Smart pedestrian/school crossings

[silverback1065]

have any of these popped up around the country? or is this an Indiana thing? https://www.google.com/maps/@39.966161,-85.91857,3a,75y,349.51h,67.43t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sOo31FhETCYBPbz4G7OtInQ!2e0

they can be slightly confusing since they are all red lights, i wonder why they don't just use a typical 3 head signal.

[roadman]

This installation is known as a pedestrian hybrid beacon, commonly called a HAWK signal - See Section 4F of the MUTCD for details.  http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009r1r2/part4.pdf

[tradephoric]

Drivers yield to the passing train.

[spooky]

This installation is known as a pedestrian hybrid beacon, commonly called a HAWK signal - See Section 4F of the MUTCD for details.  http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009r1r2/part4.pdf

HAWK, AKA High Intenstity Activated Crosswalk beacon.
They really reached on that acronym.

[jeffandnicole]

they can be slightly confusing since they are all red lights...

The bottom light should be yellow, not red.

[Pink Jazz]

HAWK beacons are used by several cities here in the Phoenix area, including Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, and Scottsdale.

[freebrickproductions]

Huntsville, AL has the only HAWK install anywhere in the state as far as I'm aware. We used to have three, but Huntsville removed the two that were in front of fire stations.

[mrsman]

have any of these popped up around the country? or is this an Indiana thing? https://www.google.com/maps/@39.966161,-85.91857,3a,75y,349.51h,67.43t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sOo31FhETCYBPbz4G7OtInQ!2e0

they can be slightly confusing since they are all red lights, i wonder why they don't just use a typical 3 head signal.

One benefit of the HAWK signal is that it does not have to be illuminated all the time, saving significantly on electricity costs. (The pedestrian signal is illumiated continuously)  Although the down side is that it requires drivers to learn about another unique device.  Also, the flashing yellow is warning you of caution that the light will eventually be activated, as opposed to flashing yellow that we sometimes see at flashing yellow/flashing red intersection to denote right of way (and general caution that there is an intersection).

One of the best ways of doing a mid-intersection pedestrian cross-walk is done in Los Angeles (Downtown and along Fairfax Avenue and several other places too).  There, there is a standard three head signal, but instead of red, there is a flashing red.  You stop on flashing red, but then you are permitted to continue once the crosswalk is cleared of pedestrians.  This way, if peds are faster than the timing, you're not stuck waiting for the green.  But the downside is that it has to be illuminated all the time.

[Thing 342]

A HAWK beacon recently went up on the campus of Thomas Nelson CC. It's pretty much universally ignored, as no one seems to know what to do at it, except for to stop for people in the crosswalk.

[jakeroot]

I think it's a bit confusing right now, but, more than likely, it'll be the standard crosswalk for arterial roadways in 10 to 20 years. Side streets should maintain the yield principle.

Not sure of the stats on these things, but if there are any, they should probably be ignored, since lack of understanding likely envenoms the stats.

Washington has two that I know of. One in Mount Vernon on a road I've never driven on, and on Highway 104 in Edmonds, about 10 miles north of Seattle.

[roadfro]

I like the concept of these, just don't like the use of alternating red that is typically associated with a train crossing.

[M3019C LPS20]

Yes, it is a H.A.W.K. signal.

It has become widespread in the country in recent years.

[PurdueBill]

I like the concept of these, just don't like the use of alternating red that is typically associated with a train crossing.

Yep--first they disallowed alternating flashing reds 10 or 20 feet apart over separate lanes because they might appear to be railroad signals. Then they introduce HAWK and use....alternating flashing reds with a totally different meaning than railroad signals.  WTF???

[Pink Jazz]

I like the concept of these, just don't like the use of alternating red that is typically associated with a train crossing.

Yep--first they disallowed alternating flashing reds 10 or 20 feet apart over separate lanes because they might appear to be railroad signals. Then they introduce HAWK and use....alternating flashing reds with a totally different meaning than railroad signals.  WTF???

This brings up an interesting point.  The city of Fort Collins, Colorado actually received complaints from Union Pacific Railroad about the alternating flashing red lights on two HAWK beacons located near railroad tracks.  The City of Fort Collins experimented with having the two red lights flash simultaneously instead of alternating; I wonder what is the status of that experiment.

[KEK Inc.]

I think it's a bit confusing right now, but, more than likely, it'll be the standard crosswalk for arterial roadways in 10 to 20 years. Side streets should maintain the yield principle.

Not sure of the stats on these things, but if there are any, they should probably be ignored, since lack of understanding likely envenoms the stats.

Washington has two that I know of. One in Mount Vernon on a road I've never driven on, and on Highway 104 in Edmonds, about 10 miles north of Seattle.

There's a new one in Redmond on 148th Ave NE between Redmond Way and Willows Rd. 



Here's the one in Edmonds. 

[briantroutman]

One of the best ways of doing a mid-intersection pedestrian cross-walk is done in Los Angeles (Downtown and along Fairfax Avenue and several other places too).  There, there is a standard three head signal, but instead of red, there is a flashing red.  You stop on flashing red, but then you are permitted to continue once the crosswalk is cleared of pedestrians.  This way, if peds are faster than the timing, you're not stuck waiting for the green.  But the downside is that it has to be illuminated all the time.

Perhaps what you describe is deployed elsewhere in the city, but when I lived in LA temporarily last summer and fall, I encountered one almost daily on Glencoe Ave. near Mindanao Way where the red phase was solid, not flashing. This was particularly frustrating as a motorist because pedestrians (frequently fit joggers in Marina del Rey) would often punch the cross button and immediately start crossing, so they'd have already completed crossing by the end of the yellow phase, and then I'd be stuck sitting for an agonizingly slow red phase with nobody in the crosswalk.

[Ace10]

Washington has two that I know of. One in Mount Vernon on a road I've never driven on, and on Highway 104 in Edmonds, about 10 miles north of Seattle.

There's a new one in Redmond on 148th Ave NE between Redmond Way and Willows Rd. 

There are a few along E 4th Plain Blvd in Vancouver. This one is at the intersection of 4th Plain and Rossiter Ln. I could have sworn there were two or three along Mill Plain Blvd as well, but I couldn't find any on GMSV.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1433274035731!6m8!1m7!1sB4bM7FQU3OZGQuKdZ1SmGQ!2m2!1d45.637439!2d-122.632309!3f239.1570081145841!4f-13.516177757172073!5f0.4000000000000002