Traffic Cones

Traffic cone colors and types

The choice starts with the job: marking a general hazard or lane, giving drivers a fixed signal on a site, or keeping a space free of parked vehicles.

Orange traffic cones

The general hazard and lane cones of the range are orange, used for lane closures, detours, work areas and any obstruction that vehicles and pedestrians must steer around. The Starlite two-piece traffic cones are built for road work and busy zones and come in the tallest size HERMEQ supplies, while the one-piece MPL traffic cones cover private roads, parking lots and light construction.

Small traffic cones

Cones of 18 to 20 in, the 18 in Euro traffic cone and the smaller MPL size, mark hazards indoors, in confined spaces and for short periods: a spill, an open floor hatch, a trip hazard on a walkway or a reactive repair. The Euro cone is listed as MUTCD compliant, so it is also used for street works and roadside jobs where a compact cone is enough.

Blue traffic cones

Drivers of trucks, trailers and other tall vehicles read blue traffic cones as a warning of an overhead structure ahead, such as a canopy, a gantry, a low beam or an overhead line. They go on the approach, far enough back that a driver can stop or turn away before reaching it. Where a clearance point needs a physical check, vehicle height restriction barriers set the limit at the entrance.

Green traffic cones

Placed where vehicles turn from a live road into a jobsite, green traffic cones tell drivers to slow down before the turn and mark the entrance clearly. The color is distinct from the orange cones of the work zone, so drivers read the access point as separate from the hazards around it.

Yellow traffic cones

Spaces where vehicles and pedestrians must not stop, such as fire lanes, ambulance routes, delivery bays and exits, are marked with yellow traffic cones. On a site that uses all four colors, orange marks hazards and lanes, green the entrances, yellow the areas to keep clear and blue the overhead structures, so each cone carries one rule a driver can read at a glance.

No Waiting cones

For a temporary parking restriction on a curb, a delivery bay or an access lane, No Waiting traffic cones carry the message on a printed yellow sleeve. The message is read from the approach it faces, so these cones suit curbs and lanes that drivers reach from one direction.

No Waiting bollards

With the restriction printed on all three faces, No Waiting bollards read from any direction. That matters at drop-off zones, school gates and event entrances, where vehicles arrive from several sides and a driver has to see the restriction from each one.

Road, construction and parking cones

Road work and lane closures

Closing a lane or setting a detour takes full-height reflective cones, usually the Starlite, laid out to the taper, spacing and buffer in the traffic control plan. Where a delineator has to stay in position for weeks and will be struck, self-righting traffic cylinders fix to the surface and spring back upright after vehicle contact.

Site entrances and heavy equipment zones

Green cones at the turn need to be set back far enough that trucks swinging in from the road do not clip them, and kept in a straight line the driver can follow into the site. Around excavators, loaders and other heavy equipment, orange cones mark an exclusion zone set outside the machine's swing radius, which shows crews on foot where not to walk.

Parking lots, loading bays and facilities

Most facility work is covered by one-piece and small cones: directing traffic in parking lots, guiding pedestrians around warehouse aisles and loading docks, and marking a spill or a maintenance job until it is cleared. Yellow cones across a bay or an exit keep it open for deliveries and emergency vehicles, and controlled entry to a lot belongs to parking lot barriers.

Events, schools and drop-off zones

Parking restrictions at events and schools are set with No Waiting cones along the curbs and three-sided bollards at the entrances, and cone chain between cones lays out queues and pedestrian routes.

Cone bars, chain, lights and retractable barriers

Telescopic cone bars

Spanning between two cones, telescopic cone bars turn a cone line into a quick barrier across a lane, a doorway or a work area, and they pivot on the cone head so a run can turn corners. They are made for the 30 in cones in the range and come in red and white or yellow and black.

Cone chain

Lightweight plastic cone chain links cones into an exclusion zone, a queue line or a pedestrian route, and it does not rust. It is the way to join the 18 to 20 in cones, which are too short for bars.

Cone-mounted retractable barrier

The cone-mounted retractable belt barrier sits on top of a standard full-height cone and pulls a belt across to the next one, with braked retraction so the belt does not snap back. It suits short-term zoning around a hazard, a crew staging area or a queue.

Cone lights

Lamps fit cones with a top aperture, such as the Starlite and the Mastercones. The range of traffic cone lights covers flashing and steady warning lamps, sequential taper lamps that link by infrared to lead drivers along a closure, and white lamps that light the signs beside it.