A MAJOR player in the Edgar Street Grid development has said that traffic lights are “unnecessary”.

Ben Hamilton-Baillie is still drawing up plans for the regeneration of Blueschool Street as part of the multi-million pound project to redevelop Hereford city centre.

But the planner could go Dutch by following an experiment in Holland, where pavements, markings and traffic lights were removed in a radical design.

Mr Hamilton-Baillie, an expert in street design, spoke against traffic lights and “street clutter” on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Listeners heard him say that many signals and barriers were costly, unnecessary, and often made matters worse.

He added that many councils were learning from an experiment in Drachten, Holland, where traffic lights, pavements and markings were removed to make “naked streets”. Traffic problems eased because drivers became more cautious.

“What they found was that congestion reduced significantly and, to many people’s surprise, the safety of these streets improved,” said Mr Hamilton-Baillie.

“They ended up with a much more civil and free-flowing town centre. Traffic signals are, above all, very expensive to install and maintain. Along with all the clutter, like barriers, bollards and markings, which litter our streets, it seems that many of them aren’t just unnecessary but also make matters worse.”

Mr Hamilton-Baillie said it was too early to reveal the plans for Blueschool Street, but it could reflect the Drachten scheme.

“We are clearly wanting to reduce the highway barrier on that road and to create a low-speed, pedestrian-dominated space,” he added