Roadworks traffic lights

[PeteXXX]

Interesting ride, today, to Milton Keynes mainly along a slightly busy back road between Hanslope Park & Haversham ( @biggs682 & @Drago will know the road). There were some road works traffic lights at the aptly named Devils Dip.
Three or four cars behind me hadn't been able to overtake as it's narrow & windy there. Lights on green so I proceed at an average, but not fast, pace.
Too narrow through the cones for anyone to pass so they were patiently (ie not right up my arris) following along behind me at, I guess, 15mph then 10mph up the hill to the bend at the top.
Then...
Around said bend came lots of cars as the lights in the opposite direction had changed to green....
There was enough room for me to get past but, obviously not for the cars following me!

I continued on my merry way and, suffice it to say, it was a long time before any of them caught me up!!

And there's me thinking that the timing of such lights should allow for cyclists.. 🤷‍♂️

 

[DaveReading]

Timing of temporary traffic lights rarely allows for the average cyclist. I don't have any problem with that, as arguably having an all-red period long enough to guarantee that the above cyclist will always get through would produce unnecessary delays most of the time.

What I do have a problem with (as above) is motorists who fail to understand that green doesn't mean go, it means go if the road ahead is clear.

 

[PeteXXX]

Timing of temporary traffic lights rarely allows for the average cyclist. I don't have any problem with that, as arguably having an all-red period long enough to guarantee that the above cyclist will always get through would produce unnecessary delays most of the time.

What I do have a problem with (as above) is motorists who fail to understand that green doesn't mean go, it means go if the road ahead is clear.

In fairness to the approaching vehicles, their lights were before a blind bend so they wouldn't have been aware that the road wasn't clear until they rounded the corner..

 

[presta]

Not temporary, but quick changing: I set off from the stop line when these lights turned green, and by the time I'd got into the middle of the junction they'd changed back again. The MX5 on the left then pulled out and cut right across in front of me to teach the red light jumper a lesson.

 

[Drago]

I know that road well, having lived in Hanslope. People drive like utter tits on it. Anything that slows them down is good.

 

[Shadow]

green doesn't mean go, it means go if the road ahead is clear.

Not even that...some might argue that a green light merely means the light is working!

 

[PeteXXX]

Not temporary, but quick changing: I set off from the stop line when these lights turned green, and by the time I'd got into the middle of the junction they'd changed back again. The MX5 on the left then pulled out and cut right across in front of me to teach the red light jumper a lesson.

As a permanent set of lights, would it not be worth a mentioning it on Fixmystreet, or similar, to get the sequence/timing changed?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have had this a few times

TO be fair most are timed OK - it is the longer ones where there is sometimes a problem

In one case I got through when it was green but it had been green for a while

when I got about 3/4 of the way round then the car at the other end started moving - then quickly realised I was there and stopped just before the road narrowed too much
But then started off again down the road - and there really wasn;t enough room for me to allow him to pass

The second car realised the problem and stopped before the road got too narrow

But the van behind him deliberately stopped as close to his right hand kerb as possible - I saw him notice me and swing over a bit to block me
The lorry behind him also blocked me but that was more to do with his width than the driving

the leading car just carried on down so I ended up riding down the middle of the lane so he could either run me over or stop - and couldn;t try to squeeze past and probably knock me off!


In the end he stopped and I managed to get past him at less than walking pace and nearly touching his car on one side and a stone wall on the other

The van was more of a problem and I had to go round to my right and go round on that side - then go right in front of the lorry to get back to the correct side of the road


I bet the driver were swearing at me - but there was literally nowhere else I could go as there was a wire fence on one side and a stone wall on the other

all down to a few seconds on the timing of the lights - and as I was on my ebike I was going a fair bit faster than many bikes would have!!


I did report it to the counsel

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Temporary traffic signals should be timed to allow cyclists to clear. With design speed of 20 kph for gradients less than 3% and 15 kph for gradients over 3%.

https://artsm.org.uk/media/ARTSM-Guidance-on-Use-of-Portable-Signals-1-1.pdf

Page 48.

 

[presta]

As a permanent set of lights, would it not be worth a mentioning it on Fixmystreet, or similar, to get the sequence/timing changed?

I think what probably happened is that the induction loop didn't register the bike, so as soon as the MX5 appeared, the lights saw no reason not to change for it immediately. Either way, it was years ago now.

Even longer ago (2001), I saw a set of lights in York city centre turn green in both directions at the same time, and the car in front of me nearly got knocked into the middle of next week by a bus, full of passengers scowling at the 'red light jumpers'.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I think what probably happened is that the induction loop didn't register the bike, so as soon as the MX5 appeared, the lights saw no reason not to change for it immediately. Either way, it was years ago now.

Even longer ago (2001), I saw a set of lights in York city centre turn green in both directions at the same time, and the car in front of me nearly got knocked into the middle of next week by a bus, full of passengers scowling at the 'red light jumpers'.

I think they use a camera system nowadays
although they can also be configured so if someone gets it wrong then it can miss a bike
If I arrive fist - or in a big gap - then I try to ride past where the middle of a car would go to minimise the chance of it not seeing me

 

[presta]

I think they use a camera system nowadays

You can see the loop in the road.

I try to ride past where the middle of a car would go to minimise the chance of it not seeing me

The right place for a camera or radar, but not for a loop.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

You can see the loop in the road.


The right place for a camera or radar, but not for a loop.

do roadworks use a loop??
I thought that was only for permanent ones??

also - there are some permanent ones that certainly use them - I go through on in Moore and there is no loop in the road and you can see the cameras on the lights - it changes nicely if I ride towards it in the middle of the lane

 

[DaveReading]

do roadworks use a loop??
I thought that was only for permanent ones??

The OP was referring to lights at roadworks, though the thread seems to have drifted a bit (as they do).

 

[presta]

do roadworks use a loop??
I thought that was only for permanent ones??

My comment about the loop probably not detecting me related to this post about fixed lights changing before I'd had time to clear the junction:

Not temporary, but quick changing: I set off from the stop line when these lights turned green, and by the time I'd got into the middle of the junction they'd changed back again. The MX5 on the left then pulled out and cut right across in front of me to teach the red light jumper a lesson.

it changes nicely if I ride towards it in the middle of the lane

It may well do, but the middle of the loop is the place least sensitive to bikes (unless they're laid flat on the road), and so the most likely to fail to detect them.