Traffic moves at a sedate speed past the southbound light in the North Albany Road school zone on Thursday afternoon.
A week and a half after being installed, the school zone lights on North Albany Road are back in the news — well, what passes for news on this site, anyway.
The lights were installed on April 27. They indicate, by flashing, that the speed limit in the school zone is 20 miles an hour, enforced by cameras. When the lights don’t flash, the posted speed is 40 mph.
The poles at each end of the school zone hold three lights, two pointed at traffic in the near lane and one pointed in the opposite direction.
On the social media site Nextdoor, someone on Wednesday wondered whether the lights were working. “I believe there is something wrong with these lights,” the person wrote. “Drove by around 2:30 pm. They were not on. At 4:45 pm only half of them were flashing dimly. I think the solar panels aren’t working very well.”
I posted the question to Chris Cerklewski, the engineer in Albany Public Works who had been working with the contractor on getting the lights installed.
‘”Two of the lights failed shortly after being turned on,” Cerklewski told me. “The contractor is working with the manufacturer to get replacement lights sent out and installed as soon as possible. These will be provided at the manufacturer’s expense.”
He added, “The lights are also made to adjust their brightness based on the background light level to help extend the battery life during less sunny weather, so you may see them appear brighter sometimes than others.”
The big question is whether the presence of the lights causes the number of speeding tickets to go down from an average of more than 300 a month before they were put in. In April, the North Albany cameras recorded 388 speed violations of 31 mph or more.
On Thursday afternoon, while I stood there for a couple of minutes observing one flashing light do its thing, drivers were scrupulously observing the slower speed. Here, take a look:
The city council called for the flashing lights in order to prevent confusion about the school zone speed. We’ll learn how it worked when the police post the monthly stats on their public dashboard after the end of May. (hh)
The lights might have gotten jostled on a container ship trip through the Strait of Hormuz and that has damaged at least one of them.
The concept is poorly designed. The solar panel cannot generate enough back up electricity. Should put a larger backup battery supply. There is no other source for power to the lights other than solar.
Thanks Hasso.
This is the farcical gift that keeps on giving!
Albany residents have had to suffer thru all of Hering’s reportage on this topic, and for what. This problem is solved if the idiot drivers in N. Albany could simply suppress their immediate want gratification needs and just slow to 20 mph regardless of the time of day. A First World “problem” created by idiots in cars. The level of selfishness and inconsiderate behavior by North Albany drivers is not stunning – it is simply another example of white, middle-class “anger.” In the upside down world of N. Albany drivers child safety plays 2nd fiddle to their need for speed.
“Albany residents have had to suffer thru all of Hering’s reportage on this topic”
Speak for yourself, because the rest have enough sense to choose what to read. Apparently you don’t possess that amount of common sense.
If you’re continuing to “suffer” through Hasso’s reporting, what does that say about you? LOL!
Sounds like someone was BORN on the wrong side of the bed
where does one file noise complaint from all horn honking at cars going 20 mph when lights not flashing during school hours. seriously now a problem!
This should be fun in traffic court. If the lights do not have a guaranteed power supply, can the city prove they were working correctly when a ticket is issued? Do the traffic cameras confirm their proper operation?
If camera(s) had NO power, how could they possibly generate a ticket?
Praise the lord!!
That is the exact problem. No driver trusts this bullshit bad experiment
They slow down
They stop!
They don’t move
Albany needs to stop this!
The logical fallacy you are using is called a “non-sequitur”. Don’t do that, it’s rude.
….‘”Two of the lights failed shortly after being turned on,” Cerklewski told me…..
So only 2/3 of the lights are working and there isn’t sufficient sunlight to power them with about 14.5 hrs. of daylight. How’s this going to work out in late December with < 9 hrs. of daylight and a much lower angle of the sun?
North Albany road….The city is laughing all the way to the bank…million bucks a year, it’ll take 22 years to pay off the yellow brick road…oh my speed tickets 300/month..