Intelligent traffic lights to be installed at Hyndburn's 'worst junction' (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Intelligent traffic lights to be installed at Hyndburn's 'worst junction'

10:10pm Saturday 7th July 2012 in News

A BOROUGH’S ‘worst junction’ will see intelligent traffic lights installed to stop queuing chaos.

The problem junction at the gateway to Church and Accrington, commonly sees drivers wait up to 20 minutes just to turn. Daily queues at the junction of Dunkenhalgh Way, Henry Street, Hyndburn Road and Dill Hall Lane led the area’s county councillor to campaign for action to be taken.

Coun Malcolm Pritchard said the problems caused on a daily basis showed a clear need for the light sequence to be adjusted.

Lancashire County Council have now released funding for the project, which will see intelligent lights at the junction. The new lights will be fitted with Microprocessor Optimised Vehicle Actuation (MOVA) technology which senses when traffic queues are starting to build.

The sensors are then able to efficiently programme light changes to clear traffic flows quickly and easily. Drivers’ main complaint was that the current lights system does not allow a filter lane for traffic from Henry Street and Church to turn right, causing major queues as drivers have to wait for a lull.

Engineers at LCC assessed the result of traffic counts and developed options using computer programs to assess impact elsewhere. LCC are also to install central white line marking to help position waiting right turners.

Coun Pritchard, who said the scheme will cost approximately £30,000 said: “It’s fantastic news. This junction has been a misery for drivers for so long and now a plan is place to make things better. Hopefully it will see an end to queues in this part of the borough.”