Meredith Traffic
 

It is worse off than before.

I've sat through three light cycles because the new pedestrian Red Light walkway that has everyone confused.

Drivers need to understand that you only STOP when the lights are red. You don't stop for every person that stands near the crosswalk, because after they cross because you've been "kind" the light turns red a minute later and no one is there, but cars stop again for no reason.

I feel better now that I've got that off my chest.

Have a great day! :)

Agreed, they need better signage for drivers. Pedestrians get good info including countdown timers.

Meredith traffic
 

You are right...it’s a mess! There should be a sign: STOP On RED ONLY. It pays us to take the “short cut “ around Meredith (25B, past old print barn) during summer months.

....... or have a green light when you shouldn't stop. The light being dark (when not red) just looks like it's broken, requiring drivers to stop for a normal non-light-controlled crosswalk.

For those that may not realize..... Life happens in the Lakes Region 24/7/365.

This stuff may not be occurring while you are in the area, but it happens

https://www.unionleader.com/news/saf...f3fe920f7.html

The real solution is a bridge or tunnel for pedestrians.

I found myself going through Meredith about 8 times in three days last week and every time after making the left the whole flow of traffic was stopped and as mentioned a couple times when the ped light was off. Definitely need a full time green,

another option would be to not let the ped light go red when the left turn is green

Meredith traffic
 

Hold it!, jbolty, you are starting to make sense, don't you realize that traffic engineers spent years in school to learn the fine art of traffic (out of) control.?

When we were taught as kids you looked both ways before crossing and only crossed when clear regardless of being in a crosswalk. Vehicles should have right of way when traffic signals are in their favor.

No "should" about it. They do.

I thought a bridge...
 

I was in that mess today and thought a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY nice bridge that would actually be something people would enjoy looking at would be better than the debacle happening now.

There's one out near where I live...painted International Orange that has become quite popular. Cost a small fortune to get over, however, but that's with a car. Still free to walk.

Help me...what happens when the red light flashes. Cars are still stopped even after there are no people crossing. Drivers stay stopped until lights go out. What is the law?

Red flashing “used to” mean stop then go if clear but those same lights had me baffled the other day too...sat there for a bit and the wife said “just go!”
Why are there 3 of them??

Stop on Red...

Could be solved with a human directing traffic during busy times, just like should be done at Hannafords (on a regular basis)

I just witnessed an accident on Memorial Drive at the exit for Main Street. There is a similar red flashing light nearby and a car inexplicably stopped for the yellow flashing light. The car behind it rear ended the car that stopped. Obviously it was the car that rear ended the other car’s fault, but my sympathy lies with the guy who rear ended the car that stopped. The red flashing lights are confusing especially for the uninitiated!


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Have been through the lights daily and think it is a great improvement and much safer for pedestrians. While we have to stop every now and then, it never crossed my mind as something worth complaining about.


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Meredith traffic
 

I don’t think anyone is complaining for the sake of complaining, but the new signals are very confusing to many, and that’s causing slowdowns and fender benders. This requires immediate review and possible modifications, imho.

That is exactly what the had and replaced it with this system. There is an easy fix. The light should be like a regular traffic light. It should only turn from green to red when pedestrians are going to cross otherwise stay green and no one would stop unnecessarily


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You might have the perfect solution, simple as it is. The only problem I see with it is that many pedestrians step off the curb without looking, assuming that people will stop.....which isn’t always the case. What’s happened to actually looking both ways before crossing??? 🤨🙄😣

^This. Actually a green arrow would be the best, but there should always be a visible light.

Doesn't help drivers not knowing that a flashing red light is a stop sign (pretty basic driver's test stuff) but it *would* help with basically well-intentioned, but misguided, drivers thinking they might be supposed to yield to pedestrians when there is no light at all.

-jim

2015 New Hampshire Revised Statutes
Title XXI - MOTOR VEHICLES
Chapter 265 - RULES OF THE ROAD
Section 265:12 - Flashing Signals.

Universal Citation: NH Rev Stat § 265:12 (2015)

265:12 Flashing Signals. –
I. Whenever an illuminated flashing red or yellow signal is used in a traffic sign or signal it shall require obedience by vehicular traffic as follows:
(a) Flashing red (stop signal). When a red lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles shall stop before entering the nearest crosswalk at an intersection or at a limit line when marked, or if none, then before entering the intersection, and the right to proceed shall be subject to the rules applicable after making a stop at a stop sign.


My interpretation only....stop like at a stop sign, then proceed if no pedestrians in cross walk. Other cars that follow would have to do the same.

Of course...
 

2015 New Hampshire Revised Statutes
Title XXI - MOTOR VEHICLES
Chapter 265 - RULES OF THE ROAD
Section 265:12 - Flashing Signals.

Universal Citation: NH Rev Stat § 265:12 (2015)

Everyone...EVERYONE knows this. I always thought this was the absolute first thing taught in driver's ed.

Kinda like boating on Lake Winnipesaukee...Everyone took the boating course and now knows the rules.

Why not put up a normal traffic light???
 

Because Meredith hates "traffic lights" and will do everything and anything to put something up that can be called something else. How about one at Pleasant and 25? Call it a puppy!

We only go through a couple times a week, but it's usually during busy times and we've not really noticed an issue.

That being said, I get the confusion and having a green light there is certainly simple enough.

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We drive through daily and find that the confusion at the crosswalk is causing traffic to back up so that it blocks the intersection at 3/25 so that southbound traffic can't move when the light changes.

exactly.

on a full cycle some number of cars can get thru, call it 100. But when everything stops for the crosswalk then maybe only 50 get through and before you know it's backed up to moulton's farm.

a nice looking timber bridge with a "welcome to Meredith" archway would solve the problem.

Or, a tunnel which could be closed in the winter.

Just wait for some wise guy to start walking back and forth to back up traffic from the Weirs to M'boro, LOL

How about a gate, controlled by the light that would keep pedestrians on sidewalk until the light turns red? Sort of like the gates at rr crossings.

Here is Meredith's official rulling on the crosswalk
 

Go here to get official instructions on the new cross walk https://www.meredithnh.org/home/news...lk-information

This might sound odd, but I always feel a little guilty as a pedestrian at that cross walk. Mainly because it takes a minute or two for the light to change once you press the button, and I have always had someone stop to let me cross before that happens. Then the lights always go once there is no one in the crosswalk any more!

I frankly wonder if the timer could just be shorter between the button being pressed and the lights flashing, like every other place I've ever lived with similar. It would probably cut down on a lot of the confusion.

Funny, I was meeting some friends at dockside the other day and got there too early by mistake. Thought I would take a walk up to main street but didn't because it did not seem important enough to stop all the traffic.

people stop thinking they are being polite but it causes anarchy and a huge backup on 25

no reason for a delay on the button. unless it's synched with the signal at 3/25 it might as well go red instantly; it's not like there is a yellow pre warning

What P's me off at any cross walk is when they press the walk button then immediately cross. 30 seconds after that all the lights at the intersection stay red and there's nobody there anymore needing to cross. Happens everywhere! Ugh!!!

"Go here to get instructions on Meredith's new crosswalk"...
 

How many people would go on the internet for instructions on the new crosswalk before they come to Meredith...Is this done by real people with logical brains? You have to go to a web site for instructions on a street sign...WOW! And maybe another WOW is deserved.!!!

Would a proper defense be "I don't have access to the internet, so I just didn't know what to do when the red started flashing."

Ignorance of the law is no excuse!

What about the color blind?

What about the color blind???
 

Red on the top...Green on the bottom...Hmmm, Or is it the other way around.

Ignorance of the law is why we have lawyers

I was also confused. I get that a flashing red is the same as a stop sign but alternating flashing red lights are like those on a school bus where you must stop no matter what.

They should add a green light to avoid confusion. A pedestrian gate would also prevent polite drivers from stopping when lights are off. Would Would certainly be cheaper than a tunnel.

They should have a flashing yellow light to tell people to slow down and be prepared to stop if needed......

Not standard lighting for this area, if not this country. Dumb system.

HAWK signal
 

I communicated with the Meredith Town Manager, Phil Warren about this. He's a good guy and knows how to get things done, but his hands are a bit tied over this. The Feds paid for all the redevelopment of the stretch and they required the HAWK crossing signal. I had recommended a RYG crossing signal synced with the big intersection so that pedestrians would need to wait until the southbound traffic was already stopped at the intersection anyway to cross. The crossing light would go yellow to red a bit after the southbound light went red and if there were pedestrians waiting to cross. After giving them time to cross it would go green. Driver's presumably know to GO at a green light. The problem with the HAWK signal is that despite what they were taught in driver's ed, they don't know that they can go, if safe, at a blinking red. This is delaying things until traffic back up through the intersection and only 4-5 southbound cars are getting through the intersection on their green light. It is also causing a lot of honking and swearing and is surely going to result in some road range or a pull-around accident.
The problem could go away as HAWK signals get more familiar, as did the initial problems with right-on-red. Or we could make an effort to convince the Feds to let it be changed to a synchronized RYG crossing signal.
But the later would need the raising of some money, and maybe a connection to someone high up in the USDoT, to get an allowance around the HAWK requirement. Meanwhile, it would not hurt the cause to have people expressing their frustration to Phil... so he can appreciate how bad it is... pwarren@meredithnh.org

I thought the purpose of the whole project was to improve traffic flow at critical high-volume times. Has there been any improvement at all? If there hasn't been, due to how the crossing area signals are set up, then I would think Meredith would have a strong case to present to the Feds. I don't go through there on weekends, due to congestion, so I'm going by what I hear on this forum.

1 vs. 2 crosswalks
 

The new "formal with lights and walk signal" crosswalk replaces the two former crosswalks that cars were forced to stop at as soon as any pedestrian stepped forward. The fact that there's only one there now, along with lights and walk signals has made some improvement to the traffic flow. We recommended that a gate or a "wait for walk signal here" be placed near the walk button on each side to the town office, but that still wouldn't cure the fact that cars stop as soon as they see a pedestrian near the crosswalk.
So to answer the question of has the traffic flow improved in Meredith after the new signal was put it; the answer is sort of, but a long ways to go.