Traffic lights for private properties

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scynthius726
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Traffic lights for private properties

Post by scynthius726 »

On the Crow Road in Glasgow there is a traffic light-controlled T-junction with a house driveway coming on to the corner of the T-junction. The house has its own set of traffic lights!

I watched the lights cycle round several phases and the house never got a green light. Can't see any cameras on these lights, so what triggers the green for the house? And is this a (relatively) common arrangement?
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Traffic lights for private properties

Post by Mark Hewitt »

scynthius726 wrote:On the Crow Road in Glasgow there is a traffic light-controlled T-junction with a house driveway coming on to the corner of the T-junction. The house has its own set of traffic lights!

I watched the lights cycle round several phases and the house never got a green light. Can't see any cameras on these lights, so what triggers the green for the house? And is this a (relatively) common arrangement?
There is one in Harlow for access to-from the Travel Inn.

The lights, in common with the majority of signals will have sensors, either microwave sensors on the top or coils buried in the road surface which will detect the presence of a vehicle on the private drive, and then cycle the lights to green. Otherwise they will stay at red.
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Post by Sunil_of_Yoxley »

There's one in Ley Street, Ilford at the Benton Road junction. The property is directly opposite Benton Road, which leads east towards Seven Kings. I think the property in question is a builder's, but not sure exactly!
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Post by DorsetWay »

IN Christchurch Dorset, I think, along Bridge Street are a couple of driveways off properties have their own sets of lights - this is all down to the narrow town bridge being signal controlled.
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Post by flyingscot »

Yeah this has happened to a lot of places where junctions have got busy with the test of time and driveways have been in the way. When I have seen it being designed before the options are, sensor to throw an all-red so person can continue out the driveway (not too common), or providing a traffic light. I have seen and helped it be designed round, using box junctions and advanced stop lines which Glasgow likes if the junction is just close to the stop line rather than being in the middle.

As far as I am aware sensors are now the prefered option, things buried in the road surface are not really used much except for gates etc.
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Post by Bfivethousand »

They're quite common really!

On North Road, Yate, the Jehovah's Witnesses Hall have their own traffic signals (push button controlled) at the narrow bridge under the railway line....

And IIRC the newish signals at A5 / Birch Coppice near Tamworth have an on-demand signal phase solely for a maintenance vehicle at an adjacent substation
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Post by Paul »

Not quite the same but there are a set of lights at the junction with Cherry Hinton High Street and Coldham's Lane in Cambridge, with the fourth arm being a small access road into a set of lock-ups.
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Post by boing_uk »

Why would the traffic lights service peoples driveways on every cycle? That would be stupid, so of course detectors are used.

Ive looked after a number of sites with these on and the methods ranged from:

* UD inductive loops in the driveway
* UD inductive loops in the footway outside the drive
* pushbutton in the driveway
* keyfob remote control
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Post by scynthius726 »

boing_uk wrote:Why would the traffic lights service peoples driveways on every cycle? That would be stupid, so of course detectors are used.
I thought it might service his driveway every 10 cycles or something.

Also there are no detectors anywhere else on this junction. I watched the junction for several cycles and watched vehicles on the main road getting held up for a green on the side road at which nobody emerged at all.
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Post by boing_uk »

Why though? It would always be a demand dependant stage. Traffic signal controllers arent that clever for an operation "every ten cycles"... in theory that could be 20 minutes wait assuming a 120s cycle time and that every other stage was being serviced.

If the controller was running fixed time mode, then yes it might service it every cycle, but even then it might be demand dependant even within that, depending on how the EPROM was configured. Certainly a fixed time plan (which is different to fixed time mode) would have it as a demand dependant stage within the cycle time, as would MOVA or UTC plans.

How can you be certain there are no detectors? Check the road surface, you may see the slot cuts. Chances are the detectors are faulty. Or the junction is running a CLF plan (ans mentioned above) to maintain a green progression.- I dont know.

Tell ya what - a novel idea - why dont you just ring up the traffic signals engineer and find out what that junction is actually doing?
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Post by ndp »

The Cottingham Road / Chanterlands Avenue junction in Hull has two signalised driveways, each with a pushbutton.
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Post by c2R »

Old Cross in Hertford has had a set of lights put in for the residents of the new build by the river....
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Post by a80 »

Not private properties, but I'm sure I've seen a few sets of lights around the country for the farmers to herd their cows over the road.

Ooo-arrrr.
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Post by SouthWest Philip »

a80 wrote:Not private properties, but I'm sure I've seen a few sets of lights around the country for the farmers to herd their cows over the road.

Ooo-arrrr.
These are usually similar to the double flashing amber lights than warn of school crossing patrols.

For many years the A30 across Bodmin Moor had level crossing style signals and stop lines across the both the dual carriagway and three-lane sections. These were for the purpose of letting cattle cross. The lights were accompanied by the 'cattle' warning sign and the standard 'Stop when lights show' plates. Never, ever saw them in use, but then again I wouldn't fancy coming to a halt from 70mph! They disappeared within the last ten years.
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Post by RickyB_uk »

My place of work has its own set of traffic lights where the entrance road to the car parks meets the main road.
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Post by Bfivethousand »

SouthWest Philip wrote:
a80 wrote:Not private properties, but I'm sure I've seen a few sets of lights around the country for the farmers to herd their cows over the road.

Ooo-arrrr.
These are usually similar to the double flashing amber lights than warn of school crossing patrols.

For many years the A30 across Bodmin Moor had level crossing style signals and stop lines across the both the dual carriagway and three-lane sections. These were for the purpose of letting cattle cross. The lights were accompanied by the 'cattle' warning sign and the standard 'Stop when lights show' plates. Never, ever saw them in use, but then again I wouldn't fancy coming to a halt from 70mph! They disappeared within the last ten years.
Anyone know if the ones at A41 at Sandford (by Whitchurch) are still there... I remember once waiting for what seemed an eternity at those lights :lol:
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Post by steveway »

There's a push-button controlled set <a href=http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x ... srf&dn=785 target=_blank>here[/url] to let traffic from the service road at the rear of the properties onto the A406.
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Post by M60-Tony »

RickyB_uk wrote:My place of work has its own set of traffic lights where the entrance road to the car parks meets the main road.
Not sure if the same, but the A34 south of Alderley Edge where, IIRC, the Zeneca works exit has one.
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Post by Glen »

There are a couple I can think of, a car dealer opposite a contolled T-junction needs it's own lights and a car park of a small shop opposite Morrisons entrance (itself a private access, albiet heavily used). And of course both of them are sensor controlled and will only change if something is there.
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Post by t1(M) »

There's a set at the junction of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane, which includes a set to allow vehicles to leave the Inner Temple (to the south of Fleet Street.
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