This is NOT meant to be a criticism of the downtown overhaul recently done. I think it looks great. Having said that, since the downtown was redone I've noticed something odd and dangerous.
On an almost weekly basis I see vehicles running red lights on Summit street downtown, sometimes more than one in a day. The vehicles are almost always from out of town and I've seen only two that appeared to run a light intentionally (both of those had local plates). On every other occasion it seems like the driver didn't see the traffic lights. They don't speed up or slow down. They seem completely oblivious to the fact that they ran a red light and on every incident I've witnessed the offender was traveling on Summit Street. I've not witnessed a similar incident for a vehicle crossing on an avenue.
Whether the incidents are caused by cell phone use, other distractions or other causes I have no clue. My reason for posting this is to make others aware of the fact and caution them to look before entering a downtown intersection from an avenue. While I've not witnessed an accident caused by one of these drivers there were close calls.
The main reason behind this is based on the fact that the vast majority or persons driving in a typical urban setting are used to traffic lights being overhead as opposed to on a pole. There have been times that I've personally come close to running one as the light blended in with scenary behind the post. Just my $0.02.
