In case of Y2k glitch do not pass 'stop' (Highway department is lashing stop signs to signal-light posts...)

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http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/342/metro/In_case_of_Y2K_glitch_do_not_pass_Stop_+.shtml

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In case of Y2K glitch, do not pass 'Stop'

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff, 12/08/99

he signs say ''Stop,'' but they have ''Y2K'' written all over them.

At 76 particularly busy intersections across the state, mostly in the east, the Massachusetts Highway Department is lashing stop signs to signal-light posts - just in case something goes wrong at midnight on Dec. 31.

''They're being located at intersections that see a lot of traffic,'' said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for transportation secretary Kevin J. Sullivan.

The signs were put up last week, one or more of the octagonal placards at each intersection. They are covered up with burlap, which will be removed if the signals for any reason quit working as the new year is being rung in.

Carlisle said the state's signal systems are entirely Y2K-compliant, which means they have been tested and are expected to operate normally on Jan. 1, 2000. The Y2K problem feared by some, and predicted by others, is that computers programmed to read only the last two digits of years could mistake 2000 for 1900, and malfunction.

Carlisle said the signs were put up in case power is interrupted. ''If a power plant goes down, the signals can't operate,'' he said, though he added that state officials have no reason to doubt utilities' statements that they are Y2K-compliant.

The signs cost $60 each. Carlisle said they will be taken down after the first of the year and can be stored and used as replacement equipment later.

Transportation officials yesterday issued the locations of the 76 intersections, including 12 in Boston.

THOMAS C. PALMER JR.

This story ran on page B01 of the Boston Globe on 12/08/99.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 08, 1999

Answers

"state officials have no reason to doubt utilities' statements that they are Y2K-compliant"

Yes, we can clearly see how confident they are in the utilities' statements. But, remember, there's no reason for Joe Public to doubt them. Or to doubt the Highway Department for that matter. No sirree.

Do as we say, not as we do. Again and again and again and again and again and again...

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 08, 1999.


Without question this is one of those "WAKE UP, STUPID !!" types of articles that most people will read and not realize what they are seeing.

If they are attaching these signs to signal posts then they are REALLY WORRIED about them. Many older signal lights are electromechanical and should be fine, newer ones are computerized and should easily be able to be tested, or so we are told.

People will read this article, yawn and move on to the sports page. Its a wake up call, come on america, WAKE UP !!!.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 08, 1999.


...FWIW...I always thought that traffic signals not working because of a y2k computer glitch was far fetched, but the mayor of a city in Pa. (Sharon) informed the citizens last month that two traffic signals needed to be replaced because they were not compliant. C'mon, do you really think that most cities and towns actually checked all of their traffic lights? I would be willing to bet that this is one of those items that will be FOF. I wonder how many are gonna fail and how long it will take to order and receive new ones? In the small town I live in, traffic jams are not an issue. I would hate to live in one of the larger metropolitan areas when these things quit working.

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), December 08, 1999.

So many signs being spotted, this one actually numbed over in the Mews.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 08, 1999.

As one of my medic partners put it, a traffic jam to our dispatcher was 3 buggies, a semi truck and 3 pickups in the middle of Middlefield.

Chuck

Where they actually have signals rather than flashing lights, like the town I grew up in.

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 08, 1999.



I think that there is no sure fire way of knowing wether the lights will stop working or wether they'll keep working. No one is doubting anyone, it's just a precation.

-- Kayla Schartiger (kschartiger@hotmail.com), December 08, 1999.

At least they're putting up the signs. In our nearby small city of approximately 200,000 people, the city's Y2K planner is much more confident. According to her, people know that when the signal is not working, that intersection automatically becomes a 4-way stop. How encouraging. I hope that she'll be at each bar on New Years' Eve personally reminding each drunk about what they learned in driver's ed. so many years ago.

-- Ann M. (hismckids@aol.com), December 08, 1999.

We live in a town with just one traffic light. (And one gas station.) A traffic jam here is when the prep school kids can't get out of your way when crossing the street because their hip-hop pants get tangled up in those ghetto sneakers (but the khakis/rep tie/navy blazer is still de riguer). Am waiting to see if the three different prep schools in town are readied as y2k shelters over Christmas holiday; these schools are perfect: dorms, cafeteria, their own generators and infirmaries

-- Dot (dromano03@snet.com), December 08, 1999.

In case you didn't see this:

http://www.ic24.net:80/mgn/THE_MIRROR/NEWS/P31S1.html

Link

BUG CHAOS STOPS CITY

A COMPUTER system installed to beat the millennium bug brought a city to a standstill.

The pounds 11,500 system caused commuter chaos in the historic city of Chester, sending traffic lights flashing on and off during the rush-hour

The computer, installed by the county council to stop a breakdown on New Year's Eve, went haywire.

Thousands of people were late for work and courts had to be delayed for an hour.

It was three hours before engineers could restart the system.

A council spokesman said: "It was chaos."

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), November 19, 1999

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 08, 1999.


Pennsylvania Stop Signs Stockpiled

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/local/state/pennsylvania/story.ht ml?s=v/rs/19991208/pa/index_3.html#11

Stop Signs Stockpiled - (STATEWIDE) -- While most people prepare for the so-called "Y-two-K bug" by buying batteries and bottled water, state emergency workers are stocking up on portable stop signs. They say they want to have them on hand just in case any traffic lights go out. But they say most communities have thoroughly tested their lights... and aren't expecting any problems.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 09, 1999.



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