Comment: Council is failing to see the light
South Gloucestershire council is missing the point.
It is planning to turn off all the lights on the ring road overnight.
Perhaps the officials have misunderstood our campaign.
We have been calling for traffic lights to be switched off, not road lights.
Many people have contacted us about the traffic lights at the ring road junctions.
They have all branded them unnecessary. They have all said they add to congestion rather than easing it.
And many have pointed out that in disrupting the flow of traffic they make these junctions more dangerous, not less.
South Gloucestershire council should have paid attention to the comments we have published both in this paper and on our website.
For they have been made by people who use this road every day.
And it should follow the lead set by Bristol City Council which, to its credit, is looking at junctions where traffic lights can be turned off for a trial period.
South Gloucestershire council is missing a golden opportunity here.
And, at the same time, running the risk of making the ring road more dangerous – switching off overhead lights will affect visibility.
If Bristol City Council and North Somerset Council are willing to give it a try why not South Gloucestershire?
2 Comments
by Vic, Bristol
Saturday, October 31 2009, 8:44PM
“It's not South Gloucestershire Council that have missed the point, rather it is the anonymous hack behind this Comment.
The Council's announcement was about turning off the street lighting - which is to be welcomed - and not the turning off of traffic lights. I happen to agree that traffic lights on roundabouts are an unnecessary belt and braces combination, but the BEP seem to have a vague grip on reality. It is not the BEP nor any other part of the media that determine local government policy. This is evidence that the BEP have a misplaced sense of their own importance.
"South Gloucestershire council should have paid attention to the comments we have published both in this paper and on our website." Er, no, actually, they should listen to the Councillors who the public have democratically elected.
Who died and suddenly left the BEP in charge?”
by Bob Cox, Stoke Gifford
Saturday, October 31 2009, 8:18AM
“Agreed. The traffic lights on the ring road, certainly at off-peak times, are unnecessary. If traffic lights are considered such a good thing then why have roundabouts as well? Other than at peak times, the traffic lights should be switched off. They serve little useful purpose other than provide jobs and income for the traffic light industry yet succeed in causing irritation and frustration. At off-peak (and maybe peak - I do not know), they are the cause of unnecessary delays, wasted fuel and increased pollution.”