There is a notorious traffic black spot in town. Two roundabouts, fed by main roads coming from the west, plus the local business park and residential areas. Ultimately it all funnels through one set of traffic lights outside a supermarket entrance. At peak times it is a gridlocked mess.
Planners have tried every trick, extra lanes, new road layouts, re-phasing the lights and still the place is jammed up.
Then a few weeks ago somebody drove into the traffic lights (by accident I imagine) and put them out of action for a few days.
A funny thing happened. The traffic flowed, even at peak times.
Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians looked out for each other, nobody got hurt, decisions got made in the moment and the traffic flowed. After a few days the lights got fixed and gridlock returned.
It got me thinking, which traffic lights need turning off in my world?