Solar power helps drive high-profile stop signs

By Dawn Schuett Post Bulletin News - Nov. 15, 2004

BlinkerSign® from TAPCO

Two stop signs with solar-powered blinking lights are the latest technology used by the city to control traffic at an intersection in northwest Rochester, but the signs won't become commonplace here.

The signs are on 41st Street Northwest at 31st Avenue Northwest. Traffic from all directions at the intersections is supposed to stop. But many motorists didn't observe the regular stop signs, according to David Kramer, interim traffic engineer for the city.

"We had a problem with people not noticing the stop signs and blowing through the intersection", Kramer said.

The solar-powered stop signs, he said, "really help catch people's attention."

The signs are outfitted with a 6-inch by 6-inch solar panel that faces south to capture the sun's energy, which goes to the batteries on the back of the sign. The charge in the batteries illuminates tiny blinking bulbs, known as light-emitting diodes(LEDs), on the front of the signs.

The signs can improve the safety of an intersection where motorists aren't noticing signs, and they can help drivers get familiar with an intersection that has become an all-way stop, he said.

The two signs were first placed at 55th Street Northwest and 44th Avenue Northwest in July to help people get accustomed to the all-way stop. After two months, the signs were moved to their present locations.

Kramer said the city has ordered four more of the signs. One pair will likely be placed again at the 55th Street Northwest intersections because of the continued problems. The other pair might be installed at Apache Drive Southwest at Apache Lane, the intersection next to the Toys "R" Us, an intersections that causes problems during the holiday shopping season.