[Mpls] Hiawatha stoplights

[Steve Brandt]

The long version....

Paper: STAR TRIBUNE (Mpls.-St. Paul) Newspaper of the Twin Cities
Headline: Light rail always will slow the flow // Poor planning is
behind Hiawatha Avenue's traffic delays, experts say.
Date: 12/12/04
Section: NEWS
Page: 01A
Edition: METRO
Byline: Laurie Blake; Staff Writer
Graphic: MAP;PHOTO
Length: 36.58
Subject: report;mass transit;road
Slug: LRTTRAFFIC1212
         
   Officials poorly planned the traffic-signal system along the 
Hiawatha light-rail line, subjecting drivers on south Minneapolis 
streets to unnecessary waiting at train crossings, according to a 
review by federal highway experts.   A Federal Highway Administration
team that reviewed the planning 
and engineering of the signals said, "more time, effort and money 
should have been allocated to ensuring that they operate as 
efficiently as possible before committing to construction."   Some
relief may be in sight for drivers waiting at train 
crossings, because officials plan to adjust the timing of safety 
gates. But Hiawatha Avenue traffic will never flow as smoothly as 
before trains started running, the experts concluded.   Since the line
opened in June, drivers have faced traffic tie-ups 
and excessive waiting on cross streets, where the light-rail trains 
always have the right of way. Hiawatha Avenue traffic also has 
slowed because traffic lights no longer can be coordinated to 
minimize stops.   The federal report, done at the request of city
officials, said 
the most obvious and easily correctable problem is that safety 
gates at cross streets come down too early and stay down too long. 
The cross streets most affected are 32nd, 38th and 46th streets, 
the report said.   Some drivers' responses to long waits, such as
U-turns and signal 
violations, represented "potential severe safety issues," the 
report said.   Federal experts faulted the project's approach to
rail-motorist 
conflicts starting with the 1999 decision to give trains absolute 
priority over traffic through south Minneapolis.   That year, a
consultant warned rail planners that giving trains 
uninterrupted passage would disrupt traffic and require "a 
significant amount of design coordination" between the rail 
designers and city traffic officials.   Despite this warning, the
traffic-control plan for light rail 
wasn't finished until May 2003, late in the project after most 
construction was finished.   That plan underestimated how often trains
would block cross 
streets. Computer simulations that might have revealed the problems 
were not done, the federal report said.    "Having the traffic control
system report completed earlier would 
have increased the chance to address these problems while it was 
still relatively inexpensive to make changes," the report said.  
Officials from the Metropolitan Council, which owns and operates 
the line, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) 
said that the signals and traffic controls didn't work as desired 
and that the extent of traffic disruption was a surprise. They said 
they did extensive planning. They said assumptions behind the plan 
proved to be wrong because of unanticipated events.   "But until you
actually had the trains moving along that corridor 
we didn't know whether those assumptions were exactly correct," 
said Pat Hughes, metro district engineer for MnDOT. "In reality the 
speed of the train is slower, the number of people using the train 
is requiring that the train wait longer at the stations, and the 
speed limit was raised on Hiawatha."   Train speed was cut from 55
miles per hour to 45 mph when 
neighbors complained about noisy whistles required at the higher 
speed. The federal report also noted that train speeds affected 
signal timing.   The speed limit on Hiawatha Avenue was raised from 35
mph to 40 
or 55, depending on the stretch. Boarding delays at some stations 
near cross streets caused safety arms to remain down longer than 
anticipated.   "We were hoping that there wouldn't be a major
disruption to 
traffic," said Hughes, whose department built the line. "We assumed 
that there would be some. The disruption that is occurring is more 
than we would like to see, and those are the things that we are 
going to work on to try to minimize."   .   Possible fixes   At
MetroTransit, MnDOT and City Hall, officials say they are 
considering ways to change the timing of crossing signals to reduce 
drivers' waiting time.   Mark Fuhrmann, chief of staff for the rail
project, declined to 
predict the cost of such changes but said contingency money in the 
project budget could cover costs.   Adjustments to gate-arm timing will
be made over the next three 
months and should provide noticeable improvements at cross streets, 
project officials say.   Jon Wertjes, Minneapolis' director of traffic
and parking 
services, said he thinks it's possible to shave about 10 seconds 
off the 25 to 35 seconds that a safety arm is down now.   To further
reduce waiting time for motorists, the built-in cycle 
for pedestrian crossings will be eliminated. Instead, pedestrians 
will have to push a button to activate crosswalk signals.   All of this
will be good news for Ted Buhl, whose drive to work 
requires him to cross the light-rail line every day, usually at 
35th or 38th Street. He said he often waits five minutes for a 
chance to move at signals.   "Sometimes, the light I'm waiting at will
be skipped completely 
in the light rotation for crossing Hiawatha Avenue due to the 
frequency of the light-rail cars, especially at rush hour," said 
Buhl, who lives in south Minneapolis. "It's frustrating to sit at a 
light waiting for a chance to cross Hiawatha Avenue, and just when 
you think you are finally going to get your turn, the white light 
at the intersection starts flashing for another light-rail car 
coming to interrupt traffic flow."   Motorists shouldn't expect
Hiawatha Avenue traffic ever to flow 
as smoothly as in the past, the federal report said. Before the 
trains, traffic signals had been timed so that motorists typically 
confronted only one or two red lights from Lake Street to 50th 
Street, Wertjes said. Now, trains disrupt the traffic-signal 
coordination, the report said.   .   Uninterrupted trains   The policy
of not requiring trains to stop at south Minneapolis 
cross streets also is not likely to change.   When MnDOT made the
decision in 1999, officials knew that 
motorists would face some inconvenience, said Hughes, the 
metro-area MnDOT engineer. "We needed to give an advantage to the 
transit," he said. "If we were going to carry more people through 
this corridor, transit had to have an advantage."   The decision was
later endorsed by the Federal Transit 
Administration, which made it a requirement for federal funds. 
Trains are required to stop at downtown traffic signals.   During rush
hours, trains pass Hiawatha Avenue cross streets as 
often as every three minutes, causing crossing gates to close and 
open each time. The effect of such frequent trains can be studied 
using computer modeling software, and the federal experts said that 
should have been done in Minneapolis, as it was in other cities 
planning rail lines.   The federal report concluded that the computer
software used for 
the Minneapolis project wasn't up to the task. If a proper computer 
simulation had been done, it "could easily have revealed 
fundamental errors in the analysis prior to putting the system in 
operation on the street," the federal team said.   Josh Collins, a
spokesman for the light-rail line, said that 
standard traffic-modeling software was used and that project 
engineers were aware of its limitations.   Even now, a simulation would
be helpful as officials make 
adjustments to ensure that they are done correctly, the report 
said. Transit officials said they have no plans to conduct 
simulations, but will monitor the changes along the line.   .   Laurie
Blake is at lblake at startribune.com.   .   What can be done?   Traffic is
delayed on streets crossing the light-rail line due to 
long and frequent gate closings. Possible changes:   Change gate
timing: New controls better timed to the speed of the 
train could more rapidly lower and raise safety gates. This change, 
scheduled to be done over next three months, will be costly.  
Pedestrian push buttons: Motorist delays can be shortened by 
removing the built-in cycle for pedestrians to cross. Push buttons 
are being installed along Hiawatha Avenue intersections so that 
signals stop cars only when a pedestrian wants to cross.   Emergency
controls: If a train breaks down between stations, 
causing crossing gates to stay down indefinitely, an alarm would 
notify officials to raise the gates. This technology is under 
consideration.   .   Not being considered   Stop the trains: Trains
could stop for traffic at some 
intersections on Hiawatha Avenue, just as they do downtown. But 
this is an unlikely policy reversal. It would mean longer train 
rides, and the Federal Transit Administration would oppose it.    Speed
up trains: If trains ran along Hiawatha at 55 miles per 
hour, as intended, instead of 45 mph, they would stop traffic for 
shorter periods. Neighbors objected to the noisy whistles required 
at intersections at the higher speeds. There are no plans to raise 
speeds.   Coordinate trains: If northbound and southbound trains were
timed 
to pass intersections at the same time, they would block motorists 
less often. Such coordination would be difficult, if not 
impossible, because trains linger for unequal times at stations to 
load and unload.   More overpasses: Elevated trains would eliminate
rail-street 
conflicts, but this would require costly reconstruction. 

Steve Brandt
Star Tribune
Who seems to wait forever for the lights to change at the Metrodome
crossing