A lot of water under the bridge and a lot of traffic across it…
Here are the Bridge Street traffic lights before unveiling in December 2006.
Here is the same place after the lights were dismantled in May 2008.
That sign has now passed into history. I hope it will find a fitting place at Standlake (Oxfordshire’s museum storage depot) and be kept for an appropriate moment to be dusted off and displayed within the museum.
I see! I did wonder which traffic lights that sign corresponded to!
I hope this sign will be removed soon. It has, and never did have any place telling tourists, residents and visitors about the traffic flow through Abingdon. If a sign were needed then perhaps it should be a short welcome and historical statement:
‘Welcome to Abingdon, an old historic town set beside the River Thames, intertwined with Abingdon Abbey, believed to be the first monastery established in Britain’. Maybe someone intending to drive through Abingdon might be persuaded to stop and have a look at the town, museum and shops. I’m sure that could only be a positive thing.
Further to the traffic lights, how much has it cost to site the lights at the Culham end of bridge and how much has it cost to reposition them at the top of Bridge Street? The new position is pointless as a few yards further on there is a junction where vehicles have to stop.
The sign was designed to let you know why you'd been stopped at the lights for no obvious reason. The first draft had "control" and it was my idea to use "manage" as it sounded less orwellian.