What Is It With Needing Traffic Lights At Every Junction ?

What is it with these so called traffic experts that they want to keep installing traffic lights as an integral part of so called traffic improvement schemes. I would have thought they would have learnt a lesson with the cab stand fiasco………but oh no!

The new J19 multi-million pound scheme is set to have another 4 sets of lights added.

By all means add extra lanes onto and off the roundabout but what is the point of adding more lights?

If we are to have traffic lights controlling rush hour traffic, the current system used for exiting Portishead is optimum with the traffic filtering out onto the roundabout using the gap in the traffic caused by the light changes further back around the roundabout. Why change a system that works well when the synchronized gap is set fairly ?  Putting a set of traffic lights at the end of the Portbury Hundred will imitate the cabstand junction – A three way junction where traffic is held up for longer intervals between change-overs, often with nothing coming around in the inside lane.

Also once the rush hour is over, why not turn the lights off and allow it to go back to a proper roundabout. The lights were added to the roundabout to operate at rush hour and within no time at all , they were left on 24 hours a day.

Don’t go to the expense of adding more traffic lights when roundabouts are the cheaper option to try first. They  should be given a chance and then if lights are shown to be needed, save energy by switching them off during the evening/night