A traffic innovation in Oregon could catch some drivers off guard at first, but officials predict blinking yellow left-turn lights will stop unnecessary traffic delays.

City officials in the communities of Beaverton, Woodburn, Medford and Bend have installed the blinking lights, which allow drivers in left-turn lanes to proceed when traffic situations are safe, the Oregonian reported.

The lights do not replace the more standard green left-turn arrows; instead, they give drivers the opportunity to turn when there is no oncoming traffic or pedestrians with the right of way.

City officials said the new lights help ease traffic congestion in areas where drivers are waiting for green-left turn arrows when cross traffic is light.

“You can get from Point A to Point B, but you have to be more careful,” Randy Wooley, traffic engineer for the city of Beaverton.

Todd Spencer, executive vice president for OOIDA, said the lights are an interesting concept that could help keep traffic in motion.

“It’s a good sign, from my perception, because it sort of addresses the issue of traffic control devices being designed to keep vehicles flowing, rather than to stop vehicles,” Spencer said. “Those things are just simply common sense, and we need a whole lot more of that.”

At this point, the new signals – which were installed in Beaverton three years ago – are not a part of the Federal Highway Administration’s “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices,” Wooley told the Oregonian that he expects them to be included in the next few years.

--By Aaron Ladage, Land Line staff
aaron_ladage@landlinemag.com