NANAIMO REGION
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Rink Rumble
Yet another councillor resigns in Lantzville
Massive storm leaves Interior town reeling
Boxing fans at Frank Crane Arena did not go away disappointed Saturday
Graham Savage announced his departure Monday night, leaving just the mayor and two councillors. A6
Violent rainstorm of less than an hour could cost Cache Creek residents billions of dollars. A8
Sports, B2
The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Tuesday, May 26, 2015
STREET LIGHTS How things work while you’re waiting for green
A vehicle waits for an advanced green light at the provincially controlled Terminal Avenue and Comox Road intersection in Nanaimo.
[AARON HINKS/DAILY NEWS]
Timing plans help avoid traffic jams
H
ave you ever waited at a red traffic light for so long that you thought it might be broken? To better understand how traffic signal timing works, first you need to understand the mechanism that detects if a vehicle is present. A few feet before the stop line at nearly every traffic light in the city, there is a wire loop embedded in the pavement. In most intersections you can actually see where the pavement was cut to create room for the wire. Nanaimo transportation engineer Gordon Foy explains that there is a little bit of electricity flowing through the wire that creates a magnetic field. When you put something metal over the magnetic field, such as a vehicle, it disrupts the magnetic field and triggers the sensor. The system is so sensitive that it can actually detect bicycles. The painted bicycle emblem on
the road is there to let cyclists it easier to get downtown, and know where the most sensitive in the afternoon the lights are part of the system is located. timed to help people leave the When the traffic signal receives downtown area. information that there is a “We have different ‘time of vehicle waiting, it will day’ plans. We know put the motorist in a that traffic patterns queue and change the change throughout the lights when there’s an day. There’s a morning opportunity. peak and an afternoon “It is true that somepeak, sometimes there’s times you come up to a midday rush and more the signal and it will travel on the weekends turn for you right away depending on where you and sometimes you have are. We take that into to wait for awhile,” Foy consideration and come Aaron said. up with different timing The reason motorists plans accordingly,” said Hinks have to wait is because Janelle Erwin, Ministry Reporting there are often minof Transportation and imum amounts of Infrastructure district time allowed for each manager. direction. Timing plans are created The minimum times can vary to prevent a traffic jam from depending on the time of day sensors rapidly advancing differand amount of vehicles driving ent directions. through the adjacent direction. “You might have to wait there In the morning the city and prov- for 20, 30 seconds until it goes ince times the lights to make back to you. If you’re by yourself
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Variable cloud High 21, Low 13 Details A2
and nobody has gone for awhile it might give you a green right away,” Foy said. The city only controls and monitors its own lights. The province owns all the lights on the Nanaimo Parkway and almost all the lights on the Island Highway. The only lights the city owns on the Island Highway are between Brechin Road and the Terminal and Trans-Canada Highway intersection. Advance Greens Advance left turns usually have a minimum amount of time they will advance cars. The minimum amount of time will extend every time a car passes over the loop. Once there are no more cars the light will turn back to red. There’s a maximum amount of time the light will advance cars before continuing with the light cycle. Pedestrian Crosswalks At one time or another we have
See LIGHTS, Page A5
Bill Merilees honoured with naturalist award
Three students show spirit of generosity
The award is the main annual honour by BC Nature, a federation of natural history groups that represents more than 50 local nature clubs in the province. » Nanaimo Region, A5
After raising $504 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, three youngsters were awarded a bicycle for their efforts, which they gave to a friend in need. » Nanaimo Region, A6
Local news .................... A3-5 Markets ................................A2 B.C. news ............................. A8
Editorials and letters ..... A4 Sports .................................. B2 Scoreboard ........................ B4
all repeatedly pressed the crosswalk button in hopes for a quicker signal change. In actuality, it doesn’t matter how many times you press the button, one or 100. One press and you’re checked in and the lights will switch at the next opportunity. “Often where people get frustrated is the controller is counting how many seconds are left on the clock if it’s a green. If there’s not enough time it won’t let you go, then you have to wait for a full cycle,” Foy said. The city has received complaints about the amount of time given to pedestrians to cross the road. Foy says there’s sometimes a misunderstanding of how the crosswalk lights work. The problem people tend to have is that the walking man symbol is only shown for a few seconds, making people believe that they’re running out of time.
Classified ............................ B6 Obituaries ........................... B6 Comics ................................. B5
Crossword .......................... B5 Sudoku ................................. A2 Horoscope .......................... B6
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Nanaimo Daily News, nanaimodailynews.com and Harbour City Star reach more than 60,000 readers each week in print and online. General inquiries: 250-729-4200 | Newsroom: 250-729-4224 | To subscribe: 250-729-4266 | Copyright 2015. All rights reserved
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