Cross-posted from The Transportationist.
The traffic signal at Oak St. SE and Fulton St. SE in Minneapolis is mis-timed/mis-phased/mis-indicated. It has been so for several years.
Northbound Pedestrians on the west side are given a red indicator (Don’t Walk) even though Southbound traffic has a green light and green left turn arrow. Clearly Northbound Pedestrians on the east side of the intersection should have a red indicator in such a configuration, as they are in conflict, just not those on the west side.
We can imagine why this might have occurred, but basically the walk signals are tied together even though vehicle traffic has a split phase. Obviously the technology exists so this is not necessary. This occurs from the 0:36 to the 0:49 mark in the video below. It’s “only” 13 seconds of course, but we could say the same about vehicle delays. It’s 13 seconds every minute of every day for every pedestrian at the intersection. This is near the University of Minnesota campus so the number of pedestrians is non-zero. In late spring it’s not an unpleasant wait. Talk to me in January.
Video (looking SB on Oak Street, East on the left, West on the right):
How often does this occur? Where else do the traffic engineers not think through the implications for pedestrians?
I cannot comment on what the optimal traffic signal timings are for this intersection, but this is clearly not it.
Further reading: