LYNNWOOD – Many factors can influence how long a driver sits at a stoplight, city traffic officials say.
In Lynnwood, only major arterials are synchronized, and only at certain times of day. This is because when an arterial is synchronized, it adds to the time drivers wait on the cross streets, officials said. Some of Highway 99’s cross streets, such as 196th Street SW, are very busy as well.
“It all has to be balanced,” Lynnwood traffic division manager Les Rubstello said.
In Lynnwood, Highway 99, 196th Street SW, 200th Street SW, 44th Avenue W. and, on a seasonal basis, the streets around the Alderwood mall run on a synchronized plan at peak times.
In Edmonds, only Highway 99 and Edmonds Way are on a coordinated system.
Though it might seem a lot longer to someone sitting at a light, the maximum time for a cycle at any intersection in Lynnwood is 21/2 minutes, Rubstello said.
With 30 seconds of that being the green light, the longest anyone should have to wait through a single cycle is 2 minutes. Heavy traffic, of course, can back up and make drivers sit through more than one cycle.
Other factors that play into wait time at stoplights are unpredictable, such as accidents, officials said. Accidents affect the road on which they occur but nearby roads too as drivers seek alternate routes. If it happens on a road with synchronized lights, that plan goes out the window until traffic thins out.
Remote signal changers used by police and fire vehicles, and illegally by some drivers, also can throw the system off. It takes a couple of cycles for the signals to get back to normal, officials said.
The illegal signal changers “have caused a lot of headaches,” Lynnwood traffic engineer Dick Adams said.
Nonsynchronized lights in Lynnwood operate either on sensors, which respond to the number of vehicles at an intersection, or pre-set timers. Lynnwood has two types of sensors, cameras mounted on utility poles and the more old-fashioned loops buried in the pavement.
Edmonds uses pavement loops throughout the city, with no lights on timers, public works director Noel Miller said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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