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  #1  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2009, 5:11 PM
Nigel
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Horizontal vs. Vertical traffic lights

I have a peculiar question to ask.

From what I can remember, Saskatchewan cities have always had vertical traffic lights, with the exception of Regina. Now, as I have travelled throughout the province, I've noticed that places like Yorkton, Weyburn, Estevan, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, and North Battleford have all switched or are in the process of switching to horizontal traffic lights. Saskatoon seems to be the exception as they are sticking with vertical traffic lights. Does anyone know why this is happening? Does it have to do with being more stable in the wind? With the exception of Graham Ave. in Winnipeg, all of our traffic lights are vertical as it is through the rest of the province.

Thanks!
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  #2  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2009, 6:53 PM
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I'm not to sure...hmmmmm
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  #3  
Old Posted Jun 28, 2009, 2:10 AM
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To me the horizontal style is more American than the Canadian vertical placement.

The exception in Winnipeg has been the traffic lights along Graham Avenue.
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  #4  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 4:35 AM
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I know this is an old thread, but I have noticed it too and found that it is odd that all lights in wpg are vertical.
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  #5  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 5:51 AM
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Bump, this is interesting. Maybe there's no real reason. I'll be on the lookout tomorrow. What about dated hanging horizontal lights?
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  #6  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 5:58 AM
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Via wikipedia

Quote:
In some locations, lights are mounted with their multiple faces arranged horizontally, often with supplemental vertical signals on the side, while others locations use vertical signals almost exclusively. Horizontal signals have consistent orientation, like their vertical counterparts.[29] Often, supplemental curb pedestal mounts, intended to support a signal for a different approach road, are used when primary signals are partially obscured due to structures such as overpasses, approaches around a building that obscures the primary signal mountings, and unusual approach geometry. In Florida, horizontal signals mounted on poles, known as "mast arms", are in wide use due to their lower wind profile, important for minimising hurricane damage. In areas where wind-load is not as much of a concern as ice-load, such as Illinois or Minnesota, the lights are mounted vertically to reduce the accumulation of ice or snow over the surface of the signal heads.
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  #7  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 7:36 AM
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Quebec has some strange traffic lights. 2 Red lights on the Left and Right side

http://maps.google.ca/?ll=45.429666,...,0,-16.43&z=19
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  #8  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 2:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trebor204 View Post
Quebec has some strange traffic lights. 2 Red lights on the Left and Right side

http://maps.google.ca/?ll=45.429666,...,0,-16.43&z=19
Not the case for these but often they are also have different shapes for each colour light for colour-blind people.
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  #9  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 3:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trebor204 View Post
Quebec has some strange traffic lights. 2 Red lights on the Left and Right side

http://maps.google.ca/?ll=45.429666,...,0,-16.43&z=19
Also in Montreal at least, certain intersections have the green light flashing. This indicates that you can make a left turn or go straight. Accomplished in Winnipeg by having a green light accompanied by a left turn arrow. Not sure if this is used in other cities. I'd never seen it before. No right turns ever on red also in Montreal.

I enjoy noticing the difference in stuff like this when visiting other cities. I lived in Regina for a while, I notice they use yield signs a lot when a residential street meets a more major road, when in Winnipeg its a stop sign (that most people treat as a yield anyway)
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  #10  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 3:48 PM
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Originally Posted by cheswick View Post
Also in Montreal at least, certain intersections have the green light flashing. This indicates that you can make a left turn or go straight. Accomplished in Winnipeg by having a green light accompanied by a left turn arrow. Not sure if this is used in other cities. I'd never seen it before. No right turns ever on red also in Montreal.
They might still have these in Ontario as well. If so, they are slowly being phased out and replaced with arrows in both Ontario and Quebec also.

One thing about Montreal traffic lights is that they are often on the side of the street and the colour of the casing (right word for this?) sometimes blends in with the buildings. They frequently don't hang over the middle of the intersection like in other cities.
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  #11  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 3:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cheswick View Post
Also in Montreal at least, certain intersections have the green light flashing. This indicates that you can make a left turn or go straight. Accomplished in Winnipeg by having a green light accompanied by a left turn arrow. Not sure if this is used in other cities. I'd never seen it before. No right turns ever on red also in Montreal.
In Gatineau, they have a mix of both (green light flashing and green arrow).

In Montreal, they have a lot of 'no left turn' signs for cross streets because it backs up traffic. It's not uncommon to have to make 3 right turns to go left!
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  #12  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 5:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cheswick View Post
Also in Montreal at least, certain intersections have the green light flashing. This indicates that you can make a left turn or go straight. Accomplished in Winnipeg by having a green light accompanied by a left turn arrow. Not sure if this is used in other cities. I'd never seen it before. No right turns ever on red also in Montreal.

I enjoy noticing the difference in stuff like this when visiting other cities. I lived in Regina for a while, I notice they use yield signs a lot when a residential street meets a more major road, when in Winnipeg its a stop sign (that most people treat as a yield anyway)
I remember as a kid in Winnipeg when the green lights flashed and meant a turning signal, but this was phased out back in the 80s for flashing arrow signals. I also remember Ontario and BC having this as well. I believe that BC still uses flashing green lights, but only at crosswalks now.
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  #13  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 7:03 PM
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Northwestern Ontario still has a lot of "advanced green" lights, but as traffic lights get replaced, that gets phased out. There are only a few intersections left with advanced green in Thunder Bay.

Something Winnipeg does that Thunder Bay doesn't do is make low-traffic intersections with lights flash yellow during the evening and overnight. Here, the light will stay green permanently for the busier street, and only change if a vehicle approaches or a pedestrian presses the crosswalk button.
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  #14  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 7:13 PM
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Originally Posted by vid View Post
Northwestern Ontario still has a lot of "advanced green" lights, but as traffic lights get replaced, that gets phased out. There are only a few intersections left with advanced green in Thunder Bay.

Something Winnipeg does that Thunder Bay doesn't do is make low-traffic intersections with lights flash yellow during the evening and overnight. Here, the light will stay green permanently for the busier street, and only change if a vehicle approaches or a pedestrian presses the crosswalk button.
I hate that about ontario, I have our Cottage on Lake of the Woods, and those stupid always green lights are great if you are the one who has the green, but if you are the other person, sometimes the wait is forever. Especially with road repairs when the crew has gone, they have those temp lights, those do not even work on traffic volume, they just go red for like 5 minutes straight. Even though all that is coming is a moth the entire 5 minutes. lol
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  #15  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 10:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Shinook View Post
I remember as a kid in Winnipeg when the green lights flashed and meant a turning signal, but this was phased out back in the 80s for flashing arrow signals. I also remember Ontario and BC having this as well. I believe that BC still uses flashing green lights, but only at crosswalks now.
In BC a green flashing light means the intersection is controlled by a cross walk. In other words it is always green unless a pedestrian presses the cross walk button. It does not mean it is safe to make a left turn.

In Ontario and Quebec it means it is safe to make a left turns as the opposite flow of traffic is being held.

This regional variation is an accident waiting to happen.
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  #16  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 10:45 PM
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Regina also has red flashing lights on its pedestrian-actuated pedestrian-crossing signal lights, which means vehicles must come to a full stop before proceeding, even if the pedestrian has passed already, if the lights are still blinking. I don't remember what Saskatoon or other Sask. cities/towns have.
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  #17  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 11:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by casper View Post
In BC a green flashing light means the intersection is controlled by a cross walk. In other words it is always green unless a pedestrian presses the cross walk button. It does not mean it is safe to make a left turn.
This is what I had previously said:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinook View Post
I remember as a kid in Winnipeg when the green lights flashed and meant a turning signal, but this was phased out back in the 80s for flashing arrow signals. I also remember Ontario and BC having this as well. I believe that BC still uses flashing green lights, but only at crosswalks now.
In other words, they used to, but not anymore.
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  #18  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2013, 11:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Scruff Bucket View Post
Regina also has red flashing lights on its pedestrian-actuated pedestrian-crossing signal lights, which means vehicles must come to a full stop before proceeding, even if the pedestrian has passed already, if the lights are still blinking. I don't remember what Saskatoon or other Sask. cities/towns have.

I actually approve of this, as so many people fly through the current amber cross walks.
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  #19  
Old Posted Feb 5, 2013, 1:01 AM
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The horizontal ones make me feel like I'm in some western frontier town. I always found Winnipeg's vertical ones a sign of classiness.
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  #20  
Old Posted Feb 5, 2013, 2:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by casper View Post
In BC a green flashing light means the intersection is controlled by a cross walk. In other words it is always green unless a pedestrian presses the cross walk button. It does not mean it is safe to make a left turn.

In Ontario and Quebec it means it is safe to make a left turns as the opposite flow of traffic is being held.

This regional variation is an accident waiting to happen.
That's why Ontario is phasing them out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluenote View Post
I hate that about ontario, I have our Cottage on Lake of the Woods, and those stupid always green lights are great if you are the one who has the green, but if you are the other person, sometimes the wait is forever. Especially with road repairs when the crew has gone, they have those temp lights, those do not even work on traffic volume, they just go red for like 5 minutes straight. Even though all that is coming is a moth the entire 5 minutes. lol
Yeah, there are a few here that don't respond to pedestrians at all so we just cross against the red.

This trick didn't work in Winnipeg, but at some intersections in Thunder Bay, if you hold a crosswalk button down for 10 seconds, no matter where it is in its cycle, it will turn green for you within 30 seconds. This is often the trick I use to get those stubborn lights to change. The one I need to use to get to Superstore has a 5 minute green cycle and 1 minute red cycle, only deviating if someone is turning left out of Superstore (and it's a back entrance so that rarely happens). The light is only there because once Superstore was built, it kept causing accidents.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy6 View Post
The horizontal ones make me feel like I'm in some western frontier town. I always found Winnipeg's vertical ones a sign of classiness.
That's kind of funny because I always associated the horizontal lights with a more developed and modern city, and I associated the boring vertical ones with places like Thunder Bay.

Pedestrian crosswalks in Thunder Bay simply use an entire array of traffic lights, with a full light cycle. I kind of wish we had the crosswalks Winnipeg has, since they respond faster. The one that connects our mall to a parking lot across the street doesn't work, it's just a superfluous set of traffic lights that is always green, and it's located between two actual intersections which themselves are only 300m apart. You can see the idiocy for yourself here. Kind of funny that the "stop for red light here" sign is on the wrong side of the crosswalk! They were too cheap to put up another pole so that it could be in the correct spot. that's a common problem here, which is probably why we have so many bad drivers. The signs aren't in the correct spots and it is teaching them bad driving habits.
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