Traffic signal

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

Double-posting due to unrelated topic

Here's something for our Eagle Flatback-geek 'traffic light guy'...

I get that he is into traffic lights, but to me (being ignorant in that field) I only see a traffic signal housing. Now, I do prefer one style over another, but I wouldn't know the style's name. Maybe I could expand in that direction, as I have done with my recent sign photos.

[Scott5114]

Gotcha. With that, what incentive is there if there are no penalties? I suspect that a lot of these issues is just pure ignorance - mom-and-pop painters, local sign fabricators, and local electricians who really don't know federal policy and not willful. But it would be nice to see enforcement out of safety concerns.

If a non-compliant traffic control device causes an accident, I would imagine the property owner could be held liable for causing the accident through negligence.

[jakeroot]

Double-posting due to unrelated topic

Here's something for our Eagle Flatback-geek 'traffic light guy'...

I get that he is into traffic lights, but to me (being ignorant in that field) I only see a traffic signal housing. Now, I do prefer one style over another, but I wouldn't know the style's name. Maybe I could expand in that direction, as I have done with my recent sign photos.

Yeah, up until this thread, signal housings were just signal housings. I did not see any difference between any other manufacturer. Now that I am familiar with some of the designs, and I have my favorites, I actually find hunting for them to be pretty fun. I'm really more into traffic control than anything else, but this makes that more engaging.

[MNHighwayMan]

So, serious question time, because I just thought of this:

Why are signal bodies still thick, considering the adoption of LED lamps? I get that the switch is not universal, and that some jurisdictions are actually going back to incandescent lamps, but for those that are installing new LED lamps, why?

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

So, serious question time, because I just thought of this:

Why are signal bodies still thick, considering the adoption of LED lamps? I get that the switch is not universal, and that some jurisdictions are actually going back to incandescent lamps, but for those that are installing new LED lamps, why?

Utility cost effectiveness. I mean, why would a municipality want to burn through money they don't have in bills, when they can save that money and direct it elsewhere?

[jakeroot]

So, serious question time, because I just thought of this:

Why are signal bodies still thick, considering the adoption of LED lamps? I get that the switch is not universal, and that some jurisdictions are actually going back to incandescent lamps, but for those that are installing new LED lamps, why?

Utility cost effectiveness. I mean, why would a municipality want to burn through money they don't have in bills, when they can save that money and direct it elsewhere?

But that assumes that all municipalities are short on cash and/or aren't interested in updating their infrastructure to new technology.

As to the question, AFAIK, LED signal faces are all retrofits, even those that are new (so a new LED McCain is simply stuffed inside a former incandescent body). There are countries that have experimented with flat-faced LED signal displays, but I don't think they've been approved for US in the US just yet, especially since they don't have any visors (which I believe are required).

[Scott5114]

I wonder exactly how interchangeable the "guts" to a traffic light setup are. Obviously, signal housings are pretty much interchangeable and you don't have to pair a McCain controller to a McCain signal. Otherwise, the setups that Norman has with Peeks and McCains on the same mastarm wouldn't work. So what else? Are the lenses the same? Visors? I think backplates are compatible, because I've seen ODOT pop their favorite vented, reflective backplates onto a few different signal types (I think–need to verify that they haven't just happened to put them all on Durasigs).

[freebrickproductions]

LEDs, lenses (in an incandescent signal), visors (to an extent), and maybe sometimes reflectors (in an incandescent signal). Backgrounds can also be somewhat interchangeable, but they don't always mix and match well between brands. A door from one brand typically won't fit on a signal body from another brand (or even model!), though two different (complete) sections can be attached to each other without issue most of the time.

[jakeroot]

Anyone know what kind of traffic signal housing this is? It's a flashing yellow arrow, and the city of Federal Way, WA has installed quite a few of these (all FYA's, no standard three-head signals). Most of them have been installed in the last few years, but not all new installs are of this type. The visors are stuck out slightly farther than normal, and the back of the signals have this reflective white square. They don't seem to be limited visibility signals (I can see the arrows from a wide range of angles on Street View and IRL).

Here's the signal, and the setup below (the signal in question is the FYA facing the camera in the second camera). The opposite approach just uses a standard McCain FYA:

[MNHighwayMan]

Anyone know what kind of traffic signal housing this is? It's a flashing yellow arrow, and the city of Federal Way, WA has installed quite a few of these (all FYA's, no standard three-head signals). Most of them have been installed in the last few years, but not all new installs are of this type. The visors are stuck out slightly farther than normal, and the back of the signals have this reflective white square. They don't seem to be limited visibility signals (I can see the arrows from a wide range of angles on Street View and IRL).

Interesting you ask, because we had a short thread about those very signals.

[jakeroot]

Anyone know what kind of traffic signal housing this is? It's a flashing yellow arrow, and the city of Federal Way, WA has installed quite a few of these (all FYA's, no standard three-head signals). Most of them have been installed in the last few years, but not all new installs are of this type. The visors are stuck out slightly farther than normal, and the back of the signals have this reflective white square. They don't seem to be limited visibility signals (I can see the arrows from a wide range of angles on Street View and IRL).

Interesting you ask, because we had a short thread about those very signals.

Fuck me, I even commented on that thread. 

[zzyzx]

I send a lot of videos on WeTransfer which always has colorful artwork on the page background. I love the style of the old signal, which is almost camouflaged by the palm tree.
Anyone know where this was taken?




Image by: kankim

[jakeroot]

I would guess that it's off Wilton Place in Los Angeles, based on the age of the signals, the mast arm, and the blue street blades.

[adventurernumber1]

That's got to be one of the funkiest-looking traffic signals I've ever seen (due to the fact that it looks like it has a "palm tree hair-doo").   

As for trying to figure out its location - by looking at the left picture, that style of palm trees look like the kind that is frequently found in southern California (including the Los Angeles area), so Jake is probably right.

[traffic light guy]

Recently, I ran into this ancient crouse-hinds art deco, 1950s vintage...pretty damn old, this is the OLDEST signal within a 20 mile radius of Philly:
Crouse-Hinds Art Deco by Traffic Light Guy, on Flickr

Crouse-Hinds Art Deco by Traffic Light Guy, on Flickr

Crouse-Hinds Art Deco (side-view) by Traffic Light Guy, on Flickr



Funny thing was, I ran into this ancient artifact by mistake!

[freebrickproductions]

Some of my best finds have been completely on accident. Great find! It has cast-visors too!

[jakeroot]

Recently, I ran into this ancient crouse-hinds art deco, 1950s vintage...pretty damn old, this is the OLDEST signal within a 20 mile radius of Philly:

Are you saying that for a fact? Or is it just from what you could tell based on Street View? Philadelphia is a big city, and I wouldn't jump to that conclusion until you've been able to actually drive around and look about for yourself. I've made more than a few false conclusions based on what I've seen on Street View, that I later found out had been replaced already.

That said, these are clearly ancient. So you may be right.

[traffic light guy]

Recently, I ran into this ancient crouse-hinds art deco, 1950s vintage...pretty damn old, this is the OLDEST signal within a 20 mile radius of Philly:

Are you saying that for a fact? Or is it just from what you could tell based on Street View? Philadelphia is a big city, and I wouldn't jump to that conclusion until you've been able to actually drive around and look about for yourself. I've made more than a few false conclusions based on what I've seen on Street View, that I later found out had been replaced already.

That said, these are clearly ancient. So you may be right.

There's nothing older than an art deco around my area, so in short.....yes.

[jakeroot]

Recently, I ran into this ancient crouse-hinds art deco, 1950s vintage...pretty damn old, this is the OLDEST signal within a 20 mile radius of Philly:

Are you saying that for a fact? Or is it just from what you could tell based on Street View? Philadelphia is a big city, and I wouldn't jump to that conclusion until you've been able to actually drive around and look about for yourself. I've made more than a few false conclusions based on what I've seen on Street View, that I later found out had been replaced already.

That said, these are clearly ancient. So you may be right.

There's nothing older than an art deco around my area, so in short.....yes.

My inexperience is showing. Does it get much older than Art Deco in the modern (post-40s) era?

[freebrickproductions]

Recently, I ran into this ancient crouse-hinds art deco, 1950s vintage...pretty damn old, this is the OLDEST signal within a 20 mile radius of Philly:

Are you saying that for a fact? Or is it just from what you could tell based on Street View? Philadelphia is a big city, and I wouldn't jump to that conclusion until you've been able to actually drive around and look about for yourself. I've made more than a few false conclusions based on what I've seen on Street View, that I later found out had been replaced already.

That said, these are clearly ancient. So you may be right.

There's nothing older than an art deco around my area, so in short.....yes.

My inexperience is showing. Does it get much older than Art Deco in the modern (post-40s) era?

There's a few old Crouse-hinds Type T ("port-hole") signals still hanging around across the US, but they're very few and far between. They date back prior to the Crouse-hinds "Art-deco" (would've been Type D followed by the Type DT) signals.

[mrsman]

I send a lot of videos on WeTransfer which always has colorful artwork on the page background. I love the style of the old signal, which is almost camouflaged by the palm tree.
Anyone know where this was taken?the




Image by: kankim

The photo on the left is definitely at the NW corner of Wilton and Wilshire in Los Angeles.  You can even see the sign for "Right Lane" which denotes the restrictions for a bus and bike lane in the right lane during rush hours.  Wilshire is one of the few streets with this restriction and the only one that intersects Wilton.

The photo on the right is probably also in So Cal, but it is not at Wilshire/Wilton.  If you scan the intersection on GSV, you can see that there are no such palm trees in the area.  It does look like an old City of Los Angeles signal though and the guy wires denote that it is also probably somewhere in the city (most of the nearby cities have mast arms instead).  But there is no easy way to know the specific interesection.

BTW: Los Angeles has a lot of Econolite bullseyes on their guy wires and mastarms on the older signal installs.  I have always liked the way they looked.

[jakeroot]

The photo on the left is definitely at the NW corner of Wilton and Wilshire in Los Angeles.  You can even see the sign for "Right Lane" which denotes the restrictions for a bus and bike lane in the right lane during rush hours.  Wilshire is one of the few streets with this restriction and the only one that intersects Wilton.

Dammit! I scanned that intersection before (I recognise the oddly-angled slip lane in the SW corner). Really annoyed I didn't notice (what stands out to me the most) the billboard in the background.

[US71]

Springfield, Missouri is phasing out their center curb signal posts and replacing them with standard right corner signal posts.

https://goo.gl/maps/eAKyGZ3H1Vy
https://goo.gl/maps/smjHZ7qbBUt

https://goo.gl/maps/MQeKwc15XDN2

3-light left turn signals will remain 3-light signals.
5 light signals are becoming flashing left arrow signals

The reasoning seems to be the center pole signals obstruct traffic views.

[jakeroot]

The reasoning seems to be the center pole signals obstruct traffic views.

I really don't see where the obstruction is occurring. When you're turning left, you are looking to the lanes to the left of the oncoming left turn lane, which is to the left of the signal pole. If anything is in the way, it's other cars turning left, not the signal pole. If you are proceeding straight, I'm not sure what role the center signal pole plays in visibility, period.

To be honest, I do quite like signal poles in medians, so news like this bothers me a little. Here's an intersection that I designed in SketchUp. You can see that I've placed the left turn signals (FYAs) in the medians for the double left turn approaches, and I've used near-side median-mounted signals for all approaches as well (ignore the incomplete nature of it) (I made everything myself, FWIW):

[MNHighwayMan]

MnDOT loves them in medians on divided highways, too. Here's an example. There's two left-turn lanes, but ultimately three left-turn signal heads installed.

Edit: and here's an example from my hometown that even uses a rare (for Minnesota) near-side left turn signal. Double left, but four left-turn signal heads.