Time for a new, semi-regular feature here at Wheel Genius.You know what it’s like when you’re driving around town, or anywhere else for that matter, and notice something strange, frustrating or just plain stupid.You wonder: Why doesn’t someone do something about it?Well, here’s your chance.Whether it’s a rash of potholes on a particular street, a lengthy gap between green lights at a particular intersection, or even the a lack of bike racks or sidewalk connections or hiking trail extensions or anything else transportation related, Wheel Genius wants to know.I’ll look for the answers by checking with the proper authorities and telling everyone what the deal is.Who knows? Perhaps you might even spur the Powers That Be into making the Change You Need.So, here we go:”Hi Mark. I’m a loyal follower of your Wheel Genius blog. You seem pretty plugged into the transportation scene, so I’m hoping you might be able to help me out.”It’s no secret Lawrence has its share of traffic troubles. Anyone who drives in this town knows about the congestion on 23rd St., the ongoing battle over the eastern leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway, the potholes on 27th, waiting for an eternity to turn from Folks Rd. onto 6th. For the most part, it seems city/county officials are aware of these problems and have systems or efforts in place to address them.”What irks me is the stuff that seems like an easy fix, but continues to cause traffic tie-ups. I’m hoping you could work to get some answers on this kind of stuff.”Here’s a specific example: I’m heading north on Iowa and want to turn left and go west onto Bob Billings Parkway. The only option available is a green arrow. If I miss the arrow, I sit there while the light goes through its entire cycle. I sit there, and sit there, even though I have an unobstructed view all the way north to Stratford, and I can see that the coast is clear to make the turn. Why can’t I have a yield on green? I understand the basics of why this is a bad idea at some intersections, due to line of sight or traffic count. The line of sight argument doesn’t cut it here, because just a mile west of this intersection, at Bob Billings and Kasold, cars on Bob Billings looking to make a left in either direction onto Kasold get the solid green light, with a much more obstructed line of sight and a higher speed limit (40 vs. 35 mph.)”It seems like this would be an easy fix to improve traffic flow, and decrease my blood pressure at the same time.”Sorry to rant, but sometimes l just get so angry out there.”Thanks for the note, Angry Motorist. I’m happy to help out. But I can’t get into the signal’s controller box and adjust the timings.The help you request would need to come through David Woosley, the city’s traffic engineer. He’s been on the job since 1993, having started the Bureau of Traffic Engineering with his arrival in Lawrence from a similar gig in Lubbock, Texas, home to Texas Tech University.While you might have wanted me to go Bob Knight on him, I opted for a more restrained approach.I checked in with Mr. Woosley. Here’s the exchange:Q. Is there an easy answer for this?A. “It’s semi-easy. Although I don’t know the whole history, I think that intersection was like that when I came to work here 15 years ago.”Generally speaking, the only time that they change the intersections to left-on-arrow only is when they had a history of left-turn crashes. Otherwise, we try to have the protected permissive — meaning a left turn on arrow, or a left turn on green ball.”But when we start having a lot of left-turn crashes, we have to limit it to the left-on-the-arrow only. I know that’s certainly the case at 19th and Iowa, because that has changed since I came to work here. It used to be protected permissive, north-south, but we had a lot of crashes so we had to change it.”It’s just speculation on my part — that that’s what happened at 15th and Iowa, too — but I think that took place before I came to work here.”Q. Is there an easy way to check that?A. “Actually, our department didn’t even exist before I came to work here, so they don’t have records that go back that far. So that’s why it’s just speculation on my part. But generally we try to allow the left turn on the green (ball) unless we just have too many crashes.”Q. So, even if you went back to look, you probably wouldn’t want to change it back anyway, because that might make things worse, right?A. “Exactly.”Q. So, there’s no way for this to change?A. “We can always study it, but there’s not much to study. The only thing you could do would be to experiment with it — change it to see if people start running into each other again.”Q. You wouldn’t want to do that?A. “I’m not saying (we) wouldn’t, but they would need to go through the process before something to be approved like that. If there’s a history (of accidents) in the past, then there’s no reason to think we wouldn’t have a history in the future. But you could always make the request.”Q. What do you do? Send a letter?A. “That would start the process.”Q. So, what would be the chances?A. “I don’t know. We’d just have to look at it and see what we could find.”There you go.Angry Motorist, or anyone else interested in this issue, may contact David Woosley to ask his department to take a professional, engineering — and perhaps historical — look into the issue. Be sure to be specific about what proposed change you want him to consider, and where.He’ll also want your real name and contact information. “Angry Motorist” might not cut it when it comes time for him to turn to report to the Traffic Safety Commission and then, eventually, the Lawrence City Commission.To e-mail a request, send it to dwoosley@ci.lawrence.ks.us.To send a written request by mail, address your correspondence to:David WoosleyCity Traffic EngineerP.O. Box 708Lawrence, KS 66044-0708Hope this information helps. If anyone else has a question, concern or suggestion to improve traffic in the area, please let me know. You can comment below, or — better yet — send me an e-mail directly.I’d be happy to do what I can to shed light on the situation and, if possible, start the process for making a change, if appropriate.