The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton manages the A5306 trunk road, an international freight route, linking the motorway network from the M57 to Merseyside's Liverpool Freeport. The road carries 50,000 vehicles per day. This number will increase with the expansion of the Freeport and increasing levels of tourist traffic to Southport. The current Urban Traffic Control (UTC) system is being optimised. The Borough Council has upgraded the SCOOT system's capabilities with the addition of a Siemens COMET system. With COMET, queues at junctions can be balanced according to the importance of each approach. COMET was installed in 2005 and there are now approximately 40 strategies running locally. COMET'S incident management capability is proving its worth by preventing queues on the M57. Operators' workloads are reduced as COMET is automatically triggered and can take action as soon as all conditions are met. The local authority also plans to upgrade COMET further with the Siespace car park management and information system, which will assist drivers in finding car parking spaces in Southport.
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