Traffic lights - are we being conned?

[MoodyToo]

Two roundabouts on the Nanger road have been replaced with traffic lights. These roudabouts functioned perfectly well, traffic flowed, if traffic was back logged in one direction cars travelling in other directions could still pass through. The new lights were switched on on one roundabout yesterday and now you have tail backs in directions and at times that did not exist with the roundabouts. Green lights for lanes and directions that cannot move and red for lanes that would have been able to move with the roundabout. Traffic is not flowing well.
Why is a perfectly good roundabout replaced?
Who decides?
Who benefits? - Construction firm, traffic light company (installation/maintenance contract), ESB.
Who pays? - Road users (3 mins added to my journey per set of traffic lights) and the tax payer for installation and ongoing maintenance.
Am I being paranoid thinking someone is getting rich needlessly installing traffic lights? Everyone knows maintenance contracts is were the money is...
MoodyToo.

 

[ajapale]

Who benefits?

Hi MoodyToo,

At a personal level I agree with you.

However I heard the traffic czar on Newstalk 106 a few months ago talking about this. According to him the main beneficiaries are pedestrians.

ajapale

 

[MoodyToo]

Fair enough, it's very difficult crossing the road at a roundabout as a pedestrian especially in busy traffic. Wouldn't a pedestrian crossing lights away from the roundabout be the solution here?
But now that you said it there used to be a zebra crossing near the new lights in park west but it looks like it has either faded away over night or been purposely removed. If it has been removed no one told the pedestrians who still treat it like a zebra crossing, cars new to the area don't realise they are expected to stop because you can hardly see the zebra stripes anymore, I've seen some sudden stops. It's a hard life being a pedestrian in this city so anything that makes their lives easier is a good thing (the lights that is not the sudden removal of the zebra stripes!).