City installs internally Illuminated street name signs at intersections

[Salsa Signman]

We noticed the City of Sandy Springs, Georgia in the Metro Atlanta area has installed internally illuminated sign at several busy intersections. See attached photo. I guess the city finally figured out it is much easier to read a sign that is internally illuminated. It is so much safer now with these new internally illuminated signs as you can read them much quicker and from a greater distance. It gives you more time to react safely and make the correct move in high traffic situations.

The same safety logic and enhanced readability can be applied to internally illuminated signs for our customers. It still surprises me when I here about a city banning internally illuminated signage. Internally illuminated increase traffic safety and visibility and cut down on last minute lane changes by giving drivers more time to change lanes safely.

Does anyone else know a city or county using internally illuminated signage for traffic signage? If so, maybe these examples could be used to educate and change the sign codes in the cities that have banned internally illuminated signage.

Edited July 24, 2009 by Alan Rohr

[YYZ]

Those very same signs are all over touristy cities like Orlando an Las Vegas. Scottsdale just finished installing 400(?) over a 3 year period.

Internally illuminated is good, but I hate those signs. Very big, bulky and ugly - and they use fluorescent - so there is constant outages needing replacement lamps. LEDs make a whole lot more sense (the traffic guys are already sold on this, with signals), which could even be powered by solar panels at the top of each traffic pole within a busy intersection.

New York has several types, some with an internal edgelit system - though not exactly beautiful either.

We've been playing with concepts for far too long and should probably just come out with our street signs, but the cost of getting them DOT approved, wind load tested, etc... is pretty high, which is why they've been lower down the priority ladder. It would almost be a whole 'nother company, which I just don't have time for.

If anyone has some $ burning a hole in their pocket and wants to start making a kickass version of these with LED - we have solutions ready ;)

[Salsa Signman]

Those very same signs are all over touristy cities like Orlando an Las Vegas. Scottsdale just finished installing 400(?) over a 3 year period.

Internally illuminated is good, but I hate those signs. Very big, bulky and ugly - and they use fluorescent - so there is constant outages needing replacement lamps. LEDs make a whole lot more sense (the traffic guys are already sold on this, with signals), which could even be powered by solar panels at the top of each traffic pole within a busy intersection.

New York has several types, some with an internal edgelit system - though not exactly beautiful either.

We've been playing with concepts for far too long and should probably just come out with our street signs, but the cost of getting them DOT approved, wind load tested, etc... is pretty high, which is why they've been lower down the priority ladder. It would almost be a whole 'nother company, which I just don't have time for.

If anyone has some $ burning a hole in their pocket and wants to start making a kickass version of these with LED - we have solutions ready ;)

Thanks for the info! An LED version would be advantageous for longevity and reduction of the weight. I agree the designs could be more creative.

How much does it take to get DOT approved? Maybe you could find some venture capital and someone to manage it using your design. I would definitely have an agreement draw up by an attorney you trust and have all parties involved sign off. Probably a non -disclosure agreement with limited non-compete for a set period of time. Also send in your copyright & trademarks paperwork so you are protected in those areas. I have attached the copyright forms to send in to the Library of Congress. We fill these forms out and send them in on all of our medium & large projects. It cost $45 but worth it in the long run. Good luck on your project.

Form_40_Copyright_Registration_for_Works_of_the_Visual_Arts.pdf

Circular_01.pdf

[signman12]

Does anyone know of a solar panel system that would work directly with the LEDs power requirements rather than using an inverter? It would be much more efficient in my opinion to collect, store and then use the power as 12v directly. Either that or maybe a power supply with a 12v input?

I've been quoting all new signs, especially freestanding with an option for solar panels and LED lighting. I've only had one accept the option, but it's better than none.

[imanut]

We noticed the City of Sandy Springs, Georgia in the Metro Atlanta area has installed internally illuminated sign at several busy intersections. See attached photo. I guess the city finally figured out it is much easier to read a sign that is internally illuminated. It is so much safer now with these new internally illuminated signs as you can read them much quicker and from a greater distance. It gives you more time to react safely and make the correct move in high traffic situations.

The same safety logic and enhanced readability can be applied to internally illuminated signs for our customers. It still surprises me when I here about a city banning internally illuminated signage. Internally illuminated increase traffic safety and visibility and cut down on last minute lane changes by giving drivers more time to change lanes safely.

Does anyone else know a city or county using internally illuminated signage for traffic signage? If so, maybe these examples could be used to educate and change the sign codes in the cities that have banned internally illuminated signage.

Fluoresco signs in Tucson area have done tons of illuminated street signs --------- look up gpitts on the register here and give her a shout.

gn

[TelfordDorr]

LEDs make a whole lot more sense (the traffic guys are already sold on this, with signals)....

Maybe, but they gotta do something about the quality. It's really sorry. I'd say 1/3 or more of the green led traffic lights around here have large dead sections in them (sometimes the patterns get interesting, but no letters formed yet....) And this is in a relatively cool area. I'd hate to see the failure rate inland from here where it's hotter...

[dennytime]

These guys used to be located in Stockton CA, I see they moved down south to Fullerton CA. I used to sell them supplies a few decades ago, you can still see their stuff in Stockton and a few other Central Valley Cities in California. They started out using HOs, then T8s, looks like LEDS on part of their line now. Hope this helps, see: http://nuartlighting.com/