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Traffic light settings faulted

William Norris, AttadaleMelville Gazette

Your recent front-page report quoted a spokeswoman saying: ‘Although the signals are fully functional at times they are not communicating or working in sync with the other signals in the area, causing a bottleneck’.

I am of the view that throughout the metropolitan area poorly operating traffic signals are a cause of congestion.

Firstly, they are insensitive to traffic flows. It is common to be held at a red light at an intersection when no traffic is flowing in the other direction. An example is the intersection of North Lake Road and Marmion Street. Often traffic heading north is held at red because the filter turning-right light for southbound traffic is at green despite no cars turning right.

Secondly, light settings are often absurd. For example, traffic leaving Tonkin Highway and turning right westbound onto Roe Highway immediately comes to another signal at green, including a right-turn filter delaying eastbound traffic.

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Yet no drivers wish to go back to where they have come from.

There are numerous other examples, including traffic leaving the Kwinana Freeway and turning right onto South Street.

Therefore, changing signal settings would ease some congestion.