AndrewFields wrote:Those 'transforming' arrows are used by ODOT when they install a flashing protective/permissive left turn signal on a span wire. It has a red left arrow on top, a yellow left arrow in the middle, and then the transformer at the bottom. If cross traffic has the right of way, obviously all signals on that approach show red, the left turn signal stays showing red.
If a car is waiting to make a left, the light will change like a standard protected left, going from a red left arrow, to a green one. It will then use the middle yellow indication to return to red for about 5 seconds to allow oncoming traffic to start moving. Then the bottom indication will re-activate but using the amber element instead in a flashing sequence, telling you it's okay to make your turn but you must yield to oncoming traffic.
If no car is waiting to make a left, it simply holds the red left arrow for about 5 seconds to allow oncoming traffic to start moving and then goes into the flashing yellow left.
Yeah....there are now somewhere around 50 of those in my area. When they first cropped up nobody knew what they meant but now most people do. Then you'll get an idiot every now and again who sits there, oblivious to people honking at him. Here is an actual picture of one in flashing mode:
You think your car gets bad mileage? SP 4449 consumes 10 gallons of bunker oil and 100 gallons of water every mile.
Well, because of the addition of a Walgreens, a local 3-way intersection has been made into a 4-way intersection and the traffic signals have been replaced. They've been hung up for a few weeks now, but today I saw them unbagged and operational. And get this: they were entirely ball LED (all lights, including the yellow ones). I didn't find them to be as bright as the old dotted ones though. Infact, I didn't find them to be that bright at all. Hopefully it won't be too long before they appear on Street View.
I agree 100%. There is an intersection on the outskirts of town that has traffic signals installed. There are no streetlights in this area. The 5 signals facing your direction just about blind you at night.
I know it is possible to dim them... portable arrows used for construction zones dim down at night... so do the portable message signs.
I like to think that brightness is the reason why the circular dotted ones got replaced by the Harmon-looking ones. The circular ones, especially the green ones, were WAY too bright. The Harmon-looking ones don't seem quite as intense.
I know they have some LED units with ambient light sensors that dim for nighttime. Makes sense, those green ones will absolutely blind you at night, especially the ball LEDs. As for 3M signals with LEDs, it's fairly easy to spot, especially at night. In a dark environment, the amount of time it actually takes for a 3M signal bulb to completely turn off is very obvious. With a 3M with bulbs, they will 'fade' from red to green or whatever change is taking place. If it has LEDs, they will 'snap' through the color change with no fading to speak of. If you want, I'll shoot a video of the local intersection that has 3M signals with all LEDs.
Speaking of 3M signals, here is a better photo of mine.
You think your car gets bad mileage? SP 4449 consumes 10 gallons of bunker oil and 100 gallons of water every mile.
I actually find that the circular dotted LED green lights to be the brightest. It makes me wonder if that's why they ditched those LED lights infavor of the Harmon-looking ones - they're not a bright, but again, I just think they're the dotted ones with a textured lens.
Has anyone been to Hershey, PA in the past few years? A lot of the older traffic light systems are weird. Here's a drawing I made up in Paint to illustrate what I mean:
The ones in the blue rectangle indicate a sequence when the arrow is lost before the rest of the lights turn to green and the ones in the pink rectangle show a sequence when the light does turn to green before the arrow is lost. I find it very weird how the left turn signals operate when the light is still red (the right turn signals do the exact same thing). I haven't been to Hershey in years, but they replaced a lot of the lights around the area of the park and stadiums, and those light don't do the odd sequence - they work normally.
Odd, eh?
Last edited by weatherdan882002 on Tue Jun 23, 2009 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
