ALERT: The Twin Falls Traffic Light From Hades

I want to find out where that guy who times the traffic lights lives. The computer revolution has made the timing a lot more scientific, but I’m not sure anyone is taking winter into account.

I’ll give you an example. When I leave for work, my first stop is at Washington Street and Pole Line Road (Route 93). The latter is a main road from California, through Las Vegas, and points to our north. You can watch the big rigs and RVs drive past sometimes by the hundreds an hour. I can attest the volume is still heavy at 2:45 a.m.

The longest light of my drive to work is at the same intersection. When I finally get a green signal, I get scant seconds to pass through and usually see the light starting to change back to red as I accelerate. Now throw in some icy pavement and an inch of snow. You can barely get into the middle of the intersection before an 18-wheeler gets the signal to go.

I’m told the city doesn’t time the intersection. The fellow who programmed the light doesn’t drive in the area. He’s looking at a computer printout and making a call.

I’m not alone in my complaint. Several law enforcement officers live in my part of town. Several have told me they share my frustration.

By the way, I usually catch the lights green the rest of Washington Street as far as Addison Avenue. The method I gather used by the city is this:

If twenty cars are approaching the light from Washington Street and one car from a cross street, 20 must stop and the one gets the green.

We call that efficiency.