CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Rubbish road design - how do we stop it?

(9 posts)

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  1. dougal
    Member

    Yesterday lunchtime I was travelling west along George Street with a Stagecoach bus behind me until we pulled up side-by-side at the crossing where the lights on the far side of the junction aren't the same circuit as the lights on the near side. When the lights on the far side went green the coach immediately shot forward the entire length of the ASZ and halfway into the pedestrian crossing before slamming on the brakes. Thankfully there was nobody crossing at that point.

    This "false green" happens in both directions and I see it confusing people regularly. Sooner or later it *will* result in someone being run over or a side-on collision.

    How does this stuff get green lit (!) and how does one complain about road layout that is designed for failure?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  2. SRD
    Moderator

    Which junction is this?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  3. dougal
    Member

    I think it's the Hanover Street junction though I don't actually pay attention to the street names; it's pretty near the east end anyway.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  4. crowriver
    Member

    Write to the council. They have officers in charge of pedestrian crossings and traffic signals. You'll really have to spell it out to them what the issue is and exactly where.

    Then expect a patronising letter back explaining why it will be impossible for them to change anything. Some excuse will be trotted out (usually bus priority or some such).

    At least that's my experience.

    Of course if 500 people write in, they'll probably do something.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  5. PS
    Member

    Yeah, that'll be Hanover Street.

    I've seen the same on the Hanover Street axis: Stopped in ASZ in the left-hand lane, car behind ASL in right-hand lane. Far traffic light goes green, whilst ours remains red. Car goes. Right through the junction, completely oblivious to having made a mistake.

    Gave me the opportunity to shake my head and lift my right arm in a "bloody car drivers jumping red lights" kinda way, but I'd rather not have been able to...

    Posted 8 years ago #

  6. jonty
    Member

    Shortly after these lights were installed (quite?) a few years ago my mum went through them at red assuming they were repeating the lights at the far side and didn't apply to her. Took quite a lot of convincing from my sister and me until she even realised she'd made mistake. They've since added grills to the green light which obscure it until you're up close.

    Seems like quite a bad junction - I think it aims to maximise both vehicle and pedestrian flow and achieves neither. I sometimes wonder if it's a deliberate attempt to make it artificially slow for cars, though that would be disappointing given it's on the NCN. Would banning cars from the Mound make it better?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  7. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Yes that's Hanover St. and a common problem, particularly as if you're looking forward (and not craning your neck upwards), the distant lights for the next stage of the junction are more in eyeshot than the closer ones you should be watching.

    There are filters on the distant lights to attempt to reduce their visibility from a distance, but they really don't work.

    There's a similar issue constantly westbound at end of West Maitland Street where it turns into Athol Place / junction with Torphicen Street and Palmerston Place.

    The lights for turning right into Torphicen Street are located in such a way that they often cause people to jump forward thinking it's green for straight ahead. Once they realise their mistake, people generally keep going anyway to keep out of the junction, meaning they go across a pedestrian crossing which is on green also.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  8. sallyhinch
    Member

    A conversation I had with a road officer here in D&G suggests that they use police accident reports primarily to prioritise road design changes. It's why it's worth reporting collisions to the police even if you're not going to pursue charges or you think they won't do anything - it all goes into the database and then there's evidence to back up the hunch that a design is dangerous and needs to be fixed.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  9. Snowy
    Member

    I'm pleased that Kilgraston Road is to be included in the 20mph roads (previously exempted as a 'main road') and further, the council are looking at how to redesign it to make it safer for pedestrians (it's a major walking route for school children).
    Hopefully that will mean fixing the crossroads where in the last 15 months, 4 of my own acquaintances have had their cars written off, and 2 others badly damaged. I don't know whose fault it was in all cases but to me that says 'crap junction design'. It's even worse for pedestrians trying to cross.
    Oddly though, a council rep (at a school meeting I think) said that the work, in this case, was *not* due to police accident statistics. I find this hard to believe - perhaps the stats are still working their way through the system.

    Posted 8 years ago #

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