Green light for major signal upgrade to reduce congestion and minimise delays

Traffic lights in Stoke-on-Trent are getting a major upgrade as part of the city council’s drive to improve public transport in the city.

From Monday 5 August, improvement work will start on the traffic lights at Limekiln Bank in Bucknall to improve traffic flow and reduce delays to buses passing through the junction.

The work forms part of Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) which is being funded by £31.6 million of government funding.

Through BSIP, the city council has already introduced discounted bus fares for passengers travelling around Stoke-on-Trent and introduced a number of new bus routes – with more to come. Around 150 bus stops have also been upgraded to make them more accessible for passengers.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for Transport, Infrastructure and Regeneration, said: “We are making it our mission to improve public transport in the city. We have already made some excellent progress through our BSIP project, and this latest scheme will build on that success further.

“However you travel, we want to ensure that you can get around the city quickly, easily, and affordably. This work will also aid us in our vision to become a cleaner, greener city by helping to reduce traffic and, therefore, emissions from stopped vehicles.

“Our city’s infrastructure is undergoing major transformation work at the moment, and we know that, although we will ensure disruption is minimised, there will be an impact on road users. We would ask residents to plan their journeys well in advance and thank everyone for their patience during this time as we make necessary improvements.”

The project will see the current signals updated to the Scoot 7 traffic control system which helps to effectively manage traffic congestion in busy towns and cities to minimise delays for road users.

The work is expected to take 14 weeks to complete and will be split into three phases.

Phase one will see the traffic lights at the junction of Bucknall Road / Leek Road removed and replaced. Phase two will see the traffic lights, and the associated splitter island, at the Dividy Road / Bucknall Road junction removed and a new traffic light system installed. The final phase will see new line markings painted on the road.

During the works, lane closures and temporary traffic lights will be in place.