Safe Sightings of Signs & Signals

Automated Traffic Signal Sight Distance Checks

The City of Walnut Creek is our new winner of the national Build a Better Mousetrap (BABM) competition, receiving the award for developing "Safe Sightings of Signs & Signals" (SSOSS), a low-cost, highly automated new approach to checking traffic signal sight clearance, per MUTCD rerquirements.

When traffic signals are obstructed or not clearly visible, it can lead to limited reaction times, confusion, collisions, and other safety hazards. By automating the assessment of traffic signal visibility, the software saves time, increases accuracy, and significantly reduces the risk of error and danger to personnel. SSOSS is an open-source software solution that can be used by agencies to replicate this process and achieve similar results in terms of time and cost savings.

Previously, conducting sight distance checks could take 15 to 45 minutes per intersection. But with SSOSS, all 100 of the city's intersections—about 350 approaches—can be checked for sight distance in a single day without anyone getting out of their car! Moreover, this solution offers a proactive approach to ensuring traffic signals are visible to drivers, rather than a reactive approach that may leave traffic signals obstructed for longer than necessary.

BABM is a national recognition program that highlights locally relevant innovations by providing a platform to share solutions to everyday challenges that transportation professionals encounter on local roads. These solutions range from the development of new project delivery or design processes to the invention of new tools, equipment, or modifications that increase efficiency, enhance safety, reduce cost, and/or improve the quality of transportation on local roads.

Have an innovation you'd like to share with your sister agencies in California or across the nation? Contact us to apply for next year's competition … we're always looking to showcase great ideas from our local agency partners.