Our traffic lights are in trouble – time for a roundabout revolution |
The traffic lights in Glasgow need an upgrade but are they the best option for our over-controlled and over-priced roads, asks Mark Smith
You may remember that I was talking recently about the worst road in Glasgow: the stretch of Govan Road along Pacific Quay (only this morning I saw yet another driver take a wrong turning because of its truly terrible, confusing lay-out). Now it’s the turn of the worst roundabout in Glasgow, which is undoubtedly the Thornwood roundabout between Dumbarton Road and Broomhill Drive. Drive it if you dare.
The problem with the roundabout is the one that affects lots of Glasgow and has been affecting it since the 60s: the decision to drive bloody great motorways through large parts of the city centre. As you know, the Expressway slices its way along the north bank of the river, and the roundabout at Thornwood deals with all the traffic coming off and on it as well as the traffic pouring in from the communities nearby like Broomhill and Whiteinch; it’s a consequence of bad design. The concrete fetishists of the 60s really did screw things up.
The result at Thornwood is bad for everybody really – for drivers, it’s fast, confusing and risky and for pedestrians, it’s fast, confusing and risky – although Glasgow City Council is proposing some changes to make things better for the pedestrians at least. The council can’t overcome the basic design problems caused by the Expressway – how they will be fixed I do not know – but they are proposing a couple of paths either side and some new crossings, some of which would be controlled by traffic lights, meaning cars would come to a stop on the roads leading off the roundabout.
On the face of it, this seems like a good solution:........