Any traffic signal fans here?

[signalman]

Just wondering if anyone else was into traffic signals?  That's actually how i originally found AARoads, I was searching for Delaware traffic signal pics.

[Bryant5493]

I'm very into them. I especially like weird traffic signal intersections.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limq5BlxDno


Be well,

Bryant

[ComputerGuy]

Nice...here's SR 9 at SR 524 in Maltby (courtesy of Sotosoroto)



Its a giant metal tube...

[Revive 755]

While I like to see different varieties when traveling, I am not so thrilled with them I have to sit through five out of every seven I come to - especially when there's no one waiting for the light to change on the cross street, and there's no indication of attempting coordination.

MoDOT has also used a road spanning tube for signals a few times in the St. Louis area, but it's not as thick as the one in the previous picture.  Here are two in a row on Rte N north of downtown Ferguson:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.751874,-90.308905&spn=0,359.917603&z=15&layer=c&cbll=38.751704,-90.308873&panoid=sKaSnozFp3NgIKGUhVmeHw&cbp=12,353.77,,0,0.92

There were some more on MO 340 east of I-170, but MoDOT appears to have replaced them.

[Bryant5493]

Nice...here's SR 9 at SR 524 in Maltby (courtesy of Sotosoroto)

Man, that's a big mast arm.

MoDOT has also used a road spanning tube for signals a few times in the St. Louis area, but it's not as thick as the one in the previous picture.  Here are two in a row on Rte N north of downtown Ferguson:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.751874,-90.308905&spn=0,359.917603&z=15&layer=c&cbll=38.751704,-90.308873&panoid=sKaSnozFp3NgIKGUhVmeHw&cbp=12,353.77,,0,0.92

I've seen mast arms similar to those along SR 54 (Floy Farr Parkway) in Peachtree City, Ga. There are about two or three in this video I have posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OouxqSnc9nc


Be well,

Bryant

[Duke87]

When I was about 5 years old I had the exact configuration of every traffic signal that we drove through on at least a semi-regular basis memorized. I could tell you how many lights were facing each direction, and how they were arranged. It was quite an obsession of mine as a kid.

I used to draw traffic signals. I even got crazy and came up with the idea of signals that had green, yellow, red, blue, and purple lights. Green, yellow, and red meant exactly what they really do. The blue light would go on if the next signal down the road was out of commission due to a power failure. The purple light would go on if the next signal down the road had power, but was not functioning as a full light and only flashing (for any reason, malfunction or design).
I mostly stopped doing this when I switched to drawing maps instead.

The most insane part: I used to go to the bathroom with a flashlight, a red plastic cup, a yellow plastic cup, and a green plastic cup. I'd leave the light off and as I was sitting there, I'd periodically shine the flashlight in the cups to simulate the operation of a traffic light. The upstairs bathroom at our house at the time didn't have any windows, so leaving the light off and closing the door ensured darkness even during the day - necessary for this to really work. I was forced to abandon this practice at age 8 when we moved and all three bathrooms at our new house had a window and, thus, sunlight.


In a fun sort of full circle, last summer when I was working as an intern for the city of Stamford, one of the tasks I was given was to go around town and take pictures of every traffic signal, so that the engineering department would have a visual library of what condition they were all in. The same signals that I could tell you all about as a kid.
Well, at least the same intersections. When I was a kid, those lights all still used incandescent lamps. In the late 90's, the city replaced most of the major ones with LED signals. The configurations generally weren't changed, but the signal heads were - so it wasn't exactly the same signals, but close enough.

[signalman]

It's great to see some other signal fans in here.  Thanks for sharing pics and videos. 

[Bryant5493]

^^ No problem.


Be well,

Bryant

[Revive 755]

In a fun sort of full circle, last summer when I was working as an intern for the city of Stamford, one of the tasks I was given was to go around town and take pictures of every traffic signal, so that the engineering department would have a visual library of what condition they were all in. The same signals that I could tell you all about as a kid.

I know MoDOT also keeps a photographic inventory, ideally getting all the signal heads for one approach and any dectors in the photo.  It gets kind of interesting when the intersections get complicated like this one on MO 30 - which MoDOT took over more responsibilities for back in the early years of the decade:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.605029,-90.222854&spn=0,359.994507&z=18&layer=c&cbll=38.604937,-90.223036&panoid=b7JmsOTE2eJWaS-Qih1Wng&cbp=12,52.58,,0,4.03

[Bryant5493]

This next intersection is pretty complex, too. It's located in East Point, Georgia at the intersection of Washington Road, Ben Hill Road, Cloverhurst Drive, Taylor Avenue and LaRose Street.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Taylor+Avenue,+East+Point,+Ga&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.80241,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=33.673534,-84.454483&spn=0.008411,0.019226&z=16&layer=c&cbll=33.673536,-84.454971&panoid=0-430-IeIZ_OA8EQupwJNw&cbp=12,88.46,,0,5.9


Be well,

Bryant

[US71]

Not complex, but a rather "retro" signal:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=paseo+%26+linwood,+Kansas+city,+mo&sll=39.102774,-94.562781&sspn=0.009874,0.016437&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=39.068526,-94.566798&panoid=R47D-GrQwd2coElI161Ryw&cbp=12,198.2,,0,5

[florida]

Definitely a signal fan here, always looking for the oldies in the Sunshine State.

[Bryant5493]

Not complex, but a rather "retro" signal:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=paseo+%26+linwood,+Kansas+city,+mo&sll=39.102774,-94.562781&sspn=0.009874,0.016437&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=39.068526,-94.566798&panoid=R47D-GrQwd2coElI161Ryw&cbp=12,198.2,,0,5

Wow! Does it still work?


Be well,

Bryant

[Ian]

Yay!!!!!! Another signal fan in the forum!! Look on my picasa page in my signature. I have loads of photos of signals aswell as some in my collection  If you guys have any questions on traffic signals, ask me 

-i

[US71]

Yes, it still works!

I have other signals on my Flickr pages:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_71/2285229448/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_71/2896084813/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_71/3219999181/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_71/3111241213/

[74/171FAN]

Yeah for some reason I'm obsessed with taking pictures of every signal on my route when I'm roadgeeking.  I do have some of my photo signals scattered throughout my photobucket.  http://s622.photobucket.com/albums/tt304/24DIDNOTWIN/

[Bryant5493]

Re: US71's most recent post

Very cool.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMuc6lgQLYk


Be well,

Bryant

[ComputerGuy]

41st Street SPUI signal: April 2008 by me

[BigMattFromTexas]

Here is a signal in Del Rio, Tx

[Ian]

I can also tell you what brand every traffic signal is 

[rmsandw]

Check out this...
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/miscia/trafficsig.html

[Bryant5493]

Re: BigMatt's post from Del Rio, TX
That left turn signal must have double red arrows, due to the extra bulb on the left side of the signal.


Be well,

Bryant

[US71]

That site is a bit dated: Ft Smith has flashing yellow arrow signals now.

[Greybear]

Re: BigMatt's post from Del Rio, TX
That left turn signal must have double red arrows, due to the extra bulb on the left side of the signal.

If I'm correct, going from left to right - solid red, solid yellow, green left arrow that can change to yellow left arrow, solid green.

[Alex]

Definitely a signal fan here, always looking for the oldies in the Sunshine State.

There are a few decent assemblies left on the side streets of Tampa.

I was shocked to find a classic signal in Quincy. Its on the street one block south of U.S. 90. In fact several of the signals there predate the current and even the 1990s standards.


Traffic signals were one of my first interests in roadding. I knew where they all were in my hometown growing up, and sadly they are all replaced with horrible McCain signals now.

I have two signals, both purchased from the city of Mobile. One is a 3-" Crouse Hinds and the other a 30" Eagle. There is a type of signal I have found in a few places in the south with "Traffic Signal Corporation" scribed on them. If I could ever get one of those, I may consider my signal collection complete.


To Bryant, this is a great assembly: http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt24/Bryant5493/PICT0005.jpg


As Ian may know from perusing the Delaware Highways pages, I tend to photograph signalized intersections quite often, especially when they are in my local areas of interest. Having grown up in Delaware, and following signals from early childhood on, I have made it a point to try to document the remaining old Eagle signals before they succumb to McCain'dom. Unfortunately many were already replaced by the time digital cameras came of age, but like Bryant, I do have some video of former assemblies from the 1990's collecting dust.