Mystery of the lofty red light revealed

Jim Foti

The red light near the Stone Arch Bridge

Roadguy found it curious that members of the traveling public were being asked to monitor a bit of infrastructure. What happens if the red light goes on while nobody's looking?

By Jim Foti, Star Tribune

Last update: July 5, 2009 - 11:07 PM

Many of the thousands of people who walked or drove into downtown Minneapolis over the holiday weekend kept their eyes on the fireworks. But at one intersection, they were asked to watch for a glow much closer to the ground.

A few blocks from the Stone Arch Bridge, a chain-link fence blocks off a portion of the sidewalk at Portland and Washington Avenues, and parking has been banned along the curb. Inside the enclosure, large pipes jut out of the concrete and connect at an odd angle, and the sound of rushing water can be heard. On three sides, mysterious signs say, "If red light is on, please call ..." and offer a phone number.

Above it all, on a wooden utility pole, is the red light.

This isn't something Roadguy has seen very often around town, and he found it curious that members of the traveling public were being asked to monitor a bit of infrastructure. What happens if the red light goes on while nobody's looking? World War III?

No, nothing so dire, says city spokesman Matt Laible. Below the street is a pump that's removing water from soil around a sewer pipe in preparation for repairs. Disaster would not strike if the pump stopped, but the city would prefer that it keep doing its thing so the work can proceed, he said, and signs are cheaper than assigning city staffers to check on it.

So if you're driving by and see the red light, do your civic duty and make the call. Your fellow citizens will thank you even more if you pull over before you dial.

See-through sound barriers

Noise walls along freeways tend to make homeowners happy, but drivers aren't always wild about the blocked views. Roadguy recently heard from motorists who were pleased that transparent sound barriers have been installed on Interstate 35W where it crosses Minnehaha Parkway, so folks zooming by can get a glimpse of the greenery below.

I'm all for scenery, but when I've seen such barriers, I've often wanted to stop and get out the Windex -- freeways aren't the cleanest of places, as anyone with a windshield knows.

The clear acrylic walls on 35W won't have built-in sprayers, but Steve Barrett, a project engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said they can be pressure-washed.

"Dirt will not readily adhere to this polished surface," the manufacturer's website says. "As a result, rain or the dew that frequently forms at night will rinse the sheet clean. In most cases, Paraglas Soundstop needs no additional cleaning."

We don't get a lot of dew around here in January, so we'll have to see whether the parkway views fade during the winter.

Roadguy on camera

Speaking of the Crosstown construction zone, its ever-changing lane markings are the subject of this week's Roadguy video, available this morning on StarTribune.com.

Jim Foti • 612-673-4491

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