Could you people at least TRY not to block the intersection?

[Kogarashi]

I never seem to have customer- or employee-related sightings when I go to Walmart, but Roadkill stories run rampant there.

One of the worst problems this part of town has is gridlocking, starting about 4pm (light) til 6pm, with the worst of it right at 5pm. I avoid Walmart at 5pm. Unfortunatly I didn't realize until today that it started around 4pm, which is when I was trying to leave.

See, the major intersection at the Walmart/Lowes/McDonalds plaza is a very large one. The main drag is five+ lanes wide: three coming from the highway, merging to two after the intersection, and four more heading to the highway, with two making a double-left into the plaza and the other two continuing straight. The side road leading into the plaza has two lanes going in, three more coming out (two lefts and a right), with a grassy median between, making it about six cars wide in all. The whole thing is controlled by traffic lights for obvious reasons.

Well, I'm in one of the left-turn lanes coming out of the plaza, and am stopped behind a couple other cars. Our light is red. Cars are completely blocking our traffic lanes in their feeble attempt to get across the intersection, where their three lanes quickly become two. Their light turns red, with two cars still in the intersection: one directly in front of our left-turn lanes, the other directly in front of the entrance lanes to the plaza. Much honking ensues.

All the cars in front of me managed to finally squeak between the two clueless drivers before our light went red, leaving me first in line at the red light. The double-left gets its green, but what's this? Idiot#2 is still blocking the entrance lanes. The left-turners wanting into the plaza pull forward, then stop and start honking. She sits there cluelessly, despite having room to pull forward. Finally the near line of left-turners squeeze in front of her, leaving the rest of the people turning trapped as she finally realizes she's blocking someone and attempts to pull past the people now turning in front of her. As straight traffic finally gets its green, she manages to go ahead, and three people rush to finish their left turn.

By the time I got a green to go, there were cars blocking our exit again. More honking, followed by my lane of the two finally squeezing behind them as they inched forward.

Around 5pm, it's just not worth it to try to leave the shopping plaza, because everybody blocks the intersection. It's crazy. They seriously need some cops out there to issue tickets.

[bhskittykatt]

We have a commercial strip that is like that. I used to regularly go from the college to the thrift store, which required me to go straight through one particular intersection. I would have to sometimes wait 2 or 3 light cycles to make it through because all the idiots were backing up all the way through the intersection and blocking it.

[Mytical]

Until they closed their doors, we had a place that would make any Wally World parking lot look civil. It was a car part plant, and if you were going by when they were leaving for the day...you were putting your life in danger. However, now that they are closed, yep Wally World is the worst place.

The Land Shark - Lurks behind things in the 'ocean of cars'..they will dart out with little or no notice, and you had best hope you are not in their path.

The Spot Predator - A cousin of the Land Shark, the Spot Predator prowls for any unsuspecting spot close to the store. They will gun it as soon as a spot opens, and they don't care who gets in their way.

Cross Country Leopard - "Authorized" lanes are for wimps. These crazy animals will zoom straight through the parked cars if any open spot can be found. They are not looking for a spot however, they are looking to LEAVE the parking lot..and are in a great hurry.

Gazelles - The poor Gazelle, timid..frightened..and easy pray for the other predators.. but dangerous all the same. Startled easy, they will run you down if you are not watching, if even the slightest thing distracts them. They will stop to let you cross, but make sure to watch them carefully, because if any of the predators come by..and startle them..they may run you over.

And that is just IN the parking lot. The OP is correct, outside the parking lot is sometimes even worse.

[Kristev]

Wow. Is that driving in a parking lot of too many Queens on a chessboard?

[mattm04]

At the plaza my store is is in we have this problem, but in the parking lot near the main entrance and exit. When the light to leave (left or right turn lanes separated by a island with the entrance lanes) is red everyone crams into the area blocking anyone from moving.

The real special idiots are the ones who block it so bad you can't enter the lot and have to wait in the road for another cycle or two depending how bad they f***ed it up.

[Kogarashi]

I know, and then when you act sensible and wait back at the stop line until there's room across the intersection for your car, you get honked at by everyone behind you for not going when it's green. But you know that if you do go across right then and there, everyone behind you will follow and gridlock the intersection. It's a lose-lose situation.

[Mycroft]

no, when you do that the idiots pull out (in a rush, without checking for oncoming traffic in the other lane), pull around you and into the intersection, and stop in it, gridlocking it anyway.

There are days I would just love to have a pair of police, one with a license-grabbing camera and one a block down waving people over, for idiots who do this. But no, they only do that for people doing 53 in the 50 zone, that has just come down from 60, and won't actually hit residential until four blocks later.

[ADoyle90815]

There's an intersection near my neighborhood that is bad, and that's because at an intersection ahead there's a red light camera so at times, traffic is backed up to the point where it's almost impossible to make a right turn on the green light.