BUFFALO, N.Y. — More intersections in Western New York will be updated with new traffic signals over the coming weeks.
On Monday, the New York State Department of Transportation announced that additional flashing yellow traffic signals for left turns will be used in Western New York.
Flashing yellow arrows allow for drivers to have more time to make a left turn through an intersection by providing a time frame for drivers to make the turn while yielding to oncoming traffic instead of sitting stopped at the light.
A spokesperson for NYSDOT clarified that flashing yellow left-turn arrows will be coming to rehabilitation projects across the region.
Among those projects is Transit Road in Amherst, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, and Depew; Washington Street in Jamestown; Route 5 through Hamburg and Lackawanna; and Main Street at North Forest Road.
Niagara Falls Boulevard at Maple Road recently got one of these traffic signals.
“Flashing yellow arrows on traffic signals enhances safety and helps clear congestion at intersections, reducing the risk of collisions on our roads,” NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said.
“As part of our commitment to maintaining safe, navigable roadways, we will continue to closely monitor the traffic patterns in Western New York and across the state, and we will utilize the latest and most effective technologies to guide motorists.”
These new signals will work by displaying a solid green arrow, indicating a protected left turn, and then changing to solid yellow to show that a red light is coming. The left arrow may stay red for oncoming traffic to drive through the intersection. The left arrow will then turn to a flashing yellow meaning that people may turn left while yielding to oncoming traffic, proceeding when there is a safe gap.