Traffic Lights With Strobes...

[thenetwork]

With the advent of brighter LED lights in signals, I was curious if the regular bulb signals with strobe lighting on the red lens is becoming an endangered species?

And while we are on the topic of signals with strobes, what states use(d) them?

For those of you not familiar with "strobe signals", they are used usually in areas where fog can be a menace more times than not or areas where traffic lights may be few & far between like on 4-lane divided highways with limited surface intersections or high accident areas. 

While the light is red, a pulsating strobe (about one time per second) flashes over or in the red lens to grab the attention of drivers.  Conversely, when the light is green or yellow the strobe stops.

ISTR seeing them most often in the Carolinas, and occasionally in Ohio.

[jdb1234]

Alabama still has some.  The major one is on US 280 Eastbound at the ramp to I-459 South.  There are about 11 red lights at this intersection with three that strobe white.

[cu2010]

I've seen quite a few of them in New York, particularly in the Finger Lakes.

[74/171FAN]

I know of at least one in VA on US 360 about 2 miles southwest of VA 288, The strobe is actually the very right light even though I missed the flash 

[deathtopumpkins]

Virginia actually has a lot, at least around Hampton Roads. Isle of Wight County is full of them along rural US-17 and US-258, and Newport News has a handful on Jefferson Ave (VA-143) near Patrick Henry Mall. All of these were installed very recently, and most have a band across the red signal that flashes when the red light is lit, though a couple have a separate single red lens with a strobe between the two three-lens signals. Rather difficult to photograph though.

[mightyace]

The one that comes right to mind in TN is US 31 and Mack Hatcher Blvd. (Truck US 31, US 431, TN 96) on the north side of the city.  The strobe is only on Mack Hatcher because the road often is facing toward sunrise (eastbound) or sunset (westbound) and the lights can be hard to read at that time.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=franklin+tn&sll=36.597889,-60.556641&sspn=51.197893,114.169922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Franklin,+Williamson,+Tennessee&ll=35.94697,-86.851859&spn=0.00641,0.013937&z=17&layer=c&cbll=35.946932,-86.851708&panoid=rys800j4c0qSNKQUD2vXFg&cbp=12,284.26,,0,5.14

[Ian]

Pennsylvania STILL uses them. I know of about 20 in my area. Here are some shots of some:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/LocalRoadRelatedShots#5292418793553677394
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/LocalRoadRelatedShots#5302480174248382002 (now replaced with new signals, but still w/ strobes)
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/LocalRoadRelatedShots#5303097754167523810 (can't tell in this shot)

And in other states:

-Rhode Island has some on warning lights on I-95:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/RhodeIslandTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5324326029477564690
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/RhodeIslandTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5324328112599650882

-On NY 17 (future I-86) in Parksville, NY
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewYorkTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5361449576432591762

[rawmustard]

There were a couple signals in Indiana along US-30 which once had a separate strobe face, but when I drove the route between Merrillville and Fort Wayne, any strobes seemed to be gone.

[allniter89]

IIRC US 19 in Summersville, Fayetteville and Oak Hill, WV had strobes when US 19 actually went thru the towns. I think the Mountaineer Expressway is limited acess now tho.

[roadfro]

Regular red signal indications with strobes are indeed a dying breed. If they weren't disallowed in the current MUTCD, they definitely are being removed from the next version.  Something I read some time ago seemed to indicate that strobes used to supplement the red signal weren't entirely effective and there was some concern about the distraction of the flash (seizures, etc.), which prompted FHWA to prohibit them.

It seems that a preferred practice now is to use a "prepare to stop when flashing" sign with amber warning beacons upstream of the signal. This is definitely SOP in Nevada.  Nevada, to my knowledge, never used the strobes in the red indication.

[Bryant5493]

I've seen strobe lights on S.R. 138/Jonesboro Road in Union City (GA), at access to the Wal*Mart; it's a fairly new signal.

Also, there's a strobe light on Norman Berry Drive in East Point (GA).

I'll try to get photos of these sometime soon.


Be well,

Bryant

[realjd]

The only place in Florida I've seen them used is for the emergency signals in front of a fire station. I guess since the light is so rarely red (usually flashing yellow), they want to draw extra attention to the red light when a fire truck is trying to leave.

Didn't FHWA end it's experimentation with them and decide not to make them part of the MUTCD?

[Michael]

I remember seeing strobe lights in two places, but I'm sure there's more.

One was at the intersection of NY 104 and NY 3 in Hannibal.  This stoplight also has double red balls both westbound and eastbound (better view).  The strobe is westbound, because the stoplight is the first one since Oswego, and is at the bottom of a hill in a 55 MPH zone.

Another one is on NY 5 west of Camillus, in both directions.  Eastbound, it's the first stoplight since Elbridge.  Westbound, it's the first stoplight after the Camillus Bypass.  It's in a 55 MPH zone, but the Bypass is 65 MPH.  NY 5 becomes like an expressway, with two lanes in each direction, plus turn lanes just west of the intersection.

[Revive 755]

There were a couple in Missouri.  One was on US 67 at an intersection in Farmington - either Rte W or another one, but the signal has since been removed entirely.  There was at least one more on US 61 in Hannibal.

[mefailenglish]

Virginia actually has a lot, at least around Hampton Roads. Isle of Wight County is full of them along rural US-17 and US-258, and Newport News has a handful on Jefferson Ave (VA-143) near Patrick Henry Mall. All of these were installed very recently, and most have a band across the red signal that flashes when the red light is lit, though a couple have a separate single red lens with a strobe between the two three-lens signals. Rather difficult to photograph though.

In Virginia, US 301 south of the Harry Nice Bridge from MD has a few.  Once in a while you'll catch one flash just after the signal has gone green. 

[roadfro]

The only place in Florida I've seen them used is for the emergency signals in front of a fire station. I guess since the light is so rarely red (usually flashing yellow), they want to draw extra attention to the red light when a fire truck is trying to leave.

Didn't FHWA end it's experimentation with them and decide not to make them part of the MUTCD?

To follow up on this question and expand my previous response...

I found Interpretation 4-263(I) (PDF) on the MUTCD's official ruling database website, which was issued in 2003.  It indicates that FHWA terminated all experimentation with strobes in red signal indications in 1990. Studies at that time, as well as a follow-up study in 1995, indicated that strobes had no consistent benefit of reducing accidents. Thus, strobes are not in accordance with the MUTCD and FHWA recommends their removal.

[PAHighways]

They have been slowly appearing around SWPA where the signal is separated from others or the first after a long stretch of signal-less roadway, such as:  US 30 at Beatty County Road in Latrobe and US 22 at Resort Plaza in Blairsville.

[rickmastfan67]

IIRC US 19 in Summersville, Fayetteville and Oak Hill, WV had strobes when US 19 actually went thru the towns.

Yep, you're correct.

[xcellntbuy]

The only strobe that comes to mind within my former daily commute in upstate New York was located at the intersection of NY 9G and NY 199 in the Town of Red Hook, NY.  Dutchess County 82 (the old, old, old NY 199 to Barrytown, where the ferry used to cross the Hudson River) is closely adjacent to this interesection to the immediate south.

The strobe was installed around 15 years ago succeeding a stop sign at the eastern end of NY 199 and later a became a blinker.  The area is densely forested along a very rural NY 9G, south of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY and east of the Universalist Church estate on hundreds of acres of all posted (no hunting) land, about two miles from the eastern shore of the Hudson River.

The road is straight and flat as you are traveling southbound on NY 9G.  From the perspective of driving on NY 9G north and NY 199 east approaching the light there is a slight incline on a curve on an extremely wide-shouldered road with moderate rock-cuts.  NY 199 westbound descends a long hill through a deeper rock-cut with the strobed traffic light at the bottom.  The whole area is quite isolated when there is little commuter traffic on its way to or from the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge with lots of potential for deer crossings and an informal "speedway."  It is an interesting eye-catcher.

[SSOWorld]

Wisconsin never used such tactics as flashing strobes, during red lights or warning signs with flashing lights ahead of the intersection.  What they do is reduce the speed limit about 10-20 mph prior to the traffic light.

[Duke87]

NYSDOT is definitely very fond of them. There are several on the Saw Mill Parkway, a couple on the Bronx River Parkway, one of the (grand total of three) lights on US 9 in Putnam County has them...

...they even stuck one on the light at NY 100 (Central Avenue) and Sadore Lane in Yonkers (this light). Not exactly a corridor known for infrequency of lights (or fog). The excuse here, so far as I can figure, is that it's at the north end of the Tuckahoe Road underpass, which is deceptively freeway-like.

[Ian]

There are quite a few in the Albany, NY area.

Here are some...

-At the very south end of the Adirondack Northway (shows the intersection, middle two signals have strobes):
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewYorkTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5305031680336875794

-Exit 8 off of I-87 (doghouse signal to the left has the strobe):
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=albany,+ny&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.572881,78.662109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Albany,+New+York&ll=42.816685,-73.764954&spn=0.015299,0.038409&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=42.819838,-73.766452&panoid=kEiTq8r3SHVGO005YUEbzg&cbp=12,182.35,,0,-5.06

There are a number more of them, but I can't seem to think of the rest at the top of my head at the moment.
ian

[MikeTheActuary]

In Massachusetts, one can be found on at the traffic light on the "ramp" to go from the MassPike to I-291.  (The light can be difficult to see as the sun sets.)

At one point, Alabama had resolved to put strobed traffic lights on expressways, after a particularly nasty accident involving a school bus...but I haven't spent enough time in AL since then to know how far along they got.

[jjakucyk]

I've never seen many, but there have been a few.  I grew up in Highland Park, IL and there was a strobe for northbound Skokie Highway (US-41) where the expressway used to end at Clavey Road.  After that intersection was grade separated in the early 90s, the first traffic signal was then at Park Avenue.  As I recall, the strobe was a ring around the outside of the red light, which was really eye-catching.  I don't know if it's still there, but it could be. 

The only other I can think of was at a rather obscure location near where my parents have since moved to.  Just north of Southern Pines, NC at the intersection of Airport Road and NC-22 was an unusual intersection with only pole-mounted signals.  The state's typical span-wire signals weren't used there due to (I assume) the close proximity to the Moore County Airport's runway.  Also, both these roads being 55 mph rural highways with no other signals nearby, not to mention the tremendously old population there, I suppose the strobes helped.  They were just slits across the middle of the lens, which seemed a bit strange to me, but whatever.  This intersection was recently moved a significant distance away and changed to a roundabout, to get it away from the runway.  You can still see the old arrangement on Google Maps though.

[hbelkins]

The one I'm most familiar with is on US 23 near Wise, Va., for southbound traffic near the shopping area at the Business US 23 intersection.