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Right on red.

Not left, not straight, not even second right.

There are several intersections in Warren that cause confusion and sometimes moving violations for some motorists.

The north and south ends of the Hickory Street Bridge are two of them.

For those wishing to leave the south end of the bridge by making a right turn on red, they may certainly do so, with the appropriate caution, onto Crescent Park.

Drivers may not go straight through the intersection onto St. Clair on red, Warren Police Lt. Jim Jordan said Wednesday.

At the north end of the bridge, there is a traffic signal dedicated to right turns. There is also, a few feet from that light, a "no turn on red" sign. If the right-turn signal shows a green arrow, drivers may turn right onto Pennsylvania Avenue. If it's red, they may not.

"We get a lot of complaints," Jordan said. "That's posted no turn on red."

The intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street has two spots where some drivers need clarification and there is another such location nearby.

Jordan said many drivers who are just passing through Warren take a left on red from Pennsylvania to go north on Market.

There is another of those dedicated traffic signals. Going through it on red is illegal. "When the other light turns green... you can't do that," Jordan said.

Northbound drivers on Market Street may not creep up past the stop line and make a right-on-red onto Pennsylvania. There is a different right-on-red option there.

"You could turn right onto Water Street," Jordan said.

There are two sets of traffic signals on that side of the intersection. Going through the first set on red to get to the second is not legal.

Traffic problems at the intersection sometimes result from drivers who are trying to get into CVS. "If you're heading east on Pennsylvania, you're not supposed to turn left into the CVS parking lot," Jordan said.

But, he admitted, "It happens all the time."

Jordan said the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue East, South Street, and Plum Street is similar to the Pennsylvania-Water-Market location.

Turning right on red from eastbound Pennsylvania Avenue onto S. South Street is fine. But Plum is a different story, Jordan said.

Turning from either direction on Pennsylvania onto North South Street is illegal on school days from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Jordan said, but plenty of people continue to make that turn.

Jordan said the side exit from Family Video puts drivers on Carver Street. It should put them northbound on that one-way street, but many motorists don't realize that and head for Pennsylvania Avenue the wrong way.

School zones and speeding

There are several school zones in the city and police will issue tickets to people caught speeding in those areas.

"We have guys just pounding the school zones," Jordan said. "They're going to get a ticket if they're caught speeding in the school zones."

He said school has been back in session long enough for motorists to adjust.

The speed limits on the Third and Fifth Avenue bridges are related to the foot traffic from Beaty-Warren Middle School and Warren Area High School, Jordan said.

The 15 miles per hour speed limit signs are seldom obeyed, he said.

Despite the department's enforcement efforts, "people speed all the time," he said.

That has led to some recent crashes.

"For some reason, the 400 block of Conewango Avenue has just been a crash zone," Jordan said. "Residents of Jefferson (Street) are complaining about the intersection of Jefferson and Buchanan (Street)."

He said complaints have arrived at City Council asking for attention to those areas.