Trevor Eltringham is one of those fortunate individuals who gets to apply his childhood fascination to his job at the Arizona Department of Transportation.

 As Signals, Lights and Technical Electrical (SLATE) Northwestern Regional Manager, Eltringham is in charge of maintaining 1,800 lights and 155 traffic signals for one-third of the state. Two other regional managers handle other areas of Arizona.

As a youngster growing up in Yarnell, Eltringham developed an interest in electricity that probably started at home with his father, a retired electrical engineer.

“I was drawn to it,” he said. “It was intriguing to see how electricity moved things and made things run. I was just attracted to that.”

Today, Eltringham oversees four area supervisors and eight technicians based in district offices in Yuma, Kingman, Payson and Prescott Valley.

To get a sense of the size of their territory, look at the red slashes on the map in this post. The area stretches from the international Mexican border to the Nevada state line.

“There is a lot of traveling, but we do just fine,” he said. “If the Kingman office gets a call about about an outage in Mohave, that’s a two-hour drive.”

ADOT is continually installing and utilizing technology that allows techs to verify, diagnose and temporarily repair issues remotely, before they travel the distance to make hands-on fixes. 

For example, ADOT recently updated traffic management technology along a 13-mile stretch of State Route 95 in Lake Havusu City.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure the safe passage of the traveling public,” he said. “The quicker we can do that remotely, the better off the public is.”

On a recent Monday in August, Eltringham was pleased to report that only 15 of the 1,800 lights were having issues.

“We pride ourselves in keeping everything up and running,” he said.  

Eltringham has held every position he now oversees. He has logged more than 17 years with ADOT, starting as a technician or “tech,” in 1996, which meant he was in the field, maintaining and repairing traffic lighting and signals.

Eltringham’s supervisor, Bob LaJeunesse, Resident Engineer of the Northwest District, couldn’t be more pleased with his performance.

“Trevor is one of ADOT's finest and best and a true joy to work with. He manages the traffic signal and lighting maintenance for a very large part of the state,” LaJeunesse said.

“He is respected equally by those above and below him both for his technical ability and the way he relates to people. He is always positive and encourages. Trevor makes the job of being his supervisor an enjoyable experience.”

For his part, Eltringham said he loves his job because he appreciates both the culture and mission of ADOT.

 “I like being part of the bigger picture, being part of a group that can make a difference,” Eltringham said. “We have our hands on the outcomes of signal and lighting systems. We make a difference in the lives of the motoring public.”

Red means STOP!

It’s the rule of the road most of us were taught first, long before we ever learned to drive.

Simple and straightforward, a red light means you’ve got to stop (and stay stopped for as long as the light stays red). That applies whether you’re driving a vehicle, riding a bicycle or walking…

Unfortunately, red-light running is an issue across the country, and the consequences can be deadly. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that in 2013, 697 people nationwide were killed in crashes that involved red-light running. According to the Federal Highway Association, an estimated 165,000 people are injured annually by red-light running.

ADOT’s 2014 Crash Facts Report shows that there were at least 26 fatal crashes in Arizona last year in which drivers were cited for disregarding a traffic signal, such as running a red light, and 20 additional fatal crashes when drivers were cited for ignoring a stop sign. There were at least 2,653 crashes that resulted in injuries because a driver failed to stop at a red light or a stop sign.

Those numbers are why National Stop on Red Week takes place the first week of August every year to bring attention to this serious safety issue.

For our part, we’d like to remind everyone to pay attention and focus on safe driving behaviors on the road. That includes stopping at red lights and stop signs, buckling up, obeying speed limits, avoiding distractions and never driving while impaired.

By obeying traffic signals, you’re not only keeping yourself and others safe, you’re also saving time and money.

If you run a red light (or a flashing red light) and receive a traffic citation, upon conviction of that violation you will be required to attend Traffic Survival School (TSS). MVD is required by law to order the completion of TSS for every red light conviction reported by the courts. Failure to complete the course results in an indefinite suspension of your driving privilege. You can read more about the penalties and fines associated with red-light running on our website.

Finally, since we’re on the subject of traffic signals, you might want to review what the different lights indicate. For example, a yellow light does NOT mean you should speed up to “beat the light” – that’s actually illegal and can cause a crash. For a refresher on what each light, arrow and flashing signal mean, take a look at this section from the Arizona Driver License Manual.

“Crashes caused by drivers who ignore red lights and stop signs are among the easiest to prevent,” Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski said at the start of National Stop on Red Week. “All it takes is for drivers to slow down, put distractions away and remember that red means stop.”

Acrophobia, also known as a fear of heights, apparently isn’t something the man in this photo suffers from…

Working to replace a light bulb, this (we assume) ADOT employee actually looks rather comfortable suspended several feet in the air.

The photo was taken in December 1978 and, according to our notes, was snapped on I-15 near the Cedar Pocket exit.

You might remember we recently featured a vehicle that looks very similar to the one in this picture. The modern bucket truck is used primarily by ADOT’s Signal and Lighting crews to repair and maintain traffic signals and lights – same as it was 35 years ago!

Nowadays, ADOT crews wear a full-body harness and hard hat before getting lifted (it’s difficult to tell from this photo if that was the case back then). Today’s crews also go out in twos when operating a bucket truck – one person operates an arrow board/attenuator truck (to warn traffic) and one will be in the bucket making repairs to the light or signal.

It’s safe to say things have changed since 1912 when the Arizona Highway Department was first established. But you don’t just have to take our word … we’ve got plenty of pictures to prove it. We combed through our archives and decided to periodically post these photos from the past in a blog series we’re calling, “From the ADOT Archives.”

With more than 6,000 miles of highway to oversee and maintain, ADOT relies on its fleet of trusty vehicles to help get the job done. We’re not referring to your everyday trucks and sedans – we are talking about heavy-duty equipment, designed and built to perform some enormous tasks.

Because these vehicles play such an integral role in ADOT’s everyday operations, we thought it’d be fitting to highlight some of them here on the blog.

So, let’s get things started by introducing you to ADOT’s bucket trucks…

Extending up to 45 feet, these trucks are used primarily by ADOT’s Signal and Lighting crews to repair and maintain traffic signals and lights.

The bucket truck is used to repair traffic signals, freeway lights (the shorter poles) and the lights that shine underneath bridge decks.

The bucket trucks have compartments used for supplies.

By the way, there is also a larger bucket truck available that’s used to work on the taller freeway light poles – it reaches 68 feet.

Before an ADOT crew member can get in the bucket and head on up, they have to stay safe and put on a full-body harness and a hard hat. Also, before the bucket will elevate, a couple of stabilizers extend out of the sides of the truck (kind of like hydraulic kick stands) to keep things nice and steady.

Another safety factor – two crew members go out with these trucks. One person operates an arrow board/attenuator truck (to warn traffic) and one will be up in the bucket making repairs to the light or signal.

One more thing about these trucks is that they have several compartments that allow crews to carry along all the supplies necessary to make a repair.

You can learn more about ADOT’s Signals and Lighting crews, by reading some of our previous posts. And, be sure to stay tuned for upcoming blog posts about the Vehicles of ADOT.

ADOT’s efforts to ease some of the stop-and-go traffic on Grand Avenue have been pretty successful so far, but you don’t have to just take our word – we’ve got the results to prove it!

Before we reveal those findings, let’s back things up a bit first … 

You may recall this blog post from a few weeks ago. In it we described how ADOT worked with the cities of Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, El Mirage, Surprise and Youngtown, as well as Maricopa County, on a project to coordinate traffic signal timing at a total of 36 Grand Avenue intersections.

The signals were synched, or coordinated, to improve the flow of southeast-bound traffic during weekday mornings and to assist northwest-bound traffic during the afternoon.

Basically, the idea was to reduce the number of red lights drivers come across during their rush-hour commutes.

Drivers may have quickly noticed the difference, but ADOT wanted to quantify those results and measure how much of an improvement was made. A study on the corridor just wrapped up and judging by the results, it seems the impact has been considerable.

In fact, the average travel time has been reduced by 15 percent in the morning (for traffic heading southeast) and 20 percent in the evening (for motorists driving northwest). That equates to a roughly seven-minute saving for commuters who drive the entire corridor in the morning and a ten-minute savings for afternoon drivers!

On top of that, the average number of stops for a driver traveling the entire corridor was reduced from roughly 16 to 10 in the morning and from 21 to 9 in the afternoon. The study also shows that motorists in the morning and evening experienced an average increase in speed by about five miles per hour.

In addition to the time savings, the study found that vehicles saw decreases in fuel consumption and emissions.

How the study was conducted 
Data was collected both before and after the Grand Avenue signals were coordinated. ADOT consultants did this by completing six travel time runs in both directions (northwest and southeast) during the morning, afternoon and evening peak traffic periods.

All the measurements were taken on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays over a two-week period. The “before” times were taken in October/November and the “after” times were recorded in mid-January.

To complete a travel time run, test drivers started at one end of the corridor and drove all the way to the other end. To ensure the cars were essentially traveling the median speed, drivers were instructed to pass one vehicle for each vehicle that passed them.

In order to gather the data, each car was equipped with a GPS device (smart phone or tablet). The GPS data was recorded using an application designed for calculating travel time information.

ADOT Phoenix Maintenance District Engineer Tim Wolfe says the project and study proves signal coordination can make a significant difference.

“We were certainly pleased by the improvements,” Wolfe said.