Way back(2-3 years) there was either a discussion or a thread about what type of lights the pictures below show. I can't remember if it was ever answered. So here they are; all on the Westside, a series of three all within a quarter mile of each other, two on the same intersection. All of them are where pedestrians go to cross the street. They give off very little light and seem to be very old, but yet seem to still be maintained. There's plently of towering streetlights also nearby.

 

They're quite nice to look at up close. Some ornamental metal. Great textured shade. Looks like something missing on the very top. So who can shed some light on these(pun intended)?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're called island lights.  While I don't think the city is installing them anymore, they're still in the installation documents for lights and signals http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/transeng/downloads/transeng_eps11473.pdf  I believe the purpose isn't so much to light the street, but to "be seen" as an indicator to traffic that there's a raised island.  They'd also help snow plows to avoid the islands as well, especially if there isn't also a pedestrian signal or anything else there.

 

They are also used whenever there is some obstruction in the center of the street, such as a bridge pier.

 

The discussion from several years ago asked about their origin. No one seems to know why we have them in Cincinnati and not anywhere else. I have a challenge - let's see who will be the first to spot one in any other place other than Cincinnati!

 

I have a book that discusses some early traffic control devices. As one would expect, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices was not published the moment that the first car was invented. Every city did it's own thing. The rules that we are so used to - yellow line down the center, white lines on the right edge, red, yellow, and green traffic signals, octagonal stop signs, etc., did not just come into play automatically. When one city tried something and it was successful, other cities copied. Gradually, states adopted uniform standards for the entire state, and then states got together and adopted a common standard. In this book I have are some ideas that didn't make it. One of my favorites is wavy lines painted on the pavement that are supposed to slow traffic down. These were used in Ohio as late as 1930. I have never seen one in Ohio, but I have spotted them in photos of Britain. The United States system has been copied extensively around the world, but there is still no common world standard.

 

Somehow, these Cincinnati orange helmet lights survived all this standardization. This is one of the details that make Cincinnati unique, we think. Did someone in Cincinnati invent these, or were they copied from somewhere else? Do they exist anywhere else in the United States, or in the world for that matter? Where are these things manufactured, if they still are?

One other thing that's relatively unique to Cincinnati is the color scheme of the traffic signals.  Black bodies and visors with yellow doors is virtually unheard of anywhere else.  Yes, some nearby communities do use the same scheme, like Middletown and even Dayton, but it's very unusual anywhere outside southwest Ohio.  It makes sense though.  Only the part of the signal that they want you to see (the face of the doors, in case any signal might be dark due to a burnout or power outage) is yellow, the rest is all black. 

 

Cincinnati also blatantly disregards the MUTCD in at least one area.  This is also related to traffic signals, and it has to do with where they're placed.  Cincinnati regularly hangs the left signal over oncoming traffic, but the MUTCD requires that no signal is farther left than the centerline of the leftmost lane.  If there's a doghouse for a left turn lane, that's supposed to be on the line between the left turn lane and the next through lane to the right.  So why does Cincinnati do this?  I'm not sure.  The two possibilities I can think of are to help cars see the signals around bulky trucks or buses, and also to keep a more balanced loading on the span wire. 

That PDF is helpful.

 

The top is a "Spun Aluminum Canopy". Though it doesn't explain the small metal rod on top of the canopy.

 

Then a "Yellow Globe". Which is really sharp, a design highlight.

 

Standard 202W, 120V, Clear Street Lighting Lamp. 202W is standard? I guess in the world of traffic lighting it is.

 

Then a "3" to 2" Pipe Reducer. I guess that's the brace for the shade holder. Though I don't see that in my photos.

 

The first time I realized that these were unique to Cincinnati was when I found a description of them in John Clubbe's "Cincinnati Observed." The author thought that they resembled German military helmets from WWI.

 

I just spend some time randomly searching traffic islands in other cities for these on Google street view. Not suprisingly, I didn't spot any. I checked Philidelphai and New Orleans.

 

If anyone wants to dig deeper into this, a good place to start might be the Traffic Service's storeroom at 3300 Colerain Avenue; that's where contractors are supposed to pick up the island lights, according to the City Supplement. This information was up to date as of 2005.

 

The discussion from several years ago asked about their origin. No one seems to know why we have them in Cincinnati and not anywhere else. I have a challenge - let's see who will be the first to spot one in any other place other than Cincinnati!

 

They have them in Hartford.

The discussion from several years ago asked about their origin. No one seems to know why we have them in Cincinnati and not anywhere else. I have a challenge - let's see who will be the first to spot one in any other place other than Cincinnati!

 

They have them in Hartford.

 

Show us.

Heh.

Well gee, next time I take my ColDay *BEEP* to Hartford (which will be, ya know, in a long time), I'll skip the whole architecture/gorgeous State Capitol/historic schtick and get some shots of some tiny little yellow lamp shades for ya ;).

 

I just remember seeing several of them in an area southwest of downtown (Puerto Rican area, I believe) and thought "wow, these lamps are here too!"

I figured you could point us to a Google street view that showed them, that's all.

I don't even remember exact locations as I wasn't (and am currently not) familiar with Hartford.  I just remember driving around the city looking at neighborhoods and particularly on the southwest and western areas (Puerto Rican areas) I found those little lamps on the sidewalk corner intersections (not on traffic islands like Cincinnati).

I found this thread via facebook because someone made a page dedicated to the Cincinnati Yellow Lamps:

 

https://www.facebook.com/CincinnatiYellowLamps