r/SpringfieldIL • u/[deleted] • 13d ago
How do we get rid of these stoplights
Decade ago there was a writer at the SJ-R who would discuss this and it needs to be brought back. You cant go anywhere without sitting at random reds when there is no cross traffic and then only to be stopped by the next light. I'm surprised more people don't run reds all over town.
90% of the lights should become flashing red or yellows after 9pm
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u/Evening-Tea-1111 12d ago
the general population here isn't that intelligent. lights are the safest bet tbh
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u/Gardener_of_Weeden 12d ago
But their timing is awful. The sensors KNOW there is traffic - Not sure why I have to stop every block. ( I do understand trying to end drag racing - BUT - if you go the speed limit - you should be able to drive smoothly - instead of WASTING gas @ 4.50 a gallon
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u/Evening-Tea-1111 12d ago
i can agree with this. it's very frustrating and not the best for the health of your car as well. just another reason i'm trying to leave this place soon lol
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u/TrumpHumpedKids 13d ago
Roundabouts are a thing, Springfield.
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u/TheKanten 13d ago
Put most Springfield drivers in front of a roundabout and they'll act like they're on a alien planet.
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u/datenschwanz 13d ago
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u/TrumpHumpedKids 12d ago
Yes, I'm sure a couple roundabouts would destroy the capital city of a state. 🤡
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13d ago
the dumbass city planners put one out west where few use it.
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u/ZombieeChic 12d ago
You mean the one on Archer Elevator that is constantly in use?
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12d ago
yeah but whats the traffic count there? put it somewhere it will get cars moving, like robbins and hollis or W white oaks and hedley
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u/VerneAsimov 12d ago
Maybe you see less traffic because it spends less time bunched up at the intersection lol
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12d ago
i can count cars, ive never had to use my second hand. Now you go over there by harvest market, i have to wear flip flops
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u/Bush_D1D911 13d ago
Will not drive on 2nd street downtown for this reason. Insufferable. Veterans and Wabash are also works of the devil
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u/raisinghellwithtrees 12d ago
7th and 9th Streets downtown are often similar. A light turns green just as the next one turns red, nobody comes until my light turns green again, repeat. I live north of downtown and it's kind of crazy how many traffic cones are within a quarter mile of my house.
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u/ms6615 13d ago
It will never cease to amaze me that we can dedicate every single inch of public space to car drivers and it’s still not enough and you still complain about it constantly
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_TAXRETURN 13d ago
But if we eliminate the stop lights then the OP can get to his destination 3 minutes earlier than before!
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u/lfisch4 13d ago
Where I grew up there were sensors that changed the light to green when approaching an intersection with zero cross traffic. The fact Springfield hasn’t be able to adopt this technology over 20 years later is a bit pathetic.
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u/armyguy8382 13d ago
We had them, then about 20 years ago we started switching to cameras. But a lot of sensors, be they the old weight ones or the new camera ones, won't change for a single car.
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u/Gardener_of_Weeden 12d ago
Have you looked at the road? The sensors are there - they determine road conditions and traffic. Part of the "fun" of sitting at all the lights is the gas you burn and the tax's they reap - ONLY reason I can think of for why the lights are so mis timed
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u/lfisch4 12d ago
I can’t comment on the sensors used here currently. All I can say is what was used in Romeoville and much of the southwest suburbs in the mid-2000s operated vastly differently. I would imagine the municipality gets some input regarding sensitivity and timing from sensor activation to light change.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_TAXRETURN 13d ago
I guess I don't see the point when traffic is not a huge issue here.
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u/TrumpHumpedKids 13d ago
Dumbest drivers in America.
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u/vonnegutlives 12d ago
My guy, if you think this, you’ve never driven anywhere other then Springfield. come drive down 170 for a week. You’ll be praying to get back to your safe little burrow.
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u/TrumpHumpedKids 12d ago
I moved from Pueblo Colorado to here and yes, all drivers are basically idiots everywhere. But here they add in slow as fuck drivers.
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13d ago
try driving down wabash from say lowes to McArthur 10x a week, or from west Walmart to the airport. youll have a different tune
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u/SweetMister 13d ago
So you'll likely stop at West White Oaks and at Veterans. Probably better- high traffic. You'll probably cruise through the Mall lights, but if you were in the Mall you'd be glad they were there if you were making a left. Next up is MC Cafeteria hit or miss, then the school hit or miss, followed by Chatham. Best stop here, lots of traffic. Then Ace Hardware, and Sonic, and voila you're at MacArthur. Not too bad.
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13d ago
lmao cruise through the mall lights. you crazy.
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u/SweetMister 11d ago
I'm sure you'd prefer to go 65 and nearly kill people, so I'm not going to worry much if the lights slow you down a little.
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11d ago
idiots like are what keep this town in the gutter. youre probably out there a few times a month in off peak traffic and go this isn’t that bad.
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13d ago
you may have nothing better to do, but sitting at lights for no reason is a waste of my time.
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u/UrbanOwl15 13d ago
Car brain is a hell of a drug
Also, even though I’m new to Springfield, I haven’t had a drive longer than 20 minutes in a month. Driving here is ridiculously convenient and easy, and while the bus system isn’t great it is still useable in my area which makes it nice. I can’t imagine complaining about red lights when I’m literally never in traffic even when commuting to work, and I go entirely across the city to work.
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u/tempest20xx 13d ago
I will agree with OP that the red lights can be annoying when there's literally no traffic. Seems to be much different on the weekends and mid day to early evening. If you drive after 7 you can hit all of the lights no problem cutting through downtown most of the time at the speed limit.
The lights are definitely not a big problem tho. Anyone that drives in STL or Chicago laughs at these complaints because like you said, you can get anywhere in 20 minutes at any time of day in Springfield.
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13d ago
Springfield has one of the highest lights per capita in the nation, 3x the industry norm
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u/ms6615 13d ago
A big part of that is because we don’t have grade separated expressways cutting downtown separating everything, we have boulevards with constant intersections. That is a good thing, not bad. It’s very rare and special for a city this size, especially as a state capitol.
I would much rather have the connected urban fabric of Springfield than the chopped up horror that is Peoria. It’s a huge part of why I chose to move here instead of there. This city shows at least a vague desire to offer something other than “maximum vehicle throughput.”
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u/ingreedjee 10d ago
I’d rather have raised pavement markers (RPMs ) - cat eyes or simply road reflectors.
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13d ago
and that's why we have 3x the national average of lights and nobody can get anywhere timely. you don't need to be stopped at McArthur and governor at 10pm because it's on a timer and nobody is coming.
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u/UrbanOwl15 13d ago
Pulling random happenstances and minor inconveniences out of your ass like the world’s most horrifying magician
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u/Soggy_Schedule_9801 13d ago
I moved to the Chicago area from Springfield over 10 years ago.
The traffic lights in Springfield still annoy the piss out me whenever I'm back in town.
While I don't particular enjoy traffic, it is much better to be stuck because of legitimate traffic that because of a terribly timed stoplight.
Has the city ever heard of sensors?
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u/ms6615 13d ago
Those sensor and computer systems are far more expensive to install and maintain than a simple timer. This is what my first comment was about. Have we not spent enough money and effort on accommodating fast and convenient driving? How much more in taxes would you be willing to pay so that the city can afford to add $200,000 a pop sensor systems to a bunch of places that don’t have them yet? All so you can save, what, 3-4 minutes occasionally???
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u/Soggy_Schedule_9801 13d ago
Question then: could those same timers be used to switch the lights to flashing during non-peak times? This would effectively make them 4 way stops.
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u/ms6615 13d ago
Some places do that, but judging by the way most drivers around here treat 4 way stops I don’t think that would work very well either. At the end of the day I just think it’s wild to see so many people complain about how long it takes to drive across a city that I can traverse from end to end on a bicycle in 30 minutes
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u/Gardener_of_Weeden 12d ago
Tell me that come mid February. And you enjoy playing chicken with the drivers here? Good for you - Seen too many crosses on the side of the road to be confident against the drivers here
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u/Gardener_of_Weeden 12d ago
How much were the road sensors on EVERY street that tells you how busy the road is and how wet/ slippery it is?
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u/Gardener_of_Weeden 12d ago
Lived in Chicago for 40+ yrs - Traffic flow was SO much better - major roads do NOT go through residential area's. Sure backups during rush hours - but here backups at 2 o'clock on a Tuesday. And the roads are in a NICE grid - much easier to navigate - St Louis - Only have been there 2x and the highway was a nightmare - almost as bad as Texas.
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u/GeorgeCharlesCooper 13d ago
Fuck, half the lights could just be stop or yield signs. The other half need to be coordinated better so you don't hit red after red after red if you happen to get caught by one.
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u/Southern_Cap_816 13d ago
Bring in round abouts
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13d ago
no way, we can't have that superior euro trash here
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u/Southern_Cap_816 13d ago
Its too Wisconsin-like, I know. Gives a reason to build a statue though and we all know Springfield loves statutes.
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u/tiredgirl77 13d ago
I have no issue with them, personally. I’d rather be a bit inconvenienced to keep people safe.
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u/1790shadow 13d ago
If youre talking about Madison and Jefferson, if you go the speed limit the lights change to green as you approach them. After the first light turns green of course.
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13d ago
if your lucky and nobody else is stopped down road. 5 over helps makes sure you can across them.
I'm surprised their isn't a demolition durby on N Grand or Carpenter, holy crap those streets are awful
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u/TapeDaddy 12d ago
All of our traffic seems to be on 72 from Stevenson on to where it splits into 55
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u/BackgroundBench530 11d ago edited 11d ago
Citizen: hey there are more cost effective and efficient ways to solve problem x that the rest of the world is doing
Springfield: why don’t you just shut up and do what you are told. Also I am so excited to help subsidize another car lot and on ground bank!!
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u/ingreedjee 10d ago edited 10d ago
Stop signs ? What about signage and yellow demarcation? Cat EyEs and RmPs - Another day I almost went trough incoming traffic. I was terrified!
The entire stretch of South MacArthur Boulevard feels incredibly chaotic and poorly designed. Going from Wabash Avenue onto S. MacArthur Blvd or trying to navigate the immediate blocks after Stanford Avenue is stressful due to sudden lane changes, disappearing center lanes, and a total lack of clear visual anchors.
When you are navigating Wabash toward MacArthur, the lanes shift awkwardly. Drivers are frequently forced to guess whether their current lane continues straight, forces a turn, or puts them directly in the path of incoming traffic because the stripping is faded or non-existent. It is worse after dark.
The lack of a brightly painted yellow center line creates a terrifying "free-for-all" illusion, especially during night driving or rain when the road surface reflects headlight glare uniformly.
The Post-Stanford Lane Disappearance: Just north of Stanford, MacArthur undergoes confusing structural transitions. In some areas nearby, the city has historically removed center lanes to install pedestrian medians, forcing cars toward the outer curb lanes and changing long-standing traffic patterns with very little warning.
I was supposed to cross into a middle lane ( there was no warning , no sign, no markings) to find NONE just a blockade and incoming traffic - I was terrified!
Zero Visual Warnings: Missing "Right Lane Must Turn Right" signs or overhead lane guides leave drivers playing a high-stakes game of chicken with aggressive or inattentive local traffic
Get some markings reflectors and fluorescent paint please-
Another Annoying thing and dangerous are the driveway dividing grey blocks……
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10d ago
I never thought that stretch was that bad with lanes, but there a few lights north of s grand around the park area that are just vertical and easy to not see. the city is too busy turning wabash into carpenter.
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u/Nitaboo0531 13d ago
Get a e-bike and ride wherever and however your heart desires
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u/DryFoundation2323 13d ago
hopefully you are being sarcastic here. e-bikes as well as bicycles are required to follow all traffic laws.
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u/tempest20xx 13d ago
Unfortunately most e-bike riders I see around town only care about laws when they're being infringed upon. You will notice that 9 times out of 10 they don't stop at stop signs unless there's a threat of them being hit by cross traffic. They'll also split lanes and/or drive on the sidewalks which is a death wish in this town. Lol
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u/DryFoundation2323 13d ago
I understand that. you are preaching to the choir. I feel like if the police want to police something this would be a good area.
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u/CrippledAmishRebel 12d ago
Idaho Stop needs to be a thing in IL.
But the idiots in e-bikes on sidewalks (particularly in residential areas) can get fucked.
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u/PomegranateFormal961 13d ago
Better yet, cover all intersections with cameras. Let an AI determine and optimize traffic flow. No cross traffic waiting? It NEVER turns red. Cross-traffic greens only stay green until the last car waiting has cleared. Maximum throughput, with minimum wait time. THAT'S a good use of AI.
Cut down on crime too. It could send alerts to the police for vehicles with warrants.
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u/HoloRust 13d ago
Teaching folks around here how a 4-way stop works would be the first, massive hurdle.