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The facts behind Shropshire’s traffic lights
Thursday 3rd March 2011, 8:30PM GMT.
Have you ever wondered why there are so many traffic lights in Shropshire? Figures released today show traffic lights are proving to be the bane of drivers’ lives both in the county, and across the country, as the number of red light hold-ups increases.
Bosses at the RAC Foundation said the number of lights has risen sharply since 2000. There were now more than 25,000 sets in the UK.
Shropshire Council is responsible for 143 traffic signals in the county while bosses at Telford & Wrekin Council are in charge of about 90.
But the Safer Roads Partnership in Shropshire today said the lights were essential for drivers and vulnerable pedestrians.
The report, produced by former Whitehall transport and planning chief Irving Yass, also revealed the number of traffic signals equipped to give priority to buses went up from 3,801 at the beginning of 2007 to 8,425 at the end of 2008.
The report said: “The Department for Transport should consider carrying out trials of flashing amber lights at times when there is little traffic, which would allow drivers to proceed with caution at junctions.
“Authorities should consider standardising the green man invitation to cross period at six seconds rather than 10 seconds and there should be wider use of the countdown system which shows pedestrians just how long they have to cross the road.”
Defending the lights in Shropshire, a spokeswoman for the Safer Roads Partnership said: “Traffic signals have a part to play in road safety. The increase of their use in some more urban parts of the country has clearly highlighted an issue but locally they continue to perform an important role in controlling the traffic flow on our roads and improving the safety of all road users.”
On the national increase in lights, Vicki Bristow, from Shropshire Council, said: “On average we install traffic signals on one junction and two crossings a year which equates to a four per cent increase per year.”
Russell Griffin, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “Most traffic signal sites relate to new development or as part of road safety improvements.”
By Jason Lavan
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I would like the Government to look at what Councils pay for Traffic signals and check prices across each council from manufacturers to check for Best Value.
The Traffic / County lighting engineers who pay the highest prices should be investigated.
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I remember Cllr Sean Kelly saying he would reduce the number of traffic lights … Wonder how he has got on?
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Drivers should be given priority over pedestrians. Drivers are clearly more important than pedestrians as they have to get somewhere quicker.
Drivers should be given priority over buses.
Buses keep stopping/starting to pickup/drop off passengers, thus the journeys of those using a bus cannot be as important as that made by a driver.
In fact, other people should just get our of the way so us drivers can get into work/get home quicker.
The law needs changing to allow drivers to plow into pedestrians who don’t cross the road quickly enough.
In fact we should get ‘bonus points’ for it.
I believe the respected Roger Corman has long been a proponent of this idea.
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in addition any motorist who deigns to get out of his car and become a pedestrian and then complain how difficult and unsafe it is to cross the road should be imprisoned.
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Nistagmus & a g bell’s comments clearly show they have little regard for pedestrian safety, If your “Proposals” were the norn i dont think you would appreciate a driver mowing down your kids for bonus points as they are to importnt to get to work, your comments are both tastless and clearly show you have little regard for other road users or pedestrains
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Regular readers will know that Nistagmus’ comments come with a heavy dose of irony and sarcasm.
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As someone who covers a large number of miles up and down the country, I can appreciate the role of traffic lights in balancing the flow of traffic during peak hours. A few minutes delay at a busy junction is a minor invonvenience in the grand scheme of things.
However, the majority of the day and night does not fall within peak hours and waiting at a set of lights when there is no other traffic is annoying.
It’s not just about time; the fuel that’s burned waiting at lights, then accelerating back up to speed is noticeable.
The flashing amber system mentioned in the article has been in use in other countries for years, so why not here? The American system which allows traffic to turn right on a red light (it would be left here) also seems to work well. At smaller junctions, a system where all lights are red, but turn green for the first approaching vehicle, effectively turns a light-controlled junction into a free-flowing junction at quiet times.
The difficulty in introducing new systems is that it would cause confusion and could lead to an increase in accidents in the short term, but that shouldn’t be used as a blanket excuse for not doing anything at all.
Finally, an observation: If you’re in a line of moving traffic and you’re approaching a green light, please don’t leave a MASSIVE gap between you and the vehicle in front. Leave a normal gap. That way, you and three or four vehicles behind you could cross the green light before it changes to amber, which would help reduce congestion.
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Well the traffic lights in frankwell shrewsbury cause tail backs on the mount etc pointless .
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I think you’ll find its the central reservation installed on smithfield road that causes the tailbacks.
Still at least one councillors mother can cross the road in relative safety.
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“Figures released today show traffic lights are proving to be the bane of drivers’ lives both in the county….”
143 sets of lights in an area that’s 1,234 sq miles… Excellent un-biased reporting there Shropshire Star.
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“Russell Griffin, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “Most traffic signal sites relate to new development or as part of road safety improvements.”
They are now talking about putting lights at the junction of St Georges road and Wrockadine Wood Way by The Donnington Asda…Why?
That junction has been fine for years, never has more than 3 cars waiting to turn out of it and I have never seen an accident there. These pointless schemes need stopping or else every minor junction will have lights on and we will never get anywhere.
The junction with Wombridge road needs to be part time, during the night and off peak day,too, there is no need for lights.
Object to Sean Kelly now and let our voices be heard. I’ve already put my protest in and so have others that I know, let’s fight these pointless lights.
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“But the Safer Roads Partnership in Shropshire today said the lights were essential for drivers and vulnerable pedestrians.”
Then the SRP are a bunch of idiots.
I have no problem with lights metering traffic flow at peak times(which the software in the lights is, or should be, capable of detecting)
How many pedestrians, do they think for instance, are using the Emstrey roundabout at, say, 0200 hrs?
It’s a ROUNDABOUT, which most drivers manage to negotiate without any “help” from lights. We do it every day. Lots.
There is far too much nonsense spouted by those who know, or ought to, far better.
I do not have a problem, at all, with light controlled pedestrian crossings, Dobbies for instance. I have a major problem with having to stop for light sequences on ROUNDABOUTS on trunk roads outside of heavy flow periods.
If you want an example of a road improvement at a juction that actually appears to work, the the new lights at the Battlfield crossroads are prety well set up.
One further point, surely some apparatchik, could figure out the amount of fuel wasted, pollution caused and time wasted waiting for some set of lights to go through its sequence for no good reason.
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Roundabouts were designed to replace 4-way traffic lights and to help the flow of traffic. Now, we find that almost every major roundabout has its natural traffic flow disrupted by the constant stop/start of lights.
The normal lane discipline when turning right at a roundabout is to start in the right hand lane, taking the inside lane on the island, and gradually moving to the left-most lane prior to your exit junction.
Notwithstanding the many idiots to whom such lane disipline seems to be a complete mystery, the addition of lights to islands actually prevents this normal flow, since the backlog of traffic stopped in lanes to the left of you prevents that normal flow from taking place.
Despite degrees in highways management and the like, our road planners seem to have failed to grasp this simple fact.
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So our Safer Roads Partnership is placing traffic lights all over the place to make us safer whilst most other countries – notably the USA are removing them and installing roundabouts because they are 90% safer than lights.
I suppose the Safer Roads people operate the speed cameras as well.
Profitably of course.
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Nistagmus & a g bell’s comments clearly show they have little regard for pedestrian safety, If your “Proposals” were the norn i dont think you would appreciate a driver mowing down your kids for bonus points as they are to importnt to get to work, your comments are both tastless and clearly show you have little regard for other road users or pedestrains
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The traffic lights at Trench Lock do nothing other than hinder the flow of vehicles. Get past one green light … go 50 yards … a red light … go 5 yards … a green light … go 15 yards … yes it’s another red light.
The roundabout(s) there were working fine on their own before some emptyhead at the council opened a tin of traffic lights and had them fitted where they fell off the van.
If these unnecessary hindrances must be there, why not turn them off except at peak periods, or at least synchronise them so green is green all the way through.
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To all who care to read & then respond.
Forgetting the ‘eco’ side of burning power all night and for the sake of leaving home perhaps a few minutes earlier than you may have done, do you not think overall that lights & crossing do improve safety and traffic flow? I have no real experience myself, hence the question. I cycle to work generally & rarely drive through Trench Lock or Ketly.
I have driven through the American style lights which The Original Jake mentions. Although it was actually Canada, it was the most unnatural thing to do the first few times. But once I had accumulated a bit of experience it was great. And as The Original Jake says, to introduce any change here (UK)will be an enormous task (take the digital TV big-switch-over for example) but then add cars, vans, buses & lorries into the equation, mayham! But then only for the short term. (Cant make an omlette………….)
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Great posts Nistagmus and ag bell, and don’t forget pedestrians must pass a test to ensure that they are fast enough to make it across the road, so no toddlers or people walking with sticks etc. Perhaps the signal could change to a skull & crossbones if someone has taken longer crossing than allowed?
The courtesy crossings as found in town should be renamed as quite frankly there is very little courtesy to pedestrians.
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And how many pedestrians, exactly, have benefitted from the lights installed on the Emstrey and Dobbies islands? Mmmm?
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Living in North America and on the grid system we have plenty of traffic lights, they seem to sense the traffic build up and aren’t on a fixed cycle, so they keep the flow going very smoothly, and even at non peak times they change to green as you approach and there is nothing else about – maybe detecting the headlights as it tends to be in the darker hours? and being able to turn ‘right on red’ (fr you guys it would be left) id fabulous too. I’d say the traffic planners here have it just right, but then they work closely with the creation of new housing and industrial/ office areas etc so the infrastructure is built and considered and future proofed right from initial plans.
Funny thing is we have one traffic island that they are piloting and we all hate it and wanna keep the lights!
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“do you not think overall that lights & crossing do improve safety and traffic flow?”
Not at all.
They certainly hinder traffic flow and I think that you would find that there are more accidents on light controlled roundabouts and light controlled junctions than normal roundabouts, although probably minor ones in the main.
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