Motorists have complained about traffic congestion due to frozen buttons at pedestrian crossings.
The issue is causing tailbacks in some parts of the country with issues reported in Rochdale, Littleborough, Middleton, Oldham and Buxton.
Some residents have resorted to pouring hot water over signal boxes to thaw the stuck buttons. A report from Derbyshire claimed that traffic lights at a pelican crossing near a pub were ‘changing every 30 seconds’ to red, causing road delays.
Similar issues have been reported at other crossings. This comes as freezing conditions continue to affect Yorkshire with school closures and road closures.
It appears that once pressed by a pedestrian to cross, the buttons aren’t releasing as they should due to the freezing weather. A social media post from Rochdale claimed that ‘every crossing in the town was changing to red constantly’ on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, affecting traffic flow.
The problem reportedly caused traffic to back up, with long queues in the Littleborough area. Residents have taken matters into their own hands, leaving their homes to pour warm water over crossing buttons to alleviate the problem and get traffic moving again, reports the Manchester Evening News.
“It’s so cold the edges of the press buttons have frozen so when it’s been pressed in by someone crossing, it stays pressed in,” one social media user reported. Another resident from Littleborough advised: “Anyone who lives near a pedestrian crossing turning red every 10 seconds, please pour warm water on the buttons. They are frozen – traffic is horrendous apparently.”
A local Facebook page highlighted an issue in one village, stating: “The pelican crossing at the bottom of Oakcliffe Road is turning to red every twenty seconds. Although a pain, at 10pm at night it’s good to see people adhering to road rules when no pedestrians are present.”
The crossing at Hollins Lane, Middleton, was reportedly frozen
(Image: Google)
Get all the latest and breaking news in Yorkshire by signing up to our newsletter here.
The same problem was also reported in Royton, Oldham, with a Facebook post reading: “The pedestrian crossing outside Lidl is glitching. Keeps turning itself to red after a few seconds of green. It’s -6. I wonder if the button got frozen down.”
Traffic lights in the Heywood and Middleton areas were also reportedly affected.
One post suggested: “If anyone lives near a pedestrian crossing that keeps changing to red when no one is there, could you kindly go out and pour warm water on the button and it will stop it happening,” Another added: “All the buttons seem to be frozen from Littleborough to Rochdale – Heywood and Middleton same. It seems to be causing mayhem on the roads.”
Meanwhile, a resident on Hollins Lane in Middleton has taken matters into their own hands, defrosting buttons at a crossing near the junction of Langley Lane several times. “We go out and pour warm water on the ones outside our house to stop it, anyone who lives near lights should do the same,” they advised.