There is a road near where I used to live that was the opposite. Speed about 10mph over the limit (55 in a 45) and it would be green all the way. Go the speed limit and you get stopped at every single light. It was shockingly reliable. The difference between speeding and going the speed limit was 15 minutes on a 20 minute drive. The only time it got broken up was the one intersection with a pedestrian crosswalk where people sometimes hit the button.

Of course traffic was heavy enough that you'd be stuck behind someone doing the speed limit most days, but sometimes you got to ride the wave.

As I wrote in another post, there's a highway near me where you almost always hit every red light, but it's designed such that going say 20% over the limit won't work either. I believe some people deliberately go 20% under to reduce the waiting.

I'd be willing to give that a shot; I drive the speed limit in my town (population estimated at about 15.6k), but the lights seem more in relation to current traffic at the intersection. So you catch this red light and you're going straight, you stop and wait. Now when you approach the second light, because you and others were held back there was no one approaching the light so it will likely be red or turning red when you approach. To actually get out of this loop, you basically have to speed up a bit which seems like a behavior that shouldn't be rewarded as such.

Sounds like sensor-based lights and not timed lights? Regardless, Redmond, WA is full of sensor-based lights. Hence I catch myself speeding up to an otherwise empty lane and a green light. 'cuz if I don't hurry up, it'll turn red.

Timed lights work, I've seen it in action. Top of my head, Indianapolis 20 some years ago, Capitol Avenue going north I'd bet you could go from (what is effectively) Zero Street to 38th and not hit a red light.