Baraboo Stop Sign is a Flasher

Greenbay Press Gazette - Jan. 1, 2001

BlinkerSign® from TAPCO

BARABOO — Stop lights occasionally flash. Stop signs don't. Except now in Baraboo. A new red flashing light system was installed on the northbound stop sign on Oak Street at its intersection with Fifth Street in early December.

Eight small, button-like flashing lights are mounted at the points of the hexagonal stop sign and blink during the evening hours. The lights are powered by a battery that is charged by a solar panel mounted on top of the sign.

"It is incredibly simple to operate," said Bob Koss, City Street Superintendent. Koss said a sales representative from Traffic & Parking Control Co., Inc. (TAPCO), a company in Elm Grove came to Baraboo and demonstrated the system, and the city purchased one.

"We put it at an intersection we felt most necessary and useful," Koss said. "It is just for better safety and protection of the driving public." Koss said the flashing light system operates 72 hours without sunlight and has a five-year life span solar cell. The lights have a very long life.

"We have been impressed with the way it operates and the response we have seen," Koss said. Police Chief Tom Lobe said, "This is a new idea the first sign to be illuminated in this fashion. We put it at a particularly difficult intersection to bring attention to the stop sign for local people and visitors alike.

It stands out well."

Lobe added, "It is a good idea and it is serving its intended purpose. We selected the Oak and Fifth Streets intersection because of the volume of traffic on both streets and the close proximity of buildings to the street that decrease visibility of other traffic."