Sheffield road signal upgrade project hits 100 milestone

Across the city, Sheffield Council has installed new traffic signals which monitor how long it takes for a pedestrian to cross the road and make sure the green man displays for enough time.

The signals can also detect whether pedestrians who have pushed the button to cross are still waiting, or if they have crossed or walked away. If there is no-one waiting, the new technology will automatically cancel the green man demand.

Among the sites to have already been upgraded are Hunters Bar roundabout, which benefited from five new pedestrian crossings, and a number of junctions along Penistone Road, in conjunction with the road widening scheme. The Streets Ahead team also designed and installed a new pedestrian crossing in Normanton Hill, known as Jazzy’s Crossing, after Jasmyn Chan. The 14-year-old was killed in a hit-and-run on busy Normanton Road, Intake, on May 9, 2014.

The council’s cabinet member for environment and transport Coun Terry Fox said: “It is great to see that the Streets Ahead project is not just upgrading our roads and streetscene but is also bringing in new technologies to make our roads safer to use.”

Streets ahead operations manager Nick Marriott said: “We’re really pleased that we’ve hit this target. As part of the upgrades we’re also installing intelligent technology at pedestrian crossings and signalised junctions to make it easier for people to cross roads, but also to help improve traffic flow.

“The implementation of this new technology is also bringing innovation to the city, which puts Sheffield up there with other major cities across the UK.”