Traffic light ‘issue’ clarified in Leitrim town following complaints

placeholder image — Traffic light stock image

Motorists in Manorhamilton are advised to pull up to the stop line to trigger sensors, as Council confirms traffic lights are working correctly following recent complaints.

People are being urged to drive right up to the line marking at the traffic lights in Manorhamilton to trigger the sensors, after concerns were raised that some motorists believed the traffic lights were not working properly.

At April’s meeting of Manorhamilton Municipal District, Cllr Felim Gurn asked that the district engineer check the sensors at the traffic lights in the town.

“It’s an issue, everyone is saying it,” said Cllr Gurn, adding that the road markings also need to be redone at the lights.

District engineer for Manorhamilton MD Paul McMahon said that the sensors have been checked and that there are no issues. “The sensors are working as per the manufacturer’s recommendations,” he said, adding that it costs €1000 every time they are brought out to check them.

He noted that the issue is probably that people are not driving up to the line, so the sensors are not being triggered. The motion was seconded by Cllr James Gilmartin, who added that people have told him the issue has been occurring early in the morning when there is little or no traffic and motorists are waiting behind a red light.

“In that case they’re 100 percent not going up to the sensor. If there’s no traffic they should turn green straight away,” said Mr McMahon.

A response from the Roads department said, “Recent inspections of this system have shown it to be operating as per the manufacturers specifications. The vehicle needs to be above the induction loop installed in the ground for the system to work and trigger the light sequence. “This is the case in all adaptive traffic control systems - the presence of a vehicle at a certain point is necessary to trigger the light sequence.

“Some road users are stopping short of the Ground sensor and not triggering the sensor. Road users need to stop at the stop line for the censors to be activated,” the response concluded.

Mr McMahon also confirmed that redoing the line markings at this location will be looked into.