'Smart' traffic lights to detect crowds waiting

"Smart" traffic lights, which can detect when a large number of people are waiting to cross the road, are being proposed for a town in a bid to reduce congestion.

The plan for the new software is part of Blackpool Council's £17m Town Centre Access Scheme.

Ian Large, head of highways, said the key focus was to ensure the town centre could cope with the influx of thousands of additional office workers in the next few years.

The areas being targeted are the junction between Adelaide Street West and Coronation Street and around Topping Street and Talbot Road.

Extra pressure on the town centre is expected from the arrival of 3,000 civil servants to new offices due to open in King Street next year, while there are further proposals for a multiversity and another office block.

Mr Large told the Climate Change and Environment Scrutiny Committee: "We have no room for underpasses for pedestrians in our town centre, so the next best thing is controlled crossings.

"But we will be making the traffic signals more intelligent and better able to deal with peaks and troughs.

"There is software now that can pick up if there is a large number of people waiting at a crossing."

The town centre scheme had its funding approved by the government earlier this month, with £15.3m of Levelling Up funding, £1.7m from the council, and includes £570,000 being spent on upgrading traffic signals, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A planning application is also expected to be submitted for a 600-space multi-storey car park on the site of the former Syndicate nightclub in the town centre.

Mr Large said another aim would be to encourage through traffic to bypass the town centre.

However, he ruled out introducing park and ride schemes, which he said had been shown not to work.

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