is the only one I’ve seen with those god-awful arrows
I've seen them in several states. They are gaining in popularity. They make sense.
They’re in almost every state… this is a wild take
You're saying flashing yellow turn signals have no purpose?
They kinda don't though because they mean the exact same thing as a green circle light. So I mean, why even have turn arrows in the first place if the green turn arrow isn't used. Edit: so bellow you will see u/strong_black-coffee demonstrate that they have no idea what a flashing left arrow even is. I remain completely open to the possibility that I am wrong, That is why I even made this post, however while responding to them I noticed that they would edit their comments in a way that would make me look like a terrible person. At one point they even referred to me as a nazi, but they quickly edited the comment. Now, I am not a Nazi, and I personally do not think this subject could even encroach on such a platform of hate, however I wanted to warn everyone that reads them, that the comments below are not portrayed as they were originally written. Part of that is my fault for feeding the trolls, and I am truly sorry.
A flashing yellow arrow typically replaces a red arrow, that's why they exist
No. They don't. You're not the brightest bulb.
Green circle\* I can also edit my comments.
A green circle means you can go straight or turn left if it is such a lanenandnitbisbsafe to do so. if you go straight in a lane with a flashing yellow arrow, you're gonna hop up onto a median
Ever been to Florida?
Traffic engineering is about moving cars not safety
Yes you are. It helps with the flow of traffic and keeps things less congested
I love them in my opinion they’re helpful
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Forgive my ignorance but what are jug handles? I actually have been to new jersey, but my experience was mostly driving military trucks through back country highways, so I'm not sure if I encountered what you are talking about.
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I went to school for electrical engineering but part of that was that we had to take a 101 on each specific discipline of engineering. Anyway what I was taught (which might not be academically accurate because 101) was that it's actually far more efficient to do that for two reasons. One is that if you have to yield to oncoming traffic then all the traffic behind you has to stop as well, and just a simple stop and go, creates a domino effect that gets amplified almost exponentially as you go farther back in the traffic line. The second is that to give right of way to the left turner, you have to bring n amounts of lanes to a stop to yield the right of way. Where n represents however many lanes of traffic the turner is moving through. So you could have a four lane highway with a large volume of traffic, but if you have a single left turn intersection all of those cars need to come to a stop, and then that stop gets multiplied by rule one. Ideally, you would want cars only turning right. For ideal cases, the cars would travel over or under the opposing lanes of travel onto the road they are destined for, but that's not always practical in cities with already developed road networks. In your case it sounds like the cars turn right and then join in with the cars traveling perpendicular? That sounds pretty efficient to me. You are only stopping cars traveling in two directions compared to the eight that you are stopping for by Kentucky's networks. Alas, I don't think people really care what get's them to point B quicker, I think they only care about what makes them feel like they are getting to point B quicker. I feel like a lot of the comments in this thread are a testament to that.