# Traffic Control At Roadworks.



## Fargo Wolf (Oct 23, 2009)

At some point or other, we're going to encounter it. Roadworks. This thread is for discussing traffic control at roadworks on 2 lane roads (rural or within town limits), since 2+2 or larger are simply lane closures/contra flow setups, and how traffic is handled in a situation where only half the road is available.

In Canada, it's mostly manual traffic control. Traffic Control Persons (flaggers) are the most common, followed by temporary traffic lights.

I'd love to see how it's handled in other countries. Pics if you have them.


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## g.spinoza (Jul 21, 2010)

I just encountered road works on a beautiful rural 2 lane road in central Italy. The road passes through a narrow gorge, with vertical rocks above it: some of the (very small) rocks fell on the road, thus the corresponding lane was closed. Traffic was regulated by a temporary traffic light: for a minute the traffic is only northbound, the next minute is only southbound.


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## kanterberg (Aug 3, 2009)

g.spinoza said:


> Traffic was regulated by a temporary traffic light: for a minute the traffic is only northbound, the next minute is only southbound.


In Sweden it’s the same way; a temporary traffic light with plenty of warning signs beforehand (but no flaggers). Within town limits it's usually manual. 

Here’s a pic – sorry for the terrible quality.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

In the UK it's half manual, half temporary traffic lights.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

They normally use temporary traffic lights in the Netherlands, unless it's a short job of a few hours, then they hire somebody. But you can't hire two man at € 50 per hour to stand there 24/7. Way too expensive.


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## bogdymol (Feb 4, 2010)

In Romania you can see both manual and temporary traffic lights (the only problem with traffic lights is that many drivers don't respect them).


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

They normally use temporary traffic lights in the Netherlands, unless it's a short job of a few hours, then they hire somebody. But you can't hire two men at € 100 per hour to stand there 24/7. Way too expensive.


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## g.spinoza (Jul 21, 2010)

100€/h for that job? I'm in!!


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

50 per person. But that's not the wage they're receiving, but just the hourly fee the company asks for them.

Many low-tech jobs have an hourly fee of 40 - 50 euros per hour. If you get into the mid-seniority field for college education functions, you're quickly entering € 100 per hour.


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## g.spinoza (Jul 21, 2010)

^^ PhD undergraduates in Italy get 4€/h hno:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Like I said, there is a major difference between the hourly fee the company asks, and the hourly wage the company pays to the employee. It's not uncommon to ask 4 - 5 times more than the employee actually gets as a gross hourly wage.

For example, I know that employment agencies generally ask € 25 per hour for students, while they pay those students only € 8 - 9 per hour. The rest are overhead costs.


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## g.spinoza (Jul 21, 2010)

Aren't police officers supposed to do the job?


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## Fargo Wolf (Oct 23, 2009)

g.spinoza said:


> Aren't police officers supposed to do the job?


Depends on the situation and location. Where I am, police will direct traffic (POORLY) at an MVA, or for a special event or emergency situation (IE evacuation). Once the scene is secure and/or police are no longer needed, flaggers take over.

In the US state of Massachusetts, police direct traffic at major roadworks, and, until recently, minor roadworks as well. Flaggers now take care of minor roadworks.


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## Attus (Jul 9, 2010)

In HUngary we usually have traffic lights. However many drivers think that hey can drive into the one lane section even if the light is red, since if I drive just after the previous car, cars on the opposite site will obviously not start until cars are coming. Following this logic another car will follow the first one and a third one will follow it and 7-8 cars pass the red light. 
It means that at the opposite end I may have a green light but I can't start since the cars that passed the red light block my way and when the last of them leaves the one lane section I have a red light again.


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## nerdly_dood (Mar 23, 2007)

I've only once seen a traffic light used, on a very rural road where a bridge was being worked on, so only half of it was usable. It was, like the vast majority of rural bridges in Virginia, a very short bridge over a little creek. The road has very little traffic, but with the bridge being on a curve you can't see around it, so they used a rare temporary traffic light.


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## Fargo Wolf (Oct 23, 2009)

Very interesting. Seems temporary lights are the most popular.


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