Darlington Council's Cabinet last night signalled a climbdown on the Haughton Road Throughabout, that ridiculous mess of a road junction at the end of the Eastern Transport Corridor which has caused endless delays and frustration for drivers and local residents.
Both myself and Heather Scott, the Conservative Group Leader, had trenchant questions ready for the Leader, but before we could get our hands in the air, Councillor Williams called on Cllr Chris McEwan to ask a planted question on the subject. Chris said that he had noticed a big improvement in traffic flows during the past week while the lights had been turned off for road repairs and the road reverted to a normal roundabout. He asked whether officers would look again at this issue.
The officer replied that a study would be conducted over the next month or so, using appropriate computer generated traffic flow charts, to see whether turning the lights off permanently would be beneficial.
And that's as near to a climbdown and admission of error as you're going to get. Expect the junction to be converted back into a normal roundabout before Christmas.
Of course, the Labour Councillors were chortling delightedly when they overheard Heather telling me she had just been about to ask the same question. As Cllr Dixon said, "There are no prizes for coming second, Heather." I reckon Bill will find that to be very true in May 2011.
1 comment:
Of course the traffic was flowing better last week - it was half term and people were actively avoiding Haughton Road because of the resurfacing work.
If the lights go, traffic levels on Haughton Road will start to rise again, as part of the reason for the lights was to favour the ETC road, making it more attractive to drivers. It'll also make it even more frustrating for the disabled, pedestrians and cyclists trying to use the crossings, if we have to guess whether cars are turning off or not and never get a green light to safely cross.
A massive step backward.
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