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'Canadian Style' 4-light Left Turn Signal

Started by Zmapper, May 13, 2012, 02:15:10 PM

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Zmapper

May 13, 2012, 02:15:10 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:13:59 AM by andy3175
I have been wanting to post this for a while but just now got around to it. At the intersection of Riverside and Lemay, in Fort Collins, CO, there is a peculiar oddity. The left turn signals vertically mounted have a 4-segment light, with the green and yellow arrows combined into one. Such a configuration has been outlawed since I believe 1971, yet the installation looks somewhat new.



Are there any other signals like that one elsewhere in the United States?

roadfro

#1
May 13, 2012, 02:55:44 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:02 AM by andy3175
Had to watch twice cause at first I thought you were talking about the overheads instead of the pole mount. Yeah this type of installation is not allowed...and there's no reason why a 5-section vertical head couldn't have been used.

Also odd that it's a near-side left mount, which seems fairly unusual for a left hand turn.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Zmapper

#2
May 13, 2012, 06:20:28 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:07 AM by andy3175
I suspect that the near side signal is because of the skewed intersection layout. If it were on the far left side, the signal would be too far away to be useful.

Scott5114

#3
May 13, 2012, 06:28:13 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:10 AM by andy3175
I think the outlawing is a lot more recent than 1971... I saw a similar sort of setup in a suburb of Kansas City in the late 90s.
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Ian

#4
May 13, 2012, 06:47:39 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:12 AM by andy3175
Inline-4 signals are used in a countless amount of places throughout the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic. Here's a fairly recent one in Sloatsburg, NY.
UMaine graduate, former PennDOT employee, new SoCal resident.
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Zmapper

#5
May 13, 2012, 06:49:11 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:14 AM by andy3175
I am not sure that you get what I am talking about, PennDOTFan. The signal in your picture appears to be just a Red-Yellow-Green-Green Arrow, with no yellow arrow.

Ian

#6
May 13, 2012, 06:54:00 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:17 AM by andy3175
Quote from: Zmapper on May 13, 2012, 06:49:11 PM
I am not sure that you get what I am talking about, PennDOTFan. The signal in your picture appears to be just a Red-Yellow-Green-Green Arrow, with no yellow arrow.

The bottom section is a bi-modal section that goes from green arrow to yellow arrow, then to off. Isn't that what we're talking about?
UMaine graduate, former PennDOT employee, new SoCal resident.
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Zmapper

#7
May 13, 2012, 06:55:34 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:20 AM by andy3175
You're right. It is interesting that new installations exist.

Ian

#8
May 13, 2012, 06:58:32 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:22 AM by andy3175
Quote from: Zmapper on May 13, 2012, 06:55:34 PM
You're right. It is interesting that new installations exist.

Yeah, I still wonder why they still install them, because it looks like it'd be difficult for someone who's color blind to see the green arrow change to yellow. There are still other states that still install these, including Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.
UMaine graduate, former PennDOT employee, new SoCal resident.
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Alps

#9
May 14, 2012, 06:47:48 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:24 AM by andy3175
It's absolutely still allowed out here. I guess they figure that left turns are less critical than through movements, since you're coming straight at the other traffic about to (i.e. the opposite direction) rather than at 90 degrees so everyone can see each other better. Consider this - a lot of signals out here didn't have yellow arrows - some old ones still don't - the green arrow just flashes off a few seconds before the other direction goes. So given that operation, yellow arrow has ended up being a low priority. Now, NJ for one (and NY for two) certainly has a lot of doghouse and other 5-head installations, but they do sometimes use 4-head still. Is the cost of an extra lens that great?

Milepost61

#10
May 14, 2012, 11:26:32 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:27 AM by andy3175
That one in Fort Collins was there when I lived there in the late '90s. It was incandescent so looks like it's survived all the incandescent to LED conversions. Zmapper is right on the skew of the intersection. I think it's the only one in town, not show why that intersection is the place it ended up.

kphoger

#11
May 15, 2012, 02:32:03 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:31 AM by andy3175
I recall one on Main Street, Wheaton (IL), just south of downtown.
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SSOWorld

#12
May 15, 2012, 11:42:59 PM   Last Edit: January 21, 2015, 02:14:29 AM by andy3175
They have them all over the place - I've seen the green/yellow combo 4-lights in Arizona and Montana thus far
Scott O.

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