Span Wire Signals in CA

[2Co5_14]

I know span wire-supported overhead traffic signals are almost unheard of in California.  Even the temporary signals I've seen on construction projects have used timber poles with short guyed metal mast arms.  That why I was surprised to find this span wire/strain pole setup for these temporary signals in Brentwood along the Route 4 bypass that is under construction.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=37.94299,-121.741098&spn=0.000006,0.003422&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=0&layer=c&cbll=37.94322,-121.741207&panoid=rUwjj00yFNwVCMJF91p_5A&cbp=12,338.05,,0,2.39

I haven't lived in California for 20 years, so I don't know how common this practice might be now.  Does anyone have other examples of span wire signals in CA, either temporary or permanent?

[gonealookin]

There are currently several of them on Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US 50) through the City of South Lake Tahoe, while a major erosion control, drainage and paving project is underway.

[Quillz]

Yup, those are definitely a rarity around here. Good thing, too. I hate the look of span wire traffic signals. They look cheap to me, and it always seems like they're bound to fall off the wire.

All that said, I *think* I remember there being a very short lived one around Exit 29 on US-101 when the entire on/off-ramp and the bridge were being rebuilt. I think there was one where Ventura Blvd. ended, and it was in place until a proper mast arm was installed.

[roadfro]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen any span wire installations in California. Any time I've seen temporary signals in construction areas in California, it's been smaller scale projects where a temporary trailer pole/mast setup has been brought in.

Nevada tends to use timber poles and span wires for longer-term projects construction projects that will affect a signal setup. I've seen the temporary mast trailers brought in a number of times as well. In the past, they have also used span wires in very limited fashion for interim signals--i.e. places that need a signal installed quickly but some part of the intersection will soon be undergoing a widening that would otherwise take out the signal they were putting in. This is exceedingly rare, and more often than not the signal poles are installed outside the ultimate width of roadway so that they just need to add signal heads to the mast arm once widening is complete.

[gonealookin]

Here are a couple of the above-mentioned ones along Lake Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.  There are about 5 or 6 intersections with these temporary signals.  They went in this past summer and with construction season about over they'll evidently be there for several more months at least.

US 50 at Lakeview Avenue:



US 50 at Tallac Avenue:

[mapman]

CA 1 at Carmel Valley Road, near Carmel, CA:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Carmel,+CA&hl=en&ll=36.543131,-121.908095&spn=0.003258,0.006909&geocode=+&hnear=Carmel,+Monterey,+California&t=m&z=18&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=36.543237,-121.908312&panoid=TKI7S_sj6_D3gt-bIgaXCA&cbp=12,310.75,,0,-0.7

[Ian]

Here is one I remember coming across in 2007 along CA 17 near Los Gatos:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=saratoga,+ca&hl=en&ll=37.215079,-121.988229&spn=0.003534,0.004823&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.59616,79.013672&vpsrc=6&hnear=Saratoga,+Santa+Clara,+California&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.215148,-121.988256&panoid=e8NX9yPMrAKPJDwTrmtG4A&cbp=12,130.08,,0,1.9

[roadfro]

Here is one I remember coming across in 2007 along CA 17 near Los Gatos:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=saratoga,+ca&hl=en&ll=37.215079,-121.988229&spn=0.003534,0.004823&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.59616,79.013672&vpsrc=6&hnear=Saratoga,+Santa+Clara,+California&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.215148,-121.988256&panoid=e8NX9yPMrAKPJDwTrmtG4A&cbp=12,130.08,,0,1.9

That's a flashing beacon and not a signal... I think span wire beacons are a tad more common in CA.

[Ian]

That's a flashing beacon and not a signal... I think span wire beacons are a tad more common in CA.

Apologies, wasn't aware those didn't count.

[jrouse]

As several have noted, span wire signals are generally only used in California for the purposes of maintaining an existing signal system during a construction project.

The Carmel Valley Road/SR-1 intersection is one of two that I know of in California that has a permanent span-wire installation.  The other is at the end of the SR-4 freeway at Fresno Avenue in Stockton; that signal will probably not be around for many more years as there are plans to extend the freeway westward. There are thousands of signals in this state (6,000 alone on the state highway system) and there is, of course, the possibility that I may have missed some others.

I am aware of at least two other permanent span-wire configurations that have since been removed.

There was a span-wire installation at the junction of Monterey Highway and Cochrane Road in Morgan Hill.  US-101 used to end at Monterey Highway in south San Jose (near the present day interchange at Blossom Hill Road) and followed the Monterey Highway alignment to Cochrane Road, where it turned east to connect with the northern end of the Morgan Hill bypass freeway.  The remainder of the Morgan Hill bypass was completed in 1984, eliminating the need to travel on Monterey Highway; however, I believe this span wire signal remained in place for a number of years after the freeway was completed.

I am also aware of a span-wire installation that was used at the intersection of El Camino Avenue and Rio Linda Blvd here in Sacramento.  This installation was removed in the early 1980s.  I suspect it dated back to the days when North Sacramento was its own city. 

Joe Rouse
(Please note that I work for Caltrans but do not officially speak for them on this board)

[OCGuy81]

My biggest pet peeve with span wire signals has been the lack of a signal off to the side.  When you're in a car, and behind a large truck, you can't see the light.  I usually stay on the truck's tail and if he goes through the intersection, I'm going for it!

[jrouse]

Photo of the span-wire signal at Cochrane Road and Monterey Highway

http://www.interstate80.info/monterey_highway_3.html

[Truvelo]

Span wire signals remind me of hurricanes and storms. Whenever we have a news report on TV over here about a hurricane in the US they normally always show traffic signal heads swaying in the wind. It's become a cliche now

[Quillz]

When driving to Ojai today, I saw a new temporary one erected at the under construction interchange of US-101 and Rice Avenue. The interchange is being rebuilt to support better traffic flow, and the intersection has three signal masts and one span wire.

[Takumi]

Sometimes mast arms are just as bad...