SignalTraffic Forums

Wow, Cheltenham Township! That is maintained by the "consortium" out of Upper Moreland Township, and those guys tell me Cheltenham wont spend a dime on any replacement or maintenance. As a result, there's alot of old (and busted-up) signals.

For the most part, it seems, the Seattle area only has had installs that were warranted. There are a couple in my former hometown that probably weren't really necessary, but, then again, they've the money for that kinda thing.

Seattle used to have quite a few RYG installs that were flashing stubbornly away. 90% of them have been replaced with single section beacons, but, back in the late '80s and early '90s, it was fairly common to see an install that had been put up in the '50s in flash mode, either being demoted to flash or never being activated.

Installs that I remember seeing:

Roosevelt Way NE and NE 64th ST - Eaglelux 4-way with box sign mounted underneath. Yellow flash for Roosevelt, red flash for 64th. Controller was an EF20, most likely. Taken down in 1995 and replaced with a 3-way beacon cluster. About 2-3 years ago, SDOT replaced the beacons with a RYG install. This time, a fully-functional RYG install. Thinking they could've saved themselves some time by replacing the EF20 with a NEMA controller cabinet, adding peds and buttons, then activating the Eaglelux.

Roosevelt and NE 55th - Type D or DT 4-way, again with a box sign underneath. Flashed kinda slow. Taken down in '95, replaced by 3-way beacon cluster.

Westbound off-ramp for WA-520 at Lake Washington Blvd - two 8" RYG heads and a 12-8-8. This install was strange, in that it never had a controller. Only a flasher box mounted to the pole. Again, replaced by 12" beacons in 1995.

16th Ave S at former Boeing parking lot entrance - Was warranted, until Boeing barricaded the entrance. At that time, the install got demoted to flash and remained that way for a couple years before Seattle took it down. Econolite 8" RYG heads, an 8-8-8-12, and a pair of 8-8-12's, all with backplates. Removed sometime in the late '90s.

Queen Anne Ave N and Boston ST (I think - vashondude would know for sure) - demoted to flash sometime in the mid-late '90s. Peds removed a few years ago. Probably not needed, since the stop signs are big enough.

Dexter Ave N and Aloha ST - 4-way Eagle (or Eaglelux). May've functioned in the '50s and '60s. Had been flashing since the first time I saw it, in the early '80s. Removed a few years ago, replaced by a 4-way beacon cluster.

6th Ave NE & NE Northlake Way - has been in flash mode for as long as I can remember (almost 20 years). Almost an identical install to the former Boeing entrance install, except for the peds being old 9" Econolite peds, instead of ICC hand/man peds. May've worked in the early '80s, but I suspect not.

5th Ave NE and NE 71st ST - Crouse DT 4-way cluster and GE 8" RYG head. Installed in the '50s, never activated. Had *always* been in flash mode. Taken down in 2006. Replaced with box span of eight 8" beacons. One of the DT heads was owned by me for a while. Now owned by StevenRosenow.

Woodlawn Ave NE and NE 71st - Eaglelux 4-way cluster. Again, never activated. Replaced by 4-way cluster of 8" beacons in 2004-05.

There was an install in West Seattle underneath the West Seattle Bridge that was in flash mode for a year or two, then taken down. Cross street was never put in.

-J

The only one that quite frankly comes to mind is a signal crosswalk set-up that I used to remember in northern New Jersey. Was installed on route 9 near Old Bridge in the mid 2000s, and it was in useful service for a handful of years. I cannot exactly say for sure when the set-up was removed, but I do know that very little people actually crossed route 9.

traffictechgreg wrote:Wow, Cheltenham Township! That is maintained by the "consortium" out of Upper Moreland Township, and those guys tell me Cheltenham wont spend a dime on any replacement or maintenance. As a result, there's alot of old (and busted-up) signals.

You are the person I've been looking for who can tell me anything about how Cheltenham handles this stuff. Haven't gotten anything out of talking to them. A few years ago they put some money into re-doing some "business districts" that got new signals but since then the only new stuff I've seen is a couple of poly Econolites of all things when a tree fell onto an intersection.

Aside from a few intersections like this I wouldn't have guessed that they're so stingy, most of their stuff is Durasig or McCains or newer and nothing looks too beat up – It's no Jenkintown. But there certainly is an eclectic mix of signals. The last "wave" of new stuff went up sometime between 2007 and 2010 because there's still a lot of old stuff (mostly pole-mounted eagle flatbacks) on street view that has been replaced with mast arm installs.

This is heading off-topic, but If these ever did come down, who would I even talk to to try to get them?

I just moved back home to Pittsburgh, PA after living in the Charlotte area for a while.

I can't really think of any from Charlotte which would be "unwarranted" but there is one from Pittsburgh not far from where I just got an apartment. Having grown up in that same area, I know the history behind it.

It's at the corner of Perry Highway (Route 19) and Good Lane (which used to be called Good Way). I believe the intersection was set up sometime in the mid-30s (it was definitely signaled by 1940). The original lights were SSCs and the intersection operated fairly normally, as it directed traffic out of St. Theresa Catholic Church. What I'm not clear on is if the signal only worked as a regular light on Sundays or other times when mass was held. Most folks say it was used primarily as a crosswalk even in the early days. Before 1958, a combination GE signal was installed as an overhang. It's a 12-8-8 with the 8s being the round ones without any backing.

Good Way is a one-way street, as it is a huge hill leading to a residential area from the commercial district. The signal seemed to be very purposeful until 1983, when St. Theresa built a new church. A new school also opened around that time (the previous one was adjacent to the church and shared the signal). The buildings sat vacant until the early 90s when the church became a wedding/banquet hall and the school was demolished to create more parking space.

At the same time, the parking lot was retooled to come out onto Perry Highway at a different spot. The light was irrelevant to anyone leaving the church. Sometime around 1989, it became a steady green for Perry and a steady red for Good and the parking lot unless the button was pressed.

Since then, the intersection has been used only for crosswalks. Technically, this intersection does not call for a signal in PA (according to what I've heard). Nobody really said anything until 2009--the year the old Eagle controller broke. (It was one of the really old ones and made that satisfying CLER-CLUNK! when the lights changed).

One of the township commissioners fought to save the signal, arguing that it was a safe way for many residents, especially the elderly (a high percentage of the population in that area) to cross the street (as opposed to the other crosswalks along Perry, of which only one has a signal but is at a rather awkward intersection and is at the far end of the business district). The signal was inoperable at the time, as the police had set it to flashing yellow until a controller repair could be made.

Ultimately, the signal was saved, probably through politics. A new controller was installed and the signals at Good and the parking lot were replaced with pedestrian signals. (I have seen this setup in Charlotte for crosswalks).

Of the original lights, none of the SSCs remain. The last one was taken down in 2009 when the pedestrian signals went up. (It was in pretty bad shape by then). The GE still hangs above the road. On the poles are a Crouse-Hinds which replaced one of the SSCs sometime around the 60s or 70s (based on the look of the light) and two McCains (both installed in 2000-ish, one got moved to replace a T-Con after the new installation, which itself replaced one of the SSCs in 1990).

The intersection still gets a good bit of use. I use it every time I have to cross the street.

A 12-8-8 with roundbody 8s? That's a new one for me. Very neat.

Like the lonely Oregon signal-still doing its' job!!!

Here's a link to the Street View of that intersection. Imagery was just updated so it's got the pedestrian signals, not the classic SSC. It's a good view of the 12-8-8.

traffo101 wrote:Here's a link to the Street View of that intersection. Imagery was just updated so it's got the pedestrian signals, not the classic SSC. It's a good view of the 12-8-8.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=&ie=UTF8 ... 1,,0,-1.41

I find it odd how the side streets now get no signals.

Side street is a ONE WAY.... "IN"...

Marbelite 12" Type "L"s!!

https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.5391 ... 35.32&z=21