In Telford, they're making it safer by taking out the roundabouts and replacing them with those big city-style junctions with traffic lights. The safety comes from everybody being stopped most of the time. The cyclists have to take their chances with the pedestrians, zig-zagging a slalom course through the barriers that stop you from going straight across. You have to take your turn to wait for the green light that lets you across. If you want to go straight across the junction, you sometimes have to cross three out of the four roads because there's no pathway/cycle-path on one corner. I find it easier and safer to jump off the cycle-path and take my chances with the cars and trucks.
These new style junctions cause massive tailbacks, whereas before, the traffic always used to flow nicely round the roundabouts.
I can't understand the logic behind these junctions, but it must be similar to the logic that says that the DHSS will no longer give housing benefit direct to the landlords. Instead, they'll only give it to the tenants, who obviously don't work, and are often drug addicts. They say that they're doing it too teach the tenants to be more financially responsible.
