PRODUCTS / PORTABLE TRAFFIC SIGNALS
Portable Traffic Signals
Trailer-mounted temporary signals for one-lane, two-way operations.
When a two-lane road narrows to one, somebody has to decide whose turn it is. For decades that meant two flaggers, two radios and a great deal of trust. A portable traffic signal does the same job with a pair of trailer-mounted heads and a controller — and takes the people out of the live lane.
The economics follow the duration. A flagging pair is cheaper for an afternoon; a signal is cheaper by the second week, and it does not get tired, distracted or rained off. For night work, long-duration closures and sight-distance-limited stretches, it is frequently the safer option outright.
A-1 Barricades rents portable traffic signals across the Chattanooga area for bridge and culvert work, slide repair, paving, and utility cuts that hold a lane for days rather than hours.
What's in this category
- Trailer-mounted signal pairs
- Two self-contained heads on towable trailers, positioned at each end of the one-lane section and linked so they can never both show green.
- Controllers
- Fixed-time, vehicle-actuated and manual-override control. Actuated units use radar or detection to skip an empty approach rather than holding traffic against nothing.
- Radio link
- Wireless communication between the heads, so no cable is run across the work — the usual arrangement on anything longer than a short section.
- Solar and battery power
- Solar arrays with battery reserve sized to run through overcast stretches, so the signal does not depend on a generator or a site feed.
- Advance warning sign packages
- ONE LANE ROAD AHEAD, SIGNAL AHEAD and BE PREPARED TO STOP signs on stands — the signing that has to be in place before the signal means anything to an approaching driver.
HOW TO CHOOSE
Getting it right
The clearance interval is the whole design
Everything else about a portable signal is convenience; the all-red clearance is the safety case. It has to be long enough for the slowest vehicle that entered on the last green to clear the entire one-lane section before the opposing side turns green. Set it from the measured length of the section and the realistic speed through it — not from a default in the controller. Get it short and you have arranged for two vehicles to meet in a lane built for one.
A signal does not replace the plan or the approval
Portable traffic control signals operate on public roadways under the MUTCD and require the approval of the agency with jurisdiction — TDOT on state routes, the city or county elsewhere. That normally means an approved traffic-control plan showing signal positions, advance signing and timing. We supply and deliver the equipment; the approval is between you and the agency, and it is worth starting early.
Where a signal beats a flagger — and where it does not
Signals win on duration, at night, in poor weather, on low-volume roads and anywhere sight distance makes flagging hazardous, because they are consistent and because nobody is standing in the lane. Flaggers still win where the geometry changes hour to hour, where driveways and side streets need judgement, and where equipment crosses the open lane on no fixed schedule. Plenty of jobs use both — a signal on the main section, a flagger at the access point.
AREAS SERVED
Where we work
Southeast Tennessee
- Chattanooga
- East Ridge
- Red Bank
- Soddy-Daisy
- Signal Mountain
- Hixson
- Ooltewah
- Collegedale
- Cleveland
- Dayton
- Jasper
Northwest Georgia
- Fort Oglethorpe
- Ringgold
- Dalton
- LaFayette
- Chickamauga
- Trenton
Northeast Alabama
- Bridgeport
- Stevenson
- Scottsboro
FAQ
Portable Traffic Signals questions
- What is a portable traffic signal?
- A pair of trailer-mounted traffic signal heads with a shared controller, used to run alternating one-way traffic through a section of road that has been narrowed to a single lane. The heads are interlocked so both can never show green, and they are positioned at each end of the one-lane section with advance warning signs on the approaches.
- When should I use a portable traffic signal instead of flaggers?
- Duration and exposure are the deciding factors. Signals are the stronger choice on multi-day and multi-week closures, on night work, in bad weather, on low-volume roads where flaggers spend most of a shift waiting, and anywhere sight distance makes standing in the road hazardous. Flaggers remain better where the site geometry changes constantly or where drivers need human judgement — construction traffic crossing the open lane, active driveways, changing access.
- Do I need approval to use a portable traffic signal?
- Yes. Portable traffic control signals on public roadways fall under the MUTCD and require approval from the agency with jurisdiction — the Tennessee Department of Transportation on state routes, the city or county on local roads. Expect to submit a traffic-control plan showing signal placement, advance signing and the timing you intend to run. Start that process before your dates rather than alongside them.
- How are portable traffic signals powered?
- Solar, with a battery reserve sized to carry the unit through overcast stretches and long nights. That is what makes them practical on rural and bridge work where there is no power to tap and running a generator for weeks is neither cheap nor quiet.
- Can I rent portable traffic signals in Chattanooga?
- Yes — portable signals are rented by the job across the Chattanooga tri-state area and delivered on our own trucks. Call (423) 265-3054 with the length of the one-lane section, the approach speeds, your dates, and whichever agency has jurisdiction over the road.
Need gear on site?
Call for a quote, to reserve rentals, or to check stock. The people who answer the phone know the equipment.