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Quick fix when traffic chaos threatens

Sunday, October 24, 1999

By BRYAN DUNLEAVY Staff Writer

The clock strikes midnight, the year 2000 is upon us, and bam . . . . the lights go out. If that happens, Oradell police officers will spring into action, fan out around town, and unleash one of their secret weapons against chaos and mayhem -- flip-top stop signs.

The signs -- which cost between $35 and $45 each -- are rapidly becoming cops' best friends when power failures knock out stoplights at busy intersections. In the past few years, North Jersey towns have bought or built hundreds of them.

Most drivers probably have seen them time and again and not known what they were. During normal conditions, the signs look like a post topped with a metal flap. "It's funny, I had one lady call me and say that someone had stolen half of our stop sign," Oradell Police Chief Edgar Brennen said.

But when the lights go out, police officers swing down the flap, revealing a full-sized stop sign that, they hope, will help prevent accidents at dark intersections.

"It's an insurance policy we hope we never have to use," said Brennen, whose town has installed eight signs at four intersections. "They take the place of a police officer. [The signs] enable us to handle other emergencies with officers who would normally be stuck on traffic posts."

Emerson, Closter, and River Edge are among the other towns that use the signs, which were most recently noticeable after Tropical Storm Floyd wreaked havoc last month. Lance Robbins, owner of Highway Traffic Supply in Rockland County, N.Y., said he has sold signs in many other North Jersey municipalities, but can't recall which ones. He lost his records in Floyd's flooding.

He estimates that he has sold 150 to 200 signs to Bergen County towns alone. Although the bulk of the sales have come in the past three or four years, Robbins began making the signs in the early 1990s.

"A town superintendent was on vacation in Cape May when he first spotted one," Robbins said. "He told me about it, and I thought it was a good idea, so I started making them. I've sold more signs in Bergen County than any place else."

Despite the popularity of the signs during Floyd, and worries of possible Y2K-related traffic signal problems, Robbins has not run out of inventory. "There's been a couple more inquiries because of Y2K, but no big rush to buy," he said.

One reason for that could be the ingenuity of employees in municipal public works departments. If imitation is considered the sincerest form of flattery, Robbins and other sign-making companies get frequent compliments.

"We ordered one to see what was involved in making them," Emerson Public Works Superintendent John Solimando said. Once workers saw how simple the sign was, they decided to make their own.

"One of the machine shops in town has a metal shear," Solimando said. "So we took four street signs, got them cut, and attached hinges and clamps to them so they could move. It only cost us the clamps and hinges. Drill a couple of holes, and it's done."

At intersections, police normally put the signs up along the cross street, allowing traffic on the main thoroughfare to keep rolling. The signs are locked closed when not needed so pranksters aren't tempted to flip open a flap and confuse motorists with a stop sign and a green light.

When the power goes out or a stoplight breaks down, officers unlock the signs and unfold them so they are visible.

"I've seen them before, but I didn't know what they were," said Bulent Polat, 25, of Fairview, who was driving in River Edge one day this week. "I would be cautious driving into an intersection anyway, but I think it's a good idea. In case anything happens, I think they'll work."

But some officials see drawbacks to the now-you-see-'em, now-you-don't signs. George Holzapfel, public works superintendent in Wayne, said his town doesn't use the signs. He said he would worry about putting one up at a major intersection during a crisis.

"Dropping a new sign may catch people off guard," he said. "If you drive past an intersection 5,000 times, what's the chances you're going to see a sign you didn't notice the first 4,999 times?"

But state Department of Transportation spokesman John Dourgarian said the signs are fine as long as towns follow accepted safety guidelines for them. Specifically, he echoed town officials who said signs needed to be placed on the less busy street of the intersection.

"If towns say they need them as a backup and it raises their comfort level, we have no problem with it," Dourgarian said.

Ned Kneisler hopes the signs raise his comfort level.

After hearing about the signs' success during Floyd, Bergenfield's public works supervisor decided last week to buy 26. Kneisler said the signs are better in several ways than portable stop signs that town workers usually break out during power failures.

"When Floyd hit, we had to put a lot of guys on the streets to install the temporary [stop] signs," Kneisler said.

"In emergency situations, these are better."

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), October 27, 1999

Answers

Thanks, Homer. This would be a much better solution than using school crossing guards to direct traffic like Washington D.C. was planning (according to a thread from long, long ago).

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), October 27, 1999.

Quick fix when traffic chaos threatens..... Awwww, Homer...I thought you were going to have a link for us to a portable gyrocopter able to be stowed in your trunk!! Dang it!!!!

-- Jay Urban (Jayho99@aol.com), October 27, 1999.

I hear LA is installing these too, except instead of STOP they will say RELOAD.

-- a (a@a.a), October 27, 1999.

mount two gas-driven chain saws on the front bumper of your 4by; one angled 30 degrees up, the other angled 30 degrees down;

between them in the middle, mount a Stihl 14" gas-driven rotary concrete saw;

approach any barricade of your choice, fire up the saws, proceed gently;

[carbide-toothed forestry chains are optional]

"ain't no damn barricade gonna keep me in..."

...just say you're on your way to a 'tea party'...

-- Perry Arnett (pjarnett@pdqnet.net), October 27, 1999.

1) a - ROTHWL!!!

2) Good idea, but only for minimum traffic...things could get really snarled during rush hour.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), October 28, 1999.