Gazette Comment - New traffic lights slow to improve matters (From Gazette Series)

Gazette Comment - New traffic lights slow to improve matters

CHAOS reigned at the motorway junction at Falfield this week, surprise, surprise.

Anyone who thought that new traffic signals would bring overnight improvements at this difficult junction was surely some distance removed from reality.

Problems were inevitable - but whether they're of the teething variety or more deeply rooted remains to be seen

The new lights are supposed to be "intelligent" and to adapt to prevailing traffic conditions. Sadly, this week they were certainly showing all the signs of being slow learners. Or was it that they just hadn't been prgrammed properly in the first place?

If the latter is the case, then it's a pretty poor show because regular users of this junction will have noticed contractors watching traffic movements and doing their calculations for days and days before the switch-on.

As the Gazette went to press this week, engineers were still monitoring operations and making adjustments in a bid to fulfill promises that the new system would improve traffic flows rather than disrupt them.

Frankly we don't know whether the original idea of putting lights at this junction was a sound one or not - although it can't be denied that peak hour right turns onto the B4509 were often white knuckle experiences

The jury is still out - but we suspect that, for most drivers, confidence is not high.

If it isn't sorted out smartish, there going to be real angst next week when the schools are back and traffic flows are heavier.