Highway 101/I-680 connector in San Jose ropens after crash

By Leslie Griffy
Mercury News
Article Launched: 10/18/2007 01:25:47 PM PDT


The connector between southbound Interstate 680 and northbound Highway 101 reopened at 1:23 p.m. after a vehicle rolled over and started a small grass fire, California Highway Patrol officials said.
Witnesses first reported the three crash at 12:19 p.m., dispatchers said. One car may have rolled over.

Dispatchers said that two people suffered broken arms in the crash. The grass fire broke out at around 12:30.

The San Jose Fire Department responded to the grass fire and extinguished the flames without incident, according to a fire dispatcher.

A Sig-alert issued at 12:40 p.m. was canceled at 1:23 p.m.
Sig Alert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A Sig Alert is defined by the California Highway Patrol as "any unplanned event that causes the closing of one lane of traffic for 30 minutes or more, as opposed to a planned event like road construction, which is planned separately." Sig Alerts are issued by the CHP and are posted on their Web site, broadcast on radio and television stations throughout California, and signalled to motorists via electronic message signs on the freeways. The term was added in 1993 to the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. (In practice, there is no standard spelling; the CHP Web site uses "SIG Alert," "SigAlert," and "Sigalert," all on the same page.)

Contents
1 The origin of the Sigmon traffic alerts
2 The early use of the Sigalert
3 The CHP Era
4 References



[edit] The origin of the Sigmon traffic alerts
SigAlerts originated in 1955 with the Los Angeles Police Department. By the early 1950s, the rapidly growing number of automobiles in Los Angeles had greatly increased the frequency and severity of traffic accidents and jams. Radio stations reported traffic conditions, but the LAPD refused to call radio stations with this information, so each station would call the LAPD, a process that tied up telephone lines and forced officers to repeat the same information again and again. a flat tire

In 1955, Loyd C. "Sig" Sigmon began developing a solution. Sigmon was Executive Vice President of Golden West Broadcasters (a company owned by singing cowboy Gene Autry). Sigmon had worked for Golden West's station KMPC 710 in 1941, but found himself in the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II, assigned to General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff, in charge of non-combat radio communications in the European theater. Now, he proposed to apply his knowledge of complex radio networks to the situation in Los Angeles.

Sigmon developed a specialized radio receiver and tape recorder. When the receiver picked up a particular tone, it would switch on the tape deck and record the subsequent bulletin. The device cost about $600. The LAPD's chief, William H. Parker, was interested though skeptical, warning the inventor, "We're going to name this damn thing Sigalert." More practically, he refused to use it unless the receivers were made available to all LA radio stations -- it could not be a KMPC monopoly.

Initially, half a dozen stations installed Sigmon receivers that had "Sigalert" stamped on its side. When a message had been received and recorded from the LAPD, a red light, sometimes accompanied by a buzzer, would alert the radio stations' engineers. Depending on the nature of the problem, the engineer could air the police broadcast immediately, interrupting regular programming if necessary.


[edit] The early use of the Sigalert
One of the first major "Sigmon traffic alerts" was broadcast on January 22, 1956, causing a traffic jam. The alert described the derailment of the Santa Fe's San Diegan passenger train near LA's Union Station and requested any available doctors and nurses to respond to the scene. Too many doctors, nurses, and sightseers drove there, making the situation worse. (The first SigAlert was on Labor Day weekend in 1955, and many stories on the SigAlert conflate these two events.)

At first, the LAPD issued about one alert a day, but soon other agencies were calling in messages they wanted broadcast, including rabid dog reports, gas leaks, and even a ship collision in Los Angeles Harbor. A pharmacist who had made a potentially fatal error in filling a prescription took advantage of the system to warn the customer (who, fortunately, heard the SigAlert in time). It was also used to warn about the impending Baldwin Hills Dam collapse in 1963.


[edit] The CHP Era
In 1969, when the CHP assumed responsibility for freeway traffic from the LAPD, they took control of the SigAlert system as well. It is now used throughout California and limited to traffic situations only. Messages are still broadcast, but most radio stations now read the information from the CHP's Web service rather than rebroadcasting the police dispatchers' voices.

As of 2007 not all stations choose to use this term. For example, in Los Angeles, radio station KABC uses the term "KABC Traffic Alert"[1], while radio station KFI still uses the original term.


[edit] References
Sig-alert issued for crash at Hwy. 101/I-680 connector in San JoseNuevo Mundo, USA
- Oct 19, 2007
- Oct 19, 2007
A Sig-alert has been issued for the connector ramp between two highways in San Jose after a vehicle rolled over and started a small grass fire, according to ...
clipped from Google - 10/2007
Sig-alert issued for Highway 101 in Sunnyvale for apparent gas leakSan Jose Mercury News, USA
- Oct 06, 2007
- Oct 06, 2007
The California Highway Patrol issued a Sig-alert at about 2:55 pm for the Highway 101 northbound off-ramp at North Fair Oaks Boulevard in Sunnyvale, ...
clipped from Google - 10/2007
CHP issues SIG-alert westbound on San Mateo bridgeSan Jose Mercury News, USA
- Oct 02, 2007
- Oct 02, 2007
The right lane is blocked this morning, and the CHP has issued a Sig-alert, warning motorists to expect delays. All lanes are expected to be open around ...
clipped from Google - 10/2007
Standoff with police ends in HaywardDaily Review Online, USA
- Oct 23, 2007
- 4 hours ago
... Hayward Executive Airport, police said. The California Highway Patrol issued a Sig-alert at 4:03 am for the street closure, CHP Officer Marc Johnston said. Sig-alert issued for crash at Hwy. 101/I-680 connector in San JoseNuevo Mundo, USA
- Oct 19, 2007
- Oct 19, 2007
A Sig-alert has been issued for the connector ramp between two highways in San Jose after a vehicle rolled over and started a small grass fire, according to ...
clipped from Google - 10/2007
Sig-alert issued for Highway 101 in Sunnyvale for apparent gas leakSan Jose Mercury News, USA
- Oct 06, 2007
- Oct 06, 2007
The California Highway Patrol issued a Sig-alert at about 2:55 pm for the Highway 101 northbound off-ramp at North Fair Oaks Boulevard in Sunnyvale, ...
clipped from Google - 10/2007
CHP issues SIG-alert westbound on San Mateo bridgeSan Jose Mercury News, USA
- Oct 02, 2007
- Oct 02, 2007
The right lane is blocked this morning, and the CHP has issued a Sig-alert, warning motorists to expect delays. All lanes are expected to be open around ...
clipped from Google - 10/2007
Standoff with police ends in HaywardDaily Review Online, USA
- Oct 23, 2007
- 4 hours ago
... Hayward Executive Airport, police said. The California Highway Patrol issued a Sig-alert at 4:03 am for the street closure, CHP Officer Marc Johnston said.