These 7 Castro Valley Traffic Signals Have The Longest Delays

CASTRO VALLEY, CA — Traffic is an unavoidable reality, but some Castro Valley intersections are worse than others, according to a recently released report.

INRIX, a Washington state-based company that studies traffic and transit patterns, compiled the U.S. Signals Scorecard using GPS data from cars and phones. Billed as the first nationwide analysis of individual traffic lights and intersections, the scorecard looked at 210,000 intersections nationwide in October noting how many cars passed through or idled while waiting for the light to change.

The average signal nationwide had roughly 17,400 estimated vehicle crossings per day, the study found. On average, 62.8 percent of vehicles breezed through on a green. Drivers who stopped at a red light spent an average of 45 seconds waiting for the light to change.

No one spent more time overall waiting for the light to change than Californians, the researchers found. Los Angeles commuters spent considerably more time at lights than drivers in any city nationwide. But that may be because California — and Los Angeles especially — tended to have more drivers, according to the study. The state ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of drivers' likelihood of catching a green light (61.2 percent). But California drivers spent more time on average waiting for red lights to change than did drivers in most other states.

The absolute worst time and day of the week to be in a hurry was between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Friday, researchers found. That was when traffic signals caused the most delays in California.

The average trip in California took about 16 1/2 minutes, and almost 10 percent of that time was spent waiting at signals. That was the 10th-worst wait time among all 50 states, according to INRIX.

Most intersections in Castro Valley are in the least-delayed green range, which indicates minimal delays of no more than 20 seconds per car. Fortunately, no local intersections were in the most-delayed red orange, which indicates cars may spend 55 seconds or more waiting at a light.

There were a handful of intersections in the yellow range, which indicates cars may spend 20 to 35 seconds waiting at a light, according to the INRIX report.

Think you can guess what they are?

• 105th Avenue and Foothill Boulevard (40 percent on green; peak traffic at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday)
• Foothill Boulevard and Miramar Avenue (38 percent on green; peak traffic at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday)
• Castro Valley Boulevard and Wilbeam Avenue (51 percent green; peak traffic at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday)
• Redwood Road and I-580 interchange (50 percent on green; 5:45 p.m. Monday)
• Redwood Road and Grove Way (52 percent on green; 5:45 p.m. Tuesday)
• East Castro Valley Boulevard and Center Street (44 percent on green; 9:00 a.m. Thursday)
• Kelly Street and Center Street (58 percent on green; 4:00 p.m. Monday)

Here at the 10 worst intersections in the state, according to INRIX.

1. Newhall Ranch Road and Bouquet Canyon Road, Los Angeles County: 1,260 daily hours lost.
2. Newport Boulevard and West 19th Street, Orange County: 1,042 daily hours lost.
3. Winchester Road and Ynez Road, Riverside County, 1,081 daily hours lost.
4. Edinger Avenue and Beach Boulevard, Orange County: 1,011 daily hours lost.
5. Valencia Boulevard and Bouquet Canyon Road, Los Angeles County: 1,006 daily hours lost.
6. Newport Boulevard and East 17th Street, Orange County: 993 daily hours lost.
7. Firestone Boulevard and Garfield Avenue, Los Angeles County: 993 daily hours lost.
8. San Luis Rey Mission Expressway and College Boulevard, San Diego County: 969 daily hours lost.
9. Crenshaw Boulevard and West Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles County: 967 daily hours lost.
10. West Imperial Highway and South Beach Boulevard, Orange County: 948 daily hours lost.

INRIX also created an interactive map that lets you see how well intersections in your area fared.

— Patch editors Paige Austin, Courtney Teague, and Bea Karnes contributed to this story