Arizona State and Local Government Documents Collection

The study objective was to identify a lighting system which has a lower power cost and reduced maintenance requirements and which provides adequately for motorists' needs in terms of legibility and illumination level. Twenty-five candidate lighting systems were identified through a review of technical data and specifications for lamps and fixtures by an independent lighting expert. Photometric tests and computer analyses of sign illumination levels reduced the number of candidates to ten alternative systems which were then field tested. Each alternative lighting system was tested for 10 to 14 months. Sign luminance was measured with a telephotometer. Power consumption was monitored. Maintenance requirements and lamp life were noted. A human factors study determined legibility distance and rated viewing comfort, lighting uniformity, and color rendition. An economic analysis was performed which considered the initial cost of acquiring and installing the lighting systems and annual costs for electric power, washing, relamping, and ballast replacement. A lighting system using the high pressure sodium light source was recommended. Compared to the existing commonly used fluorescent system, it uses one-third as much electric power and has about one-third of the annual owning and operating cost. The recommended system has a satisfactory illumination level and provides the best legibility distance of the ten systems tested.

This project was undertaken to compare operational and safety characteristics of leading versus lagging protected left turn operation. The measures of effectiveness included field measured intersection delay with leading and with lagging left turns. Intersections in Pima County, Glendale, Tempe and Mesa, Arizona were studied with both leading and lagging operation. Intersection delay studies were also done with first car versus third car actuation of leading protected left turn phases. Signal progression was studied with leading, lagging and combination of leading and lagging left turns which provided the best progression. This evaluation was accomplished with an instrumented vehicle and travel time runs throughout a grid. Accident studies were conducted in Tucson, Pima County and Scottsdale, Arizona. These studies compared accident frequency before and after the conversion from leading to lagging left turns. A public opinion survey was conducted to obtain motorists' preference of leading or lagging left turns.

Guidelines were developed to assist the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) in (1) determining if an existing sign installation, not in compliance with current safety standards, should be replaced by a system that does meet the safety standards, and (2) selecting a cost effective sign support for new installations. A benefit/cost (B/C) program, developed at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) was used to develop the guidelines.

This report describes a series of full-scale vehicular crash tests conducted to evaluate the impact performance of small sign supports used by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The tests were conducted and evaluated in accordance with the recommendations of NCHRP Report 230 and the 1985 AASHTO "Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic Signals."