The Department for Transport (DfT) has given English highway authorities an extra month to set out what they plan to do with their share of £50m for upgrading traffic signals.

Last month 67 authorities won allocations from the Traffic Signal Obsolescence Grant (TSOG) challenge element or Green Light Fund (GLF), totalling £20m each, with all eligible authorities getting a share of £10m ‘automatic’ TSOG funding.

However, the awards are subject to authorities providing an initial programme of the improvements via the Transport Technology Forum (TTF) website.

Authorities were initially required to complete this by 30 April, but now have until the end of this month.

The TTF reminded authorities that declarations are required from chief financial officers, indicating the intention to use their grant allocations in accordance with the terms set out in award letters.

It stressed that these processes are vital in both auditing the effectiveness of the grants and in building up a case for more funding in the future. The information will not be used to monitor individual authorities but will allow the DfT to assess the overall performance of the grant, the TTF said.

Applications for a further £20m of funding under the Intelligent Traffic Management Fund (ITMF) are currently open, with the process closing at the end of July.

Gloucestershire County Council has been awarded £610,873.85 from the TSOG, which provides cash to replace unreliable and obsolete equipment.

The council said the cash will be used to replace seven sets of older traffic lights with more energy efficient, lower voltage lights, using the latest technology to help vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists move more efficiently.

The current remote monitoring system used to control traffic lights will also be expanded to enable more signal sites to be monitored remotely.

The work will start this summer and will take 18 months.

This article was originally published by Transport Network.