News   Apr 17, 2024
Sustainability Month: The Combined Power of Bike + Subway + RER
 1.5K     0 
News   Apr 17, 2024
Daniels' OMG2 Offers EV Charging at Brampton Condo Homes
 363     0 
News   Apr 17, 2024
Canada Lands Company Advances Downsview Lands Transformation
 2K     1 

Traffic Lights on University

hawc

hawc

Senior Member
Member Bio
Joined
Jun 28, 2011
Messages
2,494
Reaction score
3,842
Location
Corktown
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but up until 2 weeks ago I was absolutely convinced that the traffic lights on University North from Adelaide to Queens Park are timed so that it is impossible to get 2 greens in a row.

I've driven this route over and over and you could not (no matter if your floored it from one light to the next) get two greens in a row.

For the last two Sundays though, I've actually found the opposite is now true! In light traffic, I can get one green after another all the way up to Bloor. It's perfect. It's almost like going westbound on Richmond from the DVP to University how all the greens just line up one after another.

What I'd like to know is if anyone else has noticed this and if anyone know if the timing of the lights northbound on University were actually changed?
 
I work on university near addelaide and have seen men in tin foil suits adjusting the lights everyday....they seem to be talking into their wrists s they do this and looking into the sky in a northwest direction...I assumed their mother ship was using the canada life building to communicate with them as they fixed the timing of the traffic signals.
 
Perhaps Transportation Services found that the normal flow of traffic on Sundays or weekends is north-south on University and adjusted the light timing accordingly.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
I noticed today that the northbound issues were finally fixed, and this was at 5:30 pm. Had it not been for a left turning car at Wellesley, I would have gotten from Richmond to Bloor without hitting a single red light! Total travel time: an incredible 3 minutes!

Perfect example of how gridlock can be reduced without adding lane capacity.
 
That sounds great! I am sure that if one calculated the cumulative savings in gasoline and emissions from all those cars not having to stop at every light, it would be substantial...
 
I've noticed too that the timing has been completely revised. So awesome. I wonder if it was because of this thread? It's been bad for years until this was posted
 
Side streets shouldn't have priority. They need to do this to more streets. So far I can only think of University and Richmond that are like this. Spadina could do with this. Or Avenue. Or Harbord.
 
hawc said:
Side streets shouldn't have priority. They need to do this to more streets. So far I can only think of University and Richmond that are like this. Spadina could do with this. Or Avenue. Or Harbord.
Click to expand...

Are you trying to be funny again? Why Harbord? What's on Harbord? Your house?
 
Paleo said:
Are you trying to be funny again? Why Harbord? What's on Harbord? Your house?
Click to expand...
??? Harbord is one of the major east-west arteries south of Bloor ...

Harbord/Wellesley
College/Carlton
Gerrard
Dundas
Queen
Adelaide
Richmond
King
Wellington
Front

Harbord is one of the better ones, as like Gerrard, it doesn't have a subway station named after it, and most drivers avoid it, so it actually still moves in rush hour. Unlike Bloor ... not sure why anyone drives on Bloor ... but they do, and make it easier for the rest of us who can read a map ...
 
The City are busily replacing old traffic control boxes (those big grey boxes near lights) and the new ones are much easier to program (in fact, the old ones may not be programmable at all). Many have been done downtown in last few months and I bet University now has a full set, or close to it. The City explains this at http://www.toronto.ca/civic-engagement/council-briefing/pdf/1-3-29.pdf
 
Last edited:
I've noticed that it's been easier to get across University at Dundas in one light cycle as a pedestrian (despite the supposed two-phase crossing), so I wonder if the green light times were increased on Dundas as part of re-synching University. I work at that corner now, and haven't noticed much change at the intersection apart from that.
 
DSC said:
The City are busily replacing old traffic control boxes (those big grey boxes near lights) and the new ones are much easier to program (in fact, the old ones may not be programmable at all). Many have been done downtown in last few months and I bet University now has a full set, or close to it. The City explains this at http://www.toronto.ca/civic-engagement/council-briefing/pdf/1-3-29.pdf
Click to expand...

Lights were out on University this afternoon at Richmond and at Queen while traffic cops handled traffic flow. Crews were replacing the signal boxes at both intersections.
 
nfitz said:
??? Harbord is one of the major east-west arteries south of Bloor ...

Harbord/Wellesley
College/Carlton
Gerrard
Dundas
Queen
Adelaide
Richmond
King
Wellington
Front

Harbord is one of the better ones, as like Gerrard, it doesn't have a subway station named after it, and most drivers avoid it, so it actually still moves in rush hour. Unlike Bloor ... not sure why anyone drives on Bloor ... but they do, and make it easier for the rest of us who can read a map ...
Click to expand...

That must be why they put bike lanes there. Kind of funny how Harbord is picked out as a major street that needs to have "priority" but streets like Queen and College are "side streets".
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top