Traffic lights causing unnecessary stop starting at roundabouts ?

[Number 6]

Is it just me or has the phasing of traffic lights at roundabouts now been set to cause stops at several instances as you try to make progress around them ? On a journey around Newbury today I seem to have caught red stop lights on numerous occasions.  The roundabout where the old hospital used to be seems to have a new set of lights right on the junction as well mirroring a set directly opposite which seems designed to block the roundabout completely when on red as traffic can't exit. I may just have been unlucky today ( I don't drive around locally much) but what do others think? With fuel costs so high it seems wasteful to keep the old jalopy stopped for no good reason.
:-\

[BrianB]

The whole traffic light situation around Newbury seems to be deteriorating at the moment. Pound Street lights were out of action for several weeks and now that they have been repaired the phasing seems all wrong.

The new pedestrian traffic lights near St. John's Post Office are on red 80% of the time during morning rush hour, causing traffic to back up along the Andover Road. Might be safer for pedestrians, but very frustrating for motorists.

The worst problem is the traffic lights at the exit from the Market Place by the old Barclays Bank. The hold up occurs during the morning and evening rush hour.

The traffic lights in question are controlled by movement detectors on the top of the traffic light array. Most traffic lights in Newbury are controlled by sensors in the road; this is not possible at this location because of the cobbled surface.

Queuing traffic in Cheap Street heading for the police station roundabout tends to block the exit from the Market Place. In consequence no movement is being detected from traffic queuing in the Market Place and the lights won't change to green.  The gridlock situation remains until the vehicle at the head of the queue decides to jump the lights. The sensors then activate and traffic returns to normal.

If the car at the front of the queue is reluctant to jump the lights, the traffic builds up through the Market Place and Mansion House Street and blocks the canal bridge with southbound traffic. This in turn prevents the movement of northbound traffic into Northbrook Street from Bartholomew Street.

The taxi drivers have this problem sussed. If they are caught in this queue in the Market Place, they pull out from the line of traffic and drive down the left hand side of the queue adjacent to the car at the front of the queue. The movement of the taxi then triggers the sensors and the lights change.

[Old Goat]

That sounds like a fault then.  Has it been reported to the District Council and if so, what's the response.  It shouldn't be up to motorists to risk a conviction simply to try and rectify technical errors - particularly as this seems to have gone on for a while.  It's even worse that taxi drivers, who are actually licensed by the Council, are pulling out to try and do the same.  Arguably, not a safe move!  So again, the real answer is tell the Council.