THE number of vehicles travelling through Portishead's congested Cabstand junction is to be measured - as part of a drive to sort out tailbacks at the traffic clogged junction. A team of highways consultants has been employed to count the number of vehicl

THE number of vehicles travelling through Portishead's congested Cabstand junction is to be measured - as part of a drive to sort out tailbacks at the traffic clogged junction.A team of highways consultants has been employed to count the number of vehicles using the Cabstand junction on a daily basis.The survey is being done ahead of a decision being made on how to solve the problems with the large queues caused by the lights.Highway chiefs are currently looking at two options - one to install a mini roundabout at the top of the High Street and the other to leave the lights as they are.If a roundabout scheme was decided as the best option, the lights at the bottom of Cabstand by Robert John would remain, essentially turning it into the T-junction.Once the figures are collected they will be used to create a computer model to see how well traffic would move around the new mini roundabout. The same figures would also be applied to the current Cabstand layout to compare the difference between the two.Portishead councillor David Jolley, who campaigned for changes to the junction before being elected as a district councillor, said there was no quick fix to solve the issues with Cabstand.Cllr Jolley said: "We need to make sure that any scheme which is implemented is the best for traffic flow in the town now, but also in the future."The traffic count will enable us to see exactly what volume of vehicles are travelling through Cabstand each day and make projections of how this will increase as a result of all the development in Portishead."The town is growing so fast that we need to take a longer term view on solving this problem."A meeting is expected in the next few weeks between local councillors and highway chiefs to look at the results of the traffic survey.Whatever option is decided, a full safety audit will have to be carried out before it is taken forward.The Cabstand lights were installed in 2004 at a cost of £800,000 and were funded from 106 planning agreement money from local developers.But their installation caused outcry among local residents who said they caused traffic chaos in the town.Two public protest marches have been held in the town, with thousands of residents walking through the streets to campaign for changes to be made.