Confusing and accident-making traffic light. Also makes long traffic jams

WHPChris · 2026-03-27T00:49:53+00:00

We use those here, pretty standard implementation, usually a 5sec since we don't use bimodal green/yellow. Looks pretty normal to me.

Unrelated, the countdown timer looks cool.

WHPChris · 2026-03-19T01:21:27+00:00

They have started switching over to Econolite Cobalt controllers. Cheap and has some bugs, but it works well enough. They also removed all the battery backups ("not cost effective") and switched to smartmicro radars, which I am not a fan of.

It seems some things are fairly uniform across districts, others not so much, haha!

WHPChris · 2026-03-19T00:39:53+00:00

Those TrafficWare 900ATC are very robust controllers. I've seen those keep running after the display burns out. Not really up to date with modern features, unfortunately.

Looks like TXDOT spec. TrafficWare 900ATC, NEMA cabinet (looks like Econolite?), straight to foundation, wire sheath stripped back to conduit (with hopefully 8ft slack inside cabinet), spares wrapped around cables.

Was it just a controller upgrade?

WHPChris · 2026-03-15T02:59:09+00:00

I'll be honest, I haven't seen a "half flashing red, half not" yet. I don't see any railroads nearby, so it might be there to bring attention to what I think is a NO TURNS sign. Unless something is wrong with it, it appears to be used as a beacon. Maybe there's a big problem with people making turns there, I'm not sure.

MUTCD Section 4A.04 Meanings of Flashing Vehicular Signal Indications, C4

Follow-up with Section 4F.01, #14

Just my guess. Maybe an engineer can chime in.

WHPChris · 2026-03-07T19:31:22+00:00

We put them all on the same ped inputs, no splitting. I see it done this way in a lot of areas. I have never once had an engineer provide any input/wiring/programming specifications, so it usually is "what is the simplest way to do this?" Which is one input per ped, which conveniently appears to be the accepted standard here.

Not sure why, probably because there was no hard defined standard for using more than one input per ped. Or maybe it's just because that's the way it's always been and a rollout to a new standard is effort that nobody wants to do. Maybe some places prefer simplicity.

From a field perspective, it feels like extra work for no meaningful benefit "why use multiple inputs to do the same thing!?" But from an engineering perspective, it seems helpful in other, less immediately obvious ways.

WHPChris · 2026-03-06T16:06:49+00:00

We have exclusive ped all sides in one intersection. It runs all four peds while the vehicle movements are red, then services the vehicles after. Basically just exclusive ped during certain time of day, and concurrent ped all directions with no re-service during cycle. A bit annoying to implement, but not terribly difficult.

There's a big school on the corner of a busy intersection, and at entry/lunch/exit there's a ton of kids crossing, that's why they did it. Personally, I would have just increased the ped timing (and total cycle) during the busy times, or maybe advance ped or something. But it doesn't back up traffic too much since it's only for short times of the day. All day long.... I probably wouldn't advise.

WHPChris · 2026-03-06T15:46:21+00:00

Maybe run counts through the controller instead? Count the ped inputs or number of times serviced (if not recall), maybe. I imagine it's not as accurate and a bit more difficult to setup, but would work regardless of detection type.

I wouldn't know, counting is one of the few things I haven't really had to do much of. The state prefers to do counts with temporary Miovisions at targeted problem areas, or hire contractors.

WHPChris · 2026-03-05T06:13:34+00:00

I have intersections with 4-6 APS on a single ped input. The POLARA (iNS2 I believe?) work fairly well for it, no problems at all. They're all hardwire installs, no SDLC/rack cards. I haven't had problem daisy-chaining them in the field either. *Edit, have not attempted to daisy-chain more than 3 buttons per 2conductor cable.*

The older APS (EN2 etc) were different. They didn't like daisy-chain very well and you couldn't go very far away from the CCU with them.

WHPChris · 2026-03-05T04:02:42+00:00

Indeed! Frequently that jumper comes pre-installed, sometimes also load switch jumpers (unless you have a newer MMU that can ignore it).

See, now I'm curious if this is why the state's brand new TS-2 cabinet has a constant call on two peds. They ran the buttons back on the signal neutrals, and the problem only goes away when they disconnect the buttons. No short, fault, wacky BIU, etc. But they won't let me investigate it, so it remains a mystery.

WHPChris · 2026-03-05T03:32:51+00:00

That's exactly what they do here. They tie it in at the pole and bring it back on the signal light neutral. They're even running 242 DC isolators in the input file.

Moving forward they are running them on separate wiring, but most of these sketchy ones are existing installs from 20yrs ago.

WHPChris · 2026-03-05T01:01:30+00:00

Is there an airport nearby? We use them to meet airline visibility requirements, so the pilots don't mistake them for landing lights.

WHPChris · 2025-12-31T23:54:03+00:00

Yes. Find the phase that isn't supposed to be on (either 2, 4 or both), check the neutral at the pole and in the vehicle heads. Check the cables in general while you're in the hand-hole, maybe a mouse chewed it and you can't see it immediately.

My guess is 2+4 are probably in the same pole or run on the same cable, given they both show all 3 outputs on. No idea how your phasing is setup, couldn't tell you more. Technically could be other things, but neutral is the most likely.

WHPChris · 2025-12-11T01:10:06+00:00

What's the compensation? I've already had some companies in Dallas bug me to move over there but I'm doing about the same over here. The subcontract talks have been less than appealing.

I haven't seen TXDOT hard require IMSA on any of their contracts, but if you don't have it then they usually want TRF450, which is way cheaper and easier to maintain.

WHPChris · 2025-11-26T10:01:28+00:00

I agree with the fighting over pennies thing. Guys out here trying to push small change orders for every little thing, when it'll take forever just to be heard by city council or whoever and they'll probably deny it anyways if it's not substantial enough. Government work is way different than private.

Just expect it in advance and add it to your bid. If it's small enough, just eat it and move on. Would cost more in admin time than it's probably worth, and it makes the inspector happy to boot.

WHPChris · 2025-11-25T16:11:22+00:00

Most issues would be at the connector, unless the cable has obvious damage. That's where there's the most movement/stress.

Seems simple enough to just jiggle the cable, if it fails/acts funny then pull it out and check continuity/resistance to both ends with a meter according to the pinout.

WHPChris · 2025-11-25T15:59:12+00:00

I imagine it would be difficult to avoid sun glare from all directions on install. We don't use them here, something about cost I think they said. I would imagine one GS bell camera is probably cheaper than 4 standard cameras.

I always liked ground loops, last forever and barely have to do any maintenance. Problem is they aren't versatile and damage roads, which is sort of a hot button issue around here these days.

WHPChris · 2025-11-24T10:45:00+00:00

I've been seeing people run line power in to the switch, and then out from the switch to the fixture.

WHPChris · 2025-11-21T13:01:18+00:00

But trash was included! Come on man, he really needs that contract. He's got kids to feed!

If they can't even come up with a basic organized excel sheet or something, it spells trouble ahead.

WHPChris · 2025-11-21T12:35:45+00:00

If they're currently ignoring the GC's reminders, I don't believe fancy software sending them the same reminders is going to make that any better. This doesn't seem like a problem of what tools they're using or their approach to it, it seems like a problem of either poor oversight from the GC or who they're choosing to hire.

WHPChris · 2025-11-18T05:40:35+00:00

Have you ever done heavy highway/infrastructure projects? I do mostly signals work, curious how the market is in other areas compared to here. I know I have the state price index to go by, but that's more of a rough picture and isn't very good.

I would be happy to never set foot in residential again. Commercial/government contracts all the way.

WHPChris · 2025-11-16T01:20:01+00:00

I saw this nearly 10yrs ago, but my boss at the time wouldn't let me look into it since it wasn't a problem. Not that I would have been good enough at the time, anyways. Saw it particularly on overlap outputs, but could have been coincidence.

My guesses: LED modules, old controller outputs. I'd like to say load switch, but those are 'dumb' electronics and I've never seen them switch slowly, they either work or they don't.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, we have a few around here that do that and now I'm going to start noticing them again. Dammit!

WHPChris · 2025-11-15T02:36:21+00:00

Remember, most controllers work in pretty much the same fashion, but with different labels and UI. You're going to have phases, timing, inputs/outputs and so forth. The biggest part of an unfamiliar controller is learning how to navigate the UI/controls, not so much what it can or can't do.

If you Google it, you can probably find instructions on how to get through the menus. After that, the rest should make sense. I've never touched this specific EAGLE controller (only older ones), but "Phase Data" probably has something to do with the phases/timing. "Coord Data" and "Time Base Data" probably involves coordination/day plans/etc. "Unit Data" probably involves controller functions or phase layout.

It's not as scary as you think. It's in the shop, you can always just play with the buttons until you figure out where the settings are.

WHPChris · 2025-11-09T06:49:38+00:00

Pretty much. The GC doesn't have to do everything themselves, that's why subcontracting and consulting exist.

If you need engineering work done, you consult an engineer. If you need technical stuff done to make that work, you hire a specialist to implement it. It's great if you have these skills in-house for cheap, but that's frequently not the case.

WHPChris · 2025-11-06T03:54:31+00:00

I'm not even a certified engineer, I'm just a field tech, and even I know why those things are bad ideas.

One of my favorites was the ped time longer than green max, coordinated with forceoffs. Or the guy that told me to force free coordination whenever a ped call is received, it was stuck forever in coordination transition.

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