Coventry City Council becomes the first in the country to install the revolutionary Plus+ traffic signal system. 

Designed using distributed intelligence to reduce installation and maintenance costs and to increase intersection availability, this is the first time the long awaited Siemens Mobility system will be put into use.

Following the completion of a successful pilot, Siemens were awarded the contract to install the system on one of the busiest routes into Coverntry, the B4106 / Allesley Old Road intersection. The aim of the Plus+ system is to deliver higher intersection availability and reduce disruption to road users. The system is designed with failsafe pedestrian indicators and signal heads plus smart loop modules that ensure resilience in the event of cable or component damage.

The entire system reduces cabling, materials use and labour, bringing down costs and installation times.

The installation provides a complete upgrade of an existing MOVA (microprocessor optimised vehicle actuation) system with the work carried out in controlled offsite conditions which reduced the time to installation and ensured work was carried out in line with social distancing and hygiene guidelines.

Innovative solutions
 

It's not the first time Coventry has used innovative technology to solve road traffic issues. Back in 2015, the council installed new digital signs on the Coventry ring road to give real time traffic information to road users. Investments in traffic technology have long created new jobs in civil engineering as the UK seeks to find engineering solutions to congestion. The Siemens Mobility scheme is a complete turnkey solution including design and civils. 

Although the Plus+ system is much quicker and easier to install than traditional systems, it guarantees jobs in civil engineering for a future generation. The innovative package is expected to deliver a better road management service using groundbreaking signal technology.

Intelligent infrastructure
 

The UK has been consistently moving towards intelligent infrastructure with Highways UK launching the Costain Intelligent Infrastructure Challenge in 2019 and developing smart motorways capable of increasing capacity and decreasing congestion and peak hours. The Siemens Plus+ system delivers a fully operative smart solution that will benefit road users, traffic managers and civil construction companies alike.

Wilke Reints, MD of Intelligent Traffic Systems at Siemens Mobility revealed that they were now ramping up production of the Plus+ system and had been awarded an additional £1.45bn contract to install similar intelligent infrastructure solutions across 24 sites in Coventry. 

Key Route Network
 

The work at Allesley Old Road forms part of Transport for West Midland's Key Route Network programme and will include new Plus+ pedestrian facilities. The new intersection will be monitored by the council's own urban traffic control working with Stratos road management systems.

The Plus+ system also includes an innovative self-checking and diagnostics capability which is designed to safeguard against false signals being seen by the public. Ben Gray, Coventry's highway network manager, hailed the exciting project saying it would shape and change the way Coventry operates and installs future traffic management schemes.