In the Blink of an Eye, Red Light Back to Yellow

You , but the light over the three-way intersection of Broadway and Main Street in Port Jefferson is back to yellow this week, after a little over a month blinking red.

Complaints from some about traffic backing up at the intersection and jaywalking by pedestrians encouraged village officials to make the request to the New York State Department of Transportation.

Residents brought up the blinking yellow light at the Oct. 3 village board meeting. Mayor Margot Garant said that the NYS DOT came to work on the light after Hurricane Irene and it was then that it changed to red.

According to NYS DOT representative Eileen Peters, after studying the intersection, traffic engineers changed the light to better protect pedestrians.

“The blinking light was changed to red, which required full stops,” she said.

After the light was changed, village officials “expressed concerns that the red was causing increased traffic delays and confusing motorists,” said Peters.

The signal for traffic heading northbound on Main Street was returned to its original function as a yellow blinking light.

Some of the complaints from residents during the meeting were that the traffic was backing up more than usual on Main Street because of the red light and that pedestrians were jaywalking between cars instead of waiting at the crosswalk, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

Garant said that, to her knowledge, the village had nothing to do with the initial change but they did put the request in to the NYS DOT to change it back.

According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicle's manual, a flashing red light is the same as a stop sign. A drive must stop, yield the right-of-way, and go when it is safe. A flashing yellow light means drive with caution.