Cash to replace ageing traffic lights across Somerset (From Chard & Ilminster News)
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Cash to replace ageing traffic lights across Somerset
9:00pm Wednesday 20th February 2013 in News By Newsdesk
Cash to repair faulty traffic lights across Somerset
MORE than 100 traffic lights will be repaired or replaced across Somerset after the county council stumped up £250,000 to revamp them.
The action is being taken as many of the lights are reaching the end of their life-expectancy.
A spokesman for the council said it would monitor the costs associated with the project and decide whether anymore funds should be allocated to complete the task.
Comments(17)
Duckspool
says...
12:09pm Thu 21 Feb 13
joward
says...
1:33pm Thu 21 Feb 13
As a useful exercise would all who read this please send your comments in on what you think of the traffic lights in Taunton and suggest where you consider a roundabout would be more useful. Think of the money that could be saved - which would be better spent keeping the Brewhouse open.
Does anyone actually know how many traffic lights there are in Taunton?
the voice of common sense
says...
9:30pm Thu 21 Feb 13
jimeee
says...
10:18pm Thu 21 Feb 13
BaldCarl2
says...
11:51pm Thu 21 Feb 13
topcataj
says...
11:10am Fri 22 Feb 13
I'm certainly not, but the arguments put forward seems fairly poor.
Traffic lights are a maintenance burden, some works are paid for by the private developers building new stuff that affects the existing highway and commuted sums can be collected to help pay for the maintenance for a certain length of time.
But even in those circumstances the Council has to start footing the bill at some point. So when people know that resources are always tight, why would they want to install more lights than they think are needed?
One option is that people are getting back handers, but to me that's fairly ludicrous and if you want me to believe it, please find me some sort of evidence to support it.
Another option could be that based on technical criteria that those of us who are not highways engineers don't understand, there is a valid and good reason for installing traffic lights.
I know which seems more likely to me, but I can't rule out dodgy goings on.
I just wonder if other people are defaulting to the dodgy goings on because they don't know anything about highways engineering and think traffic flows are simple....
FreeSpeech?
says...
3:26pm Fri 22 Feb 13
topcataj wrote:You must work for the council spouting the c**p you do......Muppet.
Out of interest, is anyone voices these opinions experienced or qualified in these things?
I'm certainly not, but the arguments put forward seems fairly poor.
Traffic lights are a maintenance burden, some works are paid for by the private developers building new stuff that affects the existing highway and commuted sums can be collected to help pay for the maintenance for a certain length of time.
But even in those circumstances the Council has to start footing the bill at some point. So when people know that resources are always tight, why would they want to install more lights than they think are needed?
One option is that people are getting back handers, but to me that's fairly ludicrous and if you want me to believe it, please find me some sort of evidence to support it.
Another option could be that based on technical criteria that those of us who are not highways engineers don't understand, there is a valid and good reason for installing traffic lights.
I know which seems more likely to me, but I can't rule out dodgy goings on.
I just wonder if other people are defaulting to the dodgy goings on because they don't know anything about highways engineering and think traffic flows are simple....
Enlighten us will you?
boliston
says...
9:48pm Sun 24 Feb 13
They are fine in open countryside with low traffic flows, but not suited to an urban environment with busy traffic - most of the near misses I have encountered have been related to people simply ignoring the "give way to the right" rules and simply entering the roundabout regardless.
They also present more of a hazard to pedestrains and cyclists compared with light controlled junctions.
FreeSpeech?
says...
8:15am Mon 25 Feb 13
topcataj
says...
11:23am Mon 25 Feb 13
d in this kind of thing, Freespeech? Honestly, I'm interested to know.
If people with the skills/experience say there's no need for all the lights, I'll accept their point, I don't know enough about the whole subject to have a good idea about the consequences. Does removing a set of traffic lights in one place cause a problem elsewhere? is it still safe?
I'm not aware that those complaining are any better informed than I am. So though they might be unhappy about the traffic problems they face on the route/s they use, I can't tell that their suggestions are necessarily feasible or sensible overall.
Mi_Coc
says...
1:50pm Mon 25 Feb 13
FreeSpeech? wrote:Clearly your not aloud to have an opinion on here unless you have experienced or qualified in traffic management or roads planning.
Simple solution for Taunton would be a one way system, anticlockwise up station rd , north st, east st, east reach and then start again from Morrisons. We could then have clockwise around billetfield, park st then corporation st and any traffic from side roads would turn into flow negating the need for traffic signals for cross traffic flow.Works in plenty of other towns and traffic moves fast.
It is clear from the shear volume of lights in taunton that someone is on a back hander with the supplier of traffic lights or there is shear Independence within the roads planning teams. There was no point putting in the silkmills bridge as the number of lights means that traffic is just as bad if not worse. Same with the third way and a light system poor road layout such as the right to left sweep you have entering the hickleys bridge from town direction which has caused numerous people to crash into the island.
You do not need to qualified in such matters to see that its is not aiding traffic flow around taunton! Its blindingly obvious its not!
Added to which the councils and highways are trying to achieve different objectives dependant on what day of the week it is. Mon-wednesday they what lots of additional roads like the third way and relive roads. Thurs-friday they want to shut the centre of taunton and everyone to use the two park and rides they wasted millions building!
Slow down!
says...
9:04pm Mon 25 Feb 13
I've travelled all over Europe and I don't think I've ever been to a town or city that has the amount of lights Taunton does.
The local council must have shares in them.
topcataj
says...
2:27pm Tue 26 Feb 13
Sometimes there can be perfectly valid reasons for things happening that you don't like.
I'll believe plain old incompetence is to blame (if there's a blame) before I believe it's due to malicious actions with no evidence.
FreeSpeech?
says...
8:01pm Tue 26 Feb 13
topcataj wrote:Just goes to show how naive some people can be.
You can have an opinion, just don't expect me to believe arguments like "they must be receiving backhanders because I said so". It's quite a conclusion to jump to if you don't know how these things actually work. To even call some of these comments 'opinions' is stretching things anyway.
Sometimes there can be perfectly valid reasons for things happening that you don't like.
I'll believe plain old incompetence is to blame (if there's a blame) before I believe it's due to malicious actions with no evidence.
topcataj
says...
9:27am Wed 27 Feb 13
*Flick*
says...
9:51am Wed 27 Feb 13
boliston wrote:Couldn't agree more - some lunatic cut me up on a roundabout the other day and screamed 'Give way to your left' out of his window! Astonishingly this is not the first time I've encountered people cofused about right of way on a roundabout. How do they test people in Taunton? ;-)
I don't know what this obsession with roundabouts is all about as they waste space and are often dangerous. They are fine in open countryside with low traffic flows, but not suited to an urban environment with busy traffic - most of the near misses I have encountered have been related to people simply ignoring the "give way to the right" rules and simply entering the roundabout regardless. They also present more of a hazard to pedestrains and cyclists compared with light controlled junctions.
.
Also agree with Topcataj - all this talk of 'blackhanders' etc seems unfounded. But the minute someone offered up so proof I'd glady get on board with the theory.
.
I am looking forward to the chaos and disruption the repairing or replacing of these traffic lights is going to cause.... *sigh*
blackmasquerade says...
12:08am Thu 21 Feb 13
Always been convinced that SCC Highways go out of their way to deliberately cause congestion just so they can blame it on too many cars. My daily commute across town got so bad I moved away from the area but ironic I can now travel 20+ miles in the same time or less than I used to take to cover the 2 miles across town!