Not all traffic decisions are final, as downtown Fort Wayne motorists will learn next week.
The city and the Indiana Department of Transportation announced the signal at Main and Clinton streets (U.S. 27) will be changed at 9 a.m. Tuesday to include a left-turn arrow for westbound Main Street drivers.
The change will give drivers heading south on Clinton a protected turn before the eastbound through traffic can proceed. I wrote about this issue in 2007 after a reader questioned why an arrow wasn’t installed.
At the time, the state said an arrow would cause too much of a delay for other motorists at the intersection.
Dana Plattner, district traffic engineer for the state, said the city and state changed views to improve traffic flow and increase the safety of drivers turning left. Overall, he said the intersection should perform better with the change.
Of course that improved safety will have its own cost: Eastbound Main Street drivers will have a shorter green light to travel across Clinton. But Plattner said changes to Clinton Street traffic will be “negligible.”
Clinton carries about 25,000 vehicles southbound daily at this intersection, while Main Street carries about 17,000 vehicles each day in both directions.
As someone who drives Main Street daily and almost never turns left onto Clinton, I hope those who do turn enjoy the benefit.
E-mail box
Q. Is there any way to get the left-turn-only signal on Airport Expressway at Bluffton Road changed to allow left turns on a regular green light? – Deb Pruitt
A. Unfortunately, Deb, we’ll have to keep waiting.
I drive this way fairly frequently on the way to Fort Wayne International Airport, and I also have been frustrated by the requirement to wait at the intersection for a green arrow when it appears that making a turn would be perfectly safe after oncoming traffic has passed.
Shan Gunawardena, city traffic engineer, said there are too many risks to make that change, however. Left turns are typically allowed without an arrow when certain conditions are met at an intersection: lower speed limits, good lines of sight and fewer than three crossing lines.
In this case, two of the conditions are not met as the speed limit is 50 mph and the line of sight is not ideal, especially when there is a vehicle turning left coming from the other direction. For that reason, the requirement to wait for an arrow will remain.
Radio Sage
This week’s bonus audio sage question comes from Cheri E., who asks about the interchange of Interstate 69 and Lima Road. The segment originally aired Friday afternoon on WOWO and can be found online at www.journalgazette.net/roadsage.
