Description

So when power goes out and traffic signals are out of service, the public is told that they are to treat intersections as an all directional stop condition. These signals have been installed, yet they are not in service. Motorists who are familiar with this intersection are not stopping for these signals whereas others are. It is difficult at night to tell if these signals are actually "under construction" or if they are simply out due to power failure. The garbage bags covering the signal heads are ineffective and maybe some sort of durable "hazard" bag over them might be more effective in letting motorists know that they are actually not in service or turn the signal heads away. It was a real problem on 68 Avenue south of the Eastlink Centre earlier this summer when there was a power failure and you had new installations not in service and existing signals that were actually out due to a power failure. I witnessed one motorist who treated all of the signals on 68 Avenue as being under construction and therefore failed to stop at the one intersection where the signals were actually out due to a power failure and they should have treated that intersection as all directional stop. The City needs to develop a standard for how these intersections are signed when traffic signals are actually in the "under construction" phase and not in service. The existing situation makes it confusing to motorists.