Newport Beach may green light blackout backup

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- State law’s clear on what drivers must do when

traffic lights go out: They need to treat the dark signals as stop signs.

But not everyone remembers, or follows, this rule and possible

blackouts could lead to accidents at the city’s intersections.

That’s why city officials are expected to set aside at least $100,000

to install battery backup systems that are designed to prevent such

confusion.

Council members, who discussed the plan last week and will again take

up the issue at their July 10 meeting, said it was worth spending the

money.

“It’s a safety issue,” said Councilman Tod Ridgeway on Monday. “Even

though the law says, ‘You must stop,’ people have shown themselves not to

know the law, and it’s better to be on the safe side.”

Backup systems that keep red lights flashing during power outages cost

about $3,500 per intersection and can be installed in four to six weeks,

according to city officials.

An alternative, which keeps traffic signals functioning regularly,

comes to about $8,000. That’s because this version requires

light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, instead of the older incandescent bulbs.

While many of the city’s traffic signals already have red LEDs, the green

lights would also have to be replaced. Because LED supplies are limited,

installing these systems could take up to 10 weeks.

To put the latter system in all of the city’s intersections -- Newport

Beach operates 75, while Caltrans takes care of 35 -- would probably cost

more than $700,000, Rich Edmonston, the city’s transportation and

development services manager, wrote in a report.

On Monday, Edmonston said a third backup system may make it possible

to keep signals fully functioning without replacing the old bulbs with

LEDs. But he added that he was still trying to figure out the long-term

costs for the July 10 meeting.

Like Ridgeway, Mayor Gary Adams said he’d at least like to see this

system brought to the city’s major intersections along Coast Highway,

MacArthur and Newport boulevards, and Jamboree Road.

“I’m not sure how much a flashing red [light] operation really does

for us” to keep traffic moving smoothly during blackouts, Adams said.

“When the power goes down, we really don’t have all the tools we need.”

Caltrans officials are apparently planning to install backup systems

at intersections throughout Orange County this summer if they can receive

adequate funding, according to Edmonston’s report.

But it’s unclear when, and if, Caltrans would install them in Newport

Beach, Edmonston wrote. He added that if city officials decide to install

backup systems in signals operated by Caltrans, the state agency plans to

return the systems to Newport Beach once they put in their own.

Caltrans officials could not be reached for comment Monday.