The Perfect Mastarm

[architect77]

Does it get any better than this? (US 15/501 near Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, NC) California-style elegance in age-forgiving black = perfection in my opinion.

[Brandon]

No.  Mastarms are fairly ugly IMHO no matter how they are done.  Trusses are much better looking.

55th Street and Cass Avenue, Westmont, IL:

[roadman65]

How about these?
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Orlando,+FL&hl=en&ll=28.494479,-81.396495&spn=0.004799,0.010568&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=9.892242,21.643066&oq=orlando&t=h&hnear=Orlando,+Orange,+Florida&z=17&layer=c&cbll=28.494479,-81.396495&panoid=nfP68_A3Ru--r8yumodxcg&cbp=12,277.52,,0,0

Holden Avenue at Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando?

[Ian]

I'm more of a span wire fan, but I do think the new arched mast arms in Maryland are pretty neat.

[Roadsguy]

I never liked span wires. They seem to make the intersection look unfinished or substandard.

[Billy F 1988]

It was back in the 90's when I moved into Montana that a couple of intersections had span wires. It wasn't until at least 2004 or '05 that the city of Missoula for example put mastarms on Broadway and Russell Streets. Another mastarm was installed at Broadway and Palmer Street in 2008 to make getting out of Palmer at lot more better, and the most recent was installed at Airway Boulevard and Broadway in mid-2011 for better left-turn traffic flow (added along with a roundabout instead of a yellow bulb on span wires). They need to put mastarms at Bancroft Street and South Avenue. Man, I hate that red four-way bulb!

[roadfro]

No.  Mastarms are fairly ugly IMHO no matter how they are done.  Trusses are much better looking.

I've always thought trusses were ugly and mast arms looked better. Give me a straight mast arm Nevada-style any day.

From a practical standpoint, trusses are limited in the amount of signal heads they can hold, so they aren't good for wider roadways.

[Scott5114]

I've always been partial to Springfield, Missouri's truss arm design...


They use plain mastarms too, though usually only on the busier/wider streets.

[Brandon]

How about these?
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Orlando,+FL&hl=en&ll=28.494479,-81.396495&spn=0.004799,0.010568&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=9.892242,21.643066&oq=orlando&t=h&hnear=Orlando,+Orange,+Florida&z=17&layer=c&cbll=28.494479,-81.396495&panoid=nfP68_A3Ru--r8yumodxcg&cbp=12,277.52,,0,0

Holden Avenue at Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando?

Damn.     What are those, anti-hurricane trusses?   

[roadman65]

How about these?
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Orlando,+FL&hl=en&ll=28.494479,-81.396495&spn=0.004799,0.010568&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=9.892242,21.643066&oq=orlando&t=h&hnear=Orlando,+Orange,+Florida&z=17&layer=c&cbll=28.494479,-81.396495&panoid=nfP68_A3Ru--r8yumodxcg&cbp=12,277.52,,0,0

Holden Avenue at Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando?

Damn.     What are those, anti-hurricane trusses?   

No!  They are something the the Orange Blossom Trail Development Board approved via some wise guy engineer thought would make "The Trail" look better to everyone including painted sidewalks and the removal of overhead utility wiring along with fancy clear globe street lamps.

Basically Orange Blossom Trail always had a bad rap, due to its roach motels, adult video stores, prostitutes, and the infamous Parliment House Resort that is a gay oriented establishment, so FDOT and the OBTDB got together and thought of these things to make this section of Orange Blossom Trail more attractive.  This is part of its results.

[twinsfan87]

I like the mastarms in the original post, except for the extra length of mastarm left of the flashing yellow signal. It looks to me like they were too lazy to order the correct length...

Also (not having to do with the mastarm itself), I don't like when highway authorities don't put the black plates around their signals or side-mounted signals on their mastarms (a point which has been discussed at length in other threads).

I really like how Hennepin County, MN does their new signals (for example: http://goo.gl/maps/KhPCf )

[architect77]

No.  Mastarms are fairly ugly IMHO no matter how they are done.  Trusses are much better looking.

55th Street and Cass Avenue, Westmont, IL:

Trusses can be quite beautiful, however I see nothing attractive about that one.

[architect77]

I'm more of a span wire fan, but I do think the new arched mast arms in Maryland are pretty neat.

Same California-esque angle and doubling them on one post is very efficient. I'm undecided though on whether they look as good as the single mounts.

[DaBigE]

I always thought the ones Milwaukee used to use were nice looking, with the aggregate poles and simple arm.

I still prefer the truss arms (or "trombone arms", as we call them around here), but only when the signals were mounted horizontally. IMO, it looked cleaner, as all the mounting hardware was built into the truss--no extra brackets were required). One exception were the arched arms Madison used to use. Only a handful remain, as many of the arms were converted to WisDOT standard trusses, (before they standardized to utilitarian monotubes).

[WichitaRoads]

I kind of like the ones found along Santa Fe Ave. in dowtown Salina, Kansas... can't seem to get a good pic, though.

Ones I can't stand: These which were a short (thankfully) phase in Wichita along freeways: http://goo.gl/maps/tOqkE

Especially nasty when they rust! Whole panels simply rot away.

ICTRds

[KEVIN_224]

What's with the road in the first couple of pictures? Was it the road being treated due to icy weather?

As for masts, I'm usually able to figure out that a scene is from New Jersey in a given TV show or movie due to them. Strange, I know.

[WichitaRoads]

I've always been partial to Springfield, Missouri's truss arm design...


They use plain mastarms too, though usually only on the busier/wider streets.

Used to have a lot of these in Wichita. Still a number around, but slowly dying out.

And, is that a mosque?

ICTRds

[Scott5114]

Yeah, that's what the subject of the photo is supposed to be, but you can see a lot of mastarms in it. I dunno if it's in service as an actual mosque; it has something to do with the Shriners.

[on_wisconsin]

I really like how Hennepin County, MN does their new signals (for example: http://goo.gl/maps/KhPCf )

They look like same type the City Of Bloomington (MN) has been using for long time now.  http://goo.gl/maps/wzPXv http://goo.gl/maps/eSAvJ

I still prefer the truss arms (or "trombone arms", as we call them around here), but only when the signals were mounted horizontally. IMO, it looked cleaner, as all the mounting hardware was built into the truss--no extra brackets were required). One exception were the arched arms Madison used to use.

Agreed 100%. F.Y.I The Fish Hatch- Beltline interchange area also used to have quite a few Madison Arms but those are being replaced with monotubes due to reconstruction.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Besides the (now abandoned) Wisconsin truss arm, the standard MnDOT treatment for high capacity intersections has to be my favorite setup.

Oh, and span wire and doghouse setups can kindly crawl in a ditch and die an elaborate unnecessarily painful death.

[architect77]

The first three photos were taken on Friday when central NC got about 2 inches of sleet and ice. Thousands of miles of NC highways were treated with brine on 3 sunny days in advance of the storm, but as you can see it was no match for the fast-falling sleet. Temps never made it above 27 so what you sleet wasn't slush, it was ice. It took me 10 hours to get to Commerce, GA where I spent the night. Too tired to get to Atlanta where I live.

[kphoger]

Anything beats this one (cherry picked from some random website):

[agentsteel53]

Anything beats this one (cherry picked from some random website):

where is that?  what part of Mexico would need the 'BC' clarification, but be close enough to Tijuana to use it as a control city?  San Luis Rio Colorado, conveniently omitting Mexicali?

[jeffandnicole]

Looks like the ugly ones used in PA.  The only differences are PA's poles tend to be a little thicker, and the angle is a sharp turn, not curved as shown in this pic. 

[kphoger]

where is that?  what part of Mexico would need the 'BC' clarification, but be close enough to Tijuana to use it as a control city?  San Luis Rio Colorado, conveniently omitting Mexicali?

https://www.aaroads.com/west/mx-002.html

You nailed it!

[kphoger]

Actually, México has its share of God-awful mast arms.  Like this one in Vallarta.

I've always been partial to Springfield, Missouri's truss arm design...


They use plain mastarms too, though usually only on the busier/wider streets.

I rather like those as well.  It's hard for me to say what I would consider "perfect", but I think those combine elements of truss and arm quite nicely.  I must say, though, I'm fond of yellow.