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ST. GEORGE — New bicycle symbols and radar sensors were installed on roads in Southern Utah by the Utah Department of Transportation Wednesday.
The radar devices can detect bicycles waiting at traffic signals, according to UDOT traffic signal operations engineer Mark Taylor. UDOT painted bicycle symbols on the pavement to let bicyclists know where they need to wait to alert the traffic signal to their presence.
"Before we haven’t had (the radar) and cyclists would always have a difficult time getting through an intersection because they would usually have to get off their bike and push the ‘push’ button for the pedestrians," he said. "This new device allows a cyclist to wait at the same location where a vehicle waits and activate the traffic light.”
The bicycle symbols were painted on the roads at 10 locations in St. George, Cedar City and Hurricane. Taylor said most bicyclists don't realize they need to stop at a certain location to let the radar can see them, so the pavement symbol can help guide them to the right spot.
“There is a stop bar at the intersection — cyclists need to stop behind the stop bar where vehicles stop and wait to trigger the traffic light with this radar," he said. "If cyclists pull up beyond the stop bar into the crosswalk area they are off of the area where the radar will pick them up.”
The bicycle symbol also serves the purpose of reminding motorists they need to share the road and has the added benefit of ensuring that bicyclists wait in a position that is consistent and predictable, Taylor said.
UDOT first started installing the radar devices made by Provo company Wavetronix on Utah roads in 2009. Now their radar can be found at about 510 of the 1150 traffic lights UDOT manages, according to Taylor.
We are the most progressive state in terms of the numbers of devices we have deployed statewide as well as how we are using this radar to detect everybody.
–Mark Taylor, UDOT traffic signal operations engineer
“We were the first ones in the country to use it,” he said. “We are the most progressive state in terms of the numbers of devices we have deployed statewide as well as how we are using this radar to detect everybody.”
Using the radar also has other benefits — it can perform tasks like counting the number of vehicles using each lane, which helps to plans how to improve operations at the traffic lights, Taylor said.
One common misconception about traffic signals is that people think they detect cars by weight. Taylor said sometimes he will see people on motorcycles bouncing on their bikes to try and activate the signal, but that pressure plates have been extinct in Utah for 40 years. Instead, the problem cyclists face is that their bikes aren't made of enough metal to trigger a magnetic field in the ground.
The new radar system eliminates that problem, Taylor said. Now all types of transportation should receive the same treatment at traffic lights with the new radar.
“The way the radar works is it doesn’t know the difference between a vehicle and a bike," he said. "It just knows that something is there, either a bike or a vehicle. So the way the algorithm is working is really the same for vehicles and bikes. There is nothing we’re doing different for the cyclists that the motorists don’t receive or the motorcyclists don’t receive as well."
Contributing: Mary Richards
