This issue was recategorized from Other to Traffic Calming.

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I agree that this is a dangerous area. I have seen people driving vehicles way too fast through this intersection, sometimes through red lights, while putting pedestrians at danger. Please fix this intersection!

I have seen the 15 MPH signs deeper into the UVM MC campus and would be curious about the legality and practicality of this being posted closer to the intersection. Carrigan Drive west of the intersection appears to belong to UVM as opposed to being a city street, so a speed feedback sign might have to be pursued through them.

Glad you see and appear to appreciate the No Turn On Red sign that comes up with the pedestrian phase. This is an unusual treatment at an unusual intersection. The sweeping, curved nature of the driveway makes it less than perpendicular to the crosswalk, so I added the sign as an additional measure to protect the crosswalk. It also comes up between 3:00 and 6:00 pm to help westbound traffic from across the street.

A red light coupled with No Turn On Red are about as restrictive as we can make it. If there is a signal or light that would do a better job I would be glad to hear about it.

Total crossing time including clearances is actually 20 seconds, which is very similar to a lot of downtown locations. The four lanes here are similar in width to four lanes downtown. Width determines timing. Unlike a lot of downtown locations, this is an exclusive pedestrian phase, in which traffic from all directions is stopped. I have never witnessed a situation where the time available was less than adequate. The position of the pedestrian phase within the sequence has been changed to follow East Avenue, which is more intuitive.

Once a signal starts flashing at night pedestrian signals are deactivated. Operation turns from four-way stop and go to in effect a two-way stop sign. Flashing operation starts at 9:00pm, when traffic volume greatly drops off. There is no "waking up" the signal by pressing a button once it starts flashing. Counts from two years ago show a large drop after 9:00pm. Traffic should be very sparse during these hours. If it is not, and crossing is difficult because of the volume of traffic still present, we can look at volumes again and adjust flash time, if necessary.

The Department of Public Works has resolved this request. Thanks for helping to keep Burlington a great place to live and work.

Oh no, no, no, no, no. This is not resolved by your dismissive and condescending response. You don't live there, you don't cross that road every day, and you are completely mired in the world of what you can't do instead of what you can.
1. "Carrigan Drive west of the intersection appears to belong to UVM as opposed to being a city street." Appears to be? Do you not know? And have you no communication with UVM on these issues? If not, why not? It's a complete no brainer that you two need to communicate on public safety issues, especially around sketchy intersections like this one. And don't just be "curious about the legality and practicality." Find out whether it's UVM or BTV that has governance, and either way work to make it happen.You seem to forget this is a safety issue.
2. Thank you, I'm very happy you are personally responsible for putting the no turn on red sign up but it's not enough and it doesn't work. You CAN make it more restrictive. Green and yellow portions of traffic light are arrows, but red is not. Make the top, red, portion of the traffic light an arrow too. Blinking red arrow for stop first, then turn if safe. Solid red arrow + "No turn on red" sign illuminated for no turn on red. Or better yet, just make it no turn on right, at all, ever. And add a roadside sign on Carrigan that additionally warns no turn on right when red. You could add "strictly enforced" but that would be a lie.
3. "I have never witnessed a situation where the time available was less than adequate." Really? Come watch me and other seniors try to hustle across that intersection. It's not used exclusively by young, healthy college students you know.
4. "Once a signal starts flashing at night pedestrian signals are deactivated." OK, so fix it! This is a pretty obvious design flaw, no? Pedestrian signs NEED to function whether or not traffic signals are in flashing mode. Whether it's a mechanical or software problem, it CAN be fixed. I do not believe that there is NO way to allow for both. You are an engineer - engineers fix things. Traffic IS fairly sparse after 9pm (unless of course there's a big game at UVM or Centennial Field) but that doesn't make it safe or pleasant to have to hustle across that intersection checking to the left, right, and behind you to make sure you don't get run down.
5. This issue is not resolved. You're welcome for helping make Burlington a great place to live and work - could you now do the same for my little corner of it please?

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

Contrary to what anyone might believe, a lot of thinking here is out of the box in dealing with these issues. What we do is pretty innovative versus a lot of other places. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good in being able to make a situation better, bad perhaps in creating an expectation that we can achieve what may not always be achievable.
1. (using your numbering) To my knowledge Carrigan belongs to UVM/MC. It is not mine to make a speed sign happen. It is not a "signal" issue. I will forward it to the sign person. You may prefer to create a separate SCF with just this one issue, so it is not confused with the signal issues raised here. Your choice.
2. Permissive turns on red are safe and allowed, thus the circular red indications. Between 3:00 and 6:00pm they are not allowed, and the sign stays lit to show this. A restriction is most effective if targeted to a specific circumstance. When the pedestrian phase is active, the sign is lit. A posted, passive, full-time No Turn On Red sign would mean removal of the electric sign. It would be moot. What is more effective, a passive sign, or the electric sign, lit during particular parts of the cycle or at a specific time of day?
3. Out of many, many hours of watching at different times of day have never seen a problem. Name a time of day when an observable problem can be noted.
4. Nothing to fix. Not a design flaw. Serious problems are created if modified as suggested.
5. I live in Colchester. I used to live on lower Maple Street in Burlington and walk to work at the hospital. I used to live in Winooski and walk to work at the hospital. I had to run across that intersection many times while the signal was being built. The first signal was a huge improvement. The expanded intersection and second signal are larger than the first, but it still runs pretty well considering all the traffic, vehicular and pedestrian, that travel through it every day.

DPW Public Information Manager assigned this issue to DPW Public Information Manager

Ed: Thanks for sharing your concerns and ideas about these challenges. We appreciate hearing directly from residents who use streets, sidewalks or crossings everyday. We're going to take a closer look at this and leave this open while we do so.

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