Shrink Wrap
You may have noticed that some traffic controller cabinets are wrapped in a kind of plastic with various scenery. This "shrink wrap" of the traffic controllers almost eliminated the graffiti issue. Maple Ridge plans to wrap all the traffic controllers.
Bulbs
The City-maintained traffic lights all use LED traffic "bulbs," which use only 10 watts of energy compared with the 69 watts that the typical incandescent type uses.
Vehicle Detection
There are two ways to detect vehicles: metal detection or video detection.
- In the case of metal detection, there is a wire loop buried in the pavement in each lane located next to the stop bar. When a vehicle (metal) stops at the stop bar, the loop picks up the signal and the controller "knows" that a vehicle waits to cross the road.
- Thirty-three of our intersections have video detection. The detection is done by the software that monitors the change in the pixels of each camera. There is no video recording, though.
Please note: The way the traffic light "knows" when to change from red to green is by pressing one of the push buttons, or by detecting vehicles stopped at the stop bar. If the vehicle passes the stop bar, the controller "thinks" the vehicle went by (turned right for instance), and does not change the light.
Red Light Cameras
Red light cameras are installed and maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways. The City only supplies the hydro power to the equipment, nothing else. There are three red light cameras:
- Lougheed Highway at Dewdney Trunk Road, for east bound traffic
- Lougheed Highway at 203 Street, for east bound traffic
- Lougheed Highway at 207 Street, for west bound traffic
The Ministry of Transportation and Highways does not have video detection on any traffic lights in Maple Ridge.
Reporting Issues
Report any traffic light issues for City-maintained lights to the Operations Centre at 604-463-9581. Issues with the ones maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways can be reported to 604-660-8300.