Botched Traffic Signals

Discussion about street lighting, road signs, traffic signals - and all other street furniture - goes here.

Moderator: Site Management Team

Post Reply
User avatar
traffic-light-man
Member
Posts: 4723
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 18:45
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by traffic-light-man »

There's loads like that at the moment. I think the Helios has a retention ring for the arrow mask, which is obviously not doing its job for one reason or another. Given how many there are and how suddenly it seems to be an issue, I was wondering if it was a manufacturing defect.
Simon
Jonathan24
Member
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 19:45

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Jonathan24 »

traffic-light-man wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:18 There's loads like that at the moment. I think the Helios has a retention ring for the arrow mask, which is obviously not doing its job for one reason or another. Given how many there are and how suddenly it seems to be an issue, I was wondering if it was a manufacturing defect.
Thanks - it's something I've only just noticed recently and was surprised to see it affect more than one site, but that would make sense if it is happening a lot. Some of the sites aren't old though, the first set was installed within the last 2 years, whilst the second set have been there for at least 10 years.
Jonathan24
Member
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 19:45

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Jonathan24 »

traffic-light-man wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:18 There's loads like that at the moment. I think the Helios has a retention ring for the arrow mask, which is obviously not doing its job for one reason or another. Given how many there are and how suddenly it seems to be an issue, I was wondering if it was a manufacturing defect.
It seems like it must be a fault (as you said), as I was past one of the sites again yesterday and it looks like the entire signal head has been replaced (it has a perfectly white surround on it whilst all the others on the site have faded to grey) and now has the arrow pointing in the right direction.
User avatar
traffic-light-man
Member
Posts: 4723
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 18:45
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by traffic-light-man »

Jonathan24 wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 21:41It seems like it must be a fault (as you said), as I was past one of the sites again yesterday and it looks like the entire signal head has been replaced (it has a perfectly white surround on it whilst all the others on the site have faded to grey) and now has the arrow pointing in the right direction.
Come to think of it, I think all the ones I've spotted should be pointing to the right, but they're now pointing straight aheadish, which makes me think that it's perhaps something specific to fitting the mask in the right hand direction.
Simon
User avatar
traffic-light-man
Member
Posts: 4723
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 18:45
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by traffic-light-man »

Oops!
Attachments
IMG_20210501_151016.jpg
Simon
Jonathan24
Member
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 19:45

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Jonathan24 »

traffic-light-man wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 13:39 Oops!
Is that a one way cycle crossing then?
User avatar
traffic-light-man
Member
Posts: 4723
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 18:45
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by traffic-light-man »

Jonathan24 wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 14:39Is that a one way cycle crossing then?
By accident, unlike this one, which is intentionally a one-way Toucan!
Simon
User avatar
L.J.D
Member
Posts: 441
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 06:34
Location: W.Yorkshire

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by L.J.D »

These always amused me because you can only go ahead anyway I don't know what the person who installed them was thinking. The mellors before just had ahead arrows and no box signs. So I don't know why that was even done.

Edit: If you swivel around I also saw this it looks like someone has drawn an arrow on or something because its supposed to be a green ball I can't get a clear enough view of it though on there but it doesn't look like a normal arrow mask
User avatar
jervi
Member
Posts: 1594
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 16:29
Location: West Sussex

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by jervi »

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.83338 ... 384!8i8192
Missing except cycles on the no left turn ban
WHBM
Member
Posts: 9696
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 18:01
Location: London

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by WHBM »

L.J.D wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 20:27 These always amused me because you can only go ahead anyway I don't know what the person who installed them was thinking. The mellors before just had ahead arrows and no box signs. So I don't know why that was even done.
With all that masking I would guess there was a history of accidents of some sort, though difficult to understand. Possibly right turners at the immediately preceding junction thinking they were just the junction farside aspects.
User avatar
Britain
Member
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 19:32

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Britain »

jervi wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 10:22 https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.83338 ... 384!8i8192
Missing except cycles on the no left turn ban
I love how in your link there is a car turning left despite the ban. Do you know why they banned turning left there? It looks like there is a separate pedestrian crossing so I can't imagine it's to prevent a conflict between peds and motors.
I'm nobody special, just somebody who enjoys looking at and talking about infrastructure. Eager to learn as much as I can about the roads of the UK 🇬🇧 - please help me with this.
User avatar
jervi
Member
Posts: 1594
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 16:29
Location: West Sussex

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by jervi »

Britain wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 21:56
jervi wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 10:22 https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.83338 ... 384!8i8192
Missing except cycles on the no left turn ban
I love how in your link there is a car turning left despite the ban. Do you know why they banned turning left there? It looks like there is a separate pedestrian crossing so I can't imagine it's to prevent a conflict between peds and motors.
Don't think they are turning left, just an odd reflection off the sun on the indicator it looks like.

No left turns allowed here because those wanting the A270 Westbound are required to make the left before London Road (which is kinda a high street as such) to follow "cheapside". This means that only A23 traffic goes through the heavily pedestrianised area instead of both the A270 and A23 traffic.

Also traffic backsup from the lights under the railway bridge to the west, this traffic would easily backup to Preston Circus (the junction in the link) and potentially block it up, and therefore block up the A23 and A270, by directing traffic via Cheapside it means that any traffic backup would not effect the A23 traffic.
Preston Circus.PNG
Preston Circus.PNG (44.94 KiB) Viewed 2490 times
Red = Banned turn. Green = A270 Westbound access via Cheapside.
Oddly Cheapside is a class D road, even though it is required for access to the A270 Westbound from the A270 & A23(NB), although it isn't needed to A23(SB). Although it got a new sign at the bottom end of it near St.Peters Church which suggested it was a primary route! The A270 isn't a primary route, let alone a Class D road that links to it.
User avatar
Britain
Member
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 19:32

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Britain »

jervi wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 22:36 Don't think they are turning left, just an odd reflection off the sun on the indicator it looks like.

No left turns allowed here because those wanting the A270 Westbound are required to make the left before London Road (which is kinda a high street as such) to follow "cheapside". This means that only A23 traffic goes through the heavily pedestrianised area instead of both the A270 and A23 traffic.

Also traffic backsup from the lights under the railway bridge to the west, this traffic would easily backup to Preston Circus (the junction in the link) and potentially block it up, and therefore block up the A23 and A270, by directing traffic via Cheapside it means that any traffic backup would not effect the A23 traffic.

Preston Circus.PNG Red = Banned turn. Green = A270 Westbound access via Cheapside.
Oddly Cheapside is a class D road, even though it is required for access to the A270 Westbound from the A270 & A23(NB), although it isn't needed to A23(SB). Although it got a new sign at the bottom end of it near St.Peters Church which suggested it was a primary route! The A270 isn't a primary route, let alone a Class D road that links to it.
Thanks for the info - that makes sense. If you continue up on GSV you'll see the car turning. Naughty naughty.
I'm nobody special, just somebody who enjoys looking at and talking about infrastructure. Eager to learn as much as I can about the roads of the UK 🇬🇧 - please help me with this.
Skipsy
Member
Posts: 197
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2019 19:53

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Skipsy »

This just doesn't work, there seems to be a few cases of these signals with multiple direction signs being put up, or more than one direction on a signal clearly marked as only having one:
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4291827 ... 384!8i8192 I think I posted this before in this thread.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4071788 ... 384!8i8192 Seriously?
User avatar
L.J.D
Member
Posts: 441
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 06:34
Location: W.Yorkshire

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by L.J.D »

A new and dangerous botch. Yes they are green when the set behind are red! You can see straight through. They should at least have the blinds on so you can't see them.
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35717
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Bryn666 »

L.J.D wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 23:59 A new and dangerous botch. Yes they are green when the set behind are red! You can see straight through. They should at least have the blinds on so you can't see them.
Leeds UTMC do some weird and, er, not wonderful things. Flag it as a potential safety hazard, blinds aren't expensive to retrofit.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
User avatar
traffic-light-man
Member
Posts: 4723
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 18:45
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by traffic-light-man »

Bryn666 wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 08:52
L.J.D wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 23:59 A new and dangerous botch. Yes they are green when the set behind are red! You can see straight through. They should at least have the blinds on so you can't see them.
Leeds UTMC do some weird and, er, not wonderful things. Flag it as a potential safety hazard, blinds aren't expensive to retrofit.
Compact signalised roundabouts are a nightmare for see-through, and sadly most of the time they'd be better off being junctions anyway. I can think of quite a few that could do with louvres.

Talking of see-through, this is one of my (least) favourites. The far junction used to be louvred, but since the site was refurbished, there's now a significant lack of louvres and a growth in signal heads, including that 6m pole, so it's end up with pretty bad see-through problems. It used to have some pretty rigid linking as well, but I think that's been left to SCOOT to decide now, as well as allowing the junction in the foreground to double-cycle (from what I've seen on-street), so you can get the two junctions changing completely independently of each other, which doesn't help with the see-through issues.
Simon
Jonathan24
Member
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 19:45

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Jonathan24 »

L.J.D wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 23:59 A new and dangerous botch. Yes they are green when the set behind are red! You can see straight through. They should at least have the blinds on so you can't see them.
That's a bit like this junction:

https://www.google.com/maps/@54.5475618 ... 312!8i6656

The two sets of lights are sequenced so that they change to red in tandem (the first set change to red, then the second set change to red a few seconds later, to prevent traffic from getting trapped in the middle) but the second set change to green again before the first set, so that traffic emerging from the road on the right doesn't cause gridlock. I've lost count of the number of times, particularly when there isn't much traffic emerging from the right, that I've seen cars who were stopped at the first set of lights, move off and drive through a red light, when the second set of lights changes. Most recently, only a few weeks ago, in full view of a police car who was emerging from the side road, who promptly pulled them in!
User avatar
traffic-light-man
Member
Posts: 4723
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 18:45
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by traffic-light-man »

There's definitely something missing here... :roll:
Simon
User avatar
Gareth
Member
Posts: 1729
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 19:16
Location: Liverpool
Contact:

Re: Botched Traffic Signals

Post by Gareth »

It looks like you're supposed to cross in one go, in which case, there shouldn't be buttons in the middle. Otherwise, not only is it missing a ped signal but also tactile paving.
Post Reply