The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced on Friday, December 19, that it will be installing new traffic lights at hundreds of intersections that could allow for Bay State traffic to flow significantly safer and smoother.
These flashing yellow arrow lights will allow drivers to take left turns at stops where typically they’d have to wait for a solid green, but now they’ll be able to proceed yielding to the oncoming traffic first – similar to how drivers pull a right-on-red. A solid green arrow will allow drivers to proceed per the norm.
“The flashing yellow arrow is better indicator to drivers that they must yield the right of way to oncoming traffic. Drivers with the flashing yellow arrow can still turn left, but only when it is safe to do so,” said MassDOT Acting Secretary Frank DePaola in a statement. “Through the use of this new technology, we’re confident the turning movements will be clearer to drivers, and the intersection will be safer as a result.”
The first time the Commonwealth installed such a traffic light was back in 2013 in Lenox, Mass. According to MassDOT, that intersection, usually dangerous for those taking left turns, has only seen one left turn car accident since.
Further, MassDOT asserts that “approximately 25% of all crashes that occur at traffic signals in Massachusetts have been attributed to left turning vehicles.” And a substantial 20 percent of these are proven to be reduced with the new lights.
Some 350 of these flashing yellow arrow signals are slated to be installed in the upcoming years, many between 2015 and 2016. Mike Verseckes, deputy communications director at MassDOT, confirmed that the City of Boston Boston won’t be receiving its three blinking arrows until after 2016. It’s unclear exactly when this will take place – no later than 2017, barring any setbacks – as Boston’s traffic lights will require extensive “upgrading and/or replacement of electrical components, wiring, etc. before the new signal head can be installed.”
The three intersections in Dorchester receiving the lights, as seen in the map above, have proven dangerous to drivers. According to MassDOT’s interactive map, between 2010 and 2012 the intersection of Morton and Harvard Streets was the site of 49 crashes which injured 25 people. It ranked 33 out of 200 as the most dangerous during that time span.
In 2012 alone, the intersection of Morton and Norfolk Streets was the site of 20 crashes, injuring 10 people. In the same year, the three-way intersection of Galvin Boulevard, Granite Avenue and Adams Street was the site of 36 crashes, injuring another 10 people.
Communities receiving the first wave of installations need only switch out the signal heads for the new ones.
For those looking for further material on how to approach and utilize these new directionals, MassDOT put together a comprehensive guide which is available for viewing here.
Featured image via Creative Commons/ Scott Robinson (CC BY 2.0).
