39 councils in England have been awarded a share of £15 million additional funding to upgrade and repair of traffic signals, with Derby being one of 21 local authorities to receive the highest award of £500,000.

The extra money from the Department for Transport is part of this year’s Highway Maintenance settlement for English local authorities outside of London, and will be spent on supplementing existing local authority spending on the upgrade and maintenance of traffic signals and associated equipment and will be used to identify areas where we can improve traffic flow and therefore reduce air pollution and congestion.
 
The funding will be used to support programmes of work to March 2023.
 
All 121 English local authorities outside London were invited to register interest in the additional money, and more than 100 of them did so. Councils were asked to provide evidence of their current traffic signal maintenance policies and practices and required to detail their strategies and preparedness for future technology opportunities, along with any specific issues around maintenance needs and priorities.
 
The application process was overseen for the DfT by the Transport Technology Forum (TTF) and managed by the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) and their research has shown by upgrading to the latest technologies, which monitor traffic levels and alter signal timings accordingly, Councils can improve efficiency and reduce congestion and travel times.

The latest traffic signal technology also improves efficiency of the road network for other road users, providing better provision for pedestrians, cyclists and vulnerable road users as well as motor vehicles. This helps deliver key transport targets around active travel and air quality initiatives. It also provides a sound foundation for connected and future automated vehicles linking to signals.

Councillor Matthew Holmes, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Decarbonisation & Strategic Planning & Transport and Deputy Leader of the Council said:

This is a fantastic result for Derby allowing us to upgrade our traffic signal assets with the latest technology.

 Ongoing maintenance of traffic signals is always a challenge but it is vital as we strive to improve road safety, congestion and our climate change goals.