Traffic signal

[Revive 755]

Same thing happens to backplates here on Long Island every time NYS DOT tries using them. I don't know why they survive in the Chicago area but not in New York.

Could be the type of backplate?  For some reason the Springfield District of IDOT seems to have issues with backplates falling apart:

* One near I-55 on IL 10 - IL 121 in Lincoln

I've seen more than this but can't find them on Streetview so far.

There are a couple examples in Litchfield of the retroflective tape coming off:  IL 16 at Historic Route 66;  IL 16 at Ohren Lane.

[Big John]

I notices that Gren Bay has just put yellow-bordered backplates at a couple intersections (experimental?), but the yellow lines are centered on the backplates and not on their outer edges.  Is this MUTCD compliant?

[jakeroot]

I notices that Gren Bay has just put yellow-bordered backplates at a couple intersections (experimental?), but the yellow lines are centered on the backplates and not on their outer edges.  Is this MUTCD compliant?

I don't think so. Here's the wording from the IA:

Interim Approval for the use of a yellow retroreflective strip at least 25 mm (1 inch) wide and no wider than 75 mm (3 inches) around the perimeter of the face of signal backplates to project a rectangular appearance at night...

[plain]

The city of Richmond has this unique and rather peculiar setup along Broad St (US 250) where the Pulse (BRT) runs along the median, about a 3.5 mile stretch. It's at every intersection where left turns are allowed (EDIT: except for the intersection at Belvidere St (US 1/301))

The BRT signal is pretty basic, but next to it is an FYA for left turns that doesn't even function as an FYA until late at night (when The Pulse isn't in operation). During Pulse hours, there are no flashing yellows.. if you didn't catch the green in time, you have to wait for the next green.



SM-S820L

[US 89]

That looks strikingly like a Utah signal, with the curved mast arm and yellow signals.

[plain]

That looks strikingly like a Utah signal, with the curved mast arm and yellow signals.

Yeah it is a Richmond specialty of sorts to use yellow signals on curved mast arms (or on non-curved ones, either way the masts are usually dark green), though the city just started seriously using backplates on the signals about 4 years ago (many signals in the city still doesn't have backplates). This particular signal, as well as the others like this along the Pulse line, went up earlier this year.

[jakeroot]

I think that's exactly the sort of phasing that all trolley and BRT roadways should use. The restriction makes sense during operation hours, but outside of that, it's just a nuisance.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Found a dual turn with flashing yellow arrows here in Indiana... Actually, it used to be a single left turn lane with FYA back in 2015...

Location: At the intersection of Allisonville Road and 146th Street in Fishers

2015:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0001966,-86.0193202,3a,75y,0.11h,89.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sM8EvTcr3tEVwQF3EdEihsw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

2017:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0000641,-86.0195788,3a,15y,33.03h,89.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shs0ZF6sQrZCU0AuxC3MJ4w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0003383,-86.0192777,3a,75y,354.94h,89.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slTw4ChhiTboA1Z6WeXEC_g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[plain]

I think that's exactly the sort of phasing that all trolley and BRT roadways should use. The restriction makes sense during operation hours, but outside of that, it's just a nuisance.

Agreed. This is one of the few things traffic control-wise that the city got right. Other cities with similar dedicated median bus lanes should definitely follow this example (except Cleveland, who's BRT runs 24 hrs a day).

[mrsman]

Another WSDOT install that has caught my eye. I think they've gone mad!

This left turn from E Bay Street to E 27 St in Tacoma has four left turn signals, for a single-lane left turn. It's not yet activated, but here's the Street View: https://goo.gl/poa2L9

Old WSDOT would have used two overhead signals, and that's all. But they've been throwing up pole-mounted signals all over the place lately. This interchange went from none four years ago, to at least seven today (four intersections in total -- split diamond). Still work to do, but I'm more than pleased!

Hooray for post-mounts!  Though 4 signal heads for one lane is a bit excessive.  The one on the signal mast just absolutely does not need to be there, unless there's a curve in the approach to the intersection.  I'm just happy to see any DOT cover all their bases--making sure each signal has a duplicate, and making sure a signal is visible from all possible lines of sight stemming from the approach.

I feel personally struck by the crosswalk signals that just stick up straight from the poles (no hooks).  I haven't seen any signals like that in ages.

The biggest qn for me on this corner is why should there even be a signal here if the street is one way in the other way?  (Unless that's about to be changed.)

[mrsman]

Found this gem in the New York Transportation Museum in Rush, NY. Looks like it's from the 1930's or 40's. The controller is inside the wooden base they made for it but i'm sure it's a really old mechanical controller.

https://i.imgur.com/zKUwos8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/d7lg8mF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ulFwl84.jpg

Looks the signal employed a green/amber combo before going red? Or were they just playing around? Cool stuff, man!



Lots of stuff in Spokane, WA, lately.

At this new signal in Spokane (from 2016), there is both a red arrow and red orb face on the same signal. Pretty sure that's not allowed...nor why it would be necessary. Yellow and green orbs below the signals, I believe. The only thing I can think of, is that the red arrow locks out left turns during the pedestrian phase, before disappearing. That would make it very Australian, IIRC.

https://goo.gl/kD6L5X (S Monroe (one-way SB) at Fourth Ave (one-way EB))

You are correct about this being a specialized signal for what is known as leading pedestrian interval.  When you first get the green, they want to prohibit turns so that pedestrians can get a head start.  So you will see a green ball with a red left arrow at the beginning of the pedestrian phase.  Once, the pedestrians have made it into the intersection (however many seconds the engineers feel is appropriate) the red arrow vanishes and you are left with a standard green ball controlling the left turn - essentially, yield to pedestrians when turning.

(This is far better than what is typcially (cheaply) done for LPI:  start the walk signal a few seconds ahead of the green ball.  There is no reason to keep the non-turning traffic waiting when the non-turning traffic does not conflict with pedestrians.)

There is a similar signal in Downtown LA.  GSV captured it with green ball and red arrow simultaneously.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0462706,-118.2629353,3a,75y,98.5h,79.2t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sru2usup5nXYFNSmiMiP4gg!2e0!5s20150801T000000!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dru2usup5nXYFNSmiMiP4gg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D346.64047%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[jakeroot]

Another WSDOT install that has caught my eye. I think they've gone mad!

This left turn from E Bay Street to E 27 St in Tacoma has four left turn signals, for a single-lane left turn. It's not yet activated, but here's the Street View: https://goo.gl/poa2L9

Old WSDOT would have used two overhead signals, and that's all. But they've been throwing up pole-mounted signals all over the place lately. This interchange went from none four years ago, to at least seven today (four intersections in total -- split diamond). Still work to do, but I'm more than pleased!

Hooray for post-mounts!  Though 4 signal heads for one lane is a bit excessive.  The one on the signal mast just absolutely does not need to be there, unless there's a curve in the approach to the intersection.  I'm just happy to see any DOT cover all their bases--making sure each signal has a duplicate, and making sure a signal is visible from all possible lines of sight stemming from the approach.

I feel personally struck by the crosswalk signals that just stick up straight from the poles (no hooks).  I haven't seen any signals like that in ages.

The biggest qn for me on this corner is why should there even be a signal here if the street is one way in the other way?  (Unless that's about to be changed.)

Will be a two-way street soon. Maybe already (I'm out of town).

Lots of stuff in Spokane, WA, lately.

At this new signal in Spokane (from 2016), there is both a red arrow and red orb face on the same signal. Pretty sure that's not allowed...nor why it would be necessary. Yellow and green orbs below the signals, I believe. The only thing I can think of, is that the red arrow locks out left turns during the pedestrian phase, before disappearing. That would make it very Australian, IIRC.

https://goo.gl/kD6L5X (S Monroe (one-way SB) at Fourth Ave (one-way EB))

You are correct about this being a specialized signal for what is known as leading pedestrian interval.  When you first get the green, they want to prohibit turns so that pedestrians can get a head start.  So you will see a green ball with a red left arrow at the beginning of the pedestrian phase.  Once, the pedestrians have made it into the intersection (however many seconds the engineers feel is appropriate) the red arrow vanishes and you are left with a standard green ball controlling the left turn - essentially, yield to pedestrians when turning.

(This is far better than what is typcially (cheaply) done for LPI:  start the walk signal a few seconds ahead of the green ball.  There is no reason to keep the non-turning traffic waiting when the non-turning traffic does not conflict with pedestrians.)

There is a similar signal in Downtown LA.  GSV captured it with green ball and red arrow simultaneously.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0462706,-118.2629353,3a,75y,98.5h,79.2t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sru2usup5nXYFNSmiMiP4gg!2e0!5s20150801T000000!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dru2usup5nXYFNSmiMiP4gg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D346.64047%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Thank you very much for the explanation. Makes perfect sense. Very helpful for a shared lane situation (such as this Spokane situation) where a dedicated turn signal would be odd.

[Mark68]

And nice find with that 3M 8 inch PV adapter on it! Not too many of those in service.
[/quote]

They installed them on all (pole-mounted) traffic signals in Anaheim in the late 70s (most have since been replaced with 12-12-12 signals). I'm actually not sure what their purpose was (maybe so only oncoming traffic would see the green signal?).

[jakeroot]

The off-ramp from southbound 5 to Disneyland Dr/West St has two post-mounted signals directly over one-another. Took me a while to figure out why, but after I looked closer, I noticed the bottom signal was angled towards the off-ramp from the general purpose lanes, and the top signal angled towards the HOV off-ramp. This is noticeable in street view. The off-ramps come together shortly before the triple left turn.

[SignBridge]

I saw one similar to that in San Diego where there was a curved approach. Two heads on the same near-right post, one angled towards the stop-line and the other angled towards vehicles coming around the curve.

[DaBigE]

Saw a similar double-mount when I was in Johnson Creek, WI the other week: https://goo.gl/maps/gdBum3WoWaw

[jakeroot]

I saw one similar to that in San Diego where there was a curved approach. Two heads on the same near-right post, one angled towards the stop-line and the other angled towards vehicles coming around the curve.

Yet more proof that California is "on it" when it comes to signals.

Saw a similar double-mount when I was in Johnson Creek, WI the other week: https://goo.gl/maps/gdBum3WoWaw

I like it! Perhaps redundant, but at least there's two through signals on the near-side (only way to do that without using "yield on green" PPLT signals). This setup, and the one I posted above, remind me a bit of some of the setups in other countries (South Africa, for example (jump to 2:07)). I personally would prefer, in the Wisconsin example, for one of the signals to be on the far right corner, but at least there's plenty of redundancy.

[jakeroot]

This right turn signal in Federal Way, WA accidentally displays both red and green arrows simultaneously. When the parallel left turn has a green arrow, the right turn green arrow comes on while the red arrow is still displayed. The parallel left turn (FYA) is lagging, so the malfunction does not pop up very often

https://youtu.be/Cdb6VwedT5w

[roadfro]

This right turn signal in Federal Way, WA accidentally displays both red and green arrows simultaneously. When the parallel left turn has a green arrow, the right turn green arrow comes on while the red arrow is still displayed. The parallel left turn (FYA) is lagging, so the malfunction does not pop up very often

https://youtu.be/Cdb6VwedT5w

Your use of "parallel" confused me for a second, as I was expecting the adjacent left. Had to watching and read again to make sure I was understanding. (Not sure what the best term would be instead..."complementary"?)

But yeah, that's a problem–definite MUTCD taboo. (If they were a circular reds instead of right red arrows, it'd be a non-issue.) I wonder if the controller was programmed incorrectly or if arrows were incorrectly installed... I'm assuming you've notified the maintaining agency.

[jakeroot]

This right turn signal in Federal Way, WA accidentally displays both red and green arrows simultaneously. When the parallel left turn has a green arrow, the right turn green arrow comes on while the red arrow is still displayed. The parallel left turn (FYA) is lagging, so the malfunction does not pop up very often

https://youtu.be/Cdb6VwedT5w

Your use of "parallel" confused me for a second, as I was expecting the adjacent left. Had to watching and read again to make sure I was understanding. (Not sure what the best term would be instead..."complementary"?)

I've never known which term to use. I adopted "parallel" as the right turn path and left turn path parallel each other, but it's not a perfect term. I like "complementary".

But yeah, that's a problem–definite MUTCD taboo. (If they were a circular reds instead of right red arrows, it'd be a non-issue.) I wonder if the controller was programmed incorrectly or if arrows were incorrectly installed... I'm assuming you've notified the maintaining agency.

I assume the programming was adopted from other installations, where the top signal is a red orb, but they didn't realize that there was no orb here. Of course, here in Washington, right facing red arrows are quite common, as there's no right turn restriction with them. Most agencies don't think to exclude them as a result.

Honestly, I have not contacted the city of Federal Way. It's been this way for quite a while; at least a year. I've been trying to get a video of it for a while. Now that I've got the video, I think I should do my civic duty and let them know.

[jakeroot]

Anyone got a clue as to what's going on here? N Lakewood Blvd @ E Conant St, Long Beach, CA.

There's a two-lens traffic signal pointing off in a seemingly-random direction, attached to the same pole as a supplemental oncoming left turn signal. I have seen signals facing away from traffic before, but only as a way to alert police to the state of the traffic signal (such as at a ramp meters). That doesn't seem to be the case here.

[thenetwork]

Hazarding a guess...On the overhead shot, it looks like it was pointing to an old bus station/bus stop and the light was used as a "timer" for the buses to let them know they could leave the station, or was an indicator to the buses what was happening at the intersection's lights -- who had the green.

[jakeroot]

Hazarding a guess...On the overhead shot, it looks like it was pointing to an old bus station/bus stop and the light was used as a "timer" for the buses to let them know they could leave the station, or was an indicator to the buses what was happening at the intersection's lights -- who had the green.

So, that old section of pavement that Lakewood and Conant intersect was basically a taxi-way between the former McDonnell Douglas/Boeing factory (NE corner), and the Long Beach Airport (SW corner). It's possible that the signal was for ground crew, when planes were using the crossing. In a way, you are kind of on to something.

Here's a shot of the crossing in action:


Image from Long Beach Airport Twitter

Note that this image shows the old signal, which was replaced in the early 2000s with a newer signal which still had to accommodate planes (which used the crossing for some time after that).

[roadman65]

Wow an at grade taxiway.  Impressive.

[jakeroot]

Wow an at grade taxiway.  Impressive.

There's not very many of them. The only other one I knew of in CA was down at the San Diego Airport (now closed off): https://goo.gl/qSui7J

AK has quite a few, and there's at least one in WA.