Have you ever had to wait at a red light that you thought was entirely too long? That's the problem that Ryan Bartmann and others in Casselberry have at a particular intersection.

Ryan writes in this week:

"There is a solid left turn light arrow on State Road 436 in Casselberry that needs to be looked at. It's incredibly long, even in non-peak hours. Any ideas on how to get it fixed?"

We recently visited the intersection of Fern Park Boulevard and State Road 436, and congestion is what comes to mind when you think of that stretch.

Although some of you may not know the intersection by its name, you may recall some of its scenery (it’s right at Rachel’s North Men's Club and Steakhouse, a gentlemen’s club).

"State Road 436 is very heavily traveled. The traffic has gotten really heavy in the last 20 years," he wrote.

Ryan is a fireman in Volusia County and has lived most of his life in Central Florida. He visits his mother frequently in Casselberry. That one traffic signal along State Road 436, however, constantly draws his attention.

"You could sit there, with no traffic whatsoever, waiting to turn for two and a half minutes,” Ryan wrote. "I know that doesn't seem like a whole lot of time, but when there is absolutely no traffic there, it doesn't seem reasonable for me to sit there that long."

Ryan's intersection in question happens to have what is called a "protected" left turn as opposed to a "permissive" left turn. It is designed to limit the amount of chances one has to take into account, thinking of entering the intersection.

There are several factors that would have officials consider a protected left turn, including the amount of vehicles on the road. Some of these include the number of lanes on the road, the speed of the traffic, sight distance and of course, volume.

The stretch of State Road 436 in Casselberry in question where, according to a Florida Department of Transportation study, has about 69,000 vehicles a day pass through.

Now, to put that number into perspective, about 57,000 vehicles travel through certain stretches of Interstate 4 per day, specifically in Volusia County, east of State Road 44.

So what would Ryan like to have done about this particular area?

"I would like to see the left turn arrow either be a blinking a yellow arrow,” Ryan said, “or go back to the old fashioned way when there was five lights where there was a red light on top, a green arrow on the left a green light on the right and then yellow. At least that way, if you are sitting at the light, you could yield to traffic while waiting on a regular green light."

An FDOT representative said that because of those aforementioned factors, including the number of lanes, speed of the traffic, sight distance and volume, that there is a reason for the wait time.

"The high volume of traffic does not always leave gaps to safely get across, without green arrow protection, especially at peak. It is not a candidate for a flashing yellow left arrow," FDOT explained.

Thanks for your question, Ryan! If you have a traffic issue or problem that needs to be solved write in to Ryan's Traffic Inbox at www.mynews13.com/trafficinbox and just fill out the simple form.