Motorists criticise new £5m Peacock Cross traffic scheme

Mar 31 2011 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON motorists this week hit out at congestion and delays in the area of the new £5million Peacock Cross traffic system.

Drivers pointed out that traffic lights introduced at the cross, particularly those at Wellhall Road and on Burnbank Road, are responsible for “snarled-up” traffic.

One said congestion occurred in the area throughout the day – but the evening and morning rush hours had been very trying.

A two-way system along Burnbank Road from Clydesdale Street to Peacock Cross has been operating since the weekend of March 20, and a two-way system from Peacock Cross to Douglas Street began early last Sunday.

A frustrated motorist called the Advertiser this week to describe the new set up as a “nightmare”.

He said: “Traffic can be stopped all the way up Almada Street. Traffic is also congested coming down Wellhall Road towards Peacock Cross and on Burnbank Road and Clydesdale Street.

“Drivers now encounter three new sets of traffic lights – at Peacock Cross and on Burnbank Road and Wellhall Road.

“In my opinion, if they had kept the mini-roundabout on Wellhall Road things wouldn’t be so bad. The traffic would be allowed to flow a bit more freely.

“As things are now, you’re no sooner through the lights at Peacock Cross when you come across the new lights at Wellhall Road and Burnbank Road. I think the timing of the lights is to blame.

“It’s causing congestion which wasn’t there before. It’s bad throughout the day. You can be waiting as long as ten minutes to get through the traffic at Peacock Cross.

“However, it’s a lot worse when County Buildings staff finish for the day.”

“It’s shocking to think this cost £5m. It must be increasing car emissions with the amount of stopping and starting that’s now involved there.”

A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council said the authority expected it could take a few weeks to iron out the problems. He continued: “The new road layout has only just opened and it will clearly take drivers time to familiarise themselves with this and settle on a regular route. In parallel with this, we require to adjust traffic signal timings on an ongoing basis to best match the prevailing traffic flows.

“We have staff on site on a daily basis at peak times to facilitate this work.

“In addition, we are still in the process of installing further traffic management hardware and software to fully optimise traffic flow. As with any major project involving changes to existing traffic management arrangements, some delay and disruption will initially be experienced. We expect it to be some weeks before the situation settles down and the impact of the scheme can be fully assessed.”