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Traffic light
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=== Mounting and placement === <gallery mode="nolines" widths="160"> File:Part time traffic lights on the Pialligo Avenue.jpg|Part time pole/pedestal-mounted traffic lights in [[Canberra]], Australia File:Traffic lights and vehicular transportation in Ekiti State. 05.jpg|Mast-arm traffic lights in [[Ekiti State]], Nigeria File:Taiyuan Road shops and pedestrian overpass 20100622.jpg|Horizontal traffic lights mounted on a footbridge in [[Taipei]], Taiwan File:Dummy Light.jpg|A dummy light in [[Canajoharie (village), New York|Canajoharie]], New York. It was removed in 2021.<ref name="RECORDER">[https://www.recordernews.com/news/local-news/203892 '''''The Recorder''''', ''Village of Canajoharie to permanently move historic dummy light out of Wagner Square'', Shenandoah Briere, August 10, 2022] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710165750/https://www.recordernews.com/news/local-news/203892 |date=10 July 2023 }}, Retrieved Jul. 10, 2023.</ref> </gallery> The MUTCD identifies five types of traffic light mounts. On pedestals, signal heads are mounted on a single pole. This is the normal installation method for the UK.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Buckholz |first=Jeffrey W. |url=https://www.cedengineering.com/userfiles/Traffic%20Signal%20Supports%20-R1.pdf |title=Traffic Signal Supports, Indications and Signing |publisher=CED Engineering |location=Woodcliff Lake, NJ}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> On mast arms, signal heads are mounted on a rigid arm over the road protuding from the pole. On strained poles, signals are suspended over a roadway on a wire, attached to poles at opposite kerbs. This is the most common installation method in the United States. Unipoles are similar to strain poles, but a single structure over the road, rather than two poles linked with wire. Signals can be attached to existing structures such as an overpass.<ref name=":9" /> Dummy lights are traffic signs located in the centre of a junction, which operate on a fixed cycle. These have generally been decommissioned due to safety concerns. A number remain due to historic value.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Dummy Forever! |url=https://www.crotonfriendsofhistory.org/dummy-forever |access-date=18 December 2021 |website=Croton Friends of History |language=en-US}}</ref> Signals can either be placed nearside β between the stop line and the kerbline of the intersecting road β or farside β on the opposite side of the junction. In European countries, signals are often placed on the nearside.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |date=30 April 2021 |title=Near Side Signals: Thinking Outside the Pedestrian Box |url=https://streets.mn/2021/04/30/thinking-outside-the-pedestrian-box/ |access-date=4 February 2023 |website=Streets.mn |language=en-US}}</ref> In the UK, at least two signal heads are required, known as the primary and secondary heads, one of which is normally nearside and the other of which could be nearside or farside.<ref name=":1" /> In the US, signals are normally located farside, though in some states, nearside signals are also used. Nearside signals can be beneficial to road safety, as drivers have more time to see a red light and are less likely to encroach on pedestrian crossings.<ref name=":10" />
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