Traffic mysteries
(I also mailed this to the Globe's "Starts and Stops" column. As a cyclist, this is the closest I have to the bizarre signalling puzzles that train geeks like dzm have.)
A little traffic mystery for you.
As a cyclist, I generally find Mass Ave in Cambridge to be a fascinating collection of bizarre, misconcieved, and awful bicycle "accomodations," from the "please balance on this white line" markings westbound near Dover street (a sobriety test, perhaps?) to the suicidal bike lane of Central Square to the perennial "where exactly does the bike path cross at Cameron Ave?" question. But by far the strangest is the new signal at Porter. I simply cannot figure out what it is meant to do, and am filled with a constant worry that I'm breaking the law by being baffled.
The device in question is a traffic light at the intersection of Mass Ave and Somerville Ave. Unlike all the other lights, it faces west, almost along the direction of the commuter rail tracks, and a sign on it
says, "Bicycle Signal."
But what on earth could a bicycle be doing to end up facing that sign?
Nobody westbound on Somerville or northbound on Mass Ave would ever even see it, so it must be intended for cyclists eastbound on Mass Ave. Those proceeding directly through on Mass Ave, though, already have a perfectly good traffic light. And to make the turn onto Somerville Ave, you have to have moved into a left-turn lane quite some distance before the intersection, and so when you reach the stop-line the signal would be well to your right (which cannot possibly be a safe place to be looking in traffic) when there's a perfectly good conventional signal directly in front of you.
My best guess is that perhaps the light has been knocked into facing the wrong direction, although I have been unable to figure out which other direction it could reasonably have pointed.
A little traffic mystery for you.
As a cyclist, I generally find Mass Ave in Cambridge to be a fascinating collection of bizarre, misconcieved, and awful bicycle "accomodations," from the "please balance on this white line" markings westbound near Dover street (a sobriety test, perhaps?) to the suicidal bike lane of Central Square to the perennial "where exactly does the bike path cross at Cameron Ave?" question. But by far the strangest is the new signal at Porter. I simply cannot figure out what it is meant to do, and am filled with a constant worry that I'm breaking the law by being baffled.
The device in question is a traffic light at the intersection of Mass Ave and Somerville Ave. Unlike all the other lights, it faces west, almost along the direction of the commuter rail tracks, and a sign on it
says, "Bicycle Signal."
But what on earth could a bicycle be doing to end up facing that sign?
Nobody westbound on Somerville or northbound on Mass Ave would ever even see it, so it must be intended for cyclists eastbound on Mass Ave. Those proceeding directly through on Mass Ave, though, already have a perfectly good traffic light. And to make the turn onto Somerville Ave, you have to have moved into a left-turn lane quite some distance before the intersection, and so when you reach the stop-line the signal would be well to your right (which cannot possibly be a safe place to be looking in traffic) when there's a perfectly good conventional signal directly in front of you.
My best guess is that perhaps the light has been knocked into facing the wrong direction, although I have been unable to figure out which other direction it could reasonably have pointed.