Carmanah R920 RRFBs are installed to improve pedestrian access at the entrance to a park in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
Four R920 Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) were installed to a dangerous mid-block crossing on King Boulevard in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The installation of these RRFBs aimed to improve pedestrian access at the entrance to a park situated on a road with high traffic and higher than average speeds. The solar-powered beacons were chosen for their cost-savings and proven safety benefits. Costs were reduced by eliminating trenching and not having to run power to the destination. The installation crew noted that their fourth and final RRFB only took around 25 minutes to install, start to finish. The new crosswalk beacons bring a higher awareness to the crossing locations themselves, let vehicular traffic know that somebody is crossing, and make pedestrians a little more comfortable crossing the road.
Main challenges:
- A high volume of vehicle traffic
- Higher than the average vehicle speed
- Pedestrians use this location to crossing into a public park
RRFB was chosen because:
- Research showing success for RRFB technology: wanted to drive more attention to crossing location of pedestrians
- Reduce costs by not having to run power to the location (using a solar-powered system)
- The flexibility of mounting options that further reduced costs
- Very easy installation
