If you’ve been strolling through downtown Sioux Falls lately and have started hearing mysterious little voices, don’t panic, you’re not losing your mind. Those chatty whispers aren’t in your head; they’re coming from the construction cones.
The city has rolled out a new Audible Message Device initiative, and these “talking cones” are part of a program designed to make construction zones safer, especially for visually impaired pedestrians.
According to Dakota News Now, these cones are strategically placed around busy construction areas and are programmed to deliver helpful messages like sidewalk closures, detour directions, and other construction updates. Think of them as Siri’s orange, traffic-directing cousin.
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City engineer Brad Ludens told Dakota News Now, “We’ve used them on the sidewalk work that we did along Minnesota Avenue and 41st Street earlier this year, as well as some of the park locations.”
So how does a cone know when to start talking?
Well, it’s not magic, though it might seem like it. Each device is equipped with a sensor that detects when someone is nearby. Once triggered, it plays a recorded message alerting pedestrians to potential hazards and offering directions to safe detour routes…