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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Transportation incurred an interesting wintertime dilemma as it moved from incandescent bulbs to more energy-efficient LED lights at traffic signals across the state a little more than a decade ago.
The signals simply didn't get hot enough to melt any snow that had built up on the light, effectively making it difficult for drivers to see what was being projected in front of them. Mark Taylor, UDOT's traffic signal operations engineer, admits that the agency spent years trying to solve this issue.
UDOT believes it's finally found the answer with heat tape, a wiring system that warms up when it's turned on. It's often used to treat indoor plumbing to help pipes avoid freezing up.
So while UDOT plow drivers have been quite busy this winter trying to clear roads, traffic engineers have turned to heat tape as a way to clear hundreds of traffic lights as the state continues to be slammed by snowstorms. Crews have already installed it to the undersides of the hoods of individual signal lights at hundreds of locations across Utah.
"After some discussions with our supplier, we've developed and are installing a solution that is both cost-effective and works well in most conditions," Taylor said.
It's a much simpler solution than what was done before. Taylor explained that UDOT used to dispatch a technician to manually clear off the lights using a brush on a large pole. In the worst cases, the technician would have to be hoisted up 20 feet to clear buildup with an ice scraper.
But with heat tape, they only have to manually turn on the system whenever it snows. Engineers turn on the heat tape a few hours before a storm begins and turn them off after a storm is over. UDOT says it's the first state transportation agency in the nation to use this method.
"Anytime we put someone up in the air or on the ground in traffic, we introduce risk — and manual clearing always takes time," Taylor said. "Heat tape, on the other hand, is on and working constantly at the flip of a switch."
The system can now be found at more than 450 signals across a handful of counties in the state. Most of the signals are lights facing north and west because they are more likely to end up covered in snow.
UDOT spokesman John Gleason said it costs about $250 for the materials needed to install the system on one traffic signal head. That doesn't include the cost of labor needed to install the wiring. The money for the project is coming from the money set aside by the agency to handle traffic signal maintenance.
Heat tape only draws 3.75 amps at the beginning and levels off at 1.1 amps once it's been running for a while, which equates to about a little less than $3 to operate one traffic signal head over a span of 24 hours, Gleason added.
Agency officials added Tuesday that crews will continue to install more heat tape systems in the future. There are currently 67 intersections across the state slated to be upgraded later this year.
Contributing: Heather Kelly
