Late-night drivers in Sioux Falls can now legally roll through more intersections on their quiet commutes. City leaders are changing more stop lights to flash yellow or red overnight.
Drivers can expect fewer delays, now that more than 80 percent of the city’s stoplights flash yellow or red during the night…instead of going through the typical green-yellow-red cycle.
"Right now most of our signals go into flash at 11 o'clock, they go into flash," Principal Traffic Engineer Heath Hoftiezer says. "A lot of the signals are going to flash at 10 o'clock."
The flashing lights last until 6 a.m.
The city’s law enforcement leader says some drivers disregard traffic signals when they don’t see anyone else on the road. Chief Doug Barthel says he doesn’t want people tempted to break the law.
"We want to make sure that you still stop at that flashing red light. That doesn’t mean slow down and just go ahead and go through it. You need to come to a complete stop," Barthel says. "And, even when it’s flashing yellow, you still need to proceed with caution, so you’re gonna have to slow down as you through those intersections."
Only 47 of the city’s 250 traffic signals don’t flash at night. Those always operate as normal stop lights because of visibility issues and lane setup.