Signal Backplates With Reflective Strips

[Brian556]

I've always thought that battery backup should be required. The minimum standard should be that it flashes red on one head per direction only.

This to me would be sufficient to tell motorists what to do and maintain safety.

Think about how unsafe the current situation is, allowing intersections to go completely dark, and on top of that, no even bothering to educate motorists of the rule about threating it as an all way stop. It seems that very few motorists are familiar with this law.

BTW...Railroad crossing signals are required to have battery backup.

[roadfro]

I'd imagine signals that have dark heads and dark backplates would be really hard to see in, say, a situation where it's night and stormy and the power is out.
I'd think reflective backplates would make it easier to know that there is a signal there (and to treat it like an all-way stop)

That could be remedied by installing battery backup systems at intersections and having traffic signals default to red flash during outages in order to save power. Also use of LED signal heads would also help conserve power of the battery backup system. Some major cities in California installed these (especially at the most dangerous intersections). with proper backup power you may also be able to operate the signals normally if needed.

I think many of the signalized intersections in Nevada are equipped with, or their cabinets are at least designed to accommodate, battery backup.

I seem to recall a conversation with a Reno-area signal engineer that many standard signals have the backup battery to accommodate running the signal in normal mode for about an hour, followed by all-way red flash for another 3 or 4 hours. This was about 6 years ago, so I may not have the details correct.

I've always thought that battery backup should be required. The minimum standard should be that it flashes red on one head per direction only.

This to me would be sufficient to tell motorists what to do and maintain safety.

I do not believe battery backup is required, although it is highly encouraged--especially at complex or non-standard intersections (i.e. SPUIs, more-than-4-way intersections, etc.).

For redundancy purposes, minimum standard would need to flash red at least two heads in each direction. This would likely also mean that circular reds would have to be flashing (unless there a turning movement with red arrow was the only movement), otherwise the message might be unclear.

[Dr Frankenstein]

BTW...Railroad crossing signals are required to have battery backup.

Mainline signals too.

[mgk920]

I agree with you, dark color (usually dark-green) heads and dark backplates are best. Like in California and Nevada.

I'd imagine signals that have dark heads and dark backplates would be really hard to see in, say, a situation where it's night and stormy and the power is out.
I'd think reflective backplates would make it easier to know that there is a signal there (and to treat it like an all-way stop)

That could be remedied by installing battery backup systems at intersections and having traffic signals default to red flash during outages in order to save power. Also use of LED signal heads would also help conserve power of the battery backup system. Some major cities in California installed these (especially at the most dangerous intersections). with proper backup power you may also be able to operate the signals normally if needed.

Or we could begin to transition to the European system, where permanent STOP, YIELD or 'you have priority' (not in the current USA MUTCD) signs that are mounted on the signal standards govern when the signals are dark.

Mike

[roadman]

Besides the obvious safety reasons, battery backup for grade crossing and other railroad signals has existed for decades largely because railroad signals have operated on a low voltage DC system.  As highway traffic signals and their control equipment operate on commercial power, having effective battery backup for long term operation is much trickier.  Of ocurse, improvements in battery technology and the increased use of LED lamps in signal housing, are changing that trend.

[Scott5114]

Are any of you seeing the problem I described with the reflective strips peeling off the backplates? If not, it might just be a problem with the adhesive used by the local contractor.

Here in Norman, they seem to be doing fine.

[Brian556]

Are any of you seeing the problem I described with the reflective strips peeling off the backplates? If not, it might just be a problem with the adhesive used by the local contractor.




Here in Norman, they seem to be doing fine.

The adhesive is part of the reflective sheeting, so it is always the same. The problem might be plastic backplates. TxDOT had a problem with a certain brand of sheeting not sticking to their plastic delineators.

[roadman65]

I got some news for you all about these new reflective strips on signal backplates: they wear out soon!

On Orange Blossom Trail in Kissimmee, FL the ones that are installed at the Performing Arts Center (former Tupperware Auditorium) have lost the ability to reflect after being erected just a few years ago.  I was through that intersection at night and noticed that they were not visible at all! 

If all the others wear out soon this idea may be like sailing the Titanic!

[SignBridge]

Brian556, are all backplates used today made of plastic, or are there metal ones being used too?  Reason I ask is here in the Northeast with our cold winter climate, plastic backplates seem to crack and fall off the signal heads. Some that were installed some years ago are no longer there.

[SSOWorld]

WisDOT just got done installing them on a major section of WI 125 (College Ave) here in the Appleton area.

Mike

I also found them today in Wausau on WIS-52's interchange with US-51.

[Brian556]

I got some news for you all about these new reflective strips on signal backplates: they wear out soon!

It does not make sense that they would stop reflecting after a few years. The lowest grade of sheeting, which probably isn't used for this application anyway, has a 7-year minimum life for reflectivity. Maybe they have dew on them at night.

I would suspect that diamond grade would be used for this application; HIP at a minimum.
Now, here in TX, the florescent yellow HIP sheeting that's supposed to last 10-12 years is failing prematurely. Signs installed in 2006 are already severely faded and cracking.

Brian556, are all backplates used today made of plastic, or are there metal ones being used too?  Reason I ask is here in the Northeast with our cold winter climate, plastic backplates seem to crack and fall off the signal heads. Some that were installed some years ago are no longer there.

There seems to be some plastic/ some metal. Most around here are plastic.

[roadman65]

Why don't they paint the darn things as the brown on the one's in my hometown of Clark, NJ lasted for almost 30 years until Union County, NJ developed their own style of mast arms and replaced it.

Brant Avenue and Westfield Avenue in Clark had yellow cut out visor shields that were erected in the early 70s and sometime in the 2000s it was change to the new mast arms that sit on top of the pole common now to Union County maintained roads.  Anyway, the brown back plates held up color wise and through two major hurricanes.

[Indyroads]

Yes brown it fine also. a good color for traffic signals in a historic area or street beautification zone.

[dfnva]

I have yet to see any backplates of this style in VA - even on new signals installed in the last few weeks.  I'd like to see VDOT adopt Ohio's practice of using dark-colored signals if they start using backplates with the reflective strips. Ohio's newer signals look quite snazzy.

The only thing close I've seen close to this in VA are these European-looking signals, with white borders on the backplates, in downtown Culpeper -- http://goo.gl/maps/i1PIB -- designed, presumably, for aesthetic effect.

[roadman65]

I was noticing that in Orlando, FL on Orange Blossom Trail and Taft- Vineland Road the yellow strips are only around the bottom and sides while not at the top. Of course this is now a span wire assembly and the hardware used to hang the signal head from gets in the way, but I would think that the few short inches on the sides of the hanging hardware could be striped.

[DaBigE]

WisDOT is adding more, now in Eau Claire: local news article

Backplates with retroreflective borders were added at three signalized intersections in Columbia, S.C., and the three crossings combined experienced an 28.6 percent reduction in total crashes during the 25 months that followed, according to an intersection safety case study.

"Adding retroreflective borders is also advantageous during periods of power outages when the signals would otherwise be dark," according to the FHWA. "The retroreflective sheeting continues to provide a visible cue for travelers to take note of the dark signal and adjust their actions accordingly."

DOT personnel began installing backplates with retroreflective borders several months ago, said Morrison, who didn't know where and how many of the specialized backplates were being put up.

Nice to know the officials have a firm grasp on what's going on around the state.

"If we see a decided drop in crashes, I could see (retroreflective backplates) at some point becoming a new standard," Brunner said.

[andrepoiy]

Some Ontario jurisdictions have a reflective plate along the backplate of the signals, while other jurisdictions have not yet done so.

For example, Toronto uses the reflective band.



Meanwhile, Peel Region does not.

[Occidental Tourist]

There are a bunch on the CO-82 corridor from Glenwood Springs to Aspen.

[US 89]

These are everywhere in Utah - UDOT and local installs alike. I don't believe UDOT has installed a single new backplate without the yellow reflective strip in probably 10 years now.

[jakeroot]

Some Ontario jurisdictions have a reflective plate along the backplate of the signals, while other jurisdictions have not yet done so.

You may be interested to know that British Columbia actually invented the yellow retroreflective edging. It was tested on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Its success led to MUTCD implementation some number of years later.

[andrepoiy]

Some Ontario jurisdictions have a reflective plate along the backplate of the signals, while other jurisdictions have not yet done so.

You may be interested to know that British Columbia actually invented the yellow retroreflective edging. It was tested on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Its success led to MUTCD implementation some number of years later.

TIL! Thanks for the information!

[jakeroot]

Some Ontario jurisdictions have a reflective plate along the backplate of the signals, while other jurisdictions have not yet done so.

You may be interested to know that British Columbia actually invented the yellow retroreflective edging. It was tested on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Its success led to MUTCD implementation some number of years later.

TIL! Thanks for the information!

Here is the original study: https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/miska_02.pdf

It was performed in 1998 along McKenzie Ave in Victoria, between the Pat Bay Highway and the Trans Canada Highway.

I don't know of any backplates in BC that do not have the yellow retroreflective border at this point.

[bcroadguy]

Some Ontario jurisdictions have a reflective plate along the backplate of the signals, while other jurisdictions have not yet done so.

You may be interested to know that British Columbia actually invented the yellow retroreflective edging. It was tested on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Its success led to MUTCD implementation some number of years later.

TIL! Thanks for the information!

Here is the original study: https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/miska_02.pdf

It was performed in 1998 along McKenzie Ave in Victoria, between the Pat Bay Highway and the Trans Canada Highway.

I don't know of any backplates in BC that do not have the yellow retroreflective border at this point.

I found the intersection shown in Figure 3 (the side-by-side comparison of a reflective and non-reflective signal, note the Chevron, DQ, and McDonald's in the background) and interestingly, the non-reflective signal on the right still does not have reflective tape 20+ years later. The signal on the left has white reflective tape, and a black backplate, which I have NEVER seen in BC before. There are some other black backplates, with and without reflective tape at this intersection as well. I guess they wanted to study a bunch of different combinations of backplate / tape colours and then never changed the signals back to normal.

I've seen this intersection before and always wondered why it is how it is, but I guess I know why now!

[Lukeisroads]

Can we come back to this topic because bakersfield Has MORE than one

[Hobart]

A few IDOT districts, like those near Peoria, use reflective strips heavily and went to great lengths to get them on most installations, regardless of how minor, some even going as far as to mount new reflective strips onto extremely old signals and backplates mounted on pedestals or trombone trusses (properly like they used to do, not with brackets like a heathen, but that's a different discussion).

This example is in Taylorville, all the way back in 2013:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5586585,-89.2982237,3a,75y,275.63h,99.32t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7Q58JjcGPSy5EeMHD0CoaA!2e0!5s20131001T000000!7i13312!8i6656

IDOT District 1 is putting them onto very new signal installations, along with pedestal-mounted backplates, and IDOT District 3 seems to lack interest completely. At Illinois 23 and U.S. 6 in Ottawa (an intersection so recently redone it isn't even on Google Maps), just this year they put up shiny new black signals (five-sections, no less!), with not a single reflective strip on the backplates.