Intelligent traffic lights keep cars moving in Cheltenham

“PE way Tewkesbury Road is no longer a roundabout. It's a sequence of separate traffic light controlled junctions arranged in a circle. The lane markings are only advisory and its so confusing to those outside the area there is bound to be confusion about which lane . Lane markings are only advisory so best bet is never be alongside someone in case they need to move out of lane.
But..do traffic flows work better now than they did before?”

“I agree with Matt; the PE Way/ Tewks Rd Roundabout needs sorting. At the moment bad drivers swap and change lanes as if they are the only person on the roundabout; one needs to be extra vigilant. I have lost count of the times I have had to brake hard as some idiot cuts me up by changing lanes with no signals. I have already had the offside of my car damaged by a prat who tried to move into my lane while I was on his inside. I did get a nice insurance payoff from his insurers but its all the trouble trying to get the money that is the problem.
Most drivers have no idea how to negotiate a roundabout;they need to learn.”

“The works were certainly causing long tailbacks yesterday - but thankfully they'd cleared them when I left at rush hour. Now when can we have some intelligence for the traffic lights on the Gloucester Inner Ring road which presently sometimes only let a few cars through but other times are green for ages?”

“Why do we have to have traffic lights controlling roundabouts even at midnight? EG on PE way/ Tewkesbury rd....”

“Hang on guys, we obviously need lights at roundabouts, where there are significantly different flows. But I am TOTALLY against them being actually ON the roundabout. It only takes a couple of trucks to cause mayhem.
Plus, the pollution is catastrpohic.
Just stop as you enter, then allow an extra two seconds just to clear the roundabout.
And what about when the emergency services need to get round? They can't can they, derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
And I love the way that this is some sort of NEW technology, I mean, we only put a man on the Moon forty odd years ago!”

“Good point saw442000 - get rid of the lights! And rumble strips and, where necessary, speed humps should be incorporated around busy roundabouts to facilitate easier access for motorists trying to enter said roundabouts. And while they're at it why not get rid of that stupid underused bus lane along Gloucester Road? That must cause more congestion than anything.”

“How about someone with some intelligence tries turning off the traffic lights? Roundabouts should not have them anyway especially when they are left on permanently.

Seems to be lots of traffic lights being installed / replaced in the town but little else done in the way of drain maintenance / road surfaces.”

“Can't be that intelligent else they'd have a better paid job :)”

“just want intelligent drivers now”

“Somewhat premature headline, TiG. The intention is that these new "intelligent" traffic lights will keep traffic moving, but we won't know until they're in and working.

But why have all the Arle Court upgrade works been phased - why weren't these new lights installed earlier in the year when the roundabout was resurfaced? I'm sure that scheme also involved works to the traffic lights?

I note this latest batch of works includes more resurfacing, so presumably this will be on the approaches to the roundabout (in which case, why wasn't this done at the same time as the roundabout resurfacing, during which the roads were closed), or does the roundabout itself need re-doing again already?

Yes it's a very busy road, but why can't they do ALL the works in one hit? If it means the closures are for longer but all in one go, isn't that better than a few weeks in the spring, and then more disruption 6 months later?

What does need looking at are the traffic lights on the A40/PE Way roundabout, along with enforcement of the KEEP CLEAR markings on the roads. At peak times the markings are habitually ignored by queuing traffic, which then blocks the roundabout to other traffic. I've seen several near misses as vehicles try to thread through the blocking traffic.

Oh, and enforcement of the A40 bus lane inbound from the PE Way roundabout through to it's end by the Texaco garage would be nice too. If the traffic is busy it's not uncommon to see unauthorised vehicles bombing up the bus lane - some use it as a long filter lane to turn left into Tennyson Road, but I've also seen cars go right to the end of the bus lane, and then barge their way back into the main line of vehicles. A few fines issued to impatient drivers - along with coverage on TiG - would be nice to see. Why is it some drivers think the rules of the road don't apply to them???”