Traffic light timings on ring road blamed for delays in Watford

In recent weeks, there have been long queues onto Watford's ring road from Stephenson Way and Waterfields Way.

Central Watford county councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst believes the phasing of a collection of traffic lights on the ring road is causing the delays.

He says it is taking three changes of the traffic lights for drivers from Stephenson Way and Waterfields Way to get past the junctions of Water Lane and then past Lower High Street.

Last spring, the phasing of the traffic lights were revised to give more time for pedestrians to cross at Lower High Street and for drivers to turn right out of Lower High Street, after closures were put in place in the High Street for social distancing reasons.

But it has only become a real issue over the last few weeks after restrictions eased and people feel more confident to go out and about.

Pictured is the ring road between the junctions of Water Lane and Lower High Street

Cllr Giles-Medhurst said: "The issue is the lights from Stephenson Way go green but the lights at the junction with Water Lane then go red, so traffic just joins existing traffic.

"But there is already traffic held there because the lights at Lower High Street are also red. Nothing appears to be linked to allow for one of the three junctions to clear totally.

"It takes most vehicles three changes of lights to get through these sets as they do not appear to have any alignment. On Saturday at 2.25pm, this resulted in a queue as far back as Dalton Way."

The councillor has been liaising with a Hertfordshire County Council officer but has been told the phasing is unlikely to be changed while the high street remains closed to vehicles.

Before the High Street was closed, drivers in Lower High Street travelling away from the town centre were prohibited from turning right onto the ring road.

Cllr Giles-Medhurst says he is also concerned about the safety of pedestrians crossing where Stephenson Way and Waterfields Way traffic joins the ring road because drivers often are left stuck waiting on the crossing.

Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst says the time it takes for drivers to get across often means vehicles are stranded on this pedestrian crossing. Credit: Google

He added: "You're never going to get perfect traffic flow on the ring road but at the moment, it seems to be a ridiculous arrangement. It's just sheer frustration that the lights don't seem to be sequenced and that drivers have to leapfrog between junctions."

The councillor has asked for a county council officer to meet him on-site to discuss the problem further.