This study analyzes the seismic response of traffic light poles, considering soil-foundation effects through nonlinear static and time history analyses. Two poles are investigated, uni-directional and bi-directional, each with 9 m mast arms. Finite element models incorporate the poles, soil, and concrete foundations for analysis. Results show that the initial stiffness of the traffic light poles decreases by approximately 38% due to soil effects, and the drift ratio at which their nonlinear behavior occurs is 77% of scenarios without considering soil effects. The maximum acceleration response increases by about 82% for uni-directional poles and 73% for bi-directional poles, while displacement response increases by approximately 10% for uni-directional and 16% for bi-directional poles when considering soil-foundation effects. Additionally, increasing ground motion intensity reduces soil restraints, making significant rotational displacement the dominant response mechanism over flexural displacement for the traffic light poles. These findings underscore the importance of considering soil-foundation interactions in analyzing the seismic behavior of traffic light poles and provide valuable insights to enhance their seismic resilience and safety.

As a preparation of a design standard regarding road facilities in terms of reliability based optimum design examples, such as cantilever columns for traffic lights, optimum design in deterministic and probabilistic ways for the foundation of traffic lights poles are proposed. Most of the previous study have focused on the foundation surrounded by cohesionless soil. However, the design would be governed by risky condition. Therefore the resistance by clay-soil is investigated compared with other design specifications. In deterministic optimization, GRG method is applied. It is found that both geometries of deep and shallow foundation provides optimum values. The resistance of cohesive soil is selected to represent the ultimate limit states, in terms of sliding, overturning and bearing pressures from super structures to the foundation under external loads. Example foundations with varying height of columns for traffic lights are optimized about 30% decreased embedded depth of foundation. The optimum coefficients of resistant and load factors may need to be developed with design load combinations in order to prepare design specifications as the next step.