Larry Scholnick wrote:
> While driving in our nation's capital yesterday, I saw a configuration that really seemed to make no
> sense.
>
> The signal cycle began with a left green-arrow (with a red ball) for both eastbound and westbound
> traffic. However, the leftmost lane was marked for Straight OR Left. As a result, if the first car
> in the left lane was not turning left (which he wasn't required to do), nobody moved during the left
> green-arrow cycle. Once the left green-arrow went out and the green ball came on, that first car
> proceeded and the line stopped when the first car that wanted to turn left got to the intersection
> and waited for oncoming traffic.
>
> It seems like left green-arrows are almost useless when there isn't a dedicated left-turn lane.
> Does this really work out somehow? Am I missing something?
>
> P.S. I found myself in DC as part of Great Race (www.greatrace.com), a 14-day cross-country driving
> event from Washington (DC) to Washington (Tacoma).

Such configurations are not unuasual. How do you expect people to make
left turns in congested traffic areas without it? They are usually
seen where the road width does not allow space for a dedicated left
turn lane. The locals where they do occur are well aware of them and
are quite tolerant of being blocked.

Harry K