Transportation questions answered.
Doctor Detour answers your transportation questions.
Q: Can you wave your magicwand and get someone to synchronize the traffic lights from the 1900 block of South University Drive to State Road 84 in Davie? — Alan B., Wackerling, Plantation.
A: Traffic flow through such closely spaced signals is challenging to maintain.
Broward County traffic engineers say they have tweaked the timing of the green lights to favor University Drive as much as possible without creating back ups on the side streets, from shopping centers, or from several schools that feed this major roadway.
One of the problems is emergency vehicles that drive through the area, sometimes more than 10 times per day.
Fire engines and ambulance scan disrupt the traffic signal timing by pre-empting the cycle to get green lights.
That knocks the signals out of synchronization for several cycles, which may take more than eight minutes to fully transition back to normal coordination.
The recovery time for the traffic flow could take longer. Most of the time, traffic engineers say the signal timing is working properly.
Q: The railroad crossing on Green Road, just east of Military Trail in Deerfield Beach, has been a nightmare. Unless one slows downto about 5mph your wheel alignment could be thrown off. Complaints to the city, code enforcement, and railroad have done nothing. HELP! — Ron Schiffer, Lighthouse Point.
A: The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority said it is working closely with Broward County and the Florida Departmentof Transportation to complete the re-construction of the road surface on Green Road/Northwest 48 Street in the near future.
In response to a similar complaint about a bumpy railroad crossing at Camino Real and Southwest18 th Avenue in Boca Rat on, the SFRTA said repairs are tentatively scheduled to begin this month or next.