The installation of traffic lights is chiefly supposed to maintain traffic order and reduce traffic jams. But in some parts of the Awka Capital City, it has been observed that some places where these lights have been installed are rather adding to the problems they’re supposed to solve.
One of such places is at the Amawbia-by-Express Junction. Here, where the traffic is usually thin, many vehicles are often held up because of the traffic lights and this causes traffic jams, especially in the rush hours of the morning and sometimes in the evening.
It has been observed that when the traffic lights are not functional, there is a free flow of traffic, the reason being that vehicular activity there is low.
From the foregoing, it presupposes that such a place as this, should not have had traffic lights mounted, as they are counterproductive.
We believe that the installation of traffic lights should be restricted to busy roads where traffic chaos is likely to occur because of lack of discipline by drivers. In such places as this, non-adherence to traffic lights causes the road to be jammed by traffic and thus, causes untold problems to road users. It is in such places that traffic lights should be installed.
But installing them where there is little or no need for them will only create problems where they don’t exist and this is exactly the case at the Amawbia-by-Express Junction in Awka.
We believe that traffic lights should not be installed because they look good but because of need. Thus, those saddled with installing them should carry out a proper feasibility study to ensure that such lights are installed where they are really needed to avoid being abused.
Sometimes, one finds oneself being held up by these lights there when no vehicles are coming from the opposite direction and being that it takes long for the red lights to go out, a traffic gridlock is soon formed.
Once this happens, keke operators begin to shunt and before long total chaos is established and many lines formed. Thus, what would have been easily avoided had vehicles been allowed to pass normally now turns into a serious problem. It then becomes a case of each man for himself and if it is in the night absolute chaos is created.
We suggest that the appropriate authorities look into this with a view to addressing this problem. Traffic lights are good but they should be mounted where they are really needed and not put up for the sake of having them.
