Well not really, but it is mostly their fault. They built the stupid store on a busy intersection and have the annoying entrance JUST before a major intersection that causes no end to accident near misses.
Yes, I’m talking about the Home Depot in Dewitt, NY, which sits at the intersection of Bridge Street and Widewaters Parkway. You can see the Home Depot parking lot in the bottom of the Google satellite map below, with Widewaters Parkway running East-West (left-right). The Bridge Street intersection is to the left.
Where the problem comes in is the lane marking on Widewaters Parkway in the middle of the image (you can zoom in if you want). You’ll see that westbound traffic as it approaches the Home Depot entrance has two lanes to choose from. An unmarked lane on the right, and a left turn only lane on the left. Immediately upon clearing the Home Depot entrance, the drive must now choose from the two right turn lanes or the one left turn lane. So if you’re planning to go south on Bridge Street you’re forced to choose between the lesser of two evils… A) get in the left turn lane BEFORE the Home Depot entrance and blow through the left turn into the Bridge Street left turn lane OR B) switch lanes from the unmarked lane into the left turn lane for Bridge Street while crossing the Home Depot access intersection. I choose B.
Now… put yourself in the shoes (or driver seat) of the frustrated contractor who’s just spent a fortune on 3 1/2″ dry wall screws and wants to get into one of the right hand turn lanes to get to their job site. They see me coming along in the far right lane and figure I’m planning on turning right… right? So they mash the accelerator on their big white panel van and careen out into the intersection (following the somewhat prominent tire tracks on the Google map).
“OH $#!T! That little rice burner [me!] is changing lanes! What is that A$$hole thinking?” So they quickly shorten their curve into the left turn lane.
Seeing the careening white van I apply liberal brake pressure and manage to slide in behind him. Now I find that the van is stopped in the left turn lane waiting for ME to go around him in one of the right lanes. I honk.
Now the van pulls into the center right turn lane and rolls down the window.
“This ought to be fun” I think, and roll down my window.
Cookie recipes successfully exchanged, we each drive on our somewhat grumpy way.
Way to go anonymous traffic engineer! Two more happy customers!
September 12th, 2008 at 9:28 am
(nice new orbiting item on the blog header, by the way…)
As we talked about before, if I had been the apparatchik approving the site plans for this area, I would not have permitted a driveway where they put it. They should have placed it as far from that intersection as possible, off the right hand side of the picture. Even that would be too close to the intersection for a store with this sort of traffic pattern, but it would definitely be better than what’s there now.
There are other, better, solutions if you look at the larger map, but most of those would be politically untenable given the clout that a Home Depot can bring to bear and the tax revenue it brings in.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:52 am
We have one of these (sort of), but it involves one of those center turning left from either direction lanes. When you’re leaving a variety of shop in this stretch (not the least of which is the liquor store) and you want to turn left … do you try to cross all the way across the two lanes of right-bound traffic and the center turn-both-ways lane and the next lane over that’s about to become the left turning lane for WalMart into the driving lane alongside it??? Or, do you just try to cross the right-bound lanes and take a stop in the turning both ways lane before trying to get over into the travel lane, where people assume you’re trying to turn left, because, well … that’s what it’s for, and refuse to let you in??? I’ve tried both and been in near-misses both times (Once with my friend, Bill, fresh off the plane from the UK, in the passenger seat. He must have thought Americans can’t drive.)