HAWK Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon

The HAWK has landed in Visalia.

The City of Visalia has installed a new traffic control device on Lovers Lane at the Packwood Creek Trail Crossing. It is located between Tulare and Walnut avenues, while this signal looks similar to other signals throughout Visalia, it's not the same.

What is a HAWK?

HAWK stands for High-intensity Activated Crosswalk and is the name given to the pedestrian hybrid beacon. 

A HAWK beacon is a device used to assist people with safely crossing busy streets.

HAWKs work the same as other button-activated traffic signals, either by pushing a button or an automatic sensor, which directs the person walking or biking to wait for the signal to change and traffic to stop allowing them to cross safely.

For a driver, the HAWK signal appears differently than other traffic lights. At rest, HAWKs remain dark. Once triggered, it will then go through a series of yellow and red sequences requiring motorists to slow down and stop. After the people walking and biking cross, the HAWK will go dark again, allowing motorists to continue through the intersection.

The HAWK signal comes to Visalia thanks to voters and funding generated by the Measure R sales tax. These sales tax dollars were leveraged to get the city CMAQ (congestion, mitigation, Air Quality) federal funding - which comes from your federal gas tax to improve congestion and air quality.

Read the HAWK City of Visalia News item here. 

Is the HAWK up and running now?

The HAWK is fully operational.

Citizens are encouraged to watch the HAWK informational videos to get a better understanding of how the pedestrian hybrid beacon works.

Ready to learn about the HAWK?

Check out one of these videos we've posted on the City of Visalia YouTube:

- HAWK Tutorial in English

- HAWK Tutorial in Español

- HAWK – Learning About Visalia’s First HAWK (Includes interviews with City project team)

A YouTube account is not required to view the video links. Each video has the option to turn captions on or off, and captions for both English and Spanish are included for each video.

The HAWK is a new traffic control device for Visalia and Tulare County, it utilizes many parts of routinely used traffic control devices that many of us are familiar with. 

The City asks that residents and visitors alike obey all traffic rules and laws while traversing public roadways. Learning about traffic signals and how they function can help us stay safe and enjoy our beautiful city.