This traffic signal is not under the control of the Town of East
Hartford. It is owned and operated by the Connecticut Department of
Transportation.

Billy G. Taylor, P.E.
Director of Public Works
Town of East Hartford
740 Main Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
860.291.7365
860.289.0831 (fax)

See below for the response from East Hartford. Thank you, Mr. Taylor.

We will try to set up a watch area for ConnDOT and/or forward this issue to them so that they can start using SeeClickFix to monitor issues in this area.

In the meantime, ConnDOT has a webform where this can be reported, have you tried that, Steve?

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This traffic signal is not under the control of the Town of East Hartford. It is owned and operated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Billy G. Taylor, P.E.
Director of Public Works
Town of East Hartford
740 Main Street
East Hartford, CT 06108

I'm not sure if the person who originally reported this is still watching, but here's a link where stuff can be reported to the ConnDOT directly:

http://www.dotdata.ct.gov/contacts/contact.aspx

Hi all,

I know it's been a few months since this issue was posted but I forwarded it to the state Department of Transportation and Tracy L. Fogarty from the DOT's Division of Traffic Engineering responded today.

The short answer is that the DOT is not recommending a left turn arrow at this time. Reasoning is provided in the their letter below:

Dear Mr. Hardy:

This is in response to your request to investigate the possibility of providing a left-turn arrow (advance green phase) for the northbound approach of Route 5 at the intersection with Governor Street and Phelps Place. Route 5 in this area is a four-lane, bi-directional roadway running north/south. Governor Street approaches the intersection from the west and Phelps Place from the east, forming a four-legged signalized intersection. A review of the latest available three-year accident experience at the intersection ending on December 30, 2008, showed one accident involving a northbound left-turning vehicle.

For an advance green phase to operate efficiently, a left-turn lane is desirable. Vehicle detection could then be provided in the left-turn lane so the advance green phase would come in only when left-turning vehicles are present, and vehicles could extend the advance green when necessary. A review of the intersection indicated that the northbound approach of the subject intersection does not have an exclusive left-turn lane. Without a left-turn lane, a left-turn arrow would have to be provided during every cycle of the signal for a fixed length of time.

It is the Department’s experience that without a left-turn lane, an advance left-turn arrow generally provides limited benefits. Since there is no guarantee that the first group of vehicles in line at the signal will contain left-turning vehicles, the time allotted to the advance arrow will often go unused by the traffic movement it is intended to benefit. Therefore, providing a left arrow at this location could potentially increase delays for other vehicular movements at the intersection.

Based on the above, providing left-turn phasing for Route 5 northbound is not recommended at this time. These findings were discussed with Ms. Denise Horan, the Local Traffic Authority for the Town of East Hartford, on February 3, 2010, and she was in agreement.

Should you wish to discuss this further with the investigating traffic engineer, please contact Mr. Alex Mermelstein at (860) 594-2742.

Tracy L. Fogarty
Division of Traffic Engineering
Connecticut Department of Transportation