Motorists confused when the lights go out

The lights were down yesterday morning, as people made their way to work and school. Photo / Ben Fraser

Faulty traffic lights at one of Rotorua's busiest intersections has caused a stir for motorists and pedestrians.

The traffic lights at the Old Taupo Rd and Malfroy Rd intersection went down about 4pm on Monday and were down for much of yesterday.

Rotorua Lakes Council transport operations manager Peter Dine said the lights were operating by yesterday afternoon after council contractors made repairs to a faulty part.

"The problem occurred Monday and was temporarily fixed late [that night], but malfunctioned again later," he said.

"While our contractors still have some work to do on the system they're hopeful the problem has now been remedied."

Mr Dine said the council appreciated the care motorists had shown at the intersection and praised their patience.

This wasn't the first time the council has encountered issues with faulty traffic lights.

Traffic lights at the intersection of Ranolf and Amahou Sts and on the corner of Te Ngae Rd and Sala St have previously had outages and council contractors have had to work to fix them.

Many readers on the Rotorua Daily Post Facebook page commented it wasn't the first time the Old Taupo and Malfroy Rd lights had failed.

"They are always broken. Something major needs to be done about that intersection it's an accident waiting to happen," said one. Another said it was shocking they had been out so long, while several readers spoke of near-accidents.

But one reader disagreed, saying the city worked better when the traffic lights were out.

"People become courteous drivers again, it's kind of nice."