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Traffic SIGNALS hung on cable connected to guyed wood poles may cost only a few thousand dollars to install as a complete signalized intersection.
Signals hung from aluminum poles can costs 10's of thousands per intersection with decorative steel poles costing up to a hundred thousand dollars for a complete intersection installation.
Sometimes it's about either fancy poles or school books.
There must be some reason beyond aesthetics that some jurisdictions choose to mount their signals on poles instead of on wires. I'm assuming that the pole assemblies are sturdier and last longer than the wires, so maybe the initially higher costs are justified by the longer lifespan?
For the benefit of those who aren't familiar with New York's and New Jersey's traffic lights . . . while the pole assemblies do look somewhat similar, they aren't the same.
They hang sideways in Austin. I wouldn't be surprised to learn those style of traffic lights are among the most technologically advanced traffic lights around. The new ones I been seeing around Austin lately have the left turn flashing yellow light. Never have seen that until about the last year or so. Emergency vehicles have the ability to control the lights when they are approaching the intersection. I don't know if the hanging lights have those same capabilities, but they don't look like they do. They remind me of 1960 style traffic lights.
Cities in the East are generally older cities so they probably wait to replace the traffic lights when they become obsolete or they just stop working, which ever comes first.
Visited New York. Traffic lights were not to my taste. The red light is larger than the others, and the lights overall seemed far dimmer. These lights are probably far older than the standard, equally-proportioned yellow ones I am used to.
Visited New York. Traffic lights were not to my taste. The red light is larger than the others, and the lights overall seemed far dimmer. These lights are probably far older than the standard, equally-proportioned yellow ones I am used to.
The larger red is the new mandated standard, some applications will also have a strobe embedded in the red light.
What all of you are missing is a major component-money.
To signalize a simple intersection with minimal or no approach changes starts at $250K. That's eight standards. Why eight you ask? Because current USDOT requirements mandate two separate light units for each direction. Don't do that and you don't get grant money to signalize the intersection (typically 80% with a 20% local match).
How the lights are mounted is variable although hanging in the intersection on overhead wires is pretty much gone for new installations although you can continue to replace hanging units.
The standard is the side pole with the overhanging arm, although localities can incorporate their own designs up to a point.
Streetlights are the same except that's usually state grant money, not federal.
The larger red is the new mandated standard, some applications will also have a strobe embedded in the red light.
The 2011 edition of the MUTCD (Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices), which is the edition that appears when I googled it specifically for Maryland (which is where both I and the poster whom I quoted live), specifically prohibits strobes embedded in the red light (Section 4D.06). Also, Section 4D.07 states "12-inch signal indications shall be used for all signal sections in all new signal faces." Have these standards been revised?
The 2011 edition of the MUTCD (Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices), which is the edition that appears when I googled it specifically for Maryland (which is where both I and the poster whom I quoted live), specifically prohibits strobes embedded in the red light (Section 4D.06). Also, Section 4D.07 states "12-inch signal indications shall be used for all signal sections in all new signal faces." Have these standards been revised?
It's going to vary a bit by states, Pennsylvania has the strobes. The new lights installed here in SoMD have the larger reds. May have been a revision.
They hang sideways in Austin. I wouldn't be surprised to learn those style of traffic lights are among the most technologically advanced traffic lights around. The new ones I been seeing around Austin lately have the left turn flashing yellow light. Never have seen that until about the last year or so. Emergency vehicles have the ability to control the lights when they are approaching the intersection. I don't know if the hanging lights have those same capabilities, but they don't look like they do. They remind me of 1960 style traffic lights.
Cities in the East are generally older cities so they probably wait to replace the traffic lights when they become obsolete or they just stop working, which ever comes first.
They are installing traffic signals here is Wisconsin that communicate with city buses. Basically, if the bus is behind schedule, the light will change to prioritize its passage through the intersection. Apparently the algorithm also considers things like weather and number of people on the bus.
Also, I know some lights here can change their timing based on accidents or traffic conditions.
I love technology.
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