Smyrna turns traffic control boxes into colorful works of public art to brighten drivers' days

You've probably seen them while sitting at an intersection, waiting for the light to change: large, stainless steel boxes standing along the side of the road.

They're called traffic control cabinets, and inside are the computers and electronic equipment that help coordinate the complex switching of traffic signals from green to yellow to red.

Functional? Absolutely. Pretty? Not really.

But the city of Smyrna is trying to change that, turning some of those refrigerator-sized metal cabinets into colorful works of public art.

"I saw opportunity," Smyrna City Councilman Rickey Oglesby said. "I said, 'Hey look! There's these big boxes all over Smyrna. Let's find out which ones we control, and make them look like Smyrna.'"

The city put out a call to local artists, commissioning designs that are then transformed into vinyl adhesive graphics and wrapped around the cabinets.

The results are hard to miss.

Some are modern. Others abstract. There are designs reminiscent of Mondrian or Picasso, along with equestrian themes and others that are simply meant to be fun.

"Art should make you feel good," Oglesby said.

And that, he said, is largely the point.

"We want boxes that, while I'm sitting in traffic and waiting for the traffic light to turn green, I'm smiling," he said.

City officials say the project is about more than covering up a piece of roadside infrastructure. The colorful designs can brighten an otherwise cold, industrial streetscape while giving motorists something interesting to look at as they wait for the light to change.

"You're slowing down just a little bit more, you're keeping your head up just a little bit more," Oglesby said. "We wanna be sure Smyrna is on your mind, in a more positive way."

Smyrna has commissioned six of the traffic cabinet art installations so far.

Judging by the response on the city's social media accounts, residents appear to like what they see. Comments have included "Keep 'em coming," "These make me happy," and "Love this."

The works are paid for through a grant created by Smyrna's public art budget. And the decorated traffic boxes may be only the beginning. Oglesby said the city has plans for even larger public art projects in the future.

In the meantime, if you're driving through Smyrna, there may soon be something new to look at the next time you're waiting for the light to turn green.