How Does That Work?

Traffic light outages are joint effort between OPPD, city

When storms strike and cause power outages in the Omaha metro area, it can also mean traffic light outages.

As drivers cautiously navigate the affected traffic signals, they may wonder one thing: “Who fixes these things?”

There’s two causes for a traffic signal to malfunction.

• Traffic lights switch to flashing mode when they receive a surge in power, which sends them into protection mode. When this happens, the city must reset them at the controller, said Steve Fanslau, director, Customer Services Government Infrastructure at OPPD.
• When the traffic light is completely dark, that’s when OPPD crews must go to the power source and make repairs, Fanslau said.

So the next time you’re navigating blinking or darkened traffic signals you’ll know who is on the way to fix the traffic light outages.

No matter which situation you encounter with traffic signals, remember to be cautious while driving. Law enforcement officials remind motorists to treat traffic lights as four-way stop signs when they are completely darkened or flashing. Below is a graphic that breaks down the rules.