I would like to thank
From the bottom of my heart the person or persons involved in royally fucking up the traffic lights just outside Cambridge on the A10, thanks to you my 45 minute journey to work took almost 2 hours.

cunts.
(Halfy By light alone, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:14, 11 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I presume
someone working on the new park and ride has cut through something they shouldn't, I hit the queue just outside Stretham and changed out of first gear once in the next 75 minutes
(Halfy By light alone, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:21, Reply)

Out of genuine interest
(I'm a traffic geek believe it or not) - were the traffic lights off, or was the system/period changed? Do you know? Also, the exact junction name would be nice if you know it. Sorry for the most boring question ever.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:22, Reply)

Traffic geek?
Well I never!

I had no idea such a thing existed.
( Cawl, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:23, Reply)

Kaol
www.sabre-roads.org.uk

tony-frost.fotopic.net/

:D
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:28, Reply)

coke
The Waterbeach Road junction traffic lights were out so they had sometemporary 3 way lights instead.

the problem is that the main lights spend 90% of the time on green for A10 traffic coming into town, and occasionally stop to let people turn in / out of Waterbeach, these temporary lights however had would stop to let each individual direction of traffic to move, thus causing utter chaos.

If I had known it was the lights and not the A14 I could have nipped through Cottenham and not been so late either.
(Halfy By light alone, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:28, Reply)

The Photo of the Month for November is "A9 at Dunbeath"
Wow...

That's a whole geek-zone I was oblivious to!
( Cawl, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:31, Reply)

traffic geek
I just thought of that phrase. However, my beliefs are - and this is starting to turn in to a cult like obsession - that about 98% of the traffic lights in this country can be removed. I'm obsessed with every junction I see, working out how it could be improved - almost always by removing all the lights. I could talk for England on this, but most people find it boring.

I find it astonishing though, that the majority of people dont realise that slow traffic is caused by traffic lights. We've introduced order into a chaotic system and its wrong.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:52, Reply)

Interesting theory!
I remember reading somewhere that the only way to predict traffic patterns is with chaos theory and fractals.
Makes sense!
( Cawl, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:56, Reply)

i should point out
that i dont give much of a shit about roads, and these days I walk more than I drive, but as an engineer of sorts, I cannot abide a flawed, and inefficient system - ie the UK's traffic 'management'. I wont rest until these 'traffic planners' are exterminated. They exist simply to justify their own existance. Its a self fulfilling prophecy, and the fix problems that dont exist. There are a few believers, (see kensington high st) and if I had my way, that particular scenario should be rolled out country wide.

oh god I've started.

Look at J1 on the M60, in stockport. Count the traffic lights. From my house (about half a mile away, I go through 12 sets of traffic lights to get on the motorway. It can take 20 minutes. They keep them on 24 hours a day, its fucking ridiculous.

I'm thinking of starting a proper site about this, start some real pressure on councils. I think the congestion charge in london AND manchester would be totally unecessary if we just fixed the system.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:57, Reply)

As far as I know,
That all makes sense.

There's a few sets of rubbish traffic lights around this area, and the manage to both be a pain in the arse, and confuse stupid people.
( Cawl, Thu 13 Nov 2008, 11:11, Reply)

Wales
My mates dad lives in Hawarden where they've installed traffic lights at a blackspot. Accidents have increased.
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Thu 13 Nov 2008, 13:20, Reply)