On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 10:37:43 GMT, "Larry Scholnick"
> wrote:

>The signal cycle began with a left green-arrow (with a red ball) for both eastbound and westbound
>traffic. However, the leftmost lane was marked for Straight OR Left. As a result, if the first car
>in the left lane was not turning left (which he wasn't required to do), nobody moved during the left
>green-arrow cycle. Once the left green-arrow went out and the green ball came on, that first car
>proceeded and the line stopped when the first car that wanted to turn left got to the intersection
>and waited for oncoming traffic.
>
>It seems like left green-arrows are almost useless when there isn't a dedicated left-turn lane.
>Does this really work out somehow? Am I missing something?

Normally, an intersection with this configuration will be programmed
to illuminate the green ball AND the left turn arrow at the same time
to avoid the obvious problem. Perhaps the one you saw does this also,
at least at some times.