PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It’s a complaint many drivers have: Waiting on a red light to turn green, just as the next light turns red.
Pinellas County resident Christina Nikolov said she often gets stopped at back-to-back red lights while driving southbound on Pasadena Avenue, first at Park Street and then again at Gulfport Boulevard.
“The light is going to turn green, and then the next light is going to turn red. So that causes the traffic to back up,” Nikolov said.
Nikolov said the delay can add several minutes for drivers who miss the light at the next intersection.
“If you miss that light over there, what ends up happening is you’re going to end up being there for probably about three to five minutes,” she said.
She said she has noticed similar timing issues at other intersections, including 5th Avenue North and Tyrone Boulevard. Nikolov said her concerns go beyond waiting in traffic.
“They might go extra fast to try to make that light, and some people actually run the lights. I see a lot of light running around here,” she said.
Pinellas County is aware of traffic signal timing concerns. Earlier this year, Real Time Traffic Expert Tim Wronka visited the county’s traffic management center, where officials were using new technology to re-time hundreds of traffic lights around the county.
Nikolov said she wants to see more attention on those intersections where timing appears to create backups.
“You get stuck at a light, you get stuck at a light. But when it’s unnecessary like this, it’s almost designed to cause traffic. That’s where it just gets very annoying,” she said.
Pinellas County officials say they are reviewing the systems at the intersections Nikolov has seen problems at along Pasadena Avenue to determine what may be causing the delays. They are also continuing the process of re-timing traffic lights around the county to improve traffic flow.
