Cost of signals

[relaxok]

I was just looking at a cost estimate from the technical document of a planned highway upgrade (specifically a section of Rt.8 in Connecticut.. document here: http://www.route8study.com/pdf/final/route8_final_appendixa.pdf)

For one interchange it listed a new traffic signal as one of the line items.. for $20,000.  Is that really how much they cost?  I'm actually wondering if they cost more, because the description of the line item says [New: $100,000], but then they list 1 unit at $20,000 (which makes me think.. used??)

Considering how simple traffic signals are, this seems vastly overpriced - are there really no vendors that want to come in and undercut these kinds of prices?

[Scott5114]

Could it have been the price for the entire installation? I would imagine just the signal head is less than $20,000, but if you factor in the mastarm + cameras/detection loops + controller cabinet + wiring + labor for installation of all of the above, the whole shebang could easily end up being $20,000.

[codyg1985]

That seems normal. A cost estimate for a signal to be installed at the intersection of US 431 and Caldwell Rd in Huntsville was slated to be around $36,000.

[roadman65]

A friend of mine who works for Orange County, FL in the signal repair unit, tells me that mast arms are a half a million dollars to install.  I think he is a little extreme in what he tells me because California uses mast arms exclusively and if it were the Golden State would be like the South-East and go cheap with the span wire.

I know that span wires are cheaper for obvious reasons and that the ones DC and San Francisco uses on the street corners side mounted have to be dirt cheap to install.  I must think that span wires are about 20 grand and mast arms double that and the side mounts are 10 grand.  Maybe those ugly green truss signals on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, FL do cost a half a million to erect, but I strongly disagree that regular mast arms cost that.  Even with those ugly square sodium vapor lights that the City of Orlando uses on top of their mast arm poles especially when there is adaquete lighting already from nearby street lamps already, do not cost that much either.

[roadfro]

I seem to recall reading a few years ago that a brand new traffic signal in the Las Vegas, NV area typically costs at least $100,000. Given that Nevada uses all mast arms for permanent installations, this seems to be fairly accurate. The price would have to include all materials as well as the labor needed to install the underground conduits and such.

[busman_49]

A single 12-inch head with LEDs straight from the distributor could run around $300-$400

[connroadgeek]

I was just looking at a cost estimate from the technical document of a planned highway upgrade (specifically a section of Rt.8 in Connecticut.. document here: http://www.route8study.com/pdf/final/route8_final_appendixa.pdf)

For one interchange it listed a new traffic signal as one of the line items.. for $20,000.  Is that really how much they cost?  I'm actually wondering if they cost more, because the description of the line item says [New: $100,000], but then they list 1 unit at $20,000 (which makes me think.. used??)

Considering how simple traffic signals are, this seems vastly overpriced - are there really no vendors that want to come in and undercut these kinds of prices?

NY-Conn Electrical Contractors do a lot of the installations in SW Conn. They did a replacement at an intersection in Greenwich - 3-way, wire span, 2 new decorative poles, countdown pedestrian heads, and vehicle detection sensors - and it cost $110,000. I know the cost because it was in the town budget as a line item. Greenwich will replace signals "just because" it seems. I've seen plenty in good shape replaced.

[roadman65]

I talked to the friend who works for Orange County and he was saying in particular it was the John Young Parkway and Central Florida Parkway that cost a half a million dollars.  It is because of the removal of the old span wire assembly there that was installed post Charley in 04 and the underground wiring, and the new pedestrian signal heads.

[relaxok]

For a large intersection assembly with labor and etc, I can see the cost going quite high.

However, the way I was reading it, I thought it was saying $20,000 ($100,000 new) for a single signal itself.

That still seems high and if that's accurate I'm surprised there aren't other people trying to get into that business.  Of course, there's organized crime involved with every level of road work.