Temporary lights on busy road cause traffic problems
Council hope to have work completed by Wednesday
TEMPORARY lights at a busy junction in Hinckley have been causing traffic chaos for the last week.
And the make-shift signals at the cross section leading into the town centre from Coventry Road have also raised pedestrian safety concerns.
People trying to navigate the crossroads cannot see whether lights are on red, amber or green and have no way of knowing when it is clear to cross.
The issue has arisen due to Leicestershire County Council getting delayed on replacing the existing traffic lights.
For days the proper lights have been deactivated and hooded with no sign of any work taking place.
Motorists are suffering severe delays at the junction due to the temporary lights failing to sync properly in time with traffic flows.
Many drivers have been caught in the middle of the crossroads with nowhere to go after a sudden light change which fails to match up with the other signals governing vehicle movements in and around the centre of town.
One indignant driver said: “It’s very frustrating, the proper lights have been covered up for about a week now and the temporary lights don’t seem to be in the same sort of time sync as all the others you hit going into and out of the town centre.
“So it means you are stuck in queues at all the lights for ages and it is taking far too long to get through. Then of course there are the times you go because the light is green and expect the traffic in front of you to move but it has ground to a halt at another set of lights.
“I was stuck in the middle of the crossroads the other evening heading out of town and I’ve seen others get into the same situation with moving traffic having to swerve round them. How there hasn’t been a crash I don’t know.
“As well as that pedestrians have no way of knowing when to cross so they are literally taking their life in their hands and running across the junction whenever they think it’s best.”
A Leicestershire County Council spokesman said: “Works were originally planned to take place during the halfterm period but due to Cadent carrying out some emergency gas works in the area we are running slightly behind schedule.
“To minimise disruption crews have worked throughout the weekend, and weather dependant, we are aiming to complete the works today. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.”
Cadent were carrying out works on Coventry Road involving temporary traffic lights which impacted badly on flow but these were completed by last Thursday.