(6/08/06 - ASHLAND, WI) - Traffic signals that went haywire at the city's busiest intersection over Memorial Day weekend left technicians stymied as they hunted for the cause.
The malfunction reverted the signals at Ellis Avenue and Lakeshore Drive to a default mode, flashing yellow and red, and they stayed that way for five days as the problem went unsolved.
The signals have gone out the same way in the past, but only after accidents when vehicles hit one of the poles. There was no accident involved this time.
When city crews finally called in the state Department of Transportation for help, a DOT official spotted a paper clip that had fallen behind the control panel for the signals.
Pat Colgrove, city operation manager, said the wayward clip had simply shorted out the system.
"I was shocked," he said. "I said, 'You got to be kidding me.'"
When the clip was removed and the system was reset, the signals resumed normal operations, Colgrove said.
In a bit of irony, the paper clip that fell had been used to hold a card with names and phone numbers of technicians who maintain the signals, he said.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=bizarre&id=4250602
