DRIVERS have raised concerns about a junction dubbed the “most jumped” in the North East after a bus carrying passengers was involved in a crash at the weekend.
Residents have hit out over a busy crossroads in Bishop Auckland town centre and have claimed near misses and incidents are happening more often.
On Sunday, a number of passengers had to be treated for minor injuries after an Arriva bus was involved in a crash with a silver Nissan Navara.
Read more: Police provide update after Arriva bus involved in crash in County Durham town
The incident, which happened at 4pm, took place on the crossroads linking Princes Street and South Church Road via Newgate Street, leaving both vehicles significantly damaged.
But last night, the junction received backlash as some suggested drivers had been routinely spotted attempting to beat the set of traffic lights in recent years.
Stu Gray, who has driven buses in and around the town for the past two decades, said the junction had been known to suffer near misses due to the "quick" timings of lights.
He said: "The traffic lights do change quickly, and I remember a long time ago we were told that the reason they do is to stop traffic backing up by the roundabout."
Explaining that throughout the years drivers have been seen proceeding through red lights, he warned people not familiar with the layout could be caught out.
Another bus driver, who asked to remain anonymous, said the traffic lights appear to change "instantly" giving drivers "no opportunity" for the junction to clear of traffic coming from other roads.
He said: "Other junctions give the junction the time needed to clear but this one doesn't, it (traffic lights) just changes instantly."
Those concerns were shared on social media as others suggested there was a problem with drivers ofte attempting to pull out in front of others.
One driver, who said the timings should be adjusted, said: "They always change very quickly - you can be coming from the King James side (South Church Road) and cars haven't turned right out of the main street (Newgate Street) towards the school and your light can be on green."
Another echoed those concerns describing it as a "bad" junction, while one made the bold claim that they believe it is the "most jumped" set of lights in the region.
In response, Durham County Council appeared to refute any suggestion that the lights were operating quicker than others as it encouraged residents to report concerns to them.
Dave Wafer, the council's head of transport and contract services, said it would be contacting Arriva for footage so that it could "review" the incident.
He said: “Standard signal times apply to the lights on the junction linking Newgate Street, Princes Street and South Church Road.
"We have no record of any complaints regarding the junction.
"However, road safety is of paramount importance to us and we will be contacting Arriva to ask if they have footage of the incident which we can review.
"We would also encourage any resident with concerns to report those to us.”
To report a concern to Durham County Council relating to the crossroads in Bishop Auckland - click here
--
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.
For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel