Letter: Surrey Highways Deserve Praise for This One

Published on: 20 Sep, 2024
Updated on: 20 Sep, 2024

From Tom Wibaut

I want to write to give some deserved praise to Surrey Highways.

I contacted them last week after the traffic lights appeared to be stuck or taking a long time to change on the Guildford Road near Godalming.

To my surprise, they responded the next day with a detailed and understandable answer.

Surrey Highways are often criticised but I thought this was a very positive response.

Here is the Surrey Highways response (dated September 12 2024):

“You may be aware that the carriageway has been recently resurfaced. When the carriageway was resurfaced it inevitably destroyed many of the vehicle detectors for the traffic signals. These are loops of wire slot-cut into the carriageway surface on the approaches to the traffic signals which detect vehicles and register demands for vehicles approaching the junction. However, when these detectors are damaged they default to a permanent demand, resulting in the signals behaving as if there were a constant queue of traffic on the affected approach, regardless of actual traffic flows. This means that the signals can take longer to change or revert more quickly to the affected approach.

We are programming the detector repairs with our signal contractors along with other similar repairs. These cannot be a quick fix, but should be repaired within the next few weeks, unless there are any unforeseen circumstances. Once they have been completed you should notice the signals restore to normal operation. In the meantime please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.”