Star comment: Traffic lights a nightmare in waiting
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s what the old adage says.
Someone clearly needs to remind transport bosses at the Highways Agency, who are planning to rip up parts of the county’s busiest road network which, in the eyes of the average driver, are working perfectly fine.
We are not just talking a few pennies, either. Around £9 million is to be spent on four junctions, including the A49 Preston Boats roundabout and A5 Emstrey island in Shrewsbury.
Ask most motorists, and they will tell you the Preston Boats junction works very well. Yet officials want to add the same traffic lights which have caused misery at Emstrey, just a few yards down the road.
There has been no clamour for this investment, no raft of serious accidents demanding urgent changes, and no reports of horrendous, unpalatable tailbacks.
But that did not stop highways officials from installing lights at the previously trouble-free Emstrey. One wonders whose agenda they are working to.
You do not need to be an expert to understand that roundabouts work as an effective form of traffic management. So do traffic lights, in isolation.
But when you blend the two, it seems to be a recipe for avoidable chaos.
Trench Lock in Telford is a perfect example. For years it was a showcase of a new town built on a network of islands, guaranteeing smooth traffic flow with barely a red light in sight. Since the addition of traffic lights, it has become a stop-start blackspot.
The same can be said for the Emstrey, which is now bafflingly complicated; a road rage incident waiting to happen.
It is hard to understand how such vast expense in times of austerity, coupled with months of inconvenience and frustration for drivers, can really be justified.
Comments for: "Star comment: Traffic lights a nightmare in waiting"
Debbie Holland
Have they not learnt anything! The traffic lights on the Emstry Island have made it really dangerous, especially if approaching Shrewsbury and wanting to take the Bridgnorth exit, there is often not enough room, people don't know what lane they should be in and cut you up - disaster, and this is being replicated! I see they've put traffic lights on, but not activated yet, the island near Tesco's in Telford - what was the problem there? I've never had any. When there was the explosion in Shrewsbury a couple of years ago and it took out the traffic light and re-installed junctions and driver judgement, the traffic flowed better!
£9 million wasted!
cw
I thought it was an April fool when I first read about the Preston Boats roundabout. If they go ahead with this stupid and costly idea, Shrewsbury will become effectively inaccessable.
Result = jobs being moved elsewhere, people getting fed up and relocating and loss of tourism. All because of someone in Whitehall making decisions on a junction theyve probably never seen. Utter madness!
Liam
I wonder if Mansel Williams thinks we need a referendum on it.
Kev Cole
Not happy enough with the detrimental effect the prevention of fast broadband has caused Shrewsbury in recent years, the council want to stop people frpm being able to physically access the town too.
Well done...
meadow matt
Can't blame the Council for this as the plans are being put forward by the Highways Agency a government department that look after the bypass around the town.
R Suppards
To be eligible for a place on one of these infantile 'road improvement' committees, the following criteria should met:-
1. You must have held a full UK driving licence for 25 years.
2. Prove that you drive the road to be affected at least twice a day.
3. You must be able to count to 20 without using your toes.
Oh dear, there go most of the planners ...
Old Park Man
As someone who travels through the Emstrey Island everyday, I can tell you it does need fixing. Not the lights, which at least are sensory to travel volumes, but the overall shape, signage and size of the roundabout.
For those travelling eastbound towards the island, you are presented with three lanes all pointing straight ahead, even though the right-hand lane is for traffic turning down the 'old A5'. For the traffic in the nearside lane, they will have to negotiate a sharp left turn into the roundabout to maintain lane discipline, for HGV and some car drivers this invariably pushes vehicles out into the middle lane, which in turn 'squeezes' the middle lane traffic between them and the traffic turning right.
Then we have the 'numpties' who see the three straight forward road markings to use as an overtaking opportunity by then cutting back into the middle-lane, at the last minute.
The Emstrey Island is simply not large enough, in it's present guise, to accept three lanes.
RM
Couldn't have put it better myself
Grey
It might work now but aren't the so-called impovments designed to deal with any potential future increases in traffic resulting from new homes and businesses? I'm sure if they weren't carried out and traffic began to snarl up in these places you'd all be demanding action.
grumpy old man
Grey, I have yet to see a roundabout with traffic lights on, locally, that has improved traffic flow...maybe you can point one out to all of us?
I have also yet to come across a roundabout that is so badly snarled up that motorists want lights on.
Roger
The test of your theory is will it account for furure developments. In the case of Preston Boats Island that would mean exit and entry routes for the proposed Shrewbury Parkway Rail Station and Park and Ride. Nothing else is proposed there.
So if we are spending millions on it, are those things allowed for? or will we have to scrap it all and do something else later. Going ahead with those schemes could have a big affect on the traffic flows to reduce the problems on the other islands and the town centre.
I assume it will be a park and ride into Shrewsbury by train?
Steve
Perhaps they should spend some of the money on teaching local motorists how to use a roundabout correctly - no need for traffic lights then.
roadrunner
There needs to be a government enquiry on this (mis)installing of traffic lights in this country. Hundreds of lights have sprung up in the last five years on roundabouts and junctions that have functioned for decades without problem and it isn't because the traffic has increased dramatically in those few years. Take the new lights by Donnington Asda, they are not needed and the junction now flows freely at peak times but i would love a tenner for every car sat in the queue that will be there when they are switched on.
Beck
I do agree that the addition of traffic lights on a lot of islands has caused more chaos, and dont work, however, I do disagree with the comment about Trench Lock, it did need traffic lights - "Trench Lock in Telford is a perfect example. For years it was a showcase of a new town built on a network of islands, guaranteeing smooth traffic flow", I'm sorry but only if you were already on the A442, if you were trying to get onto the EP from Trench, it used to take on average 15-20 minutes to get onto the island in the mornings.
The problem is that when they put traffic lights on an island, any islands near it then get congested because of the queues caused by the lights, so then the councils answer is just to stick some traffic lights up at those islands too, you would think they'd learn by now that this does not fix the problems, they make it a whole lot worse.
roadrunner
Beck you've just shot down your own argument. and yes I've been at the Trench Lock at 5PM before the lights and I could get on the island within a minute or so from the Trench end...what were you doing for 15 mins, sleeping?
Bill
I give it 5 years after all these changes are completed and we'll find more millions being proposed to be spent on building flyovers for the A5 at all three of the major roundabouts on the south and east side - Dobbies, Emstrey and Preston Boat.
reallyconfused
I have to ask is there any financial incentive being offered by lights manufacturers to planners to buy these un-neccesary lights?
Roger
Don't forget the maintenance contracts. They are an income for life for someone and we pay for it every year for ever.
Lights cause delays because the lights are red or amber for longer than they are green regardless of need. The traffic handling capacity is therefore reduced and the traffic is stopped causing worse delays. I don't think their ace card of pedestrians or cyclists can be played in the case of Preston Boats. It is just money wasted to delay traffic and massive disruption whilst they are installed with disturbance of the road surface leading to greater damage which will need repairing again.
grumpy old man
Can the Shropshire Star not get a petition going to at least have a public enquiry into these lights and whether they are (a) needed, (b) going to be cost effective without costing the motorist more in lost time and fuel and (c) been planned efficiently and correctly unlike all the other fiascos that seem to abound locally at the moment
MD
If traffic lights are installed on Preston Boat roundabout,the only time traffic will flow normally, is when there out of order !!!!
It doesn't need lights stop wasting our money.
rob
Round abouts work far better without traffic lights. I can't wait for the two way traffic system that is to be installed around Telford Town Centre, apparantly to improve traffic flow at a cost of 6 million quid. How many sets of traffic lights is that going to have, i reckon at least six new sets, but obviously the perfectly good one way system does not work( i for one have never seen a traffic jam on it). Also Telford way/ Lawley Way has been cocked up since they took the rounabout away and placed traffic lights there. On 300m of road we now have 4 sets of lights, it is a complete and utter nightmare, start stop, start stop they are not even synchronised to allow you to go trough all the sets in one go.
Traffic planners and council leaders, The Highways Agency have to justify their jobs though.
Billy Bobbins
Any traffic engineer will tell you that roundabouts are a great way of keeping traffic moving up to a point - it would seem that this point is going to be passed at the islands concerned and so traffic lights are being proposed. This will allow more traffic to pass through the junction with less delays - surely a good thing if you are a motorist.
grumpy old man
Billy, you're having a laugh yes? read the comment on Lawley lights above then have a drive down there.
Haleshrew
I have just returned from a motoring and camping holiday in France . The total mileage came to 1250 miles. Near the end i quipped to my wife saying i feel as if i have driven around a thousand traffic islands . To which she replied, but how many traffic lights did you stop at. I could only remember 5. I could not remember having being stuck in traffic. Everything was free flowing from start to finish. Near to where i live in Birmingham we have a 4 way, not entirely busy, traffic light junction. I can guarantee you that whatever direction i am approaching this junction, ,nine times out of ten, the lights are always on red. At the same time whilst traffic is building up behind me ,nothing has come from any other direction. This is in my opinion a prime example where a roundabout would be a better proposition. In fact i would go far and say that we could replace at least 80 per cent of traffic lights in this country and replace them with traffic islands.
tugboat
Its very differcult, not comparing like for like. France is 4 x larger in area with approx the same population. Perhaps if we can compare road systems in india or china with similiar population density's.
James
If there seems to be a spare 9 million quid spare then can't we have part of the North West Relief Road built? Then maybe there would be less traffic on the other islands?
Martin
aaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wayne
i always thought round abouts are so the traffic keeps moving so why the hell do we put lights on them ,i tell you why so we can cause congestion,thats why ,
roadrunner
congestion charge anyone?
Mr T
Are these council engineers the same fools that put in the refuge on smithfield road for the benefit of cyclists? the same council engineers who are messing about in the town again near the station? this council will bankrupt the normal every day folk on the street when they have been told to save money, instead they want to go out waste millions on the roads that need nothing doing expect everyone to happily pay their taxes whilst watching travel costs rise due to waiting times, detours or avoidence.....Fools the lot of them
Barbara
There is nothing wrong with the traffic systems as they are it is the motorists who cause the problems. There was a time you would see police patrol vehicles parked at major junctions, that used to make people behave, now unless it's a home football match or an EDL march they are somewhat invisible.
Mr WM
I wonder how many 'scared' kids and adults taking their driving test have gone around the Emstery and Dobbie roundabouts and thought to them selves 'never again', and that's if they passed their test; as i bet many a person has failed their test on those roundabouts....
They should just make up their minds...Traffic lights or roundabouts..not both !!