The bizarre reason new lights kept going out at busy junction
Labour councillors representing Stretford and Humphrey Park in Trafford raised concerns after the lights at the ‘quite busy’ Robin Hood crossroads in Stretford kept failing.
The mysterious reason new traffic lights in Stretford kept failing – causing traffic chaos – has now been discovered.
Labour councillors representing Stretford and Humphrey Park in Trafford raised concerns after the lights at the ‘quite busy’ Robin Hood crossroads in Stretford kept failing.
The junction – at Urmstone Lane, Kingsway and Barton Road – was upgraded as part of a £17.6m redevelopment of Stretford town centre.
The project outside Stretford Mall on Kingsway was finished in 2024 with new green spaces, planting, footpaths and a cycle lane.
But nearby traffic lights kept going out, with three incidents reported on September 3 2025, December 16 2025 and June 30 2026
Coun Steve Adshead, Trafford council’s executive member for Highways and Environmental Services, said: “For them to go several times less than a couple of years old seemed very odd.”
While the lights were fixed, it didn’t solve the problem. Initially, there was no answer about why that was the case.
Coun Adshead said: “We had a couple of residents raise it with us saying ‘why do these lights keep going?’. I had to push Transport for Greater Manchester on it quite a bit.”
More than a year after the first fault, the councillor finally received a – bizarre – explanation.
Transport for Greater Manchester apologised for not fully investigating the issue initially.
The letter from TFGM read: “The review found that, with the exception of one outage caused by a road traffic collision, the faults shared the same underlying cause. Slugs had entered the signal controller and caused short circuits.
“Remedial works were undertaken in July 2026 to address this issue. Since these works were completed, there have been no further signal outages at this location.
“While the number of faults experienced is clearly not what we would expect from a relatively new installation, the review indicates that the outages results from this specific environmental issue rather than a wider reliability problem with the controller or signal equipment.
“The site will continue to be closely monitored through the UTC system to ensure that any further issues are identified promptly.”
The work to the signal controller included checking the door and base seals for holes and sealing them and installing copper tape around the electrical components.
It is thought the slugs can crawl inside traffic lights for warmth. However they end up being fried by the electrical systems which power the lights.
First elected in 1986, Coun Adshead said: “This was the first time the highways team had ever experienced this. They did not seem to have come across this before. I have never come across it.”
A TfGM spokesperson said: “Recurring issues with traffic signals at the Robin Hood crossroads in Stretford were investigated and it was identified that slugs were entering the signal controller, causing short circuits. Work was undertaken to address the problem, no further issues have been reported, and we will continue to monitor the situation.”