Wall Street Journal mention

The Des Moines/West Des Moines area was recently featured in a column by Maura Webber Sadovi in the Wall Street Journal. Sadovi's column, "Blueprint," examines commercial trends in the nation's top markets. Sadovi writes that "beyond the pigs, butter sculptures and corndogs at the Iowa State Fair that opens next month in Des Moines is an expanding commercial real-estate market that doesn't play to type." This column, titled "Financial Sector Spurs Development," describes how much of our region's real estate and job growth is driven by the insurance and financial services sector. Banking and insurance jobs account for about 15% of our area's total non-farm jobs. Percentage-wise, this is even higher than Hartford, Connecticut, long known as an insurance mecca.

The article details the expansion of Wells Fargo specifically, highlighting the 960,000 square-foot office campus they are getting close to completing in West Des Moines. Between that and the 360,000 square-foot building going up in Des Moines, Wells Fargo will have increased their workforce in the area from 5,000 in the year 2000 to over 11,000 employees. Sadovi credits our lower costs, the ability to balance work and family, and our growing number of amenities with these kind of commercial additions and improvements. Work-life balance is what it's all about. Short commutes, affordable housing, and good schools are also given as explanation. Sadovi even mentions Jordan Creek Town Center as an important attraction for the region.

Although we, even as a region, are much smaller than a place like Hartford, it's impressive that our economy and job growth are attracting attention from important players like the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to companies like Wells Fargo for contributing to the growth in West Des Moines!

Actuated Traffic Signals Vs Yellow-Red Flashing

We have been asked why the city of West Des Moines does not use yellow-red flashing of traffic signals during the night when traffic volumes are low (the comment on my last traffic-related blog is one example). Yellow-red flash at a traffic signal is typically used when a traffic signal has a pretimed controller. This type of signal control gives a preset amount of time to one traffic movement and then a preset amount of time to the next traffic movement. The signal controller does not know whether there is a vehicle waiting for the green signal or not. This causes vehicles to stop on the major street when there is no traffic on the side street needing the signal.

The traffic signals in West Des Moines are fully traffic actuated. This means the vehicle detectors for each traffic movement let the signal controller know when a vehicle is present and needs a green signal. During the night, the traffic signals are taken out of coordination and placed into free operation. The signal is set to dwell, or rest in green, on the major street until a vehicle is present on another movement (an intersecting minor street, for example). When the signal controller receives the call that a vehicle is present, it will end the green for the major street and give the green to the movement requesting it. After that traffic has cleared, the signal will go back to green on the major street.

The problem with placing traffic signals into flash at night is that studies have shown that the number of traffic crashes occurring during the night flash operation increases, especially right-angle crashes which are the most serious. With the fully traffic actuated method of traffic signal control, we are providing a combination of safe and positive method of traffic control.

If a signal is observed cycling between the major street and side street or left turn lane during the night without a vehicle present, please contact our Public Works Department. We will need to know the intersection where the problem was observed, what you observed occurring, and the time of day you observed the problem. Thanks again for your interest in these types of issues. It is definitely worth asking why cities operate differently, and we want to let our residents know why we have made the choices we do regarding these kinds of operations in West Des Moines.

Municipal blogging

One of the impressive things about blogs is their interconnectedness. In one blog entry, a "blogger" can provide links to ten or twenty blogs on a single topic, giving the reader a wealth of potential information to take advantage of. Bloggers are also not afraid to promote each other. I have discovered this recently due to the high number of other blogs that have links to this WDM Blog. One site, for example describes a presentation that was given for Kansas City government webmasters back in June. It has a pretty good list of other municipal officials who are blogging, including a state senator from Hawaii, the mayor of Albuquerque, the LAPD, and US! Among others. This is very useful for making comparisons and contrasts, learning from each other, and getting a bigger picture view of how technology is being used in government to communicate with citizens.

Traffic signal delays

Last week we got a traffic related question/comment on the Accident Analysis entry on this blog. This particular resident pointed out that the traffic light intersections in WDM are all equipped with sensor systems and asked why they are not activated. They pointed out that sometimes when approaching a red light going north/south, with little to no traffic coming from the other direction, the light remains red until someone comes along from east or west and the light turns red on them so you can go. The question was, why is this so? Does it make sense from a traffic standpoint? I hope to explain to you how it does.

It is true that all of the signalized intersections in West Des Moines do utilize some method of detection of traffic at the intersection, either with loops in the pavement or with video detection cameras. This provides the intersection with what we call fully-actuated traffic operation so that the signal controller knows which movements have traffic on them and can skip movements that do not have traffic. For example, if there is no traffic in a left turn lane then the green arrow would not be displayed. Our goal using this system is to promote the smooth flow of traffic along the city’s streets in order to minimize delay at the signalized intersections. When a light turns red on someone just as they pull up to it, that is not a result of entrapment or the intersection detecting their presence and forcing them to stop; it is usually part of a larger coordination of traffic flow--we are constantly monitoring and responsible for the collective street network and not just one location.

Minor streets will experience an increase in delay when a traffic signal is placed into coordination with a major road in order move the larger volume of vehicles along the major street. This is because we need to force the signal to remain on the major street for a specified time period as well as be able to return to the major street within a specified time period to move the group of vehicles along the roadway from intersection to intersection. Traffic signal coordination plans change several times a day depending on the traffic volumes.

A malfunction with a detector loop or detector camera could also result in an extended wait time at an intersection. When detectors fail, they fail in a constant call or “fail-safe” mode. This will cause the green signal to return to a movement that does not have a vehicle there placing a call. During periods of heavy traffic, a detector malfunction is difficult to spot if one is driving through the intersection. These malfunctions are more evident during the light traffic periods since a green signal would be displayed for an extended time on a movement with no traffic.

Not all signal malfunctions can be spotted by the city personnel. We also rely on input from the public to assist us in this task. If you see a problem, or believe there is a problem, please contact the Public Works Department (222-3480 or via the Online Service Desk on our homepage at www.wdm-ia.com). We will need to know the intersection where the problem was observed, what the problem was, and the time of day that you observed the problem.

Sometime in the next couple weeks I will be providing a more comprehensive analysis of the equipment we utilize in our traffic operation system and what its capabilities and uses are. So watch for that!

A show of support from one of our youngest residents

Last week, an eight year-old boy came into our offices at City Hall and purchased (largely with his OWN money) several City of West Des Moines items, including a portfolio notebook, shoulder bag, wooden pen, paper cube, and coffee mug. Even at that age, he was proud to live here, and that makes me proud of our City! We have several City of West Des Moines items that our employees can purchase, which we think helps to foster a team environment and feeling of mutual support in the City. If you saw the article in the WDM Press Citizen, you saw that we have opened up these items to residents for purchase as well. This young man had seen the article and came in because he wanted some items that said "West Des Moines."

In addition to the bag, portfolio, pens, paper cubs, and coffee mugs, we have a steel tumbler/thermos, hats, umbrellas, and koozies. The items are pictured below and are pretty affordable! It is encouraging to walk around at city events like Learnapalooza and OctoberWest and see people sporting West Des Moines gear. It's great to see people supporting their community! If you have questions about any of these items, call Kristy Henning at the City Manager's Office, 222-3610.



Umbrella: 62" Arc, Green/White Umbrella, with windproof frame, metal shaft, wood handle. Cost: $15.00
Cap: Hunter green/cream, cotton twill with double piping and adjustable velco closure. Cost: $8.00
Pen: WDM Logo Woodgrain Pens (in gold gift box). Cost: $2.00 each
Koozie: Little Hugger Koozies, 12 oz. Cost: $ .75
Paper Cube: 3"X3" with Adhesive Back and logo on side. Cost: $3.00 each
Thermos: Stainless steel Travel Tumbler, 16 oz. Cost: $6.00
Portfolio: padded, black. Cost: $10.00
Carry-all Brief Bag: black, WDM logo. Cost: $20.00