STC In The News

STC installs school safety flashers for City of Mesa, AZ

TEMPE, AZ - 08/28/06 - The City of Mesa, AZ has increased safety at a school zone along Baseline Road, an arterial which parallels the 260 freeway. Jan Siedler, City of Mesa Traffic Signals supervisor, indicated that motorists have registered speeds of up to 65mph along this arterial. The route posts a 45mph limit and 35mph when school is in session. Last fall, a student was killed in a speed-related accident in front of the school.

To increase motorists' awareness, the city decided to add flashing beacons and contacted Solar Traffic Controls (STC) for solar-powered system configurations. After several iterations, the city chose to deploy dual 8-inch amber flashers in front of the school and dual 8-inch flashers with 3M Driver Feedback radar speed displays in advance of the school crossings.

To operate the four units, the city chose to go with a paging activation package controlled from its traffic management center. Only one of the dual flasher units, the system master, is equipped with a pager receiver. Control of the other three units by the master is accomplished using a license-free radio link activated when a valid paging signal is received by the master. Paging control is done using an off-the-shelf scheduling program which allows the city to program a full year of scheduled activations and holiday breaks. To confirm operation of the system a belt clip pager unit was furnished to the city for the account.

To verify the effectiveness of the system, the city is using the 3M Driver Feedback sign's data collection feature and road tubes at the flashers to collect data regarding motorists' compliance with the new warning flashers. Results have shown that motorists are adhering to the posted speed limits. This project is the first application of pager-activated flashing beacons for the City of Mesa .

The master system is a modified version of STC's pager-activated school flasher unit and uses a Nighthawk PT1004. It was modified with programmable logic and a license-free radio transmitter. The dual 8-inch flasher unit and the two flasher/radar speed displays are all standard versions of STC's XSR product line. Installation was performed as a joint effort between Mesa , United Rentals, and Hanmar Energy with supervision and commissioning by STC. The LED lamps are Precision Solar DC lamps with an optical output of over 600 candela on center making them exceedingly conspicuous to oncoming traffic.

These school zone flashers operate for 13 hours per school day due to the many activities at the school.

About Solar Traffic Controls, LLC
Solar Traffic Controls (STC) designs and manufactures solar-powered traffic control systems for city, state and federal DOTs. Its primary products are solar-powered flashing beacon systems used for school zones and 24-hour applications. What sets STC's systems apart from its competitors: technical merit. For more information, please visit www.solar-traffic-controls.com

 

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