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Tagged: CDOT

A Trifling Place
3:27 pm
Wed March 20, 2013

A Trifling Place, Episode 7: Turn Green Already!

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Credit Tasnim Shamma
Nine TV displays and several computers are used to monitor the traffic in control room in the old city hall.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
WFAE reporter Lisa Miller and UNC Charlotte professor Martin Kane wait at a red light on Providence Road.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
Lisa expresses her frustration with the traffic light signal timing when we return to the office.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
A traffic control room has been located in Charlotte's old city hall, across the Government Center, since the 1970s.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
Charles Abel is the transportation systems manager for the city of Charlotte. There is one technician monitoring traffic during morning rush hour and one in the evening.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
Changes to individual intersections or groups of intersections can be made using the central system software program called Centracs. It is connected to 90 percent of the traffic signals (green dots) in Charlotte. Blue dots show a lost connection.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
The traffic on North Tryon and West Mallard Creek Church Road moves very slowly during rush hour because the lights take a long time to change.
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Welcome to “A Trifling Place,” a podcast dedicated to exploring the ins-and-outs of Charlotte.

  • Find out how Charlotte's traffic signals work

Every city has its share of traffic issues. In Charlotte, for example, there are a lot of complaints about rush hour near Ballantyne on I-485. (Relief is coming. That section of the road is scheduled to be expanded to three lanes by December 2014.)

But today we're not talking about the quality of the Charlotte region’s roads. We’ll focus on an issue the Charlotte Department of Transportation has a little more control over: traffic lights.

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Local News
5:00 am
Tue March 5, 2013

Charlotte Raps About RAP (Reverse Angle Parking)

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Credit Tasnim Shamma
Jason Lane, a Charlotte native, was commissioned to write a rap song about RAP (reverse angle parking). He now lives in Washington, D.C.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
Reverse Angle Parking signs line Commonwealth Avenue in Plaza Midwood.
Credit Tasnim Shamma
Jim Keenan, an engineer with the city of Charlotte, shows off the parking ticket people will receive starting April 1, 2013 if they don't park correctly.
Credit Google Maps
The reverse angle spaces replace a more ad-hoc system of gravel lots (pictured) along Commonwealth Avenue. The spaces also narrow the street.
Credit Duncan McFadyen
More signs marking the spaces as "back-in angle parking only".
Credit Duncan McFadyen
Credit Duncan McFadyen
The reverse angle spaces narrow the street.
Credit Duncan McFadyen
Cars parked correctly and incorrectly along Commonwealth Ave.
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There are some new backward parking spaces in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood. The city’s put in reverse angle parking along three blocks of Commonwealth Ave – spaces that are angled against the direction of traffic, designed to be backed into. It’s part of a $4 million project to make the area more pedestrian and bike friendly. 

The reverse spaces also serve to narrow the street and slow down traffic. But, the concept of backing into these spaces goes against what we’re used to. And the result is a lot of confusion. 

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