One of the recipients of a share of the £30 million Traffic Signals Obsolescence Grant (TSOG) handed to councils across England by the Department for Transport earlier in the year, has told how the near £600,000 they were awarded has been “game changing” for traffic management in the borough.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s (RMBC) Traffic Signals Team – Mick Powell, Steve Wood and James Drinkall – have been spending the money to fund a range of solutions including upgrading traffic signal systems, replacing unreliable and obsolete equipment to improve reliability, increase functionality and reduce energy consumption. All whilst laying the foundations for future enhancements in years to come.
Project Engineer – James Drinkall says “A key route in our borough is the A631, which runs from the M1 at junction 33 to a small town called Maltby,” he explained. “All the infrastructure on the crossings and junctions including some with bus gates, were all life expired and have been an issue for a long while.
“TSOG funding has allowed us to upgrade all the signals on the route, getting them connected so we can monitor the sites efficiently using the latest technology.”
The Borough has spent the Obsolescence Grant money on putting in all new equipment, rather than just applying a “sticking plaster” of, for example, simply replacing halogen lamps with LED. This has involved ‘ground up’ replacement of all the signals and associated equipment and applying MOVA signal control as the standard mode of operation, using the state-of-the-art technology to gain more data and network activity intelligence, which will be used to inform future strategic and tactical decisions.
Another project, implemented by Mick Powell involved the commissioning of a new Puffin crossing not far from where he lives. He wanted his granddaughter to be the first to use it (pictured) and explained to her how to use it safely.
“We’re already seeing the benefits,” Mr Drinkall continues. “A lot of the old stuff was running on fixed time control with no real intelligence, but just by upgrading the few PUFFIN crossings that we’ve already done so far, we’re starting to see traffic flowing more freely and people have been commenting that they are now being able to cross almost immediately, rather than waiting 30-40 seconds as they were previously, so we have improved life for pedestrians as well as motorists.”
By ensuring that all the money received from the Department of Transport is being spent on delivering tangible equipment improvements on street, rather than a proportion being lost in design fees, and with some additional council capital funding, RMBC has been able to secure better value for money during procurement and gained excellent commitment from their suppliers to help them deliver an ambitious programme to upgrade equipment at a total of 24 sites before the end of March 2025.
“It’s definitely been a game changer for us, having this money,” Mr Drinkall concludes. “I’m sure the benefits to our area are greater than the money spent, and I would imagine this is being repeated across the country. Thanks to the TSOG, and its sister pot the Green Light Fund, I should think we’ll be seeing more efficient and therefore less polluting journeys. I look forward to proper before-and-after analysis to statistically prove what I am finding in my day-to-day job.”
In total, a hundred combined and local authorities across England received a share of £50 million of funding. £10 million of the TSOG was distributed automatically to all eligible English local highway authorities using the Integrated Transport Block allocation grant formula, 67 further grants totalling £40 million are being made to fund projects in 80 local authority areas as part of either TSOG or the Green Light Fund, which is for tuning up traffic signals to better reflect current traffic conditions.
(Picture courtesy of James Drinkall/LinkedIn)
