by Melbourne’s first traffic lights were manually operated and confusing, the city then turned to a unique signal system: the Marshalite Clock.
Traffic signals had a stop-start beginning.
The first were installed in London, in 1868. The city was then the world’s largest, with a population of 4.5 million, and traffic was a growing issue.
Even before the advent of the motor car, congestion was a problem, and accidents and injuries were common. In the 19th century, most intersections were uncontrolled; even ‘Stop’ and ‘Give Way’ signs would not come until much later.
Teams of traffic police would manage particularly busy roads.
Parliament Square, near the Palace of Westminster, was one of the city’s busiest intersections. This was selected for a trial: two sets of traffic control signals would be installed, in perpendicular directions.
These had two signals only, ‘Stop’ and ‘Caution’, displayed on triangular arms at the top of a pole, and paired with red and green lights. A small gas lamp was installed above the signals, to illuminate them at night.
The device was manually controlled by a policeman stationed nearby. They began operation on December 10, 1868.
The new signals did have some effect on safety at the intersection, but also provoked bemusement from the public. Much was made of their outlandish appearance, with ‘Punch’ magazine calling them ‘a terrifying apparition.’
Ultimately the trial was not successful. Drivers of horse drawn traffic were confused by the signals, and often ignored them; pedestrians were baffled as well, and many stopped in the middle of the road when the signals changed.
After a few months of disjointed operation, one of the gas lamps exploded, badly injuring the policeman on duty at the time. The signals were removed shortly afterwards.
In the early 20th century, motor vehicles began to replace horses on the roads, and the need for traffic control became more urgent. Cars were faster and heavier, and collisions were now more likely to be fatal.
America was at the forefront of motor vehicle development, this is where traffic signals would be revived.
Manually controlled signals were trialled in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1912, and the first fully electric system was deployed in Cleveland in 1914. The Cleveland system again had two signals. ‘Stop’ and ‘Move’, augmented by red and green lights and a bell when the signals changed.
The intersection was again controlled by a traffic officer, who sat in a nearby booth.
The benefits of this system were now recognised and variations began to spread through the United States and Europe.
It would take more than a decade for traffic signals to arrive in Australia. Melbourne was the first city to consider their deployment: the city council installed a set at the intersection of Swanston and Flinders Streets in June 1928.
Similar to other early systems, this had two signals, Stop and Go, and was manually controlled by a policeman.
At the adjacent intersection of Swanston and Collins Streets, the city also trialled a more sophisticated system. This operated automatically and had three lights, each with a word printed on them; Green/Go, Amber/Caution, and Red/Stop.
This system came into operation in November 1928, and was tested initially for an hour each morning. Crowds gathered to watch them in operation.
The automatic lights worked better than the manual system, and by mid-1929 synchronised sets of traffic lights had been installed along Swanston Street. They worked to a set schedule: Go would display for sixty seconds, then Amber for 10 seconds, then Red for sixty seconds, in an endless loop.
Sydney would follow suit, with the first set of automatic lights being installed at the corner of Kent and Market Streets, in October 1933.
But while the new system of traffic control was adopted fairly quickly, teething problems remained.
‘There were incidents which marred the system’s working. An elderly lady, who had several children in the back of her car, stopped in the middle of the street for some minutes while the operation of the lights was explained to her. A number of men, pleased to see that the traffic policeman was missing from his accustomed spot, drove gaily across the intersection in defiance of the red lights.’
– Sydney Morning Herald, 1933
And so engineers and hobbyists turned their minds to a new problem: how to build a better traffic light. One of these was Charles Marshall.
Marshall was a New Zealand born engineer based in Melbourne, whose interest in traffic control stemmed from personal experience. Shortly after the lights were installed on Swanston Street, he inadvertently ran through an Amber signal in his car, and was subsequently fined.
Annoyed at what had occurred, he also felt this identified a flaw in the new system: people did not know when the signals were about to change. In 1936, Marshall began working on a design for a new type of traffic signal in his backyard workshop.
This had a unique design. Marshall’s signal resembled a clock, with a 1 metre circular dial, broken into red and green segments; a white hand would then turn, set to a timer, indicating how much longer was remaining before a signal change.
While unusual looking, Marshall was able to convince the Melbourne City Council to test his device. In 1937, a prototype was installed at the intersection of Gertrude and Brunswick Streets, in Fitzroy.
Dubbed the ‘Marshalite Clock’, the new signal received a mixed response.
Many drivers and pedestrians did respond as the inventor had hoped, appreciating the ability to tell when the signals were about to change. But many also found the dials confusing, especially as they had only recently adjusted to the red/amber/green light system.
The clocks also ran into legal difficulties.
Shortly after the trial began, a driver was fined for driving through a red signal. He objected to the fine in court, and the penalty was overturned; it was found that the council did not actually own the Marshalite Clock system, and so could not issue fines based on their use.
The trial of the clocks was curtailed.
But Charles Marshall was dogged, and after World War II he would again push his system. By this time he had an updated version, including an amber section on the clock face.
With proper licensing and approvals in place, the city council would again trial the system in 1945, installing a set of clocks at the corner of Johnston and Brunswick Streets.
These received a more favourable response, and Marshalite Clocks were adopted by other councils. Eventually they would be deployed at more than sixty major intersections, and could be found in Fitzroy, Clifton Hill, Northcote, Coburg, Richmond, Malvern, Camberwell and along the Nepean Highway.
In many cases they were employed to augment existing traffic lights, with the systems linked and operating in conjunction.
Marshalite Clocks would remain in operation across Melbourne for two decades.
By the 1960s, responsibility for traffic control had moved from local councils to a statewide body called the ‘Traffic Authority’. They looked to standardise methods of traffic management, and simplify systems to drive efficiency.
Marshalite Clocks were determined to be an anachronism, and began to be decommissioned. The last operating set, on the Nepean Highway in Aspendale, were removed in 1966.
A set of clocks was donated to the Melbourne Museum in 1973, and is now in the permanent collection. In the early 200s, Chelsea Council restored and installed a pair as a decorative pedestrian crossing.
There are now more than 4 000 sets of traffics lights across Melbourne. Instead of a policeman, each set has a computerised ‘Signal Control Box’ on site, which uses under-road sensors to detect when cars are waiting.
Remember the Marshalite clocks well, at several locations down the Nepean Highway: they were great!
Unlike the third “Death Lane” down the middle of the same road…
☠️