Traffic lights on roundabouts - 24 hour operation necessary?
Discussion
For years I've always wondered at the wisdom of having traffic lights on roundabouts - surely the whole idea of a roundabout was to keep the traffic flowing.
Virtually every roundabout here in the North East of England has traffic lights on them and what really pisses me off is that they are operational 24 hours a day (with the very odd exception of some being peak time only).
One roundabout that really bugs me is Junction 63 A1(M) A167 exit - you can be sat there stationary at 8:00pm with zero traffic and yet you're stuck there like a lemon. Hardly fuel efficient is it?
In these days of trying to save energy, surely it makes sense for the vast majority of these lights to be turned off out of peak times - or is it another form of control that seems to be creeping more and more into society these days?
On the odd days when the traffic lights have been out of action, guess what - the traffic moved freely with no issues.
It doesn't only apply to roundabouts to be honest - most traffic junctions could operate the same way - we're all grown ups so I'm sure we would cope (yes I know the standard of driving in this country is pretty abysmal but you can't account for the odd idiot!)
Virtually every roundabout here in the North East of England has traffic lights on them and what really pisses me off is that they are operational 24 hours a day (with the very odd exception of some being peak time only).
One roundabout that really bugs me is Junction 63 A1(M) A167 exit - you can be sat there stationary at 8:00pm with zero traffic and yet you're stuck there like a lemon. Hardly fuel efficient is it?
In these days of trying to save energy, surely it makes sense for the vast majority of these lights to be turned off out of peak times - or is it another form of control that seems to be creeping more and more into society these days?
On the odd days when the traffic lights have been out of action, guess what - the traffic moved freely with no issues.
It doesn't only apply to roundabouts to be honest - most traffic junctions could operate the same way - we're all grown ups so I'm sure we would cope (yes I know the standard of driving in this country is pretty abysmal but you can't account for the odd idiot!)
I think the OP answered his own question, they don't want the traffic flowing hence the put traffic lights everywhere, they have recently put some on a roundabout near me and the result is longer queues during peak times they have managed to back the traffic up to the previous roundabout causing chaos (where you guessed it they put in traffic lights earlier)
They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
ColdoRS said:
I've thought the same thing before.
In Germany(and maybe more European countries), lots of the traffic lights flash amber in the evenings, when the roads are quieter.
Works perfectly fine in my experience, you just give way as appropriate/per the highway code.
Yes the same happens in Portugal on some lights - even during the day they flash amber, unless you exceed the speed limit then they change to red. A perfect solution although that doesn’t save on energy on the traffic lights!In Germany(and maybe more European countries), lots of the traffic lights flash amber in the evenings, when the roads are quieter.
Works perfectly fine in my experience, you just give way as appropriate/per the highway code.
Wills2 said:
I think the OP answered his own question, they don't want the traffic flowing hence the put traffic lights everywhere, they have recently put some on a roundabout near me and the result is longer queues during peak times they have managed to back the traffic up to the previous roundabout causing chaos (where you guessed it they put in traffic lights earlier)
They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
Absolutely nuts isn’t it?They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
The M65 in Lancashire is a great example where they turn off all the street lights between 11pm and 5am ( iirc ) yet you come off the pitch black motorway onto a roundabout that’s completely empty and has all the lights on and traffic lights forcing you to stop at them three times as you go round to your exit
The one a whitebirk is like something out of 2001 a space odyssey sending messages into space as there’s that many traffic lights on it
The one a whitebirk is like something out of 2001 a space odyssey sending messages into space as there’s that many traffic lights on it
Boxster5 said:
Wills2 said:
I think the OP answered his own question, they don't want the traffic flowing hence the put traffic lights everywhere, they have recently put some on a roundabout near me and the result is longer queues during peak times they have managed to back the traffic up to the previous roundabout causing chaos (where you guessed it they put in traffic lights earlier)
They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
Absolutely nuts isn’t it?They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
Seems to me that an easy way to get "growth" would be to revert all speed limits to what they were in the year 2000, or 10 mph over that (inc HGVs - get those 56 mph governors raised to 60 at least), and engineer out traffic lights where at all possible, regardless of "cost."
It wouldn't be carnage. It would reduce journey times and increase tax take, as more work would get done.
Boxster5 said:
Wills2 said:
I think the OP answered his own question, they don't want the traffic flowing hence the put traffic lights everywhere, they have recently put some on a roundabout near me and the result is longer queues during peak times they have managed to back the traffic up to the previous roundabout causing chaos (where you guessed it they put in traffic lights earlier)
They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
Absolutely nuts isn’t it?They love spending our money on increasing journey times.
Getragdogleg said:
It's to frustrate you out of your car.
Nothing more.
Its social engineering.
I think it must be sadly! Nothing more.
Its social engineering.
A couple of years ago Bracknell Forest BC even had the bright idea of removing a few roundabouts and replacing them with traffic lights so you are pretty much guaranteed to have to stop regardless of a lack of traffic.
Super Sonic said:
Where I live, there are bus stops built out into the road (the opposite of lay-bys) forcing all the traffic to stop when the bus stops. Great way to increase pollution.
Bus operators don't like layby type bus stops as it makes it harder for buses to pull out into traffic.Mr Tidy said:
Getragdogleg said:
It's to frustrate you out of your car.
Nothing more.
Its social engineering.
I think it must be sadly! Nothing more.
Its social engineering.
A couple of years ago Bracknell Forest BC even had the bright idea of removing a few roundabouts and replacing them with traffic lights so you are pretty much guaranteed to have to stop regardless of a lack of traffic.
Boxster5 said:
I’ve seen more near misses on roundabouts with traffic lights where traffic is backed up over the turnoff - absolute madness!
Inevitably because the morons go through on a late amber/red light knowing they'll stop on a "KEEP CLEAR", blocking it for anyone coming on from another direction.Fortunately the only TL roundabouts round here are those where traffic volume from one direction makes the roundabout unworkable e.g. a motorway junction where the traffic from both directions heads onto the same road... The priority and traffic volume means one direction of the motorway hogs all the roundabout throughout and the other direction just backs up further and further.
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