Andrew Jones

40 TRAFFIC CALMING
OCTOBER 2015
www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk
Slowing traffic down
The scheme, which is valued at £3.4
million, is located on Leeds Street
which links directly with The Strand –
where the historic waterfront and Three
Graces are located. It has been funded
by the Regional Growth Fund via the
Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills.
It includes road resurfacing, innovative
traffic signals, LED street lighting,
public realm regeneration, cycle and
pedestrian facilities and capacity
improvements to help motorists,
cyclists and pedestrians travel round
Liverpool safely.
Amey has a nine-year highways
maintenance contract with Liverpool
City Council which started in 2013.
During the contract Amey will maintain
and improve nearly 2,000km of roads,
44,000 street lights and 516 structures.
The company has helped introduce
other traffic calming measures in the
city. “Liverpool City Council (LCC)
uses variable message signs to inform
motorists of incidents, delays and
diversions,” explains Leeming. “These
can be activated dynamically by the
UTMC Strategy Management Systems
or manually by an operator.
“They also use vehicle activated signs
to warn motorists of their speed
and to tell them to slow down on
some approaches to accident black
spots and pedestrian crossings. In
Liverpool 70 per cent of residential
streets now have 20mph speed limit
as part of Liverpool City Council’s
principal road safety campaign ‘The
20 effect’ which is designed to make
the city’s streets safer for all users.
The project is being backed by Amey
and we have incorporated the ‘The 20
effect’ road safety messages into our
vehicle livery.”
All new controlled crossing facilities
have also been installed at the site
where the advance cycle light is.
“This includes Toucan and Puffin type
crossings which detect if pedestrians
are crossing slowly and can hold the
red traffic light longer if needed,”
remarked Leeming. “The whole scheme
has been delivered to improve journeys
for all road users and pedestrians as
well as improve connectivity both on
and across the route.”
So are there any plans to roll the traffic
light system out to other parts of
the UK?
“The thermal imaging detectors
(ThermiCams) are new technology to
the traffic signal industry in the UK and
require Department for Transport (DfT)
approval,” states Leeming.
“Liverpool is the first city in the UK
to benefit from these state-of-theart
traffic signals that combine both
video and thermal sensors. Having this
breadth of knowledge and experience
from the work we have done in
Liverpool will ensure we continue
to design the right solutions for our
customers across the UK, particularly
when it comes to improving safety
of all road users and pedestrians,”
he concludes.
Cyclists are detected using
thermal imaging detectors
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