diff --git a/latencytracking.go b/latencytracking.go
index cb1102f6..c84e7719 100644
--- a/latencytracking.go
+++ b/latencytracking.go
@@ -8,15 +8,15 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-// limit of tracked path children
+// hard limit of tracked paths
 const maxTrackedPaths = 1000
 
-// path parts longer than this are considered a wildcard
+// path parts longer than this are considered a slug
 const charLimitWildcard = 50
 
 var (
 	// requests taking longer than this are considered slow (var for tests)
-	slowRequestThreshold = 1000 * time.Millisecond
+	slowRequestThreshold = 1500 * time.Millisecond
 	// % of autoscaled threads that are not marked as low latency (var for tests)
 	slowThreadPercentile = 40
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func initLatencyTracking() {
 }
 
 // trigger latency tracking while scaling threads
-func triggerLatencyTrackingIfNeeded(thread *phpThread) {
+func triggerLatencyTracking(thread *phpThread) {
 	if isNearThreadLimit() {
 		latencyTrackingEnabled.Store(true)
 		thread.isLowLatencyThread = true
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func triggerLatencyTrackingIfNeeded(thread *phpThread) {
 	}
 }
 
-func stopLatencyTrackingIfNeeded() {
+func stopLatencyTracking() {
 	if latencyTrackingEnabled.Load() && !isNearThreadLimit() {
 		latencyTrackingEnabled.Store(false)
 		logger.Debug("latency tracking disabled")
@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ func isHighLatencyRequest(fc *frankenPHPContext) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-// TODO: query?
 func normalizePath(path string) string {
 	pathLen := len(path)
 	if pathLen > 1 && path[pathLen-1] == '/' {
@@ -126,6 +125,7 @@ func normalizePath(path string) string {
 // determine if a path part is a wildcard
 func normalizePathPart(part string) string {
 	if len(part) > charLimitWildcard {
+		// TODO: better slug detection?
 		return ":slug"
 	}
 
diff --git a/scaling.go b/scaling.go
index b96dff33..db0102f8 100644
--- a/scaling.go
+++ b/scaling.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func addRegularThread() (*phpThread, error) {
 	if thread == nil {
 		return nil, ErrMaxThreadsReached
 	}
-	triggerLatencyTrackingIfNeeded(thread)
+	triggerLatencyTracking(thread)
 	convertToRegularThread(thread)
 	thread.state.waitFor(stateReady, stateShuttingDown, stateReserved)
 	return thread, nil
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func addWorkerThread(worker *worker) (*phpThread, error) {
 	if thread == nil {
 		return nil, ErrMaxThreadsReached
 	}
-	triggerLatencyTrackingIfNeeded(thread)
+	triggerLatencyTracking(thread)
 	convertToWorkerThread(thread, worker)
 	thread.state.waitFor(stateReady, stateShuttingDown, stateReserved)
 	return thread, nil
@@ -223,5 +223,5 @@ func deactivateThreads() {
 		// }
 	}
 
-	stopLatencyTrackingIfNeeded()
+	stopLatencyTracking()
 }
diff --git a/threadpool.go b/threadpool.go
index 37424d7b..443fb8ef 100644
--- a/threadpool.go
+++ b/threadpool.go
@@ -5,19 +5,21 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
+// threadPool manages a pool of PHP threads
+// used for both worker and regular threads
 type threadPool struct {
-	threads  []*phpThread
-	mu       sync.RWMutex
-	ch       chan *frankenPHPContext
-	fastChan chan *frankenPHPContext
+	threads        []*phpThread
+	mu             sync.RWMutex
+	ch             chan *frankenPHPContext
+	lowLatencyChan chan *frankenPHPContext
 }
 
 func newThreadPool(capacity int) *threadPool {
 	return &threadPool{
-		threads:  make([]*phpThread, 0, capacity),
-		mu:       sync.RWMutex{},
-		ch:       make(chan *frankenPHPContext),
-		fastChan: make(chan *frankenPHPContext),
+		threads:        make([]*phpThread, 0, capacity),
+		mu:             sync.RWMutex{},
+		ch:             make(chan *frankenPHPContext),
+		lowLatencyChan: make(chan *frankenPHPContext),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -38,17 +40,10 @@ func (p *threadPool) detach(thread *phpThread) {
 	p.mu.Unlock()
 }
 
-func (p *threadPool) len() int {
-	p.mu.RLock()
-	l := len(p.threads)
-	p.mu.RUnlock()
-	return l
-}
-
 // get the correct request chan for queued requests
 func (p *threadPool) requestChan(thread *phpThread) chan *frankenPHPContext {
 	if thread.isLowLatencyThread {
-		return p.fastChan
+		return p.lowLatencyChan
 	}
 	return p.ch
 }
@@ -72,32 +67,29 @@ func (p *threadPool) dispatchRequest(fc *frankenPHPContext) bool {
 }
 
 // dispatch request to all threads, triggering scaling or timeouts as needed
-func (p *threadPool) queueRequest(fc *frankenPHPContext, isFastRequest bool) bool {
-	var fastChan chan *frankenPHPContext
-	if isFastRequest {
-		fastChan = p.fastChan
+func (p *threadPool) queueRequest(fc *frankenPHPContext, isLowLatencyRequest bool) bool {
+	var lowLatencyChan chan *frankenPHPContext
+	if isLowLatencyRequest {
+		lowLatencyChan = p.lowLatencyChan
+	}
+
+	var timeoutChan <-chan time.Time
+	if maxWaitTime > 0 {
+		timeoutChan = time.After(maxWaitTime)
 	}
 
 	for {
 		select {
 		case p.ch <- fc:
 			return true
-		case fastChan <- fc:
-			return true
+		case lowLatencyChan <- fc:
+			return true // 'low laten'
 		case scaleChan <- fc:
 			// the request has triggered scaling, continue to wait for a thread
-		case <-timeoutChan(maxWaitTime):
+		case <-timeoutChan:
 			// the request has timed out stalling
 			fc.reject(504, "Gateway Timeout")
 			return false
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-func timeoutChan(timeout time.Duration) <-chan time.Time {
-	if timeout == 0 {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	return time.After(timeout)
-}
diff --git a/threadregular.go b/threadregular.go
index 61571f6c..4d46c852 100644
--- a/threadregular.go
+++ b/threadregular.go
@@ -13,9 +13,7 @@ type regularThread struct {
 	requestContext *frankenPHPContext
 }
 
-var (
-	regularThreadPool *threadPool
-)
+var regularThreadPool *threadPool
 
 func initRegularPHPThreads(num int) {
 	regularThreadPool = newThreadPool(num)