I've noticed this too. It's especially scary when trying to cross with a baby, because the people driving on Pine are not actually going 25 mph at night.

Right - while flashing, whether by schedule, malfunction, or when purposely set that way for directing traffic, pedestrian signals remain dark. They don't "wake up" with a button press. The flash schedule was carried over from when the signal had a mechanical controller. Literally a motorized dial going slowly round and round, with pushed in keys or tabs at the desired change points. It was completely unresponsive to traffic. There may have been a loop detector for Lakeside at one time, but it was before my 31 years here. Changing over and over, and stopping people on Pine Street for no reason, justified a fairly early flash time. Flashing operation acknowledges that at certain times of day there is very little traffic. Having worked all 24 hours here at one time or another, it is possible to play ball in the middle of some of the busiest streets in Burlington late at night. The new signal is fully actuated with sensors for all four corners. This is rare in Burlington. The sensors make it pretty quickly responsive. As quick as the sensors are, late at night, pulling up on Lakeside, a car can be on its way after stopping and looking faster than the light can react to it. The lack of traffic late at night does not justify a signal running its regular stop and go cycle. The picture taken is a pretty good indication of what things look like at night. You have to look a long ways down the street to see cars. The flash schedule was carried over from a different mode of operation. With the new operation it can run regular cycle longer with less overall delay for everyone. Down the street at Flynn Avenue the signal flashes starting at 10:00pm. It is reasonable, with this one being its closest neighbor, to have it follow the same schedule as up the street. Made an adjustment this afternoon to do just that. The Department of Public Works has resolved this request. Thanks for helping to keep Burlington a great place to live and work.

Would it be possible to place signage on the pedestrian buttons saying that, when the light is flashing, the buttons don't work and pedestrians need to cross on their own? Otherwise, people on foot who've been trained to follow the rules just end up waiting for a walk sign that will never come.

Thank you for this update. Our staff will look back into this issue and update you as soon as we can.

Why can't we have a controller that does "wake up" the ped heads and actually stop traffic when someone pushes the beg button? People walking shouldn't have to roll the dice just because it's later in the day.

Just having a flashing yellow and forcing people walking to "Just go for it!" when they think there is a gap can be very intimidating for some folks, especially children, elderly people, disabled folks, etc. who may not be able to cross quickly.

This issue was recategorized from Traffic Signal Problems to Request for Information.

The picture shows the button sign in pretty good detail. When the pedestrian signals are dark, the sign does not apply. The message "push button to cross" at the bottom is unfortunate, because it seems to assume the pedestrian signals are always operating. We have seen people push a button when an entire signal is out due to a power failure. Section 4E.06 in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) says, "At intersections equipped with pedestrian signal heads, the pedestrian signal indications shall be displayed except when the vehicular traffic control signal is being operated in the flashing mode. At those times, the pedestrian signal indications shall not be displayed." There is not a standard sign in the MUTCD with the message, "Pedestrian signals do not work when vehicle signals are flashing." This is probably because when the pedestrian signals are dark, it is self evident that they are not working, so from the viewpoint of the MUTCD no message is needed. Following the MUTCD, it is probably better to rely on the self evident operation of the signal than a specially worded sign. A forum such as this also useful in conveying this type of information. The Department of Public Works has resolved this request. Thanks for helping to keep Burlington a great place to live and work.