[B’ Spokes: My thought is if the problem is too many pedestrians then the should be accommodated otherwise if the problem is sporadic occurrences of pedestrians (the most hazardous) then when the pedestrian signal is called for also make the left turn a separate phase, there should be tolerance for this happening once and a while.]
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by Tanya Snyderm Streets Blog
Drivers turning left are a leading cause of pedestrian crashes in urban areas. Where drivers can only turn left with a green left-turn arrow, pedestrians are more protected. But when drivers are watching oncoming traffic for a chance to make their turn, they tend not to be as vigilant as they should to watch for pedestrians. In fact, 5 to 11 percent of drivers don’t look for pedestrians in the crosswalk at all.
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Pedestrian advocates also favor a signal phase exclusively for people on foot, such as a Barnes dance, where pedestrians can cross in all directions, even diagonally, and all traffic is stopped.
But are dedicated signals the solution?
“The downside of protected or leading lefts is that it adds another phase to the signal, and means that ‘through traffic’ will sit stopped at a red light longer than if left turns shared the green time with through traffic,” said Gary Toth, a former New Jersey DOT official. “The more complicated the signal phasing gets, the more that the traffic signal ‘clogs’ up the intersection.”
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https://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/04/04/study-too-many-drivers-dont-even-look-for-pedestrians-when-turning-left/
Biking in Baltimore