The Observation Deck

Ryan Salo wrote:Valerie,

The problem with that sign is that drivers don't know they will be blocking the box when they start to turn. When the light turns green with the left turn arrow heading north on Warren the cars are still standing still heading west on Detroit. Two cars will start the left turn, have no where to go and then the light changes and traffic still isn't moving west bound on Detroit. The traffic heading South on Warren and west on Detroit is completely stuck. I had to wait 2 light cycles the other day while heading south on Warren to get to the post office. I called and left Joe Beno a fun message saying we would be better off having traffic cops controlling downtown.

I sure hope this gets fixed soon...

Valerie

Also common courtesy would do wonders. Letting people in when you can. Making sure you do not get stuck
in the middle. however I would say the entire flow is off for two reasons. 1 new patterns are letting more cars
onto Detroit completely throwing off the patterns there. 2) RTA double buses. With the turn lane and angry
motorist, according to some drivers, they are less willing to move to the right, as they too get shut out of
getting back into the flow of traffic.

It would seem that maybe Lakewood is trying to get traffic off of Detroit by making it hell. But why would any
sensible group try to get traffic off a street, while not only spending millions getting people to DowntowN, but
moving very busy drive-thru business on to it, adding to the nightmare. Of course this would indicate planning
in a city hall where "planning" has been absent for over a decade.

No, I put it off to "Sim City Management" try something, then try something else, they copy a couple things
do them half-assed then try something else. If you can't fix it, simply close it like the parks. Sweep another
mistake under the ever growing Lakewood rug, err tapestry.

FWIW


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I don't believe I expressed that properly before, Jim. Maybe I'm wrong, but Lakewood was not required to replace the stop lights, right? They have a choice and they chose to perform the replacement.

Well, as I understand it from discussions on this board (forgive me, I don't recall where) the city could pay for it all or they could get something like 90% paid for by either the state or the Federal government if they performed that traffic survey that resulted in the removal of the light at Manor Park, Mars and other locations.
Are those removals not the cause of these problems? Honestly, as I said, I don't go to that side of town on Detroit, so I don't know.

They (at the city) had the choice to try to pay for it all. These are the consequences. Maybe its worth remembering next time some people come around for election.

Everyone is charging with rakes and torches here but Detroit is far from complete. My son and I went riding down Detroit last night on bikes and it was a nightmare, but with all the torn up sidewalks and closed traffic lanes it's pretty difficult to get a read on what things will be like when the construction settles down. I'm not sure it makes sense to tweak anything when the patterns change almost daily. I think the jury's still out.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:How Is This Traffic Thing Working For You?

Not well. Not well at all.

It is almost impossible to travel down or onto Detroit anywhere in the DowntowN area.

Seriously? This is the best we can do?

I just made my "Report a Problem/Concern" at http://onelakewood.com/ReportProblem/.

If it doesn't get solved soon, I'm going to ask my Ward 2 Councilman, Thomas Bullock, to write me a letter:

Paul Schrimpf wrote:Everyone is charging with rakes and torches here but Detroit is far from complete. My son and I went riding down Detroit last night on bikes and it was a nightmare, but with all the torn up sidewalks and closed traffic lanes it's pretty difficult to get a read on what things will be like when the construction settles down. I'm not sure it makes sense to tweak anything when the patterns change almost daily. I think the jury's still out.

Paul

Far from it. My initial photos were taken before any barriers were set up. I do have some images from the
moment, the bike corral went up and have not used it because of construction. I have a series on my
photoblog that shows two complete cycles of lights at Warren and Detroit, before people start making U-Turns
and diving off the street. But while pile on. I do not buy the lights are being replaced. That should not offset
anything but for an hour or so, while they resync. Add in the cost to do this, the cost of the traffic study
Councilman Juris likes to wave around, the removed lights, and the millions poured into "DowntwoN" and I
am starting to feel like it is money misspent. Imagine had we put millions into Lakewood aging stocks and
let businesses pay for their "business district" how much better off we would be. No, out of control and no
one seems to know why, or how more restaurants and drive-thrus will effect it.

Then there is the cameras to control idling, traffic and facial recognition for Amber Alerts, and it becomes even
more upsetting. Like if they do not work for idling how can we expect them to find "Amber?"

My office overlooks DowntowN, the most direct route to my office is down Detroit. It was great until Ed
changed the traffic with the turn lane. Since then it has only gotten worse.

FWIW


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I think everyone has this all wrong. This (traffic snarl, etc.) is actually a well-devised marketing ploy by some clever Merchants Organization designed to get their businesses more "face time" with drivers. Don't be surprised to next see more exciting, engaging window displays by the Detroit Ave Merchants to entice the frustrated commuters into their shops. (as if all those eye-catching sandwich boards and flapping-in-the-breeze banner flags weren't enough!!) Briliant! Bravo! I am in awe of the foresightedness!

Peter Grossetti wrote:I think everyone has this all wrong. This (traffic snarl, etc.) is actually a well-devised marketing ploy by some clever Merchants Organization designed to get their businesses more "face time" with drivers. Don't be surprised to next see more exciting, engaging window displays by the Detroit Ave Merchants to entice the frustrated commuters into their shops. (as if all those eye-catching sandwich boards and flapping-in-the-breeze banner flags weren't enough!!) Briliant! Bravo! I am in awe of the foresightedness!

You're on to us. I hope no one can tell that the people on the Porch at Rozi's are really cardboard cut-outs. If you look close enough you can see the guys from the old Bartles and James ad.

From City Hall (with permission to share):

The lights on Detroit are not coordinated with each other yet. This cannot be done until the end of the project. Every phase of the project has to be done in steps, and coordination happens to be the very last step. There is unfortunately no other way to do it. Please be patient as this problem will be resolved. The traffic backing up will only be temporary.


Jay Boyer
Traffic Signal Technician
City of Lakewood

Matthew John Markling wrote:From City Hall (with permission to share):

The lights on Detroit are not coordinated with each other yet. This cannot be done until the end of the project. Every phase of the project has to be done in steps, and coordination happens to be the very last step. There is unfortunately no other way to do it. Please be patient as this problem will be resolved. The traffic backing up will only be temporary.


Jay Boyer
Traffic Signal Technician
City of Lakewood

Oh good, my day to day life was so affected by this trivial change in traffic ....crisis averted!

Matthew John Markling wrote:From City Hall (with permission to share):

Please be patient as this problem will be resolved. The traffic backing up will only be temporary.

Well ... Corey, looks like you'll need to devise a new marketing strategy!

Now that that's resolved, maybe we should switch our focus on traffic near where the McDonald's will be built. Here is the predicted traffic flow... this madness must stop!

J Hrlec wrote:Now that that's resolved, maybe we should switch our focus on traffic near where the McDonald's will be built.

Actually, I think Jim O'Bryan already has the solution - just avoid Detroit altogether and you can get from Lakewood to Cleveland and back in less than 10 minutes:

I will agree to whatever traffic programming keeps Markling off the roads. I've seen him on his three-wheeled Huffy and it is not a pretty site.

Corey