FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Fred in Fort Collins writes, “What’s driving you crazy? At the intersection at Conifer and College, I can't figure out the light. Coming westbound to the intersection, when the light changes, most times you get flashing yellow arrows. I've seen it turn plain green before as well, but I can't see what condition causes it to 'decide' this. A couple of other intersections up here are like this as well.”
That intersection just north of downtown Fort Collins is a T-intersection, meaning it has only three approaches. Because drivers on westbound Conifer Street must turn right or left when they get to College Avenue, the city installed turn arrows for drivers heading south and a typical red/yellow/green signal for drivers going north. The drivers who make the left turn will usually see a flashing yellow arrow. That signal indicates drivers can go left, but must always yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
The city installed the left green arrows because some people crossing the street don’t always push the crosswalk button, Fort Collins traffic engineer Tyler Stamey said. That is why the signal operation changes. When someone hits the crosswalk button, drivers will see a red turn arrow during the pedestrian crossing phase. That prevents conflicts between turning vehicles and pedestrians. After the pedestrian phase has competed, when the crossing timer has reached zero, the green left-turn arrows are displayed. This is to let the drivers who were waiting to make that left turn know that they weren’t forgotten and don’t have to wait until the next signal cycle.
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Additionally, the green arrows are occasionally displayed when there is a long queue of traffic or continuous volume of westbound left-turn traffic on Conifer Street, and the volume of traffic on College Avenue is low.
Regardless of what is happening for left-turning drivers, the drivers going right will see a traditional signal with a traditional green light indicating they can go right. The right turners are allowed to turn right on red, as well, but need to yield to any northbound driver on College Avenue.
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