School run could add to road chaos (From Gazette Series)

School run could add to road chaos

COMMUTERS using M5 Junction 14 at Falfield could be well advised to leave home earlier than usual on Monday - "back to school" day - when rush hour tailbacks could be worse than ever.

Complaints have continued to arrive at the Gazette about delays caused by the new traffic signals and road layout at the junction with the B4509 between Tortworth and the A38.

Regular users, particularly commuters to Bristol arriving at the junction from the north, are particuarly alarmed by the "knock on" effects on traffic using the A38 from the Stone direction where long tailbacks have formed.

Fed up motorists have been bombarding the Highways Agency with letters, phone calls and emails demanding to know what remedial action is proposed. The answer seems to be "not a lot."

Stephen Coombs from Woodford said the situation had not improved despite "tweaking" of the signal sequence by traffic engineers.

"My wife and I both use this route and the lights are now consistently delaying us by about 10 minutes," he said. "This is a ridiculously frustrating situation and is sure to get worse when the schools return next week."

Mr Coombs is now calling on the Highways Agency to review the situation and turn the lights off again, allowing traffic to regulate itself.

"Anyone can see that it is obviously worse than it was before the lights were switched on," he said. "These lights should be turned off again before they cause chaos next week. This sort of traffic chaos can cause people to take chances by speeding or jumping the lights - and that could cause accidents"

Another exasperated correspondent, who asked not be named, said the situation was a farce. "If the lights at the junction were installed to improve safety due to accidents, one wonders how many accidents actually have occurred there historically, and how many will need to occur at the A38/B4509 junction before anything is done," he said. "Maybe the simpler option would have been to make the exit slips road no-right-turn?"

The signals were jeopardising safety on the A38, he said, with drivers entering clearly marked hazard areas in an attempt to claw back time.

Highways Agency spokesman Robin Miller said: "We are aware that problems still exist at this junction and we have received a number of complaints.

"We have been out there again monitoring the situation and have made more minor adjustments."