Discussions

Am I the only one frustrated by the timing of the lights that you have to stop at both set of lights

Always be a source of frustration in Brandon. A few years ago, the city spent a ridiculous amount of money on an outside company to have someone come in to Monitor traffic patterns so they could "properly" adjust them according to frequency of use in order to improve traffic flow and reduce backups.  
Really didn't seem to change very much, which isn't a surprise when you have a consulting firm with an observer who doesn't actually live or travel here doing the thinking and planning.  
My biggest beef is always going to be 18th, from one end to the other. Frequent stops at every controlled intersection if you hit them at the wrong time of day. Barely enough time to turn off park going south on 18th, and no turn signal whatsoever going west at the corner by the td bank/Coffee Culture lights, leaving anyone who wants to turn sitting there for way too long for any opportunity to get past oncoming traffic at lunch or after 4.  
Will any of these issues ever be properly addressed? Doubtful, because there will never be a perfect solution that makes everyone happy. Also,it all comes down to who is responsible for that section of road. I believe 18th is provincial issue, and not city, so as usual, the vision for Brandon ends at the perimeter.  
 
Edited by Mr Eman, 2024-06-14 08:58:10

We have to have a little bit of perspective here, I think.  
 
Anyone who travels a bit will tell you that traffic in Brandon is far form being any sort of real issue that requires money to fix.  
 
Take, for instance, Halifax. I was in Halifax a month ago and the one thing I noticed was how terrible teh flow of traffic was there. I also noticed there was barely a pot hole on any of the roads.  
 
A couple years before that, we were in Victoria, which had it's own set of issues. We wanted to take a cab form our hotel to a bar in the downtown...and we waited nearly an hour for a cab to show up because, get this, it was windy! That city relies heavily on their water taxis to pick up the slack, and when its windy they were docked, putting a huge strain on traffic in the city that day...who knew!?  
 
Getting from downtown to the hotel where I stayed took over an hour in both Cities, which are known for their beauty and tourism.  
 
The congestion you experience in Brandon doesn't even count for a small blip in a major City, so throwing consultants and money at a problem is hardly worth the time.

I agree mostly with what you say.  
 
I drive around town a lot during the day, and I have to say, traffic flow would improve substantially if people paid attention and followed the rules. A few things I observed just today:  
 
- lots of people don't understand how to make left turns. Establish yourself in the intersection, people! If you enter om green, you can still exit on red! It's amazing how many people don't seem to understand that.  
 
- turn into the correct lane. That's the lane closest to you, not the far left/right lane because you need to make a turn in 6 blocks.  
 
- please drive the correct way down one-way streets. I can't believe how often I see this. No, driving backwards the wrong way doesn't count.  
 
- don't be afraid to change lanes.  
 
- Get. OFF. Your. Phone!!!! Not only are you a hazard, you sit at the green light for 10+ seconds while we honk at you.  
 
- Stop stopping in random spots to let people or cars cross "to be nice". Safety for everyone relies on traffic moving in predictable ways. Stop it. It's creating the unsafe, not solving it, and disrupting the flow of traffic.  
 
I re-iterate, that's just what I've observed TODAY. I'm no traffic saint, but these seem pretty basic and would help immensely with traffic flow.  
 
/rant

It is possible to make all the green lights. But you need to travel at 60kph.  
I have done it many times.  
But at odd hours of the day.  
Hard to do with traffic and potholes.  
 
My other pet peeve is a yellow flashing light.  
Don't stop you morons!!!  
You have the right of way.  
Drive with caution. But the other direction has a red light. They must stop and yield to you.  
Most of you would get shot at in larger cities if you stopped at the yellow lights.

Its frustrating especially if I am stopped at red light at the intersection of the Corral Centre and there is no traffic on the street wanting to turn onto 18th st.  
 
A person mentioned what I see everyday driving around Brandon. This week driving back on my lunch hour, I was really mad driving driving up the hill on 18th st, I was doing exactly 70km per hour with an unmarked police vehicle behind me just for a company vehicle with a trailer passed both of us going atleast 80km per hour on the left lane. The police never bothered going after the person for speeding. This is mind boggling as if it was anybody else, they would of got pulled over.  
 
Driving on 1st st. between Kirkcaldy Dr. and the bridge (and vice versa) is like driving in Winnipeg. There are those who barely driving 50km per hour in the 70 km per hour zone on the right lane. One can't pass them on the left lane as there's people on the left lane going 90km per hour or there's too much traffic on the right lane to make it worth while passing them. Its good luck at the best of times on Kirkcaldy Dr. trying to merge onto 1st st safely. I see too many times traffic stopped on the 'exit lane' that goes south onto 1st st. By the way, going north of 1st st bridge, the speed limit is still 50km per hour, not 70km per hour as many people do.  
 
We can all go on and on about some drivers. Yes, we all occasionally slip but try to do better.  
 
Edited by alight, 2024-06-16 09:02:55

Potholes of course. Poorly marked lanes. Every block down town needs a light? Driving too fast is bad but so is the person doing 35 in a 50!  
A couple of suggestions: go easy on your brakes. You can slow down slowly coming to a stop sign, it also assures us you plan on stopping!! When in a left turning lane at a light, instead of staring at your reflection in the mirror, you can watch the other lights and when they turn red be prepared to move so that those behind you might also get through on a green turn light. USE your signals!!!

You hit on a lot of issues I experience frustration with!  
 
I don't know if it's unique to Brandon, but a lot of people drive with very bad habits or just don't know the rules.  
 
One thing I pay attention to while playing passenger is how often drivers are looking at or using their mobile devices. I realize that my experiences are purely anecdotal, but about half of the people I witness on the road are actively engaged with their mobile device.  
 
One thing you didn't mention, is the poor understanding people in Brandon have of traffic circles. People don't realize, or they forget to signal before exiting a traffic circle....and you DO NOT signal when entering a traffic circle. I have even seen one person stop to let a car into a traffic circle!

To my understanding, you do signal entering a circle drive if you are going to exit immediately out the first exit!

I yield to the left when entering a traffic circle, whether I'm on the phone or not.

The only solution to eliminating traffic problems is that you are driving the only vehicle on the road, but then, that could cause a whole other set of problems.

That is not the only solution. A combination of intelligent design (expensive) and people following the rules (cheap), which do not eliminate the problem, can significantly reduce it. It's not a black-and-white problem and there is no black-and-white solutions, even one as extreme as being "the only vehicle on the road".  
 
Also today, another person driving the wrong way down a one-way street. That's like 3 this week alone.

Why is everyone so vehemently against zipper merging?

For sure!! How can these not be timed better. They are close together and totally opposite in timing.

Sorry. Let's try another solution, "no vehicles on the road, at all".

On victoria by super store, 18th from one end to the other same. There is no reason if you first at the lights, turns green and you go a block or 2 and it turns red just as you get there. People talk about burning gas, break wear etc. No flow. Brandon is small enough that if you go a stretch maybe you hit a red light or 2 not the majority of reds. Same in front of corral centre on 18th. Makes no sense at all, pot holes or no. This shouldn't be an expensive fix either. Adjust the timing. If a group of cars are at one red light at least a dozen should be able to go a block or 2 and hit a green light.

You are exactly correct. There are certain streets where the timing of lights could ensure a non-stop flow of traffic under normal conditions.

Once apun a time, a long time ago, it actually did work that way. All along Victoria, all along Rosser, 18th too-the lights were timed so you would not stop at every single light. I don't know who was responsible for changing the timing, but they really messed it up -and it has been messed up for years now.