The widespread power outages left some traffic signals in the dark, which could be dangerous for drivers who aren’t sure what to do at a non-operational traffic light.
Minot City Engineer Lance Meyer says people need to treat it light a four-way stop.
In order to help during something like this, most stoplights have battery backups.
Meyer says two-thirds of the city’s 50 traffic lights have one installed.
If the power goes out, the battery turns on and keeps the signal going.
“The battery backup systems usually go for about 8-12 hours and then they go into a low-power mode where they go back into flash. So either flashing all red, or red and yellow,” Meyer said.
There are between 15 and 20 traffic lights that still don’t have the battery back up.
Three of them will be replaced this year.
