By the middle of this month, the City of Plano will begin installing a new system for operating traffic signals called Flashing Yellow Arrow (FYA) signals.

The first installation will occur at the intersection of McDermott Drive and Ohio Drive. The new signals will be used instead of the steady green or yellow lights for left-hand turns. These flashing yellow arrow signals tell drivers that left-turns are permitted but that they must yield to oncoming traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists.

The installations of FYAs are part of a nationwide safety standard initiated after studies indicated these flashing signals significantly reduced the occurrence of automobile accidents. Other benefits of the flashing yellow arrows include: decreased wait times at intersections, they are already in use in several neighboring cities, helps drivers make fewer unsafe decisions when turning left. Put simply, flashing yellow arrows mean turn with caution!

Here’s how the new traffic signals will work: motorists making a left-turn at an intersection will have one of four options based on the color of the light and if it is blinking or not:

1. Steady Red Arrow – driver must stop.

2. Steady Yellow Arrow – left-turn signal is about to change to red; prepare to stop, or complete the left-turn if the car is already in the intersection.

3. Flashing Yellow Arrow – left-turns are permitted after yielding to oncoming traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists.

4. Steady Green Arrow – it’s safe to make a protected left-turn.

Plano will gradually install flashing yellow arrows at selected intersections over the course of the next few years.

For more information about flashing yellow arrows and their installation, please contact Plano Transportation Engineering Manager Lloyd Neal at 972-941-7152 or click here.

Story courtesy of the City of Plano