Everyone in Westport has a pet stoplight/stop sign peeve.
You know — the place where, every time you sit there, you think to yourself, This makes no sense!
For me, it’s the light at the Kings Highway North/Wilton Road intersection. With Fort Apache on your right, there are 2 lanes. One — always with less traffic — is for left turns only. The other is for people heading straight on Kings Highway, or right onto Wilton Road.
If the car in front is turning right, they can turn on red. There’s a bonus: A left turn arrow for drivers heading south on Wilton Road allows even more right-hand turns onto Wilton Road, thanks to the delay in oncoming Wilton Road traffic from the left.
But if the car in front is going straight, you’re out of luck. No right turn on red.
The car in front is not turning on right. A backup ensues.
The solution is obvious: The left lane on Kings Highway should be for drivers turning left or going straight. The right lane should be for right turns only.
Traffic often backs up on Kings Highway (sometimes blocking the medical center entrance/exit). That simple change would help a lot.
My second pet peeve: Without getting into too much detail — because everyone knows how bad it is — here’s my suggestion for the deadly Compo Shopping Center/Compo Acres light: Alternate them.
In other words, show green for 10-15 seconds only for cars exiting from the CVS lot. Then have green for another 10-15 only for cars leaving Trader Joe’s.
It’s not perfect. But it’s 10,000% better than what we’ve got now.
This is the light in question. Note — just for grins — not one but TWO cars entering the CVS lot the wrong way.
Those are my pet traffic signal peeves. What are yours? Click “Comments” below — and don’t just complain. Suggest a solution too!