Ashvegas reader: Why the #$@% can’t Asheville cops direct motorists when a traffic light goes down?

Thursday afternoon, a tractor trailer took out a traffic signal at the intersection of Patton Avenue and South French Broad Avenue. The lack of a light triggered a massive cluster-#%$@ that created horrible traffic tie-ups in downtown Asheville leading into the 5 o’clock rush.

Loyal reader Kevin takes it from there:

Hey,

So I’ve thought about this in the past, but it wasn’t until the cluster$#@& of yesterday afternoon that was Patton Avenue that I’ve decided to ask about it. I figured you would get more answers out of this than I would, so why in the hell have I NEVER seen a local police officer directing traffic when a traffic signal goes down? Every other city I’ve lived in figured this out a long time ago, but Asheville has never deemed it necessary it seems. Which is funny considering it happens much more frequently in Asheville, combined with the fact that our traffic is already a mess to begin with, this seems like a no-brainer.

I understand not needing someone out there at 10pm on a secondary road, but when a traffic signal goes out on PATTON AVENUE in the middle of rush hour traffic, no one in charge ever thought of this?

/rant over (if I had written this yesterday, it would’ve been much longer and gotten a lot darker)

Thanks for you help!

Image link for traffic signal.