Long queues of cars backed up in traffic often blight the Dome Roundabout in Garston during both the morning and evening rush hours.

Callowland campaigner Ian Stotesbury has launched a survey to gauge the opinion of residents living nearby, hoping to use their views to persuade Hertfordshire County Council to introduce new queue-cutting measures.

Mr Stotesbury proposes making the traffic lights at the roundabout on the A41 pedestrian-controlled, meaning traffic would only be stopped if someone presses the button on the crossing.

He argues that the lights are currently holding up traffic even if no pedestrians are waiting to cross, and says traffic backs up all along the A41, St Albans Road, Longspring and the surrounding residential streets.

“Traffic congestion isn’t only frustrating for drivers but it is bad news for local businesses too – and bad for air quality,” said Mr Stotesbury.

“As I’ve knocked on doors around the Longspring area, the length of traffic queues has been raised with me time and time again. So many residents are saying that the queueing has got worse in recent months, so I’ve decided to do something about it.”

Mr Stotesbury hopes to present the full results of the survey to the county council in the coming months, and will propose a motion to trial pedestrian-operated lights.  

“This would allow a safe way to cross on foot while keeping traffic flowing and cutting queues,” he added.

If you would like to share your views on the lights at the Dome Roundabout, Mr Stotesbury can be contacted on ian.stotesbury@gmail.com

In a statement, Hertfordshire County Council said: “The traffic lights were put in place in 1993 to reduce the number of collisions at the Dome Roundabout. Since then, further improvements have been made to help traffic flow and provide good access for pedestrians. Our data shows a decrease in the number of collisions since signalisation was introduced.

“The removal of the traffic signals from the roundabout would be likely to reverse this positive trend and pedestrian controlled crossings would have to be located away from the roundabout for safety reasons. Consequently we have no plans to change the current traffic lights at the roundabout.”