It’s a light off Traffic island flattened four days after repair
Traffic lights on Perth’s York Place lasted just four days after being switched back on before being smashed over again, the Perthshire Advertiser can reveal.
The island lights, located outside the city’s Grampian Hotel, were knocked down in December and were finally repaired and switched on earlier this month.
However, the lights, which separate the eastbound bus and regular traffic lanes, were flattened by a vehicle less than four days later.
A spokesperson confirmed: “Works to repair the traffic island on York Place were completed on Sunday, February 4, and the replacement traffic lights were installed and activated on Wednesday, February 7.
“The lights were unfortunately hit by a vehicle on Saturday, February 10.
“We will be arranging for repair works as soon as possible.”
A previous freedom of information request revealed that the lights were knocked down five times in 2017, costing drivers’ insurers around £9000.
The seemingly never-ending cycle of crashes has Claire and Duncan McFarlane, owners of the Grampian Hotel since 2007, calling for something to be done.
Claire told the PA: “I don’t know why vehicles keep crashing into them, and when they’re down it’s just chaos as everyone just keeps coming.
“The issue we have is that it takes months to repair. If one gets knocked down at the weekend, it should be replaced by the Monday.
“For us, it is best when the lights are fully operational as the buses don’t let us out and when both lanes don’t stop, nobody lets us out.
“We’ve run the hotel for over ten years and it seems to happen five or six times a year.
“There have been a few dramas and a few times where I’ve gone out and phoned for an ambulance.
“From a business perspective, we only have nine parking spaces and when the lights are cordoned off, it makes a
Duncan and Claire McFarlane of the Grampian Hotel couple very difficult to use. It also makes customers a bit wary coming in.”
Claire admitted that the situation has become so predictable that as soon as the lights are replaced, the couple are waiting on them being knocked down again.
She added: “Duncan went out to speak to the repair men on Sunday and joked that he would see them again next week. Less than a week later they were knocked down again!
“The council showed up at 8am on Sunday morning with no notice to repair the lights. I know that’s the quietest time for them, but the noise didn’t go down well with some of our clients.”