The folks at Ramsey County called me a few weeks ago wanting a proposal for signal warrant analyses done at three intersections. They asked for the typical analysis (Minnesota style) of 48 hour approach counts and peak hour turning movement counts to factor down the right turn volumes.
I told them we’re not fans of doing tube counts during snow plowing season and that we charge a premium for this type of analysis in the winter. I proposed a cheaper alternate – doing a 6 am to 8 pm turning movement count and partially factoring out the actual right turns instead of making estimates. This is an acceptable way to do the analysis per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
They recently bought the COUNTcam system from us and realized they could do the turning movement counts in house, where they originally came to me because they didn’t want to put out tube counters. So they did the counts and analysis themselves.
I’m often a good consultant. So good, I often talk myself out of work.
