Is that blinky stop sign even legal?
Living Lake Country
Jill Rick
August 31, 2009

When drivers head north on Highway E get to the road's intersection with Highway VV in the Town of Merton, they are greeted with a stop sign that appears to have a short string of blinking red Christmas lights neatly strung around its edges.

No, the lights weren't rigged up by a neighbor tired of drivers blowing through his intersection. It's an actual manufactured product, invented and made right here in Wisconsin by Brown Deer-based TAPCO. The devices are relatively new, and the state approved them for use within the last five years. intersection more conspicuous. According to information provided by TAPCO, studies have shown a 52.9-percent reduction in blow-throughs where the LED-enhanced stop signs are used.

TAPCO's owner and CEO Rick Bergholz said the signs are designed for intersections that would benefit from something more visible than a regular stop sign but don't fit the criteria necessary for a full-blown traffic signal. At $1,500 a pop, the signs are a lot more expensive than regular, unlighted signs (which, according to Bergholz, generally cost about $100), but are significantly cheaper than traffic lights, which can cost $100,000.

According to Mike Grulke, a civil engineer with the Waukesha County Public Works Department, there's another BlinkerSign in Oconomowoc. That one, on Highway B, is a yellow, diamond-shaped crosswalk sign that lights up when someone presses a button to cross the road.