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Existing pole location When the only change is addition of an APS, existing pole location at the intersection often restricts the location of APS components, such as pushbuttons, speakers, and tactile arrows, which can affect the device features needed. Location of pushbuttons and tactile arrows and location of speakers must be carefully engineered to provide accessible and usable information to pedestrians with disabilities.
If there are no poles at the recommended locations, in retrofit situations, options to consider, in order of decreasing desirability (from the standpoint of ambiguity), include:
2. Use of pedhead mounted speakers, possibly with mast arms or other provision to locate the WALK tone speakers as near to the associated crosswalk as possible 3. Two APS on a pole with speech messages (see recommended characteristics; see recommended wording of speech messages)
Repositioning pedestrian signals and poles or the addition of stub poles Repositioning poles may be considered a major change in some renovation projects, but may be less difficult when the addition of the APS is part of the upgrading of the curb ramp. The optimal choice is positioning speakers and pushbuttons on poles that are located closest to the crosswalk. Possible ways to accomplish this should be strongly considered before other options are explored. In some locations, the addition of stub poles may be fairly simple. Jurisdictions seem to have different requirements for the wiring. The wires to pushbuttons are low voltage wires and it may be possible to run the wires in a sawcut to a pushbutton pole installed with bolts. Looking at the wiring and the use of stub poles in unconventional ways may provide solutions to the problems. Positioning pedhead mounted speakers If the pole is not close enough to the crosswalk location, pedhead mounted speakers may be mounted to extend from the pole to provide the appropriate separation of sounds. (See an example.) Provision of the walk information at the proper crossing location, even when pushbutton and poles cannot be relocated, may provide some auditory guidance to the pedestrian who is blind about the crosswalk location. This type of installation may not provide the best location for tactile arrows and signs. If a pushbutton is used, the pushbutton should also provide a locator tone and tactile arrow. In the photo below, the speakers are positioned on the outside of the pedheads, which somewhat separates the sounds, although more separation is preferred. In these photos the speakers are aimed across the street. The speakers may be aimed directly down in most instances. When audible beaconing is needed, the speaker may be aimed toward the center of the street.
Two APS on the same pole Many jurisdictions use a standard design of two pedheads and pushbuttons on one pole. In new or reconstructed intersections, separate poles should be provided at the end of each crosswalk, for the pushbutton to provide unambiguous APS information, and to be maximally useful to all pedestrians. Where two APS pushbuttons are mounted on two separate poles at a corner, their arrows can readily be aligned with each crosswalk. Correct alignment can be difficult to accomplish with two APS on the same pole, particularly at larger radius intersections. If two pushbuttons must be on the same pole, it is essential that speakers be located as close as possible to the pedestrian waiting location and fit the recommendations below for installations of two APS on one pole.
APS at intersections where two APS pushbuttons are on the same pole should have:
Recommended Installation - Two APS on one pole with speech messages
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