Common Problems Arising in the Installation of Accessible Pedestrian Signals

Issue 4: Wrong pole! …Wrong message!

In Figure 7, APS have been installed on the wrong poles. The APS on the pole in the left of the photo has an arrow pointing toward the street on the right in the photo. Since the APS is closer to the departure curb and curb ramp for crossing straight ahead (in line with the photographer’s direction of travel), a pedestrian hearing the sound from that APS would expect that the APS governs that crossing, and may not even be able to hear the further distant APS that is actually for the crossing he/she intends (in the foreground of Figure 7).

Figure 7: Installation where APS are installed in wrong locations; both are too far from street they control and will be heard as closer to the other street.

 Figure 8: Installation where APS are installed in correct locations in relation to crosswalks.

Remedy: Each APS should have been installed on the pole closest to the crosswalk it controls, as shown in Figure 8 (pushbutton for street on right is on the back side of the pole, out of view from photographer’s angle). For example, the APS for the crossing on the right in Figure 7 should be installed on the pole near the right side of the photo, and on the side of the pole toward the curb ramp, but still reachable from the level sidewalk. This will allow pedestrians to push the button and then hear the APS at the crosswalk departure point. The APS on the pole to the left in Figure 7 should be installed parallel to the crosswalk that it controls (the one straight ahead in the photographer’s view). 

It may be possible to realign the APS on each pole and reconnect the wiring. However, APS can be wired to a control board in the pedestrian signal head or through the controller, so it may be necessary to move the pedestrian signal head (or to completely rewire each APS) to conform. The wiring and device output needs to be checked after modification to assure that the APS is signaling the correct crossing phase. 

If the APS has a speech message, the APS needs to be moved to the pole closer to the crosswalk it signals, which will also require reversing the arrow and signs on the APS housing. If speech WALK messages or pushbutton information messages are installed, the functioning and accuracy of both should be checked after re-installation of APS devices. 

Installation of the APS on a stub pole or separate pedestrian signal pole, as shown in Figure 8, rather than on a mast arm pole, is likely to provide better placement.