A KNEE-JERK reaction to traffic delays on the first afternoon of the new Potts Road traffic lights has been blamed for the gridlocked traffic seen on Main North Road last weekend.

New traffic lights were switched on at the intersection of Main North and Potts roads, Evanston Park, last Friday as part of the Gawler East Link Road project.

It came just weeks after another nearby set of new lights, at Tulloch Road, were also switched on earlier in April.

While the lights are now operating, roadworks are expected to continue until the middle of the year, with one lane open each way on Main North Road.

According to a Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) spokesperson, initial traffic delays on the first afternoon of the lights’ operation caused a change in sequencing which prioritised Main North Road traffic.

“Whilst reducing congestion during the non-peak period, this resulted in decreased performance during the weekend peak period, where significant increases in traffic to and from Gawler Green Shopping Centre and Bunnings were observed,” the spokesperson said.

“The right turn lane into Tulloch Road reached capacity and queued across the Main North Road through lane, resulting in congestion for the southbound Main North Road traffic movements.  Traffic on Tulloch Road was also severely affected.”

Installation of traffic sensors at both sets of lights is set to take place in early June, with the intervals between green lights to be timed until then.

The lights’ sequencing will now favour traffic entering and exiting the Gawler Green shopping centre and Gawler Parks Home Maker Centre via Para and Tulloch roads, to avoid delays during peak shopping and school times.

“In response to these observations, DPTI’s Traffic Operations have altered the priority and timing of the intersection movements to cater for school traffic and weekend peak periods, and will continue to monitor and alter the timing to optimise the flow of traffic.

“In addition, the right turn storage lane will be extended for traffic entering Tulloch Road from Main North Road to improve capacity.

“It should be noted, both intersections are currently not operating in their ultimate configuration, which will see an additional through lane added to Main North Road in both directions.

“Tulloch Road will also have an additional combined through and right turn lane – to Morrow Avenue and Main North Road, respectively.

“The additional lanes will significantly improve the performance and traffic capacity of the intersections, with the ultimate configuration expected to be in place in June 2020.”

Member for Light Tony Piccolo wrote to transport minister Stephan Knoll last week with a list of concerns about the lights during their opening weekend.

He said the new lights were a “complete disaster”.

“Had the Minister given the matter more time, and the respect it deserves, we wouldn’t be in this mess at the moment,” Mr Piccolo said.