End of the road for Mellor signals?

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Gareth
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Gareth »

Kirkby has these, which appear to be a fully mellor installation.

2 N Park Rd
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cEZG16cdr9YnYeeR7
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Rambo »

These Page Mellors at Stockton Heath along the A56 junction with Lumb Brook road are currently being replaced. Note the neat little temporary pedestrian crossing. WBC seem to have having a good clear out this year.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Chris5156 »

I think this installation in Hampshire is all Mellor, though I haven't checked all the pedestrian lights.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Gareth »

There's been a single column replay here...

High St
https://maps.app.goo.gl/e81UaPv6w1oAuHBd6

.. although, happily, they've remounted the Mellors onto it.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by ReissOmari »

Theres a full set of mellors here which appear to be some of the oldest surviving mellors in Birmingham.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by L.J.D »

This last set of Mellors in Wakefield council area I mentioned on here other month have finally bitten the dust :(. So now we can add Wakefield to the list of councils left with no more Mellors. Shame as well because that site was fully intact too no casual replacements. They turned up last week and stripped the lot out and put in tempos and its been left like that for now. I'm guessing they'll be replaced with rubbish Telent 4Gs seeing how they won the contract for signal maintenance in West Yorkshire earlier this year.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Beardy5632 »

I think there's only 2 left in Gloucester now, a set in Longlevens near Elmbridge Court and the other is on Secunda Way in the Hempsted area of the city.

The last couple of sets on the inner ring road have now been replaced with GSV showing the Trier Way/Park End Road junction in the process of being replaced with some Mellor graves by the side of the road.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by L.J.D »

It seems in Sheffield that quite a few Mellor sites have been given a new lease of life like this set around this roundabout before and after. They have repainted the boards white and they've also given the lenses, arrow units and lamp reflectors a good scrub out by the looks of it because they seem alot brighter than previously. They look as good as new again. Just shows that most elderly looking sites would be fine if they were maintained properly.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Rambo »

Thread bump. Noticed a couple of Mellor sites still going strong on the Wirral recently.
New Brighton https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4379027 ... 384!8i8192

Birkenhead docks https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4041282 ... 384!8i8192
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by traffic-light-man »

L.J.D wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 09:24 It seems in Sheffield that quite a few Mellor sites have been given a new lease of life like this set around this roundabout before and after. They have repainted the boards white and they've also given the lenses, arrow units and lamp reflectors a good scrub out by the looks of it because they seem alot brighter than previously. They look as good as new again. Just shows that most elderly looking sites would be fine if they were maintained properly.
I'd missed this post, but they look great having been cleaned up and the borders painted, it's great to see an authority looking after the older equipment like that in current times. Not a complaint, but I find it strange that they've painted the borders back on, I'd have thought retro-reflective tape probably would've been the go-to answer, especially given that was fitted as standard in some authorities in the later Mellor era. I can't remember if the borders were mentioned at the time, but it would appear those ones you mentioned a while back for having an LED retrofit have been painted at some point as well. Particularly interesting case given the LED retrofits as well.

Of course they're a solid plastic, so if you can keep them in good condition, you're absolutely right that they should look and perform well for many years.
Rambo wrote: Sun Jan 02, 2022 20:47 Thread bump. Noticed a couple of Mellor sites still going strong on the Wirral recently.
New Brighton https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4379027 ... 384!8i8192

Birkenhead docks https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4041282 ... 384!8i8192
There's quite a few left in Birkenhead, including the two on the Tramway (one set GEC, and one set Page), Hamilton Square, Woodside and outside the bus station. They've got quite a lot of 'new' Mellors which might explain the somewhat surprising retention in comparison to the other authorities in the region, though I should think even those will probably be getting on for 20 odd years old by now so refurbishments in the near future wouldn't come as a surprise!

I'm wondering when the right time to start compiling a map of remaining Mellor sites is, but I'm not sure we're quite there yet :lol:
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by L.J.D »

Maybe composing a list of local authorities that no longer have Mellor stock would be a start to round up and then it will be easier to keep tabs on those that and the locations of the Mellor sites. With the various councils declaring carbon neutral by 2030 I guess we will have none left by then. It's a real shame how fast they've been disappearing last decade. Especially in London they had loads up until recently but they've had a mass cull.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by traffic-light-man »

That's probably a more logical approach, yes! I imagine there's a few now that are completely devoid of Mellor stock, particularly those that have had area-wide LED upgrade schemes.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Dave908 »

What I think are now the oldest set of Mellors in the St Helens borough here (I may be wrong with this though) are due to be replaced as part of a cycle infrastructure scheme.

I believe the number of junctions in St Helens featuring Mellors may be countable on one hand (I'm sure Simon will know more :)) so it may not be long until they're all gone.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Rambo »

Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35 What I think are now the oldest set of Mellors in the St Helens borough here (I may be wrong with this though) are due to be replaced as part of a cycle infrastructure scheme.

I believe the number of junctions in St Helens featuring Mellors may be countable on one hand (I'm sure Simon will know more :)) so it may not be long until they're all gone.
The ones i previously posted along Standish Street at the junctions with Hall St & Atlas St, Pocket Nook were still there recently when i passed. But i don't recall any others.

Warrington still has a fair few but some are already earmarked for removal. A handful of these https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3830873 ... 384!8i8192 were replaced last year but they didn't do the whole roundabout for some reason.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Gareth »

How many of the old tin/SGE poles are still about. St Helens reminded me because there was a fairly large installation of original tin lantern poles with mellor heads around Peasley Cross until only a few years ago.

Liverpool used to have lots but I think they're all gone now.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by traffic-light-man »

Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35 What I think are now the oldest set of Mellors in the St Helens borough here (I may be wrong with this though) are due to be replaced as part of a cycle infrastructure scheme.
That's interesting, I hadn't seen those, thanks for sharing. Explains the sudden outburst of footway widening out towards Bold Heath and Widnes. Shame the Peasley Cross Lane plans still look a bit early-2000s, hopefully they'll refine that a bit more before construction. Good to see plans like this making progress either way!

I suspect you're right about those being the eldest. I think the only other ones of a similar age left now are the five remaining Mellors at Prescot Road/Dunriding Lane and the three remaining Mellors on the New Street railway bridge in Sutton Leach.
Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35I believe the number of junctions in St Helens featuring Mellors may be countable on one hand (I'm sure Simon will know more :)) so it may not be long until they're all gone.
I agree, I think there's only the three mentioned above and the two 'new' sites in Pocket Nook that Rambo mentioned, so yes! I certainly can't think of any pedestrian crossings left with them, in fact, I don't think there's any Pelicans left at all now.

There's a handful of Microsense MSH sites that are still dotted around, but again, I can't imagine they'll last too much longer either once all of the Mellors are dealt with. They'll be approaching 20+ years old by now and most of the sites are 'Mellor-standard' in design and facilities, so would no doubt be upgraded in one way or another.
Gareth wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 23:14 How many of the old tin/SGE poles are still about. St Helens reminded me because there was a fairly large installation of original tin lantern poles with mellor heads around Peasley Cross until only a few years ago.

Liverpool used to have lots but I think they're all gone now.
Were those the ones at the top of Jackson St? I think they were probably the last ones in Merseyside to be honest, but it's probably been 10 years or so since those went as well.

Like you say, Liverpool had an aggressive replacement scheme for the old Tin poles in the late 2000s IIRC which is where a lot of the casual replacement Microsense heads came from at some sites. Presumably they didn't use the existing Mellor heads because the brackets were different and it wasn't worth the hassle.

There were quite a lot of Tin poles left in Lancashire, but they all went about 10 years ago as well. I think Blackburn and Blackpool managed to keep some at ex-LCC sites for a bit longer, but I believe they've all gone now too.

The only place I can think of with any left is Glasgow, where there's a reasonable amount still in service if you know where to look.

I can't think of any SGE sites left anywhere either. Though, having said that, I can't remember ever noticing those when I was younger despite me now knowing there must've still been some around from what you've mentioned previously!
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

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traffic-light-man wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:32
Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35 What I think are now the oldest set of Mellors in the St Helens borough here (I may be wrong with this though) are due to be replaced as part of a cycle infrastructure scheme.
That's interesting, I hadn't seen those, thanks for sharing. Explains the sudden outburst of footway widening out towards Bold Heath and Widnes. Shame the Peasley Cross Lane plans still look a bit early-2000s, hopefully they'll refine that a bit more before construction. Good to see plans like this making progress either way!

I suspect you're right about those being the eldest. I think the only other ones of a similar age left now are the five remaining Mellors at Prescot Road/Dunriding Lane and the three remaining Mellors on the New Street railway bridge in Sutton Leach.
Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35I believe the number of junctions in St Helens featuring Mellors may be countable on one hand (I'm sure Simon will know more :)) so it may not be long until they're all gone.
I agree, I think there's only the three mentioned above and the two 'new' sites in Pocket Nook that Rambo mentioned, so yes! I certainly can't think of any pedestrian crossings left with them, in fact, I don't think there's any Pelicans left at all now.

There's a handful of Microsense MSH sites that are still dotted around, but again, I can't imagine they'll last too much longer either once all of the Mellors are dealt with. They'll be approaching 20+ years old by now and most of the sites are 'Mellor-standard' in design and facilities, so would no doubt be upgraded in one way or another.
Gareth wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 23:14 How many of the old tin/SGE poles are still about. St Helens reminded me because there was a fairly large installation of original tin lantern poles with mellor heads around Peasley Cross until only a few years ago.

Liverpool used to have lots but I think they're all gone now.
Were those the ones at the top of Jackson St? I think they were probably the last ones in Merseyside to be honest, but it's probably been 10 years or so since those went as well.

Like you say, Liverpool had an aggressive replacement scheme for the old Tin poles in the late 2000s IIRC which is where a lot of the casual replacement Microsense heads came from at some sites. Presumably they didn't use the existing Mellor heads because the brackets were different and it wasn't worth the hassle.

There were quite a lot of Tin poles left in Lancashire, but they all went about 10 years ago as well. I think Blackburn and Blackpool managed to keep some at ex-LCC sites for a bit longer, but I believe they've all gone now too.

The only place I can think of with any left is Glasgow, where there's a reasonable amount still in service if you know where to look.

I can't think of any SGE sites left anywhere either. Though, having said that, I can't remember ever noticing those when I was younger despite me now knowing there must've still been some around from what you've mentioned previously!
Yes, the last police hats on tin poles departed Blackburn about 18 months ago.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Dave908 »

traffic-light-man wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:32
Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35 What I think are now the oldest set of Mellors in the St Helens borough here (I may be wrong with this though) are due to be replaced as part of a cycle infrastructure scheme.
That's interesting, I hadn't seen those, thanks for sharing. Explains the sudden outburst of footway widening out towards Bold Heath and Widnes. Shame the Peasley Cross Lane plans still look a bit early-2000s, hopefully they'll refine that a bit more before construction. Good to see plans like this making progress either way!

I suspect you're right about those being the eldest. I think the only other ones of a similar age left now are the five remaining Mellors at Prescot Road/Dunriding Lane and the three remaining Mellors on the New Street railway bridge in Sutton Leach.
Dave908 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 15:35I believe the number of junctions in St Helens featuring Mellors may be countable on one hand (I'm sure Simon will know more :)) so it may not be long until they're all gone.
I agree, I think there's only the three mentioned above and the two 'new' sites in Pocket Nook that Rambo mentioned, so yes! I certainly can't think of any pedestrian crossings left with them, in fact, I don't think there's any Pelicans left at all now.

There's a handful of Microsense MSH sites that are still dotted around, but again, I can't imagine they'll last too much longer either once all of the Mellors are dealt with. They'll be approaching 20+ years old by now and most of the sites are 'Mellor-standard' in design and facilities, so would no doubt be upgraded in one way or another.
Gareth wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 23:14 How many of the old tin/SGE poles are still about. St Helens reminded me because there was a fairly large installation of original tin lantern poles with mellor heads around Peasley Cross until only a few years ago.

Liverpool used to have lots but I think they're all gone now.
Were those the ones at the top of Jackson St? I think they were probably the last ones in Merseyside to be honest, but it's probably been 10 years or so since those went as well.

Like you say, Liverpool had an aggressive replacement scheme for the old Tin poles in the late 2000s IIRC which is where a lot of the casual replacement Microsense heads came from at some sites. Presumably they didn't use the existing Mellor heads because the brackets were different and it wasn't worth the hassle.

There were quite a lot of Tin poles left in Lancashire, but they all went about 10 years ago as well. I think Blackburn and Blackpool managed to keep some at ex-LCC sites for a bit longer, but I believe they've all gone now too.

The only place I can think of with any left is Glasgow, where there's a reasonable amount still in service if you know where to look.

I can't think of any SGE sites left anywhere either. Though, having said that, I can't remember ever noticing those when I was younger despite me now knowing there must've still been some around from what you've mentioned previously!
I thought as much regarding the Mellor signals in St Helens, thank you :) . Wouldn't surprise me if the Microsense sets go within a couple of years as they're looking rather ropey now, I think the newest set dates from 2002-ish in Haydock.

The cycle scheme at Lea Green will in a cyclops junction replacing the Bull and Dog roundabout so it'll be interesting to see whether any more sites are converted to the cyclops design in coming years.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by Gareth »

traffic-light-man wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:32Were those the ones at the top of Jackson St? I think they were probably the last ones in Merseyside to be honest, but it's probably been 10 years or so since those went as well.
Yes, those were the ones. It doesn't feel that long ago but the years are just flying by at this point.

Btw, what's with the signal sighting at that intersection. All four directions only have signals at the stop line and just beyond.

I've noticed a tendency in some areas to have few or no farside signals on new installations and possibly even differences between contractors. There's pros and cons with how France does it, the USA does it and how the UK traditionally did it but I'd, at least, like some consistency.
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Re: End of the road for Mellor signals?

Post by L.J.D »

Gareth wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 19:24
traffic-light-man wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:32Were those the ones at the top of Jackson St? I think they were probably the last ones in Merseyside to be honest, but it's probably been 10 years or so since those went as well.
Yes, those were the ones. It doesn't feel that long ago but the years are just flying by at this point.

Btw, what's with the signal sighting at that intersection. All four directions only have signals at the stop line and just beyond.

I've noticed a tendency in some areas to have few or no farside signals on new installations and possibly even differences between contractors. There's pros and cons with how France does it, the USA does it and how the UK traditionally did it but I'd, at least, like some consistency.
Maybe because the junction is an odd X shape which means there's more chance of traffic turning and mistaking farside signals for red lights when they are not meant for that direction.

They've done the same here. Though from observation I've noticed it seems to be more a Siemens helios installed thing. Because this junction had all farside secondary heads but when they renewed it with Siemens equipment it was changed so there was only one and that's with the right turn arrow.
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