My morning commute takes me the same route everyday. It’s a pretty smooth ride, except this morning they changed the traffic signal timing for one of the intersections, and it sucks.

The intersection of Great Hills Trail and 183 used to be like a well-oiled machine, keeping the lights green just long enough to get most of the cars through, but not staying green too long so that the “green lanes” are empty of cars. Also, Great Hills Trail, which runs under 183, has two lights, one before the highway, and one after you pass underneath the highway. It used to be that when the first light changed and you accelerated, by the time you come to the second light, it has already changed green and you go sailing right through.

Well, for some reason, this all changed today. First, the lights stay green for too long. Three directions were waiting at red lights, while the green light’s cars had been long gone. So we waited while no cars in any direction moved. And waited. This was pretty annoying. And when my light did turn green, the second light didn’t turn green as was expected. The result was that the two cars in front of me (accustomed to the old timing) blew right through the red light. I don’t think they even knew later what they had done. I saw that the lights had not changed, so I didn’t follow them. I waited. And waited. Finally it changed, and I was on my way.

The way this city handles traffic never ceases to amaze me. From “dumb” signals that have you waiting for minutes at 2am while there are no other cars in sight, to the traffic signals near my house that turn off (no blinking or anything, just dead) when it rains.