Q: Why doesn’t the green arrow light come on regularly at the traffic light when you’re getting onto Route 37 West off of Pontiac Avenue in Cranston? Monday-Friday afternoons the light changes and I have never seen that green arrow light come on. Can you fix it?

— David L.

A: RIDOT is aware of the traffic signal problems at the intersection of Route 37 and Pontiac Avenue in Cranston.

When the intersection was restriped, the stop line was moved back to accommodate large vehicles exiting the off-ramp and turning left onto Pontiac Avenue. As a result, the existing loop detectors cannot detect vehicles waiting to make a left turn onto the Route 37 westbound ramp.

A repair will be done either by our Maintenance Division or through an existing loop repair contract.

Left turn; Rusty bridge

Q: Would it be possible to have a delayed green light installed at the intersection where Routes 5 and 2 meet in Cranston? Cars traveling on Route 5 South that want to take a left onto Route 2 North are frequently unable to do so because of opposing traffic. As a result only a few cars are able to make the left turn. Also, do you know if the highway bridge over Route 4 (about a half mile after the East Greenwich exit going south) is going to be repaired? It is rusty. Has it not been maintained?

— Tom C.

A: The State Traffic Commission (STC), the governing body that has jurisdiction of traffic devices on all state roads, studied the request for a left turn signal from Oaklawn Avenue onto New London Avenue.

The STC’s study showed that the left turn volume is relatively light throughout the day compared with the opposing through traffic. Analyses showed that the addition of a left turn phase would adversely affect the Oaklawn Avenue northbound approach and the New London Avenue westbound approach. Delays on those two approaches would be even worse during the afternoon peak travel time causing long delays on both roads.

Because of the results of the study, the STC did not approve the addition of the left turn advance.

Regarding the bridge over Route 4, the Middle Road Bridge is currently scheduled to be advertised for construction in 2012, pending available funding.

Dana Alexander Nolfe, chief public affairs officer for the state Department of Transportation, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state roads and other state transportation matters.

Questions are answered in the order they are received, and there may be a delay in responding.

The DOT is responsible for the state’s transportation infrastructure, which includes highways, bridges, traffic signals and bikeways.

To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask RIDOT, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902. You can also e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Question for the DOT” in the subject field.

Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DOT directly and will not be answered in this column.