Stop light (right)
and luminous nails
Marshals Hopper
Stop light (right)
and luminous nails
Champerret tunnel
SIGNALING OF COVERED TRENCHES
The circulation of cars could be prohibited by means of stop lights with red lenses, placed at the entrance to cut-and-covers and hoppers. They were triggered either by alarm pulls used by users in the event of an accident, or automatically in the event of a power failure and in this case they were powered by batteries.
The beaconing of the ways of the covered trenches was carried out by means of luminous nails placed in the center of the roadway at the entrances, and on both sides of the walls inside.
exemplaires conservés au LER
EVR Electro-Matic
1936
manual regulator
1921
CONTROLLERS
1920 - 1930
crossroads with pedestrian signals
Salas manufacturer
1930s
pedestrian crosswalk boulevard des Invalides
1932
When it was not possible to set up a refuge equipped with high bollards, mainly because the roadway was too narrow, masts equipped at their top with a luminous panel, and at their base with a projector were installed. on either side of a zebra crossing.
The projector was directed towards the nails and thus made it possible to highlight them.
In the same way as for lights intended for vehicles, lighting signals for pedestrians gradually appeared during the 1930s, first integrated into repeaters for automobiles, then in the form of boxes successively displaying the words "WAIT" and "GO".
SIGNALING OF PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS
modèle A.Durenne
1937
Quai des Tuileries
1938
around 1925
Urban obstacles (sidewalk curbs, bends, road limits, etc.) began to be marked with fixed or flashing bollards during the 1920s.
These terminals were most often low, fixed at ground level.
SIGNALING OF OBSTACLES
1925
1923
Rubber bollard experiment, 1932
archives Le Petit Parisien
First cast iron and gas models, 1929
It was during the 1930s that the first refuges for pedestrians appeared. Installed on the main boulevards more than 12 m wide, these refuges are installed in the middle of the roadway, at the level of a zebra crossing, and allow pedestrians to take refuge there between two passages of vehicles. These refuges are framed by two luminous bollards called refuge bollards or high bollards.
These bollards are made of cast iron, and are lit at their top by a gas flame or by an electric lamp which also illuminates the entire barrel by reflection. 1300 terminals were in place in Paris in 1939, including 800 gas and 560 electricity.
Due to their location in the middle of the traffic lanes, it regularly happened that these bollards were struck by vehicles. Experiments with flexible rubber terminals took place in 1932.
REFUGE BOUNDARIES
Faubourg Montmartre, 1927
REINFORCED SIGNS FOR PROHIBITED DIRECTIONS
The first one-way lighting system was installed on May 29, 1923 rue Hauteville. It worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or 15,000 flashes a day.
These signals were intended to attract the attention of motorists and drivers of horse-drawn vehicles, still unaccustomed to one-way streets. They consisted of a luminous chest with the inscription "no entry" on a red background.
Several models from different manufacturers were installed during the 1920s and 1930s : luminous ball without red light, curved trunk with inscription and flashing light.
Saunier Duval Frisquet
1938
manual command
A.Durenne
1930
S.A.L.A.S.
années 1930
PEDESTRIANS SIGNALS
Saunier Duval Frisquet
1938
A.Durenne
two-color signal and alarm with repeater
installed rue du Ranelagh
1932
unknown manufacturer
1937
unknown manufacturer
1936
REPEATEARS
Saunier Duval Frisquet
1938
TRAFFIC LIGHT
A.Durenne signal
around 1930
A.Durenne signal
around 1930
signal with alarm
unknown manufacturer
around 1925
first signal
unknown manufacturer
1923
MODELS OF ONE-COLORED AND TWO-COLORED SIGNALS
From 1930, the development of Parisian signals continued and accelerated. Automatic traffic light control systems were perfected, and automobile traffic regulation entered a new era (> see the dedicated article).
The case of crosswalks began to be taken into account in the 1930s with the creation of several devices to secure them: push button, luminous panels and lighting.
The characteristics of the display equipment also evolved with the formalization of the three-color light in 1938 (> see the dedicated article).
The 1920s is the starting point of traffic control signals in Paris. Studies for the installation of the first signal began in 1922, and materialized in 1923 with the equipment of the first crossroads, boulevard de Strasbourg (> see the dedicated article).
In the aftermath, other luminous urban equipment appears in addition to the traffic lights : lower bollards, upper refuge bollards and luminous signs.
1920 - 1930
Parisian's signals
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