Archive for March, 2010
A lot of people commute to work, which means a lot of people sit in traffic. Chances are they will see all sorts of traffic safety products if they are traveling near construction. Traffic barricades, including type III traffic barricades, are most likely seen a lot.
Type 3 barricades are sometimes set up for road work in towns, but they can also be set up on highways for construction. They act as a barricade to block off traffic from a certain area. Traffic barricades range from $20 to $150, depending on the type of reflective sheeting used.
Arrow Boards? What?
Never heard of arrow boards? An arrow board is a traffic message board or advisory arrow that you would typically see on the highway that informs incoming traffic. It could say “Ice, slow down” or “DUI checkpoint” etc.
There are different forms of arrow boards. Some are bigger than others, some just show arrows, and some even come with laptops! This equipment is not cheap, it can cost as much as $20k. There are many options and many types of arrow boards, so doing your research is always worthwhile.
Solar Powered Barricade Lights
What is the difference between a solar and a battery powered barricade light? Well, price for one thing. It can cost as much as $35 for a solar barricade light, versus $15 or so for a battery powered barricade light.
Of course, you don’t end up paying as much in batteries when you go solar, but there are other things to worry about. If you purchase solar powered barricade lights and they break from vandalism or just a car hitting it, you are down $35 versus the $15 if it were battery powered. Choosing which light depends on your situation, always choose wisely.
Traffic Barriers
What exactly are traffic barriers? Well they are a couple different things, depending on the type of traffic barrier. There are concrete barriers, plastic barriers filled with sand or water, and other types of barriers. Plastic barriers are usually recyclable and stack able as well.
Traffic barriers are used to guide vehicles or pedestrians, or to block access to certain areas. Compared to other traffic control products they command the respect of drivers more because of how they look. Make sure the traffic barriers you purchase are stack able, because a lot of money can be saved in transportation costs.
Type 2 Barricades
So, what exactly are type 2 barricades? Well, look to the right, and you will probably recognize these traffic barricades from a road construction project in your town or on the highway. They are called “type 2″ because they have two boards.
Type 2 barricades commonly have barricade lights attached to them so that they can be recognized at night. A type 3 barricade has 3 panels, and a type 1 barricade has 1 panel. Panels and boards can be used interchangeably and mean the same thing.
Traffic Channelizers
How much does a traffic channelizer cost? What do traffic channelizers look like? What are other names for traffic channelizers? This post is going to try and answer those questions. A traffic channelizer can cost as much as $50, depending on the density of the plastic and the grade of the reflective tape.
There are many different names for these, traffic barrels, traffic channelizers, traffic drums, construction drums, orange drums, superdome drums, construction barrel, it never ends. And to find out what they look like, just take a look at the picture I posted. Traffic channelizers are common for informing oncoming traffic that there is construction nearby.
Cost of Traffic Message Boards
Traveling down the highway you may come across these signs that are picture on the left. These can be called traffic message boards or arrow boards. They are used to inform drivers, for example, it could say “road work ahead” or “heavy traffic slow down.”
There are many different types of traffic message boards, so the cost can vary. There are solar powered boards, boards that come with laptop computers, and boards that simply travel on the back of trucks. The most expensive boards I came across retail at around $22,000 while the cheapest came to $5,000.
Navigating the Urban Sprawl
Living near a major city like Seattle, sometimes I just hate having to drive. While I do take the bus a lot of the time, sometimes I need to drive into the heart of the city, and it’s a real pain with all the one-way streets, obscure stoplights, and construction sites with traffic cones littering the roadway. I can say with confidence that I break at least one law every time I drive into Seattle, and most of the time I don’t even know it.
When I bought my new car, I requested an in dash navigation system for the specific reason of being able to better navigate the streets in Seattle. Though I expected the in dash navigation system to at least provide me directions, it worked better than I thought it would. Not only does it tell me where to turn, but it also helps me avoid traffic and congested construction zones
A Barricade Light?
We pass construction all the time, but we may not know all of the names of the equipment we are passing. Sure, most people don’t care that those blinking lights on top of the orange drums or signs are called a barricade light, but this post is for those that do want to know. Just look throughout my blog to learn about the various names of those products.
The blinking lights are called barricade lights, the orange drums are called traffic drums or channelizer drums, the tall skinny tubes are called delineators. I can go on an on, because there is such a variety of products. There are more categories and more products within the name ‘barricade light’, for example Type B Barricade light, solar barricade lights, type a barricade light, type c barricade light, type d barricade light.
Reflective Tape - a pricey option
When choosing how much reflective tape you want on your traffic barricades or your traffic cones, think about the cost it will add. One side of a type III traffic barricade versus two can add at least $20, depending on where you buy it from. Of course, we shouldn’t overlook the advantages of having tape on both sides.
For example, lets say you are closing down a road on both sides, but don’t have enough barricades to close both ends of the road. If the road is small, put a few cones on both ends, then stick 3 barricades in the middle between the two roads, with road closed signs. People should get the point. Of course, if you have the money, it is always safer to use as much blockage as possible to not cause any accidents.