Re: Interesting way a new traffic light is set up....

N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 2:06 am, "Fred G. Mackey" <d...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

So I naively wondered over a month ago WTF they were doing at the
intersection of my little side street with all the construction vehicles.

Apparently, it takes quite a bit to set up a traffic light. The poles
and controllers have now been in place for several weeks now and all the
lights have been installed for over a week.

I was wondering if people shouldn't be treating it as a 4-way stop since
it was obviously a traffic light that was not functioning ever since the
actual lights went up.


Around here, when a new signal goes up, it's usually covered with
black plastic until it is officially turned on. IMHO (and IANAL, or a
cop for that matter) if it is covered, it can simply be ignored (I
assume that there were other traffic control devices at the
intersection prior to the installation of the signals, and that they
remained there until the signals were actually turned on.) however if
they were not covered, they should be treated as a four way stop as
out-of-towners have no way of discriminating between a new, not-turned-
on signal and one that is malfunctioning.


A fair enough analysis and you are correct that there were "other traffic control devices" at this intersection before - specifically stop signs on the side street, which are still there (as I noticed today).

Until they were turned on yesterday, some of the lights were covered, and some were not though - it could be confusing to anyone not familiar enough with the road who didn't know that this was new.


And yes, it does take several months apparently from setting the poles
to having a functional signal, or at least it did at one intersection
close to my house.


I've seen them go up and become operational much more quickly in other cities, but we can't expect our municipalities to do anything efficiently these days.

A major construction project on a nearby road was scheduled to be finished August 12th and just guessing by how things look, there is no way in hell it will be finished. And it is noteworthy that they repaved the entire stretch a year ago, apparently not having the foresight to see that they would have to tear it all up a year later - or more likely they DID have the foresight - and the kickbacks from the construction contractors.

nate

.

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