I just got back from Traffic Central, where the engineers had a printout of my blog entry and all the comments on it. The story is still in progress, but here are some responses:

The light at Truxtun and Empire makes me nuts every morning! 

Well, right now, it's out of the synchronization system. Basically, it's broken, and will be until construction is done.

The one that drives me nuts is california and A, I know california is busy but GEEZ! It takes forever to turn at that intersection.

Which way are you turning? That signal is synchronized with a segment of California that heads west from there.

The lights along Q Street through downtown (between Truxtun and Highway 178) give equal time for Q Street traffic as the traffic crossing it even though there are ten to twenty times as many cars driving down Q. Timing is constantly an issue, as lights go off-sequence after a matter of days, if not hours, of being set (meaning lots of cars stopping-and-going).

Q Street is synchronized. They were largely confused by this, and said if they can they may head out there to make sure it's working.

Heading north on L at 21st, I could do my nails in the time it takes that light to change. Apparently no sensors there.

21st and L is synchronized, as part of the downtown grid. But the intersection is also very close to a fire station and an ambulance base, and when a signal has to give way to an emergency vehicle, it throws the signal off the synchronization, and can take up to 10 minutes to get back on the cycle.

Attached is the traffic coordination map, pulled straight from the city's Web site. (Updated to be the 2008 version, not the 2007 version. Der.)