Is it just me or dose somone at the Highways Agency hate Sheffield:mad:
Have we now become the dumping ground for Traffic Lights.

I feel sorry for my workmates who drive the 60 bus route, can anyone explain why the traffic lights on Manchester Road / Fulwood Road (Broomhill) have a mind of there own?:loopy:

The ringroad towards the university roundabout demonstrates sheffield's careless use of traffic lights, its always blocked up.

Yes we definitely do have too many.

I remember when Fulwood Road was a give way onto Manchester Road at Broomhill, could you imagine that now? Doesn't bear thinking about.

It would seem there is a policy in Sheffield (could be national I guess) to get rid of all the pedestrian crossings that show red on one side and green on the other. Many pedestrians start crossing as soon as traffic stops so I am sure these have led to many accidents.

I think the lights at Broomhill were modified under this policy so both sides of the traffic either stop or go at that pedestrian crossing.

However shortly after, it was noticed that this change caused severe traffic congestion in rush hour soooo at certain times of the day there is always a green light leaving Broomhill along Fulwood Road unless a pedestrian presses the crossing button - just like it used to be!

So there you go, easy once you know!

And I don't think there are too many lights in Sheffield, have you ever tried driving around California?

I do agree there are problems on many roundabouts in Sheffield where there are pedestrian crossings very close to the roundabout exits which can cause instant gridlocks in rush hour. Unfortunately these contentions between pedestrians and traffic will always exist where they meet. The alternative is too seperate them which leads to subways or footbridges, what happened to those ideas I wonder?

The traffic lights at the roundabout in question has little or no effects of restricting the flow, by the time it changes back to green, 9/10 times there is still at least one car in front waiting to enter the roundabout. Beside, not all lights on the roundabout goes red, it alternates and distribute traffic wanting to enter the roundabout.

Traffic control lights in conjunction with a 'spiral' roundabouts can work extremely well.

I believe Sheffield was used as a test bed for such lights and I think the roundabout at the bottom of Ecclesall Road was the location of their first use.

I think it should be noted though they work best when cars and pedestrians are seperated such as Ecclesall Road, Park Square and M1/ Parkway junction. These do not have lights on the roundabout exits.

It tends to break down when the lights are 'dual use' such as on the Brook Hill and Hunter's Bar roundabouts. I don't think it can be classed as 'careless' use of traffic lights - how else are the pedestrians going to get across the road?

I know this is sad but I counted the number of traffic lights I have to go through on my way to work and it's 25 sets (but that was including pedestrian crossings as well). I only live about 6 miles away! I've since found an alternative route to work with less lights...

Not too many traffic lights at all I think they are good but, maybe some more colours instead of RED YELLOW GREEN. Perhaps when the blue one comes on you could get out of the car and run round and round like in the playground.

I feel that Sheffield must be the sole participant in some kind of psychic experiment to see just how many traffic lights one city can take before it grinds to total and irreversible gridlock.

That day must surely be very near.

There are probably 12+ sets of light when you go on the dual carriageway from town toward hillsbrough. This sounds overused, but traffic from side streets has to join somehow and there isn't an alternative as it is too dangerous to cross a dual carriageway.

I found that if you are stopped by one set of light, then you will not be stopped again by traffic lights on that road again unless

A) there is a traffic Jam.
B) or that you are speeding

Funny thing is, in many cases, problem B causes problem A because many drivers speed off as soon as it goes green and go over the speed limit to the next set of light which hasn't changed green yet, so they stop. Meanwhile people behind who are driving at right speed are timely met with a green light but have to stop or slow down because of the idiot in front who was speeding is by now stationary causing a domino effect of stop/start which generate jams. Worst still, the idiot is repeating the pattern, stop-start-stop-start, at worst for the next 11 set of lights.

In the end, the traffic lights get blamed.

If you thought Sheffield was bad did you see this in the Daily Mail yesterday?

They have replaced a major roundabout in Portsmouth with a road junction. It has 73 sets of traffic lights!

http://www.swuth.demon.co.uk/stuff/trafficlights.jpg

I also counted the number of traffic lights on the way to work (it's a way of passing the time), I use the bus so I have to through 23 sets each journey. A problem I come across is that when the council alter a junction (eg: top of the Moor) they don't get the light sequence changed so you have to dice with death to get to poundland!

It's a catch 22 situation: the more the traffic, the more they have to think of ways of controlling it and keeping it running smoothly.

Installing more traffic lights at junctions, on the surface, seems a sensible idea, but then the stereotypical motorist-in-a-rush makes up for stalled time and speeds up to the next set, and so on.

And nothing is ever achieved. It's the same queue spurting between lights.

Yes there are too many traffic lights in Sheffield

also there are to many useless mini roundabouts, because no-one goes round them, only straight over them

Yes there are too many sets of traffic lights.......... but what would the cyclists do if there were none to jump and therefore reducing the posts on the sheffield forum :P

Originally posted by Fletch
Yes there are too many traffic lights in Sheffield

also there are to many useless mini roundabouts, because no-one goes round them, only straight over them
That is what you are supposed to do Fletch. The idea of mini roundabouts is to set the priority of giving way to the right and for only one vehicle to be in the junction at a time. Most junctions that they are on are far too small to go around in a pointless circle.