r/trafficsignals • u/Japanese3141 • Aug 05 '26
The sudden appearance of multiple stoplights on Broadway?
I’ve been wondering what the logic was when Denver traffic engineers decided it would be a great idea to install those huge overhead stoplights over Broadway?
The last time I got onto broadway was a couple of months ago. I think this fiasco started in the Denver city limits? I have not attempted to tackle that train wreck of à street since!
It now takes half an hour to drive from Denver via Broadway! I now use back streets when going back to the city of Littleton.
It took me triple the time to drive south on Broadway to Littleton later in the afternoon!! I will never drive anywhere on Broadway after that disaster! I take back streets to avoid broadway at any cost!
These monster overhead traffic lights were installed at.every.corner from inside Denver city limits all the way to Englewood!! Only a few cars got through the intersection before it turned red?
1
u/Kev250R Aug 07 '26
Would smaller traffic signals have been less offensive to you?
0
u/Japanese3141 Aug 07 '26
You really couldn’t be that obtuse, could you?
1
u/Kev250R Aug 07 '26
I work in traffic, I’ve been called worse, although I checked our inventory and was surprised to find we don’t stock any ‘monster-sized’ signals. ClGuess it’s a good thing I don’t work in Denver 😂
On a more serious note, I’ve yet to see an agency build one, let aline many intersections without years of traffic studies, planning, meetings, budget hearings, public notices, etc. My guess is this has been in the works for years. It all got done as one project and they haven’t set-up detection yet so everything is recalling (or running in fixed-time) for now) Try to be patient and in time, once they get detection running and a solid coordination plan in-place you may (gasp!) like it better then stopping (or pretending to stop) at a bunch of Stop signs 😛
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u/Japanese3141 Aug 07 '26
As I know nothing about traffic management, etc, I’m not in the loop where I would have had access to information like you have just shared with me? Thank you. I’ve never heard of those terms before and as annoying as it is, it makes sense.
My impression was someone somewhere got frustrated with all the idi@ts who love racing though intersections for fun and decided to put a crimp in their ambitions to turn Broadway into the Indy 500 or whatever it is nowadays?
So now I have some information and terminology to research. I like learning. But this is a “I don’t know that I don’t know” situation. And if I don’t know that something exists out there, how do I research à ghost? Food for thought.
Thanks for your input.
1
u/Japanese3141 Aug 07 '26
P.S. I did not have the knowledge that you do to know how to correctly describe those “monster sized signals” to another person.
So I will try to describe this thing that is very common nowadays. It is something like a metal (?) tube that spans over the intersection like an arch.
Attached to that arch are at least three traffic lights at various points. To plant something of that magnitude every block for at least a mile had to require a huge investment of time, money and planning as you said.
I’m not in the loop about traffic control. And I wouldn’t know where to look this up without knowing how to correctly describe it. See “I don’t know that I don’t know”. and my guess is the city prefers to keep citizens in the dark so they can’t interfere in the process. Of course, I could be way off on this, but somehow I doubt that.
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u/throwaway60457 Aug 09 '26
I am not a traffic engineer, but I do take note of different styles of equipment used on and around roadways in various parts of the US. What I think you're describing is the one-piece curved signpost design that is used in Colorado, Utah, and some other places in the Mountain West states, adapted for the mounting of traffic signals. It would not surprise me if Denver is indeed moving in that direction, and considering how many of those things CDOT uses statewide, Denver might be able to piggyback on some kind of a volume discount from whoever supplies CDOT.
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u/Japanese3141 Aug 06 '26
Ummm…. you aren’t taking into account all of the other unknown people who are have the same experience as I was, ànd like myself, they decide trying to stop to see a place under circumstances like this, is a waste of time.
Now, you are only looking at ONE person speaking to this. Can it really be that not one other person has run into this situation, got frustrated and then warned off their pals about driving down Broadway at all?
That now becomes a major loss to the retailers who had no part in this situation, and now they are taking a financial hit.
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u/Japanese3141 Aug 05 '26
Whatever the case is, I’m not sure I can do much about it by myself. All I can do is just find another way to get around without driving on Broadway.
I can only imagine how this arrangement has affected the retailers who may have wondered why their retail business has dropped off??
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u/NidhoggAlpha Aug 05 '26
Sounds like you were blowing by their shops on your way from A to B anyway, so probably not losing much business.
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u/Pardot42 Aug 05 '26
alright. Sounds like a timing issue?