Those aren’t regular traffic signals you see on Clayton Rd. at Barbis Way (just west of Babel Lane) in Concord.
A new high intensity activated crosswalk (HAWK) pedestrian crosswalk system is being installed.
The new HAWK system works the same as any other crosswalk for pedestrians, but for motorists, it’s a little different.
When the lights are out, you can drive normally, when it’s flashing yellow, you need to slow down, and when it’s solid yellow, you need to prepare to stop because someone is about to cross. When the lights are solid red, you need to stop for the pedestrian who is crossing, and when it’s flashing red, you can proceed with caution if no pedestrians are present.
It’s sad that kind of technology and money needs to be spent because of majority of people driving their cars don’t have a clue to stop when someone is in a crosswalk.
I can see the rearenders coming.
Doesn’t DMV book say “When signals are out (as in not lite) treat signals as stop signs”?
I recommend running it by our City Attorney before turning these on.
Absolutely stupid. There is a crosswalk at Chestnut and Babel. I walk there five to six days a week, and two to three times a week someone drives through the cross walk while I am in it. Those crosswalks are stop lights. This one is in the middle of nowhere and makes no since. I would not use it. There will be a pedestrian hit there within a couple of months.
NAW, red light combinations won’t be confusing.
There is enough parking at Elks Lodge and room for lawn chair out front to watch driver encounters with unfamiliar light setup. Dibbs on a popcorn stand.
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Must have been one heck of a sales presentation.
Why not use same pedestrian crossing stop light system at canal trail crossing near Sixth Street?
Using a light configuration drivers are unfamiliar with may cause accidents.
How much more expensive is signal system going in than one at canal trail crossing?
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On a school bus large flashing red lights mean full stop.
Will this new system as drivers become used to red flashing endanger children getting off getting off school busses?
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You get the feeling somebody at the city didn’t think this one all the way through?
Does anyone in the city actually think anything through.?
SICK OF IT
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The City has a very specific and detailed plan of action they use exclusively for each and every decision that presents itself.
It’s entitled, wackamole.
Half the drivers will have no clue what to do with this.
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OMG. There are so many poorly skilled drivers out there already and you expect them to know WTF these new signal patterns mean?
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Traffic engineers are overly optimistic.
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It’s really not different from any other red light.
Flashing = stop sign
Solid red = Red light (stop until light is out)
It’s really not different from any other red light.
Flashing = stop sign
Solid red = Red light (stop until light is out)
I do agree this is a poor place to put this control.
There is one on Ashby Ave in Berkeley which is perfect for this type of light. Without it, it is nearly impossible to cross in front of Alta Bates during commute time.
Beserkely sucks
Gonna be interesting, from Ygnacio all the way to Farm Bureau Rd is 40 mph then drops to 35 mph on downhill into El Monte area . . . . add confusing school bus traffic lights . . . . what could go wrong ? ?
Perhaps Concord should put up warning signs TAILGATER EDUCATION ZONE
Confusing School Bus lights?? If they are red stay stopped until they are off. Both directions if street is undivided.
Having worked with mechanical, electrical and software engineers over the years can assure you there are more than a few who are reality deprived.
Why put the hawk there when a traffic light is just a little walk down the street?
Oo cool. Look at all the pretty lights ….thump….Oo what was that.
Kind of looks like they are landing airplanes, no not confusing at all (sarcasm)
Did we not just make it legal to jay walk? So why the crosswalk? Our whole city is a crosswalk.
With no green light, people won’t understand that it’s safe to proceed.
This system is too confusing for the average CA voter, the illegal alien, the average high school student, the average homeless person, and anyone who doesn’t pay attention.
Further, it does not direct the actions of bicyclists who may be riding on the street. Do they stop, roll through, pass gas, go blind, or ride on the sidewalk?
that’s not how acronyms work…
There is a crosswalk like this on Broadway in Rockridge and all it does is confuse drivers. KISS people!
My first thought when I read this article was California vehicle code section 21800 (d) (1) (d) (1) The driver of any vehicle approaching an intersection which has official traffic control signals that are inoperative shall stop at the intersection, and may proceed with caution when it is safe to do so.
It’s also in the DMV driver handbook (page 36) and so we are not talking about an obscure rule that few people would be aware of. Drivers (and bicyclists!) are required to observe “When a traffic light is not working, stop as if the intersection is controlled by STOP signs in all directions. Then proceed cautiously when it is safe to do so.stop if all of the lights are off.”
There is a thing known as an enhanced pedestrian crossing but the flashing lights are very different than traffic control signals. Sometimes they are embedded in the pavement surface and other times they are a roughly 2 inch tall by 18 inch wide flashing light arrays off to the side of the roadway.
They use standard red/yellow/green traffic signals where the CC Canal trail crosses Oak Grove Road, Bancroft, Jones Road, Geary Road, and Gregory Lane. I don’t see a need to confuse drivers with a new light design and non-standard light patterns.
Stupid !
With the lights just dark (not green) it will look like a power outage.
Gonna be a few get rear ended trying to stop first at the dead light.
If we were trained on a certain light operation in drivers Ed now there’s a new kind of light. Most drivers won’t know what to do. People are gonna be stopped in the middle of the road for nothing.
I get why they put this here. They just built that huge apartment complex there
The city put this in for the new Penny Lane housing. We tried to fight the planning commission at city meetings about the population density of 3 story Penny Lane homes surrounded by single story homes. The city didn’t care about us and proceeded anyway.
Just wait till Penny Lane starts to be occupied and they have one way in and out right onto Clayton road+the HAWK+the suicide lane to turn into Penny Lane. That whole section will be a mess.
Well, at least it’s not confusing…….
Might want to get a body count pool going.
I designed Traffic Signals for the County for 40years, and totally disagree with this design. If the signal is “dark”, according to the Vehicle Code it becomes a “Red Light” and you are to stop. I haven’t read the MUTCD in 19 years since retiring, but I am not sure this is a good idea. This should have been designed a a “standard” traffic signal: RED, YELLOW, GREEN.
I’m astonished at the amount of traffic engineers that participated in this chat! Seems wherever I look there are experts ready and willing to give an opinion. people. Please calm down. People I charge are trying in good faith to save lives. Geesh.
Wait until they add cameras to ticket people