Traffic Lights

[Sand Grown]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think we have the most annoying traffic lights in creation blighting our fair town? They also appear to spring up with each new expression of Kennington’s vision for Lytham. The traffic lights that grace Blackpool road adjacent to Cyprus point have extremely annoying sequencing, but when compared to those now situated at the end of Warton St. they are a positive delight. I spend a considerable amount of time sitting next to the rubble of Lytam Hospital, stationary in my car with no traffic passing along Preston road, just waiting, then when finally released, the lights at the Quays entrance go to red and stop me again for no disernable reason. Once liberated by these lights the challenge to get past Dock road presents itself before a similar wait at the those lights for no apparent reason occurs!

This is all very annoying, but it is also rather hard to see what benefit these lights provide to safety, pedestrians or traffic flow, certainly the dangerous behaviours they sponsor in some drivers offset any derived benefits, does anyone know how we get them re sequenced so they actually work……..?

While on this topic, what is that mini roundabout at the Blossoms all about? As it is not next to a Kensington development I imagine it to be some random act of madness, perhaps it was intended for the junction with Woodlands road which would have made sense and provided a positive benafit…….!

[The Magician]

It''s interetsing that that in Drachten in Holland they did that radical experiment of removing traffic lights

Hans Monderman, a traffic planner involved in a Brussels-backed project known as Shared Space, said that taking lights away helped motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to co-exist more happily and safely.
    
People going round a roundabout
Road users take more care in Drachten as signs have been removed

Residents of the northern Dutch town of Drachten have already been used as guinea-pigs in an experiment which has seen nearly all the traffic lights stripped from their streets.

Only three of the 15 sets in the town of 50,000 remain and they will be gone within a couple of years.

The project is the brainchild of Mr Monderman, and the town has seen some remarkable results. There used to be a road death every three years but there have been none since the traffic light removal started seven years ago.

There have been a few small collisions, but these are almost to be encouraged, Mr Monderman explained. "We want small accidents, in order to prevent serious ones in which people get hurt," he said yesterday.
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"It works well because it is dangerous, which is exactly what we want. But it shifts the emphasis away from the Government taking the risk, to the driver being responsible for his or her own risk.

"We only want traffic lights where they are useful and I haven't found anywhere where they are useful yet."

They also cost an absolute fortune to install but the doesn't seem to deter our Council who spend money like water and then close swimming pools to plug the gap.

[kumquatkelly]

Is is the police who are responsible for traffic light timing?  I now avoid this junction like the plague and use the back route whenever possible!