Traffic lights are no longer safe to switch on at busy Milton Keynes roundabout, declares council

Traffic lights at a very bust city roundabout have become unsafe to switch on, Milton Keynes City Council has announced.

The lights at Abbey Hill Roundabout traffic signals have this week been switched off for safety reasons and a replacement scheme is scheduled..

This is expected to take four to six weeks to complete.

A council spokesperson said: “We have repaired the traffic signals at this roundabout several times over recent months. The equipment is at the end of its operational life and replacement parts are no longer manufactured. A complete replacement of the system including signal heads, cables, control boxes and other apparatus will start in March 2024.”

They added: “ Until this happens it is not safe to turn on the existing lights that remain operational and drivers are reminded to drive with due care and attention when on and approaching the roundabout.”

The council posted the news on social media and it prompted to comments from many drivers questioning why there was a need for traffic lights at a roundabout in the first place.

One reader wrote: “Please don’t waste our funds on traffic lights at roundabouts. The current system works very well and traffic flow is smooth. Bringing the lights back will mean a return of tailbacks, not to mention more carbon footprint created, due to idling.

“Please use the money and efforts in other areas.”

Council officials say traffic signals are required due to the speed and volume of traffic moving through this roundabout throughout the day.

"Our priority is to keep the highway safe for all users so this roundabout must be signalised,” said the spokesperson.

Traffic lights in MK are usually powered from a stand-alone system with a junction controller in a nearby roadside cabinet. If this is damaged then the lights may all stop working.

The system can detect vehicles through inductive loops that are set into the road surface. Once the vehicle has passed over the loop, the controller is then aware of traffic waiting at that set of traffic lights. The timing of the lights can be modified so the flow of traffic can be adapted to the traffic flows.

But the systems brings it problems, particularly as many of the sets in Milton Keynes re now quite old.

“Getting replacement parts is difficult and some are not manufactured any more so this can cause delays when repairing them,” said the council spokesperson.

Sometimes a glitch can cause the lights sequencing to be unusually long or short. In this case, a qualified engineer can reset the system to the original settings to put the timings right,

Another common problem is that the inductive loops are not detecting traffic. This could be because surfacing works or nearby roadworks have affected them in road surface.

"This may require longer repair works and they may need to be completely replaced if they are damaged,” said the spokesperson,

Another cause of damage can come from vehicles hitting them. The costs of repairing these will be recovered from the driver’s insurance where possible.