I write in respect of the traffic lights at the junction of Cotton St (A1206) and Poplar High St, E14 0BN. I would like details of the programming and phasing of these lights, specifically the time difference, if any, in the synchronisation of the red and red/amber lights in opposing directions - do they change in sync (to red) or are they offset by any amount of time? I would also like to know the last date that the programming or phasing was changed and the details of the phasing and programming that was amended, along with how often these timings are reviewed and in particular any changes that have been made after 1 June 2018 and what they were on 1 June 2018. For the avoidance of doubt, if the programming and phasing changes throughout the day, I would like you to give me the details for current and immediately prior programming and phasing which is in operation at 7am and 7pm on weekdays.

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TfL Ref: 3476-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 12 February 2020 asking for information about Traffic Lights at the junction of Cotton St (A1206) and Poplar High St, E14 0BN.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold the information you require. Your questions and our responses are as follows:

Q1) I would like details of the programming and phasing of these lights, specifically the time difference, if any, in the synchronisation of the red and red/amber lights in opposing directions - do they change in sync (to red) or are they offset by any amount of time?

Q2) I would also like to know the last date that the programming or phasing was changed and the details of the phasing and programming that was amended, along with how often these timings are reviewed and in particular any changes that have been made after 1 June 2018 and what they were on 1 June 2018.

Q3) For the avoidance of doubt, if the programming and phasing changes throughout the day, I would like you to give me the details for current and immediately prior programming and phasing which is in operation at 7am and 7pm on weekdays.

The junction of Cotton Street/Poplar High Street is identified as site 05/000174.  This following diagram shows the permissible stages and phases the junction can operate, for orientation traffic phase ‘A’ is Cotton Street southbound, ‘B’ is Cotton Street northbound, ‘C & D’ are Poplar High Street and ‘E & F’ are Naval Row.  The dashed arrows represent pedestrian crossing phases around the junction.

This junction is connected to and controlled by London’s central traffic control system, it uses sensors in the road to optimise the length of the green signal for each traffic phase every cycle of the lights.  Safety critical timings such as the red/amber period are fixed and do not change.  This junction operates a stage sequence of 1 -4 -5 throughout the day for consistency and stages 2 and 3 which are for contingency use only (i.e. managing an incident or roadworks).  On the 1^st June 2018 the junction would be operating a 1 – 4-  5 sequence all day long.

The safety timings of the junction were last updated on 12^th May 2015 as part of an upgrade to the communication technology at the junction.  The operational signal timings which set the baseline for how much green time each traffic phase receives were last reviewed on the 1^st December 2015.  The safety timings are reviewed every time a change is made to the junction controller/equipment and the operational timings whenever there is a need to rebalance the timings to maintain performance or address a customer enquiry.

To help explain how the phases start and end within the stages please find below a phasing diagram, you can see that all the traffic phases (in black) which run together are set to start and end at the same time, this is done for clarity and safety. This relationship does not change and was consistent throughout the day on the 1^st June 2018. 

For your interest attached is a worksheet showing how the average stage duration varies 0700-1900 mon-Friday.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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