I like to think that with all these technological advancements, by this time we’ve been able to get the common traffic intersection down, I have been proven wrong. I was lead to believe that said intersection looks like this.
Generally when you see a turning lane such as this you have a stop light. The two lanes labeled “Left Turn Only” will usually have a specific traffic light arrow to allow traffic in those lanes to go before the people driving straight so we can get them on their merry little way and help prevent them from taking the turn at 90 MpH after all lights turn yellow. Also this prevents them from driving into people driving straight through the intersection. Even when there is no separate arrow attached to the traffic light it seems (to me anyway), that it’s common knowledge that the person (or persons) driving straight will go first and then the person (or people) turning left will go after the path is clear for them to do so; generally this is the type of situation you will see at an intersection such as this.
Notice how happy both drivers look. I would like to think in a perfect world this is how all intersection interactions would work, but sadly (and you may not believe me on this but just try) this is far from the truth. The problem here I am trying to address is the intersection of 17th Ave. and Sheridan Blvd. It looks a little something like this.
If you look closely this intersection it is a mockery off all that is good in the land of cars and driving. Especially since there are no arrows at all attached to any of the traffic lights which is fine, but the traffic on 17th has a more unusual problem than most people will encounter. First of all if there is someone wanting to drive straight to get from the east side to the west side of Sheridan they must first wait for anyone wanting to turn left in front of them to do so and this can be difficult (especially at rush hour) since everyone wanting to turn left also has to wait for the people on the other side of the street to first go straight. Depending how far back you are you could wait several light cycles to finally be able to drive straight. That will generally result in something looking a little like this, turning the calmest of drivers in to a wild animal.
Also in this situation I tend to find that the person sitting in front of me waiting to turn left would be able to do so by actually putting their foot on the gas when they have an opening instead of beating around the bush, trying to figure out how to drive their car. When someone is finally able to go straight they must merge to the right (so they can go straight mind you) and hope that someone in the right turn only lane did not lose patience and decided to use that lane to go straight.
This is not the only problem with this poorly designed intersection. When you are sitting on the West side of Sheridan waiting to turn left onto it, you have no idea that the lane to drive straight on the other side is in fact the middle lane unless you’ve been stuck in that lane a few times yourself. When you see left lane across the street from you this is something you might say, “Hey, there is no one in the lane that people drive straight in, I am free to turn left!”
That will usually result in the person, driving straight, from the middle lane respond in such a fashion.
The person turning will either slam on their brakes or swerve to avoid the straight driving motorist or crash into them.
Either way, it’s pretty upsetting. On top of driving through this intersection almost every day the only places it ever takes me are places I don’t want to go which includes, but is not limited to; work and the horrible behemoth of a King Soopers that takes nine hours to walk through. I would like to say, “Well, at least there is a liquor store on the far side of this evil abyss otherwise known as an intersection to make the long haul across worth it,” but it’s not worth it. Other than the fact that the middle eastern guy doesn’t ID me the whole selection leaves something to be desired.
I hope that someone catches wind of this problem and redesigns this anomaly that hard working drivers must trudge through everyday…or at least give them a hand grenade to hurl into the intersection when they feel it to be appropriate as a way to channel their rage caused by these two streets crashing into each other. And on one last note, for the love of God or some other deity, use your blinker people, they were slapped onto your car for a reason and I’m pretty sure it’s not to just make it look fashionable. Together, we CAN reduce the amount of rage induced rants and savage beatings on our roads!
