Hi-tech new system gets green light to help halt traffic chaos

Bishopbriggs Cross is one of the district’s busiest road junctions.

Fed-up motorists regularly complain about queues of traffic forming in the area because of the phasing of the traffic lights.

Now a new SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) traffic control system is to be installed to help alleviate the problem. The system will link up junctions on Kirkintilloch Road, between Brackenbrae Road and Westerhill Road.

The SCOOT system is scheduled to be in operation by the end of January next year.

Bishopbriggs has one of the worst levels of air pollution in Scotland.

The traffic improvements come as plans for a new Morrisons supermarket in the town centre are being considered.

It’s been claimed the proposals for the new store could bring as many as 30,000 more vehicles into the town centre area every week.

Dominic Notarangelo, chairperson of Bishopbriggs Community Council, said: “If it works, it is a good idea.

“However, the community council has raised concerns about the traffic a number of times and was told that nothing could be done.”

The SCOOT system works by detecting vehicles at the start of each approach to every controlled intersection.

It models the progression of the traffic from the detector through the stopline, taking account of the state of the signals and any consequent queues.

The information from the model is used to optimise the signals to minimise the network.

David Devine, East Dunbartonshire Council’s head of roads and neighbourhood services, said: “We’re carrying out works in Bishopbriggs to install an intelligent traffic control system called SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique).

“Using sensors in the road, the SCOOT system will monitor traffic flow in real time and will relay this information across junctions using wireless communication technology to ease the flow of traffic as it passes through a series of traffic lights.”

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