Submitted by GhostOfRobertTreat t3_11hea73 in Newark
You’ll be driving and have a green during rush hour but the next block ahead is full of cars and has a red that won’t change for another 30 to 45 seconds. So then everyone ends up blocking the intersection waiting by the time traffic starts moving. This is absurd.
I don’t think it was always like this though? This feels different than before but maybe I just don’t remember how to drive around downtown pre-Covid.
I would say it has been like this for a very long time. Every time the community complains about these sorts of things, the city’s response is always, “we have to conduct a traffic study.”
There’s been cases where several people have died in the same area before the issue was fixed.
The three on Broad/Raymond are on a timer but the timers run like 5 seconds off so over the course of a month you see it go from perfect to absolute chaos to perfect again.
Lmao this sounds very true to Newark
Driving through newark is one of the most frustrating experiences ever as a tradesman.
NOBODY fkin moves. EVERYBODY's double parked, and like.. people generally act like they got nowhere to go, and nothing to do.
The city division of traffic and signals has gone completely woke with the traffic coming stupidity which actually creates traffic. A few examples:
We got some absolute idiots that post on here lol
Imagine using woke to describe traffic signals and thinking anyone is ever going to take you seriously grandpa
Obviously you have a narrow definition of "woke".
Woke is "awareness of racial & Social Justice" issues.
"Social Justice' includes 'Environmental Justice" traffic Calming began as a Sweedish Social Justice movement favoring pedestrians & bicyclists over drivers.
Your failure to keep up doesn't make me the "idiot."
I'm done. Next!!
Explain how this is woke
>the White Lane stripes were never replaced on Broadway after the resurfacing of what was already a good road.
I thought I was going insane! I’ll be walking along and see a nasty snarl where the box is blocked really badly, and meanwhile the police aren’t helping matters with their weaving in an out at random.
The police seem uninterested in getting cars parked in travel lanes to move or stopping people who run red lights.
The only target the ones that make honest mistakes. the ones that deliberately run stop signs, or do u turn in their faces and run red lights ,Burn Rubber or speed are ignored.
That's because many cops sees these people as individuals trying to set them up for a Chase and possible liability if they end up shooting or injuring the perpetrators. I think Newark is one of those cities w civilian police complaint board so police are not going to do anything that will jeopardize their jobs. Unless the officers are specifically dispatched to a certain situation, they will look the other way and mind their own business.
Anything that slows down the drivers in this town is a net positive to me
I’m all for bike lanes, bump outs, etc. but having a mass of cars congested in the intersections and crosswalks is not safe for anyone. You can have good flow and a safe speed. I’d love to see 21 made more into a pedestrian friendly boulevard. But none of that matters if the light sequence is all screwed up.
Mistimed lights make it worse because drivers run red lights more often and block intersections. If you've ever driven in the city the lights are timed on the avenues to keep you going 30mph. Going faster means you run into a red light so there is no reason to go faster. If there isn't a ton of volume you can easily ride green lights for 20-30 blocks if not more.
They’re only mistimed if you don’t know the timing! Suckers!!!!
Joking. Yeah, shits way off.
You can try contacting city hall, I forget the name of the guy who was/is in charge of it, he’s out of his depth but not amenable to suggestions. I had looked into it awhile ago, and had a personal contact in city hall at the time, didn’t get anywhere. They just don’t care.
It’s almost like it’s purposely bad. Definitely a quality of life issue.
The new 21/280 boondoggle is a major cluster yuck People block each direction and it snowballs daily
Yeah this +$100M renovation had very bad planning
Yes. I can't explain for the life of me why did they make it intersection forcing drivers coming north on Route 21 to loop around by the river and then cross 21 again at grade in a gigantic Jug Handle putting them in a collision course for southbound 21 drivers trying to figure out the fork before their eyes. Not only that, but half the time the driver's trying to access 280 West by Crossing Route 21 can't do it because it's already a line of cars stuck in traffic going Southbound on Route 21 blocking the Box ! There is no reason why the Northbound 21 exit to I-280 couldn't just go around by the river and then immediately launch upward, cross over 21 where it will meet the ramp coming up from 21 South. With all the empty land occupied by The Jug Handle interchange they could have built something better. Somewhere along the line it was decided to go for the cheaper at-grade option.
The people are mistimed.
Only place I've ever lived where three opposite cars try to turn left in front of you when the light turns green.
Its on purpose. Its meant to keep speeders in check.
They need to figure out a way to have it mistimed during non rush hour and we’ll times during rush hour. You can’t speed during rush hour traffic anyway.
Which intersection are you referring to?
Everything you on Bloomfield Ave and Broad Street. Literally everyone seems mistimed
Its not just you, I heard somewhere that the traffic signal timing was done to dissuade street racing.
Then have good signalling during rush hour and wonky ones after hours. Ain’t no one trying to race at 5:30pm on a Wednesday.
This sounds just about right . Google traffic calming and you'll see all the ridiculous suggestions for reducing traffic, such as placing Boulders or trees in the middle of the road, bollards, trenches with plants and water, zig zag Lanes and retiming of traffic lights to prevent fast movement.
In the 1990s Newark mayor Sharpe James had all the traffic lights on Broad Street and McCarter Highway synchronized, the way they are in Manhattan or should I say were. Now they are no longer synchronized. I don't know if it was something that developed over time, or is it part of the stupid thing called traffic calming, which simply aims to create obstacles for drivers.
Traffic calming is fine. It just means slower speeds. And all speed limits in Newark is 25mph but people speed. What we have is not congestion and flagrant violation of traffic laws.
McCarther highway is a mess
datarobot t1_jasz2nr wrote
100% correct. They literally create the traffic congestion.