The main purpose of this blog is to give you a behind scenes look at The Oakland Press Opinion Page.

Usually, that means explaining why we ran a particular editorial or why or why not we ran a guest opinion or letter to the editor.

Most of the topics of this blog are in the past tense, particularly when it comes to editorials. However, there’s one editorial coming up in the next week or two (I haven’t set a specific run date) that I want to discuss today. It concerns the switch from flashing red traffic signals to flashing yellow.

We ran a story in Sunday's paper. In the editorial I will review the change over and offer some comments and perspective about the switch.

The federal government is mandating change and of course, is leaving most of the cost of the switch to local road commissions.

Unfortunately, there’s a big difference between a flashing red and a flashing yellow.
With a flashing red left-turn signal, motorists are allowed to complete their turns during breaks in oncoming traffic, which has a green light while the left-turn signal blinks red.The flashing red then turns to green to allow an uninterrupted left turn, then becomes yellow before turning to a solid red to stop motorists while traffic in the opposing lanes goes through its own cycle.

With a flashing yellow arrow signal, the cycle is reversed.
Motorists in the left-turn lane are given a green arrow to complete their turn uninterrupted at the start of the cycle. The light then blinks yellow while oncoming traffic is given a green light, still allowing motorists turning left to make their turn during breaks in oncoming traffic. It then stops blinking and turns red for the left-turn lanes, stopping motorists so traffic in opposing lanes can go through its own cycle.

I can almost guess your response but I'd like to know more specifically. Please, read the story (or reread it), which appeared on the front page of last Sunday’s paper (May 22). Then, take a look at the editorial when it runs. I’ll let you know exactly when in a blog in the next few days.

Most of our editorials are based on topics that have had news stories written about them. So, let’s have some fun. After reading the Monday story, let’s pretend you have to write an editorial. In it, what conclusions would you reach and observations would you make about the change over?

Let me know in a comment at the end of this blog or even in a letter to the editor. My email address is allan.adler@oakpress.com.

Let’s see if your conclusions are the same or similar to The Oakland Press editorial.