WOULD TRAFFIC FLOW BETTER THROUGH BRIGG IF THESE A18 TRAFFIC LIGHTS WERE REMOVED?

 

Failure of a major set of traffic lights on the A18 in Brigg left them out of action for a number of hours well into the afternoon on Saturday (May 18).
North Lincolnshire Council acted promptly to get the lights sorted and didn't leave it until staff arrived back at work after the weekend.
Drivers entering and exiting Cary Lane and Ash Grove showed common sense during the period before the fault was rectified.
And that has prompted suggestions on social media that North Lincolnshire Council, as the highway authority, might consider REMOVING the set of lights at the top of Cary Lane.
Drivers wishing to turn right out of Cary Lane would then be encouraged, instead, to head left and use the Atherton Way roundabout to return along Barnard Avenue towards the Monument.
With the traffic lights removed, motorists looking to turn right out of Ash Grove might find it a quicker option to travel through the Newlands estate and join the A18 at the Atherton Way roundabout.
Over some years the council has adjusted the traffic light settings at the Cary Lane and Old Courts Road junctions, and there are now fewer hold-ups than used to be the case.
However, Brigg Blog can't see any harm in council experts taking another look to gauge whether removal of the Cary Lane lights might have a positive result on the flow of vehicles along the very busy A18.
Could the lights be suspended for a couple of weeks as a trial measure?
Removing these lights might well benefit the many pedestrians who use the pelican crossing near Cary Lane to make their way over Barnard Avenue, particularly residents of the Newlands estate.
This pelican crossing clearly needs to be retained, but the way it is currently synchronised with the traffic lights often means lengthy waiting times for those on foot as we can testify after taking this picture.
If the push-button pelican became a standard type, not linked to the traffic lights, perhaps crossing the A18 might be speeded up.
In the past there have been suggestions that the other set of traffic lights on Barnard Avenue, leading to the Old Courts Road car park, might be removed in addition to the set on Cary Lane.
That might work fine most of the time but on very busy days, such as Thursdays and Saturdays, lengthy queues would result as drivers trying to exit Old Courts Road waited for a gap to appear in traffic approaching from the direction of the Monument, even if they only wished to turn left rather than right. So we don't think that's a good idea.
Built in the early 1990s as the Brigg Inner Relief Road, this stretch of the A18 is unusual in having a roundabout at both ends.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said: “You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning.”
But in Brigg it's part and parcel of motoring life for ladies ... and gents!