Portsmouth rush hour traffic “utter chaos” as temporary lights jammed on red "for hours" due to fault

Drivers in the city were subjected to even worse conditions than normal on Wednesday evening when the temporary lights installed by Colas on Commercial Road by All Saints Church failed in spectacular fashion.

Motorists were left fuming as the lights failed to turn green with traffic backed up inbound on  all of the M275, the M27, A27 and A3. The lights had also been out of sync during Wednesday morning’s rush hour, raising questions why the issue was not resolved earlier.

Portsmouth City Council said it had instructed Colas to perform work to upgrade the pedestrian crossing traffic signals near All Saints Church. The authority, responsible for the city’s roads, said the issue was caused by a battery in the temporary traffic lights “deemed faulty”.

Ian Currie, 76, was among those to suffer lengthy delays, with him suffering a frustrating journey from Portchester to Southsea where he was picking up his granddaughter from school. He said: “Rush hour traffic was utter chaos. All roads were jammed because Colas temporary traffic lights at Commercial Road by All Saints Church were jammed on red for hours.

“I finally managed to call someone at Colas at 6pm to be told that a man had been sent to sort the lights out but was caught in the traffic jam. You couldn't make it up. The council’s lines were all closed and I was put in a long queue when phoning 101. At least Colas answered the phone.

“What is even more annoying was that those same lights were out of sync in the morning's rush hour. So why wasn't the problem sorted out during the day? Have they never heard of motorbikes or telling the police? There were no traffic police anywhere. As for extra carbon emissions caused - I won't even go there.”

A Portsmouth City Council spokesperson said: "Colas are currently carrying out nightworks on Commercial Road, which started on 8 April and will be ongoing till 10 May, 2024. These planned works are part of the Lifecycle Replacement scheme carried out by Colas on behalf of Portsmouth City Council, to upgrade the pedestrian crossing traffic signals adjacent to All Saints Church. 

"On Wednesday (24 April) at 5.44pm, a Colas duty officer received a call to say the temporary lights - which are in place 24-hours a day while the works are taking place - were not working. The Colas Traffic Management team attended at 6.30pm to find the battery in the temporary traffic lights to be deemed faulty. The battery was replaced, and traffic resumed to flow.”

A police spokesperson said they are not responsible for traffic management and would only respond to “specific incidents”. Mr Currie said in response: “I am speechless to be honest. What if ambulances on emergency calls were caught up in this mess? All it needed was for someone with appropriate authority to turn the lights round towards the pavements as they are only on poles. Does anyone accept responsibility for anything these days?”