Wal-Mart may not be opening for another couple months, but a set of traffic signals adjacent to the site is up and running.And in response to a question posed by a follower of Wheel Genius, the city’s traffic engineer has agreed to check the signals out to make sure they’re functioning properly.First, some background:The signals, at Sixth Street and Congressional Drive, are designed to control traffic streaming through what promises to be an increasingly busy intersection. Wal-Mart plans to open its new Lawrence store northeast of there April 29.The signals became fully operational Jan. 29 — a full three months before Wal-Mart’s planned opening — and already had been flashing yellow lights for a week before that.The signals were to be installed by Feb. 1, a date set to coincide with a planned earlier opening date for Wal-Mart.I learned all this by checking in with David Woosley, the city’s traffic engineer. I wanted to get some answers for someone I refer to as Angry Motorist, a loyal follower of this blog.Here’s the situation posed by Angry Motorist, followed by some info from Woosley:- – – -Hey Mark. Angry Motorist here. I had my first encounter with the city’s newest traffic light over the weekend … and I gotta say, not too impressed. The light in question is at 6th and Congressional — basically in front of the new Wal-Mart. On its face, I don’t mind the light. I understand the need for a controlled intersection at a major retail hub.  What had me riled up was the timing of the cycle for the light. I will say, I’ve only been through this intersection twice. Once heading east and once heading west. But on both instances, it felt like the light was set up with Congressional as the ‘dominant’ intersection. By that, I mean, Sixth Street was green only long enough to clear the intersection, then it would turn red, regardless of the traffic on Sixth, or on Congressional.  For example, when I approached the intersection from the east, the light was red the entire time I could see it, which was from just east of Folks Rd. I hit the light at Wakarusa, red. When I hit Congressional, it was still red; It had been the entire time. Cars on Sixth Street were lined up eight to ten deep in both lanes in both directions.  On Congressional, I watched one car from almost Overland Drive head south, and make a left onto 6th while that light was green.  Granted, this was my first encounter with this light so perhaps it was an aberration. But it still begs the following questions: Who determines the timing for the cycle of a traffic signal? What factors go into it? How does it get tested/checked? How does it get changed? Thanks, Angry Motorist- – – -First off, Woosley said that the signals weren’t supposed to be functioning that way.”Based upon what he encountered, it sounds like there was a malfunction of some type there,” he said. “It shouldn’t be working that way. … It’s not intended to operate the way he described. We can certainly check that out and see what’s happening.”Someone will visit the intersection within two days and evaluate the complaint, Woosley said: “If there’s a problem, we’ll fix it.”The signals are set up to sense traffic as it approaches the intersection, through the use of video cameras, he said.”It should not change and give Congressional a green light unless there are vehicles waiting on Congressional,” he said. “If there are, it would give them a green light but it should only be green to clear the number of vehicles waiting.”One caveat: The signals do have a pedestrian-activated component. If a pedestrian wants to cross Sixth Street at the intersection, and presses the button to activate the signal, the red light will come on for traffic on Sixth — and stay that way for quite awhile.”It is a very long way to cross,” Woosley said.Crosswalk striping, by the way, won’t be installed until weather warms up some more. Otherwise, it won’t stick.As to Mr. Motorists’ four specific questions:1. Who determines the timing for the cycle of a traffic signal?That would be the city’s Traffic Engineering Division. Woosley runs it.2. What factors go into it?It’s a variety of factors, Woosley said, including traffic volumes, traffic progressions, the intersection’s physical design, traffic speeds, etc.3. How does it get tested/checked?Woosley’s division handles testing and/or checking of intersections, signals and other matters. Checking whether signals are functioning properly would be handled by division personnel visiting the intersection.4. How does it get changed?Again, that would be the responsibility of Woosley’s division. Changes can be made to the controller — that’s the box at the corner — in the case of malfunctioning signals.We’ll see how the signals perform in the coming days, weeks and months … especially once the new store opens.Keep those questions coming, and I’ll endeavor to get some answers.