Why do traffic lights at Aztec West show red when nobody is crossing?

Following on from the two major gridlock incidents in August and September, a number of Journal readers have asked why vehicles leaving the Aztec West Business Park and heading north on the slip road to the A38 are held by red signals at the new pedestrian crossing, when nobody is crossing and there is no traffic leaving the roundabout on the northbound A38? It has been suggested that this is contributing to delays exiting the business park.

We put the question to South Gloucestershire Council and this is what we had back…

“The crossing lights on the A38 immediately north of the roundabout are working as intended. This is not a regular, stand-alone pedestrian crossing, these new crossings are part of a sequenced traffic signal system that includes a pedestrian crossing facility. The entire roundabout is in effect a series of signalised junctions and we have balanced priorities to aid movement of all users. When lights controlling traffic are on red, this provides an opportunity for pedestrians to safely cross the road.”

“The particular signals in question control two, potentially conflicting streams of traffic (one exiting Aztec West the other the roundabout). Red lights on the different phases should allow a merge in turn operation, but we are aware of the need to look at this in respect to alignment with the signals under Junction 16 of the motorway. We are also considering the lane signing.”