Nobody looks at a traffic signal pole until it is peeling. Then everyone does. The rust streaks show up in the morning light, the paint lifts in sheets at the base, and a village that keeps its storefronts and its clock tower immaculate suddenly has a row of tired gray poles at its busiest corner. That is the moment a public works director picks up the phone.
The Job
Downtown Winnetka’s traffic signal poles, mast arms, signal heads and street light poles needed repainting, and we got the job. The intersections could not close. Cars, delivery trucks and the lunchtime crowd kept moving the whole time, so every pole had to be prepared and finished with traffic flowing underneath it.
What Made It Different
- Everything is in the air. Mast arms reach out over the roadway at the height of a second storey. The crew worked from a bucket truck, with cones and a spotter on the ground, moving the truck a few feet at a time so no lane was closed for longer than it took to finish the piece directly overhead.
- Steel is not siding. Paint fails on a pole from the metal up: rust under the old coating lifts it off. Each pole was cleaned and scraped back to sound metal, bare spots were primed, and the finish went on in thin coats so it cures hard instead of sagging in the sun.
- The signal heads stay live. Painting around a working signal means masking lenses and hardware, finishing one head at a time, and leaving nothing tacky where a lens could touch it.
- Finish quality is judged from the sidewalk. These poles stand beside the clock tower and the shops. Drips, holidays and roller texture would be seen by every pedestrian, so the work was brushed and rolled tight, then checked from the ground before the truck moved on.
How It Ran
Each day began with the traffic plan: which intersection, which lanes, where the cones and the spotter went. The crew worked pole by pole, top to bottom: mast arm and signal heads from the bucket, then the pole and base from the ground. Prep, prime and finish happened on the same pole in the same shift wherever the weather allowed, so nothing sat half done overnight. The truck moved on only when the last coat was on and inspected.
Why Villages Call Us for Steel
Poles, railings, light standards, bleachers, shelters and playground steel all fail the same way and are saved the same way: get to sound metal, prime what is bare, finish with a coating made for exterior steel, and do it on a schedule that keeps the public space open. We have done this for park districts, schools and village buildings across the North Shore, and we run certified lift operators for the work that happens above the sidewalk.
See more of our work in the village on the Winnetka painters page, and our other public and commercial painting projects, including the Columbia Carousel restoration at Six Flags Great America.
Talk to Pete About a Public or Commercial Project
Call (847) 564-4880 or request a site visit online. Pete walks every job himself and gives you a written scope, a firm quote, and a schedule that keeps the street open.