Old traffic lights blamed for traffic chaos at Colchester junction

BROKEN traffic lights at a busy junction have caused more than a week of traffic chaos for commuters who been forced to risk their safety while trying to get to their destination.

Essex Highways has been contacted several times to address the problem at the crossing between Straight Road and London Road in Prettygate, Colchester.

Although the issue has been rectified temporarily several times since it was first reported about ten days ago, frustration is mounting because the traffic lights keep failing.

Prettygate councillor Sue Lissimore said she has had to contact Essex Highways more times about the fault than anything else in her 20 years as a councillor.

Efforts - Sue Lissimore has contacted Essex Highways about the issue but the council has not been able to solve it (Image: Steve Brading)

A spokesperson for Essex Highways apologised for the inconvenience and said the complexity of the problem has meant it has taken longer to solve than expected.

The temporary replacement lights do not have a filter light, increasing congestion.

Mrs Lissimore said she has reported the issue as urgent to Essex County Council but has been told the age of the traffic lights has made it difficult to find the replacement components which could rectify the issue.

She said: "The traffic lights there are extremely old and Essex Highways is struggling to get the parts for them - every time we breathe a sigh of relief and say 'Phew, they're done', they break down again.

"We are grateful that Highways are doing the work they are doing, but we need a permanent repair so we don't have these temporary lights.

"Being temporary, the temporary lights have not flowed as efficiently as the permanent lights would."

She continued: "I have had to ring the Highways emergency lines more times for this issue than I have for any other in the past 20 years.

"Normally, with the emergency line, you ring them once and it's sorted but with this, it's more complicated because there is something seriously wrong with the lights."

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: "This is a complex fault which our engineers have visited on several occasions to systematically replace and test components.

"This has included checking for cabling issues.

Broken - the faulty traffic lights have caused chaos for drivers (Image: Pixabay Stock Image)

"Unfortunately, the root cause remains unidentified, however we are not looking to permanently replace the traffic lights at this stage as we believe they are solvable.

"Temporary traffic signals have been put in place to help road users navigate the junction but this is not a long-term solution.

"We encourage road users to stay vigilant and be patient with other drivers as we continue fixing these lights.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused."