I live in Epping (NSW) and have to frequently drive through a notoriously bad traffic intersection at Rawson St / Carlingford Rd. Lately the problem has been made worse because the timing of the traffic lights at Carlingford Rd / Beecroft Rd has changed, making it more difficult for cars to leave Rawson St. My question is, is there a way to write to the traffic people to explain the situation because I think sending them a paint diagram will be more effective than explaining it over the phone.
Paint diagram - https://imgur.com/a/Jxab72w
How to Report Traffic Light Timing Problem
skimp on 14/11/2023 - 20:14
Comments
Maybe they should call it SCAMS instead. $500 to ask a question about the traffic lights we paid for with our taxes by someone whose wages are also paid by our taxes? Tell 'em they're fooling themselves.
You can also just write to your local member iif parliament who will pass it on.
Can also contact Local Council who have regular meetings with the NSW traffic authorities.
Just call the traffic centre 131700 give them the traffic light number (its on a box near intersection) or just the intersection, they will tell you where to send the file.
I believe there is a website they will refer you to. I have done same in past and they did action it.
Here is response I got to indicate they were looking at it. I gave description and some dascam video. (the email was from a no reply so no point giving you those details)
Dear Rocky,
Thank you for your enquiry about the phasing of traffic signals at the intersection of XYZ Parade and ABC Road.
We have referred the matter to our network operations team for their attention and to investigate the concerns you have raised.
Regards,
JustinAbout 6 months later they did major update to intersection and timings of lights.
BTW I never made a payment. That might be something new.
Just call the traffic centre 131700 give them the traffic light number (its on a box near intersection)
From street view it looks like the number on the box may be 1015
BTW I never made a payment. That might be something new.
I am confused what this means/is referring to?
I think it is referring to the first comment that was made by @bobbified that listed a link where you pay for a report to be supplied to you (they seem to have interpreted that page to mean you have to pay to make a report).
Here's the list of charges and what they are for -
Nice diagram brah
Definitely a 5/7 effort.
Nah - It was a 10/14 for sure.
There is no fee to simply report a traffic light timing problem.
All i can think of is they've synced the two lights to the through movement along Carlingford.
It's unfortunate that the runout is short in this section and a traffic engineer's worst nightmare.Agree that the NSW Dept of Mainroads would have a program that they can tweak the timings (WA does), however in many cases, especially in Sydney the efficiencies are as good as they're going to get.
In my time when i was a traffic engineer Sydney would work to much lower level of service standards (failures were even considered ok in some cases) because it just wasn't obtainable, meanwhile in WA you could easily get away with a C/D level of service, i.e maximum of 1 light rotation before being released.
Carlingford Rd does get backed up pretty much one-third to one-half down the road (maybe even more to be honest) in the mornings so it would make sense they want to clear traffic off Carlingford Rd.
Maybe they could also sync the lights allowing cars on Rawson to essentially do a u-turn if they need to turn right onto Beecroft? Although traffic could back up even more on Carlingford and Beecroft as a result.
In my time when i was a traffic engineer Sydney would work to much lower level of service standards (failures were even considered ok in some cases) because it just wasn't obtainable, meanwhile in WA you could easily get away with a C/D level of service, i.e maximum of 1 light rotation before being released.
Was it not obtainable simply because of how the roads are designed and how congested they are in Sydney?
Still don't get it
Skill Issue
traffic lights at Carlingford Rd / Beecroft Rd has changed, making it more difficult for cars to leave Rawson St
Might be worse for you, but might be better for other directions. Like all these things, every change has winners and losers.
Might be time to look at going a different way. Why don't you head south instead and go around via the roundabout?
His paint diagram indicates he might be trying to turn right onto Beecroft Rd (eventually heading east towards Mac Park), if that's the case he can't go to the roundabout because that road only allows exiting left onto Beecroft Rd in the other direction (northwards towards Beecroft).
The roads around that area are an absolute nightmare, stupidly designed and extremely congested during peak. There's always more than one way to skin a cat when driving (e.g. if you miss your exit just take the next one and double back), but in that area you really are limited on how to get around. If you do go another way it's a massive detour.
His paint diagram indicates he might be trying to turn right onto Beecroft Rd (eventually heading east towards Mac Park)
Correct.
Pretty much this. Traffic lights are set up in terms of the majority, not the minority. Should 100 cars be inconvenienced so that 5 can get through quicker?
Just send an X to Elon Musk about it.
Turning right from Epping Rd into Pembroke is also strangely setup, if there is a pedestrian crossing Epping Rd there will be an unnecessary red arrow for Pembroke & of an afternoon there is no arrow. Turning left from Pembroke into Epping Rd can take a very long time especially when you miss the green light because motorist won't go when the lights turn green.
I'm guessing you mean a red arrow in the morning? There's a lot of foot traffic in that area due to the primary school there, maybe that's why there's a red arrow in the morning. Doesn't explain why there isn't a red arrow in the afternoon though.
I have noticed that red arrow too which makes me think signal designs these days are giving higher consideration to pedestrian safety. At the Pembroke / Epping intersection in the morning there’s little congestion, therefore making all the lights red ensures all traffic comes to a stop to lower the chances of an inattentive driver running a red. Whereas in the afternoon peak Epping road is so congested (west bound) that that risk is lowered.
So the timing of the lights in my original post has probably been altered to improve pedestrian safety too. By syncing the red lights between Rawson and Beecroft on Carlingford Rd (east bound) they have lowered the chances of a driver approaching Rawson reading the green lights on Beecroft instead as the ones to follow. My feedback to traffic management is to delay the pedestrian green light instead keeping pedestrians waiting just a little longer and unsync the lights at those two intersections back to the way it was.
I know it's NSW but clearly (according to JV) blame Dan
Thanks for reporting this OP. I visited that area recently and I was stuck there same as you, but luckily I was going to turn left at Beecroft Rd. I went for the alternate route which was to cross onto Ray Rd. and then turned right at Edensor St. Maybe you can do that as well and then do a 3-point turn once you are in Edensor St.? Be one of the green cars in your paint diagram. Otherwise, you'll be stuck forever at Rawson St.
Council.
Had a few issues in my area where lights were on timers instead of sensors. And main roads were getting red lights for long periods of time with no traffic coming out of the side roads.
I had a contact at my council who fixed it within a week, who mentioned that VicRoads rarely bother with complaints about lights timing
I had a contact at my council who fixed it within a week, who mentioned that VicRoads rarely bother with complaints about lights timing
This is in NSW.
Council won't have anything to do with the light system.
Obviously . But they have the contacts to get it fixed sooner over 1 random road user sending complaints to an email address they find online which probably goes to no one
As I mentioned how I got my traffic light issues in my area fixed.
Actually the local MP's office is right at that intersection, I might send them a message.
Traffic lights what are they? None in my town or the nearby town i work from.
So I'm an expert traffic engineer because according to Steam, I have 1216 hours play time in Cities Skylines.
You need to install the Traffic Manager President Editiion Mod to give you timed traffic lights. Then you need to setup a pair of linked traffic lights and then work out a scheme to allow the traffic from Rawson to enter the intersection. Probably need to have a short phase where the green onto Beecroft road continues but the light on Carlingford stays red to allow Rawson to enter. Maybe you even make that two phases so that both sides of Rawson can enter individually.
You're not the only one, OP! I live in the area too and absolutely loathe that intersection which is near impossible to avoid and bad at all times of the day. Keep us updated if you hear anything!
these sets of lights have always been crap
I was about to come out with a smartarse comment, but your paint diagram way exceeds the OzB standards!. lol
These guys seem to own/have control of it, but i would not have a clue how to lodge something with them. Here's a link to get Traffic Signal Requests (for faults etc), but you have to pay.
They don't seem to want to make it easy to find these people. The system they use is called SCATS, if you want to try look into it further