A three-second green light outside Trader Joe’s had been driving some West Hollywood residents quietly insane, including this guy. Last week Griff Stark-Ennis blasted the sitch on the socials, and the City jumped into action. Who says the wheels of government turn slowly.
Griff Stark-Ennis posted the video on Feb. 20. He filmed the northbound signal at Fuller Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard and let it run. The light goes green. One car clears the intersection. Yellow. Red. His caption: “Not all heroes wear capes … some drive Kias.”
“Every time I come to Trader Joe’s and I leave, I’m always gagged by it,” Stark-Ennis says in the video.
The comment section didn’t disappoint. “I watched multiple times to count and that light is literally [three] seconds,” one person wrote. Another: “We allow one half of a car per green, thank you.” Someone else copped to years of avoidance: “I used to live down the street from here on Spaulding. The way I would avoid this light at all costs! Been like this for years.”
The video racked up more than 275,000 likes and over 5,000 comments. Not bad for a stoplight.
Fixed the next day
Here’s where this story gets interesting. The City moved fast. By Saturday, Feb. 21. Literally one day after the post the Department of Public Works had already been out there. West Hollywood public information officer Joshua Schare confirmed to the Beverly Press that staff performed “a quick fix on the Santa Monica Boulevard at northbound Fuller Avenue signal on Saturday, February 21 in order to ensure that cars had additional fixed time in green light mode on Fuller.” Then the City contacted LA County which actually owns and maintains West Hollywood’s signals for a more permanent fix.
The Beverly Press, which first reported the story, got a quote from Mayor John Heilman, who said he’s been through that intersection himself. “I’ve experienced the issue myself when leaving Trader Joe’s,” Heilman told the paper.
The City’s Instagram, @wehocity, jumped in the comments on Feb. 24: “We’re aware of the traffic light timing issue – thank you for bringing this to our attention! We have reached to L.A. County out to request a fix.”
What the City said officially
The City put out a formal statement confirming the signal timing was, in fact, broken, not just annoying. “Earlier this week, the City received a report that the northbound signal phase was ending too quickly, allowing only one or two vehicles to pass through the intersection before turning red,” the statement read. “City staff reviewed the signal timing and confirmed that the northbound phase is currently too short, which is also reflected in video circulating on social media.”
LA County has been asked to evaluate the intersection and determine whether more adjustments are needed. The City says it’ll keep monitoring.
Turns out the fastest route through that intersection wasn’t Fuller Avenue. It was putting it on blast.
Quote from the end of the article:
‘LA County has been asked to evaluate the intersection and determine whether more adjustments are needed. The City says it’ll keep monitoring.’
What’s wrong with that picture?
They’ll keep monitoring, as if there isn’t already enough proof that it’s been monitored.
All of the lights in WeHo have been re-timed like that. 3 second walk light, 5 seconds blinking red then “don’t walk” for about 5 minutes. Guaranteeing that pedestrians will chance being caught. And it’s not like they do this because they want to move motorized traffic faster- intelligent cities time the lights so if motorists go the speed limit they won’t hit every red light. But this Council and Staff make it very clear that the streets and the sidewalks are for scooters and delivery robots. Want space on the sidewalk? Have yourself delivered.
Thank you Griff!
Experienced the blink and miss it timing leaving Smart & Final before Super Bowl Sunday.
Laughed in disbelief and told my fiancé about it when I got home.
Now one less thing wrong with the world.
It’s a start?