Again yesterday, the Star Tribune reported that the $2 million shift in cuts
will "force deeper cuts in street and traffic-light budgets."

This post reminded me of something -- I wonder how much it costs to operate a traffic signal at an intersection? 
        - I understand that the standard equipment itself costs about $60,000.  Assuming it lasts 30 years, that figures out to about $2/day just to pay for the light itself.
        - paying the workers to install one -- I'd guess at least $3,000-$4,000.  About $.10-$.15 per day.
        - light bulbs -- about 12 total, no idea what they cost.  But since they flick on and off constantly, I expect they have to be replaced fairly often.  And there's the cost of someone to replace them, and the truck & hydraulic lift needed by that worker.
        - electricity to run those bulbs -- they seem fairly bright, I'd guess at least 4 at 75 watts each.
Overall, I'd estimate that each traffic signal costs around $4-$5/day to operate. 
Anybody know how many there are in the City of Minneapolis?

It seems to me that there are TOO many.  I know of several lights where I question the need for them.  Given the current City financial crisis, we could save money by pulling out these unneeded traffic signals and saving the equipment for future use, or even selling it to the suburbs. 
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Here's my list of possibly unneeded traffic signals in Minneapolis.  Anybody have ones to add?
 - the "temporary" signal at 34th Ave S & 46th St, added during Hwy 55 construction detours, but never removed.
 - the triggered signal at 28th Ave S & 44th St. (This may be related to people crossing 28th St to get to the Lake Hiawatha beach park, but I'm not sure why a traffic signal is needed.  Wouldn't a crosswalk work just as well?  Since the light is green to 28th Ave nearly all the time, drivers tend to ignore it.  While waiting for the bus, it's not uncommon to see cars run right thru it.)
 - the new signal light where 3rd Ave S. dead-ends into 1st St at the Main Post Office.  This was added not too long ago, and I don't see why.  This doesn't seem that busy an intersection, and there is a signal light at the next block each direction anyway.  

Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson

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