A46 update: Edge lights removed

Well work has started this week in repairing the A46 - due to be completed February if all goes well.

Photo: A46

However regular travelers on that route will note the removal of the traffic lights at Edge - these were helpful in regulating traffic flows through Whiteshill so it was with some dismay that we discovered their removal. Here is Highways answer below but as some compensation there has been a temporary illuminated slow down sign at some times along the route.

"The purpose of the lights was to make sure the left turning buses (from Pitchcombe to Whiteshill) could get around the junction safely. Unfortunately the sub-standard width of the Whiteshill road was causing us some major problems, with a lot of damage to the telegraph post, and with the walls being so close, some of which retain the edge of the road, the potential for failure / collision was very high. The length of the controlled section, (needed to allow waiting traffic to stop in a wide enough part of the road), was very long, which in turn increased the timing on the light sequence. We were getting problems with vehicles jumping lights, short cutting down Belle Vue the wrong way, and this meant we were manually controlling the lights for long periods of time. Ideally the lights should have been set even further back towards Whiteshill, but this would have created even longer delays, and greater frustration.

"After negotiation with adjacent landowners, we have managed to cut back some trees, and make Belle Vue accessible to buses, which allows them to turn left safely. This allowed us to remove the lights. I am aware that the lights were considered a good thing by the residents of Whiteshill, for their traffic calming properties, but unfortunately the problems they caused outweighed the benefits, and hence we needed to make alternative arrangements."