Red, Yellow or Green?
So we’re finally getting back into the whole streetscape discussion. One might think that a traffic light is just a traffic light. But in other cities I’ve actually seen a variety of designs that can really improve or detract from a street’s appearance. The Office of James Burnett (that’s the title these folks have chosen for their firm) provided Oklahoma City’s streetscape committee with a choice of designs. The one above has boxes around the signal lights that have a bit of a curve to them. The poles are straight, however, just as they are today, but with a cross-bar or tail at each end.
The committee rejected both of the above candidates, apparently not liking the boxes. They also rejected any design where the signal lights were presented horozontal instead vertical.
The curved pole did appeal to a couple of the committee members, most notably Assistant City Manager Cathy O’Connor and Assistant Engineer Laura Story. But others, like urban planner Aubrey Hammontree, commented the curved lights might conflict too much with signal lights that will remain intact on the perimeter of downtown. O’Connor responded the idea was to create a new look downtown that would make it different from anywhere else.
The apparent winner is the vertical candidate up above – the only difference from current fixtures being the cross-bars or tails at each end. The box around the lights remains a box – just as they are now.
I say “apparent” because the decisions became much more complicated after this one, and the committee may revisit this choice as they look at combinations designs.
Let the discussion begin. My next post will consist of examples of traffic light designs you’ve submitted and ones I’ve seen elsewhere.
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Comments
Generally, I’m not keen on the idea of variations for the sake of style on public-safety fixtures: it makes no sense to have horizontally-positioned lights in one part of town and vertically-positioned lights in the others. (Besides, if you have certain forms of color-blindness, you’ve already figured out red is at the top and green is at the bottom, but what do you do when suddenly you’re confronted with something you can’t actually read? Wait for yellow?)
Design elements for a streetscape should not have even the slightest potential for interfering with safety.
My thoughts on traffic lights. I question whether this is something we need to change. Are our current traffic lights that ugly? Are we going to have to change them anyway simply due to the change from a lot of one-way streets to two-way streets?
None of these designs stand out to me as particularly inspiring. I’m not sure of the need to spend money on new traffic lights if we’re just going to end up with some new, slightly different, yet still uninspiring and blah setup. Now, if we could come up with something cool, something unique that added to the character of downtown, that is different. But a lot of the suggestions are just dull and boring.
A few quick minutes of internet searches and I came across this:
http://allworldcars.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/curved_traffic_lights.jpg
It’s kind of neat, different from what we normally see. But ultimately, I’m not sure how sexy you can make a traffic light. Are we married to the little black box? Is there some other design we could use? I don’t know.
If we’re going to spend the money to redo them (which might be necessary simply due to changing the streets from one way to two way), I think we should look at doing a smarter traffic grid. I’m not so much concerned with a distinctive appearance as having the nuts and bolts of it work better. Are there newer traffic systems that better detect the amount of traffic? That manage traffic differently based upon the time of day? That can be reprogrammed to take events into account? It makes sense to me that traffic should be managed differently at 8am than at 5pm. We could change the lights to facilitate the larger amount of traffic heading into downtown in the morning, and out of downtown in the evening. Changing the traffic flow after a Thunder game would help a lot. During periods with expected heavy pedestrian traffic, we could change patterns to keep traffic moving more slowly, to minimize chances of someone being hit.
Can we have the traffic lights adjust to the ambient light to make them easier to see? Sometimes the sun gets in my eyes when I’m driving, and I have a hard time telling what color the light is. Are there any systems out there that automatically adjust to make the lights easier to see against the setting sun?
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know thing one about traffic control systems. Maybe I’m totally off base. But there are people out there that do know. We need to be talking to them to see what advances we can use. If we want a truly modern, advanced downtown, I think we need to be looking in this sort of direction.
Have they considered traffic light without crossbars? Just curious. They aren’t necessarily appropriate for every circumstance, but on important streets with notable vistas (i.e. traveling south on N. Harvey looking at the new Devon atrium and tower) they maintain the view while still performing the necessary function. They also help to define a pedestrian environment both in terms of scale, appearance, and providing appropriate mounts for cross walk signals.
These standalone lights are commonplace in Boston, where the aesthetics of the larger urban environment (not the item itself) seems to be the primary consideration.
See an example of such a traffic light here:
I have lived in OKC all of my life, have worked a majority of my career downtown and I heartily agree that the hodgepodge of signage, streetlamps, traffic lights, etc. are in dire need of change.
However, I’m a bit concerned that streetscape committee is looking at all of the fixtures and designs one by one rather than trying to incorporate a singular “look and feel” to the downtown area. As O’Connor responded: “the idea was to create a new look downtown that would make it different from anywhere else;” not only should it look different from anywhere else in OKC but be distinctive from any other major city as well. Additionally, are there any boundaries on the streetscape project? Will it include Bricktown, Film Row, Midtown and Automobile Alley, et al also? Where will the new designs end?
As I have traveled throughout the US over the years, the places that have a “holistic” feel to them are the places I notice most. Whether it is downtown Boston, a borough of NYC or the gas lamp district in San Diego, these places feel like a community. There were definite boundaries present that – directly or indirectly – let you know when you entered that “district” That is what the commission needs to develop in the downtown area as well.
Additionally, the commission has one chance to make these decisions and needs as much public input as possible. Let’s do something that will not just look like 2010 in ten to fifteen years.
Random thoughts
A curved design while debatable in its attractiveness, could limit functionality (the curved part could have lower clearance)
While the top to bottom format is what we are used to, there is something to be said for what the color blind post mentioned. But I would think that all horizontal lights “read” left to right (red being left most) and would be quickly learned. Just as you dont have vertical ones with Green at the top. An advantage to horizontal would be higher clearance and more stability to the light itself (with the infamous Oklahoma wind…)
Isn’t the “black box” designed to improve visibility with rising/setting sun conditions?
As long as you have multiple lanes (and especially dedicated turning lanes) a crossbar format is required.
One thing I would definitely like to see fixed is to have the number of lights correspond to the number of lanes. There are places where we have 3 lights for 1 or 2 lanes and multiple lanes with fewer lights than needed.
Maybe we need to redesign stop signs too? LOL
Or we could do as some Euro cities have done and eliminate all traffic lights/signs completely. Supposedly, they have led to a dramatic decline in accidents and fatalities. Theory goes that without these driving aids, everyone is much more aware of what is going on around them. Don’t know how practical it would be here. Have you ever been to a 4-way stop and no one goes because they are being polite and letting the other guy go? LOL
“As long as you have multiple lanes (and especially dedicated turning lanes) a crossbar format is required. ”
This is not an accurate statement. Physical reality argues the point for me.
Drivers are actually a fairly evolved species. One light can signal multiple messages to lanes with multiple functions.
X lanes can be served by 1 light set. The lane itself infers the maneuver (or displays it explicitly) while the light indicates the appropriate time to move.
Blair, how would “One light can signal multiple messages to lanes with multiple functions” work? Mixed messages leads to confusion, confusion leads to inappropriate action and accidents. Especially when it comes to dedicated turning lanes…a green light means you can turn if the coast is clear but a green arrow means it is protected. Some areas only allow a left turn on a green arrow so a green light from a common signal would be misinterpreted. I don’t disagree with fewer signals (it would certainly be cheaper), but just don’t see it practical here.
From my personal perspective, the curved designs, whether on the signal housing or the poles themselves, would date themselves quickly. The straight pole will allow buildings and other elements of the streetscape to remain prominent.
We’re looking at the streetscape plans through a microscope – what is the context here? What will all of the new elements look like next to our current (and future) buildings in downtown? The poles (traffic signals and street lighting) should be able to compliment any type of building design in downtown, no matter what type of design. The traffic signal poles currently selected appear to do that.