Ghost Traffic Lights

RATM

With the advent of ghost estates also comes the advent of ghost traffic lights. There is a set just down the road from where I live- often I come around the corner and get stopped by a red and wait however long it is to change to green. In that time not once have I seen any traffic come from the other directions in the junction (its a crossroads).

Traffic lights like these were installed on the assumption that apartments would keep getting built indefintely and the subsequent increase in local traffic would require them. But now as estates/apartment complexes lie empty the traffic lights installed to service them are now quite unnecessary at junctions where there is little or no traffic.

What's other peoples experience of this, are there any completely pointless traffic lights on your daily commute ?

corktina

there is possibly a sensor embedded in the road and you may not be pulling up far enough to the line to trigger it.

Cookie_Monster

the sensor in Cabinteely is broken, its infuriating

Oh and Infrastructure not C&T

Zoney

Lights at such locations should stay green on the main (through) route and only change if the occasional car pulls up on the side roads (triggering the lights through the sensor).

If this is done, then they need not be an inconvenience no matter how light the traffic they facilitate.

markpb

Zoney wrote: »

Lights at such locations should stay green on the main (through) route and only change if the occasional car pulls up on the side roads (triggering the lights through the sensor).

The problem is a lot of the sensors are broken and think there's something coming from the minor road when there isn't. This has happened all over the city (Dublin) and from what I've heard, they're not being repaired right now.

Zoney

I'd contact the council about broken sensors. It seems that for many things in Ireland there is no pro-active maintanance (not even occasional/annual checks) but in many cases action is indeed taken if you inform the relevant authority.

I.S.T.

Why can't these traffic lights switch off when it is not busy. It happens in other countries. In the UK they have a sign on them saying "part time traffic lights". When they are switched off you just use the junction like any other without traffic lights.

Stonewolf

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Why can't these traffic lights switch off when it is not busy. It happens in other countries. In the UK they have a sign on them saying "part time traffic lights". When they are switched off you just use the junction like any other without traffic lights.

Yeah, I used to travel along Glasnevin Avenue quite a bit on my way back from nightshifts and just West of the Autobahn petrol station there was a set of pedestrian lights that were timed to come on every few minutes ... even in the depths of night.