A Penrith resident who has been “seeing red” after the sensor for a set of traffic lights near her home was damaged by roadworks has been taking it upon herself to go out and tell motorists to pull forward in order to get a green light.
Coils in the road which sense vehicles were damaged during patching work on the surface of Penrith’s Victoria Road.
As a result, Winnie Radcliffe, who lives near the traffic lights, said motorists were stopping short of the white line and their vehicles were not getting picked up by the sensor which turns the light from red to green.
At busy times — such as the morning rush hour which includes traffic for Ullswater Community College — residents of Glasson Court have been finding it difficult to turn into their housing estate due to the queue of standing traffic.
On Thursday, shortly before 9am, there was queueing traffic all the way back as far as King Street.
“We are sick of it,” said one Glasson Court resident. “There is beeping (of car horns) going on and Winnie has got to go out there sometimes and tell them to pull forward so the traffic light sensor can pick them up.
“You can see the people getting frustrated because they are mounting the kerb on the other side to get past the middle row of cars.
“It is all since the roadworks were there.”
Amanda Elder, of Penrith, who is Winnie’s daughter, said: “Something needs to be done.”
She said it was coming up to the school holidays, but Westmorland and Furness Council had said that August was the earliest they could come out.
However, on Thursday, the Herald was told that temporary sensors will be put in to sort the issue until permanent repair is made.
A spokesman for Westmorland and Furness Council said: “An issue with the traffic lights in Victoria Road in Penrith has been identified and a temporary detection system is to be installed this week to ensure traffic flows as normal.
“We apologise for any inconvenience road users may have experienced at these lights.
“It was found that the electromagnetic loops in the road which sense traffic at the lights had been damaged during recent patching work on the road surface and they will be permanently repaired shortly.”
