MANCHESTER — In the digitized world of the 21st century, where delays are loathed, instant is better than quick and immediate gratification is prized, some things naturally take longer than most would like, such as navigating Manchester's Amoskeag Circle at Interstate Route 293.

Getting around in Manchester may not be the hassle seen in other cities around the country, but there are spots where drivers wonder why things aren't better.

Getting on and off of I-293 at Exit 6 during rush hours is seen by many as the most troubling traffic issue in Manchester. Exit 4, at Queen City Avenue and Second Street, can be trying, especially for a driver in a hurry to get to work in the morning or home again in the evening.

Frustration also abounds over street-light synchronization, intersections configured for horse and buggy travel, and inconsiderate fellow travelers whose quest to save a few seconds leads to unwelcome adventures on the roads.

The Amoskeag Circle rotary draws some of the most dramatic complaints from local motorists who were invited to nominate irksome traffic issues.

The problem seems to be part design and part behavior.

“The rotary cannot handle that amount of traffic,” said one motorist. “People coming off the highway, Exit 6 South, are merging with cars trying to get on the highway — accidents seem almost daily in this area.”

The state Department of Transportation makes periodic studies of traffic flow and turning patterns through the rotary and its more than half-dozen merges. Signals are adjusted, but experts say there is only so much real estate on which to put cars.

“The traffic signals are fully actuated and respond to traffic conditions to some degree,” said Bill Lambert, an engineer with the DOT. “The preference is on the major route which would be the traffic circle.”

Lights at the circle may corral traffic but they do not control human behavior. Some drivers see too many of their fellow motorists make matters worse.

“People do not yield to those in the rotary, there are yield signs and they get ignored,” said resident Holly Dombrowsky in an e-mail to the New Hampshire Union Leader. “It's a free-for-all, people in the right lane want to move over a couple of lanes to get onto 293 South or they cut off people are in the proper lane because they got in the wrong lane at the light. It is scary to watch and be a part of.”

Next week, the state DOT will begin work that could ultimately result in a new Exit 6 interchange. A public meeting will be held Wednesday to begin an information-gathering process that could ultimately result in changes.

It will take a while

The Massachusetts-based engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin has been hired to act as a consultant in a study that may eventually result in changes at exits 6 and 7. Engineer Marty Kelly of the firm's Bedford office said the work will proceed at a deliberate pace.

“It will be a step-by-step process,” Kelly said. “The first phase is to gather information to understand the problem. That will extend though the summer.”

Possible solutions will be identified in the second phase and subsequently narrowed to a choice that is seen as the best alternative.

Then it can be built, provided there is money to build it.

A few miles south of the rotary, the turnpike's Exit 4 at Queen City Avenue and Second Street is another interchange that many see as having outgrown its design.

Cars sometimes become temporarily grid locked, according to Carmen Petro of Manchester in an e-mail to the Union Leader.

“Traffic lines up for that light to change, people coming down Second Street from Bedford will run the yellow light,” Petro said. “As a result, they end up blocking the exit ramp intersection and when the light turns green, cars on the ramp can't go anywhere.”

The result can be cars sitting through entire light cycles with no movement in some directions.

The fact that I-293 tracks the Merrimack River through Manchester limits the land available to build more efficient interchanges. Modern environmental rules mean ramps over the river may not be feasible.

Access to and from state highways are primarily state issues. Many of the other frequently heard observations come from people using city streets and roads to get cross-town on city roads.

Some say the city needs to synchronize traffic lights that require frequent stops. But the city highway department manages 154 sets of lights and tries to keep them synchronized, through both manual adjustment and remote control. Modern control systems allow changes to be made quickly when needed.

Burned out bulbs are no longer a problem. The city has replaced traditional 116 watt bulbs with seven watt LED fixtures. Red lights that were replace every year now last for 15 years and longer according to Jim Hoben, a city traffic engineer.

It doesn't take much to get lights out of synch. Sometimes it happens because a pedestrian hits the walk button to cross at a particular set of lights.

“We have timing plans and once they push the button it takes two or three cycles to get it back,” Hoben said.

In some ways, traffic lights getting out of synch is due to the culture of New England. In other parts of the country, pedestrian lights are mostly “concurrent,” in that “walk” lights are aligned with green lights so traffic and pedestrians travel at the same time in the same direction and traffic flows even

In this part of the country, though, Holben said the trend is toward exclusive pedestrian lights. “Walk” lights here means traffic stops in all directions.

Manchester tried the concurrent approach near Delta Dental Stadium. It lasted until the first Fisher Cats game, when the “Walk” light came on and people scampered across Commercial Street in all directions. Police asked for an immediate return to the all-stop routine and pulled the plug on the same plan for Granite Street and Lake Avenue.

Traffic control solutions often require more money than the city has available, even with federal or state contributions. The result can be an inexpensive fix, while plans for more extensive design changes sit on a shelf, waiting for the ever-elusive better budgetary times.

“There is no money tree for all the projects we'd like to get done.” said Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard.

The intersection of Campbell Street and Hooksett Road is an example of an area where finances meant the city could afford paint, but not a reconstruction plan that had been developed.

Campbell Street serves as a funnel for traffic heading to Interstate 93 from an array of residential streets that are blocked by Dorrs Pond and city park land from a more direct route. Vehicles heading to and from businesses on Bicentennial Drive present another challenge.

The city has a plan for that. But the plan has been on the shelf because there is no money to build the suggested roundabout to handle traffic between Hookset Road, Campbell Street and Hamel Drive.

The city does have money for paint, though, and a large section of road next to a gas station and variety store at Campbell and Hookset was painted to warn motorists not to block the gas station entrance. But that, in turn, caused some problems with traffic coming from Hamel Drive and North Side Plaza. Traffic experts say city streets laid out close to 175 years ago also pose challenges.

Some complain, for example, that traffic is unnecessarily held up at the intersection of Mammoth Road, Massabesic Street and Candia Road because two sets of traffic lights within several car lengths regulate flow from Candia to Massabesic.

Ultimately, a good part of the public's frustration with traffic here or there may be more an issue of perception than losing huge chunks of time to sitting in traffic.

“Things in today's world are moving a lot faster,” Sheppard noted. “People's expectations are a lot more, everyone is very busy.”

billsmith@unionleader.com