The Connection

The 2x3 foot gray bucket slowly rises 17 feet toward the traffic light at Prince Street and Alfred in Old Town. Alvin Jefferson, a signal tech for the City of Alexandria, has strapped on his safety helmet, snapped on his red safety harness and hooked it onto the bucket. He is retrofitting Alexandria traffic signals with LED lights as part of the city's program to have all 250 signals completed by the end of the year. Matt Melkerson, division chief of traffic operations, says LED lights are more energy efficient and will save the city a lot of money on maintenance costs. Instead of changing bulbs every year and a half, the new LED bulbs are supposed to last at least five years and maybe longer. This frees the workers up to do other things. "In addition, it reduces the time when our workers are up in the air and exposed to traffic hazards."

Jefferson will remove the old 150-watt bulb, reflector and lens and replace it with a new one-unit 10-watt LED light. Jefferson says that depending on the intersection, maybe they can do 2-3 a day. "See, look this intersection has six signal heads in one direction but big intersections have a boatload of signal heads." A day can be unpredictable because, he explains, he is also on call to fix malfunctions that is "just part of the job." It could be a bad push button, green lights in all directions, a yellow light that goes on blinking too long or a Ped (pedestrian) Walk sign that has the wrong timing. "It should be about 3 or 4 seconds, I think, for every two steps," Ronnie Campbell, another signal tech, said.

A work truck had been parked across the street and surrounded with orange cones to alert oncoming drivers that the lanes would narrow down to one lane across the street. Cliff Hampton with traffic control stands beside the truck to signal drivers and wave pedestrians around the bucket truck. Campbell said, "You have to take three levels of two-day courses to become certified to set up a work zone. You learn about the traffic signals, the technology, how things have changed and standards to work in a safe environment. It's all about safety." In addition, a boom truck safety training course is required to work with boom vehicles. "They teach you things like what to do if your bucket becomes disengaged. It doesn't just fall out of the air."

Thirty minutes have passed, and the bucket is maneuvered back down to the truck. Jefferson unloads the old parts and grabs the 12" LED replacements. Up he goes again to finish this part of the intersection. Campbell points out this bucket has a 200-pound capacity. "If you weigh more than that, they make you lose weight. Again, it's all about safety." Jefferson has been with the Traffic Operations Division for 17 years. His hours are 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. five days a week. In addition, he is on rotating call duty 7 days a week from Friday to Friday for emergencies. "Sometimes I just have to tell my wife I can't do what we had planned. And I drive in from Maryland in the middle of the night."

While Jefferson finishes the LED installation, Campbell walks over to the corner and unlocks a large metal box, attached to a post. His tiny key opens the door to reveal a maze of wires and boxes. "This is the conflict monitor. Every corner with a signal has one." If there is a problem with lights at this intersection, the answer lies inside the "brains" in the box. Jefferson explains that's one reason he loves his job. "Every day is a challenge. When there is a malfunction at a box, I take a seat back, scratch my head and ask what is the problem. You want to hurry up and get that intersection up and running. I am responsible for these four corners."

The five-foot arm with bucket is tucked back in the truck. This intersection is completed. "No calls about malfunctions. On to the next intersection."