If people lobbying their local government for traffic lights is enough to solve a problem it can't be that relevant.

Except it often doesn't work that way.

NYC was all ready to implement a congestion fee, with years of buildup and $15B in revenue scheduled for use... and the state governor nixed the entire at the eleventh hour by fiat, because out-of-NYC voters who shouldn't have a say don't like the concept.

This seems like a problem which has absolutely nothing to do with traffic.

If local governments fail at basic duties missing traffic lights are not the thing you should be worrying about.