Permanent red again and again: The traffic light at the crossing Groß-Berliner Damm/Segelflugerdamm gets on the drivers nerves Photo: Sven Meissner
By Johannes Malinowski
The traffic light turns red. One minute goes by, two minutes… Nothing happens. The chaotic traffic lights in Johannisthal get on the nerves of drivers.
The system has been regulating traffic at the Groß-Berliner Damm/Segelflugdamm intersection for about a year. The new M17 tram line between Adlershof and Johannisthal has also been running here since October. Since then there have been repeated disturbances.
“In the last few weeks, several complaints from residents have come to my office,” says FDP MP Stefan Förster (41). They would have waited for minutes at a red light and felt their way through the traffic light area at walking pace.
Förster asked the traffic management for the reasons for the traffic light chaos. According to the authorities, there have been 14 disruptions there since the beginning of May alone, including seven total failures.
The system, it is said, is traffic-dependent and it is difficult to precisely localize the cause of the disruption. In addition, many drivers would not drive far enough to the stop line to trigger induction loops in the ground. A second induction loop is to be used in the future.
FDP man Förster is not satisfied with the answer. “The errors in the traffic light system must be identified and eliminated.”
