Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I report a Street Light that is Out or Malfunctioning?

You can contact the service provider for your neighborhood to report an outage:

Or you may contact the City of Allen Engineering Department by phone 214.509.4576, e-mail dmorrison@cityofallen.org, fax 214.509.4590, or convenient online form. The City of Allen owns the street lights in the area provided by GCEC.

What is the speed limit when there are no speed limit signs?

Motorist within the City of Allen should assume the speed limit on any street is 30 mph and any alley is 10 mph. If the traffic warrants a speed other than 30 mph, a speed limit sign will be posted displaying appropriate speed limit. Regardless of the speed limit, motorist should proceed in a reasonable and prudent manner.

Is it possible to change the speed limit on a particular street?

In the City of Allen, the City Council sets all speed limits including school zones based on a recommendation from city staff. The Traffic Engineer is responsible for conducting speed studies and traffic surveys to determine the reasonable and safe maximum speed recommendation to the City Council. Requests to change the speed limit should be directed to the Traffic Engineer.

Does the City install Speed Humps (Road Humps) to control speeding problems on residential streets?

In recent years, speed humps are a popular means to address citizens' concerns regarding perceptions of excessive speeds or traffic volumes. Speed humps have been shown in very specific applications to be a way to deter motorists from using "short cut" routes in lieu of the appropriate roadways. Do speed humps effectively reduce speed? Simply stated, no they do not. Therefore the City of Allen does not install speed humps as a speed control measure. Other neighboring cities have tried using speed humps as a speed control measure, but they removed the humps do to ineffectiveness of the humps. Another consideration is the impact on fire-rescue response times. The design and size of fire-rescue vehicles limit their ability to negotiate such obstacles. Better street design and planning will always be a more appropriate deterrent to unwanted traffic concerns. If you believe there is a speeding problem in any area, please contact the Allen Police Department (214.509.4200) for assistance. The Police Department can place a temporary Radar Trailer (a device to remind motorist of the appropriate speed) on streets.

Can I ask for a speed limit sign to be installed in alleys?

Yes, the City will install an ALLEY SPEED LIMIT 10 limit sign at the neighborhood entrance(s) inside the City. If you do not see an ALLEY SPEED LIMIT 10 sign at the entrance, one may be requested from the Traffic Engineer.

How would I make a request to have a traffic signal or stop sign installed at a particular intersection?

The State Law, Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTDC), states that a traffic signal or multi-way stop sign can be installed only if the intersection is warranted by an engineering study. There are particular guidelines in MUTCD specifying the warrants, such as traffic volume, nearby schools, accident experience, etc., for traffic signals and stop signs. If you feel that a traffic signal or multi-way stop sign is necessary, make a request by calling the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576 for a study at the subject location. The City will make a decision based on the conclusion of the engineering study.

How does a signal operate? Is a specific signal operating correctly?

There are many different types of traffic signals. Some are fixed-time and each movement gets a preset amount of time. Some use detectors buried in the pavement and time is allocated based on the amount of vehicles sensed by these detectors. At other intersections, some movements have detectors and other movements do not. At some intersections, where possible, the pedestrian movement is automatically recalled each cycle. At others, pedestrians must push a button to bring up the walk signal. The proper operation of signals can be checked remotely by computer, or in the field by traffic signal personnel. For specific questions about signal operations please contact the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576.

Why do I have to stop? How are signals synchronized?

When there is high traffic flow between intersections, signals are coordinated, or synchronized with each other, to reduce stops and delays for the major traffic movements. Coordinating signals require that all signals be programmed with a common cycle length, which is the amount of time it takes a signal to sequence through all traffic movements one time. The quality of progression through a set of traffic signals depends on the spacing between signals, the speed of traffic, the cycle length, and the amount of traffic. Signals along main arterials are generally coordinated with each other during the day, when there are heavy traffic flows. It is often not possible to progress traffic in both directions because of poor spacing between traffic signals. Sometimes it is necessary to choose one direction to progress. When two-way progression is not possible, the City often uses computerized traffic modeling to find coordinated timing plans that decrease the total delay and stops for all users of the system. Traffic turning off of a side street is generally not progressed, and turning vehicles can usually expect to stop at the next signal. Specific questions about signal progression should be referred to the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576.

Why do I have to wait so long after I stop at a specific signal?

At most traffic signals several different timing plans are used throughout the day to account for varying levels of traffic demand. The length of the wait depends on the signal cycle length and amount of traffic. In general, a longer cycle length increases the amount of vehicles that can be moved through an intersection (capacity). Increasing cycle lengths also increases driver delay. Cycle lengths range from 60 seconds to 160 seconds in the City, depending on the size of the intersections and the amount of traffic. Cycle lengths must be longer at larger intersections to serve the greater number of separate traffic movements during the timing sequence, to accommodate much longer pedestrian crossing times, and to accommodate higher volumes of traffic. Requests for timing changes at individual intersections should be referred to the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576. Information needed for a signal employee to investigate a requested timing change is what day of the week and what time of day a problem occurs.

Why isn't there enough green time to get the traffic through the signal for a specific movement?

The amount of green time programmed for each movement at a signal varies by time of day. Sometimes there is more traffic at a signal than the signal can handle, and the signal is over its capacity. In these situations, the City's Engineering Department attempts to time the signals to equalize delays for conflicting movements. At other times green time can be moved from one movement to a conflicting movement, realizing that improving one movement hurts another. Increasing green for one movement requires decreasing the amount of green time for another movement.

Requests for timing changes at individual intersections should be referred to the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576. Here, too, information needed for a signal employee to investigate a requested change is what day of the week and at what time of day a problem occurs.

How do I find how much traffic there is at a specific location?

The City's Engineering Department counts traffic at all major intersections in the City once a year. Traffic at smaller intersections will be counted as needed, due to special projects or investigations. These counts are stored in a database that is maintained by the City's Engineering Department. Request for traffic volume should be submitted to the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576. Click here to view the City's traffic volume map online.

How does a pedestrian signal work?

Where possible, pedestrian signals are programmed to automatically be served each signal cycle, so that pedestrians do not have to push the pedestrian button. This is often not possible due to site-specific constraints, and it is a good idea to push the button if there is one available.

Once a pedestrian indication starts, there can be some confusion as to the meaning of the signal indications. The first indication is a white walking man. The symbol means the pedestrian can start walking in the direction of the signal. This is followed by a flashing orange hand symbol. The flashing hand does not mean that the pedestrian should stop crossing the street. When this symbol is shown, any pedestrians who have started to cross the street should continue crossing, but pedestrians that have not yet started to cross should not begin crossing.

The length of the flashing indication can be quite long. It is calculated based on the length of the crosswalk and the nationally recognized average walking speed of pedestrians. A flashing hand terminates with a solid orange hand symbol. Pedestrians should not be in the crosswalk when this symbol is being shown. Questions about pedestrian signals should be referred to the City's Engineering Department at 214.509.4576.

Are Stop signs effective as a tool for speed control?

No. Stop signs can have the opposite effect on speeds. We found speeds tend to increase within as little as 150 to 300 feet from the stop sign. Drivers try to make up for what they consider lost time.

Is the City of Allen working on getting DART rail service?

The City of Allen is extremely interested in moving rail transit further north in the US 75 corridor. In 2005 the North Central Council of Governments studied the regional rail issue in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the northern extension of DART in the US 75 corridor is the one with the largest ridership potential.

At this time we need to resolve three core issues to address the implementation of a regional rail plan for the Cities not within in the DART or Fort Worth T transit service areas. The core issues include:

The first step in resolving these issues is to work through the legislative process to provide for the creation of a regional system and to provide a funding mechanism. For funding, additional sales tax is proposed since many of the non DART cities (Allen included) are unable to allocate additional sales tax to be dedicated to transit.

The past legislative sessions have not provided a funding mechanism or governance mechanism to resolve the regional rail issues. Consequently, there is no short term out look for the light rail system to be extended to Allen.

Please contact our Director of Engineering John Baumgartner if you need additional information at 214.509.4577 or jbaumgartner@cityofallen.org.