Wednesday 24 June 2015
Media Enquiry from Guernsey Press:
As I mentioned over the phone, a local man leaving near the Elm Grove traffic lights (not far from Beau Sejour) has been in touch about traffic accidents that occurred on Friday and Saturday.
He has been in contact with Yvonne Burford because he had concerns about the length of time a faulty traffic light was 'out'. It was one of the red lights at the junction.
He said the light was not working prior to the first accident on Friday and still was not fixed at the time of the second accident on Saturday night.
When he called the Police to advise of the second accident they told him that they had already informed the States Traffic Dept several times regarding the light not functioning.
He believes that given that the light was broken for several days and there were two accidents, it appears that the traffic dept. has seriously failed in this regard.
He said that traffic light maintenance was outsourced to a third party, but there should be a service level agreement in place to ensure lights are fixed speedily.
Could Environment please respond to these concerns?
In an email exchange, Deputy Burford told Mr England that someone had been out to fix the light on Friday, but he says this cannot be the case, as it was still broken on the Saturday.
Could Environment confirm if and when someone came to fix the light? Was it informed by the police of the problem? How long did it take for someone to respond?
Is this work outsourced? And if so, is there any kind of agreement/condition on when traffic lights must be fixed within?
Could you come back to me today?
Environment Department Response:
A 'red' light on the primary traffic signal pole from Elm Grove was reported as having failed early on Monday 15th June 2015. The lamp was replaced by 10.30am the same day.
A second report was received on Wednesday 17th June 2015 that another 'red' light had failed at the same traffic signals. The engineer attended that day and discovered it to be the same lamp that had failed. Once again the engineer replaced the lamp and he recorded a possible issue with the lamp holder due to the lamps failing within a couple days. The lamp holder was scheduled in for replacement the next time an engineer was in the area.
All vehicle phases at traffic signals have two signal heads to provide a safeguard against a single lamp failing. Therefore, although the primary red light was out on Elm Grove from the direction of Brock Road, the secondary red light on Les Buttes was in operation and visible to motorists approaching the signals. As a further safeguard, if either the two 'red' or two 'green' lights should ever fail the traffic signals will automatically turn off. Should such an eventuality arise, signs will be put out immediately warning both motorists and pedestrians until the traffic signals can be fixed.
A third report regarding the 'red' light having failed was received on Friday afternoon. Therefore, the Contractor decided to organise the replacement of the lamp holder for early the following week. However, the Contractor was contacted again on Saturday by the Guernsey Police and was advised there had been an accident at the junction. Following this, and even though the secondary lamp was working, the Contractor took the decision to replace the lamp holder that evening.
The Department has a Contract with Siemens, who subcontract to States Works, for the maintenance of traffic signals. This contract includes agreed fault reporting procedures and response times for given scenarios.
Follow-up Question from Guernsey Press:
As a follow-up question, can you just confirm at what time in the evening the engineer carried out the repairs on Saturday, after being contacted by Guernsey Police.
Could you give an approximate time?
Environment Department Response:
Repairs were undertaken between 11:30hrs and midnight.
Contact Information:
Karl Guille, Traffic and Transport Services Manager
Environment Department
Tel: 243400
