Report of Head of Transportation Services

AGENDA ITEM 6 BOROUGH OF POOLE

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – 17 JANUARY 2013

REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

CONSTITUTION HILL ROAD PETITION

1. PURPOSE OF REPORT AND POLICY CONTEXT

1.1 To consider a petition from residents regarding the speed of traffic along Constitution Hill Road.

2. DECISION(S) REQUIRED

It is recommended that the Portfolio Holder acknowledge the Petitioner’s concerns and they be informed that:

2.1 Based on the current injury accident rate it is not possible to justify major engineering measures here

2.2 However following recent consultation with the petitioners it is proposed that a low cost solution be developed which, subject to consultation, could be implemented as part of next years’ Road Safety programme.

2.3 In the meantime these concerns be forwarded to the Dorset Road Policing Unit and Dorset Road Safe for consideration of additional speed enforcement

3. ACCIDENT BACKGROUND AND EXISTING INTERVENTIONS

3.1 A petition has been received, consisting of 181 residents’ signatures, stating that “Following the serious accident on the morning of Friday 6th July 2012 at the junction of Constitution Hill Road and Harbour View Road between a car and a cyclist, we, as residents of Constitution Hill Road, Felton Road and Harbour View Road request the council to instigate a review and public consultation into ways of reducing the speed of traffic on Constitution Hill Road”.

All of the names on the petition are from properties in Constitution Hill Road, Felton Road, Woolven Close, Harbour View Road and Parkstone Heights.

3.2 Constitution Hill Road is a classified road and forms part of the B3068 which runs between the George Roundabout and Sea View Road roundabout. It is a

1 tree-lined residential road with a 30mph limit, approximately 1 kilometre in length, which slopes typically northeast to southwest between Ashley Road and Ringwood Road, with the steepest section lying between Ashley Road and Harbour View Road.

3.3 Police records indicate that there have been 25 injury collisions between 1 May 2002 and 31 August 2012 in the road. The locations of these collisions and a location plan are shown at Appendix A.

3.4 These collisions have involved : 13 car users 4 cyclists 2 pedestrians 10 motorcycle riders. Of these 25 collisions, none were fatal, 5 were serious and 25 were slight in nature. This represents a long term average of 4.96 injury accidents per year per km; which is lower that the average rate for Poole of 5.86 per km on minor residential urban roads.

3.5 Compared with the type of accidents normally associated with urban residential roads the records indicate a higher occurrence rates amongst motorcycle users and cyclists and lower rates for car users and pedestrians. There is no indication that the road surface or standard of lighting has contributed to the background level of accidents, nor is there any suggestion that the virtually continuous tree canopy has had any adverse effect.

3.6 Of the 25 collisions recorded here the contributory factors reported by the police indicate that 6 (or 24%) involved some combination of loss of control, travelling too fast for the conditions and/or exceeding the posted speed limit, these being largely on the steeper downhill section of road as would be expected.

3.7 In terms of current safety interventions, there is an on-road uphill only cycle lane on the steepest section north of Felton Road. The road is also a core Dorset Road Safe mobile enforcement site and is currently a high priority for continued enforcement. In addition there is a Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS) on the downhill section of road close to the junction with Harbour View Road which reminds speeding drivers of the 30mph limit and to slow down.

3.8 The speed data log for the VAS sign for Sunday 26 November 2012 is shown at Appendix B. The data log shows 85th percentile speeds of 33mph and vehicle flows (south westbound) of 3,200 vehicles a day. For comparison purposes a similar data log for Friday 24 November 2012 indicated higher vehicle flows of 3,636 per day but lower 85th percentile speeds of 26mph.

3.9 In a covering letter sent in with the petition the residents indicated that they were not asking for any specific traffic calming measures, however they were asking for the council to carry out a road safety review and a public consultation to establish ways of reducing the speed along Constitution Hill Road.

3.10 The review of the historical casualty record and level of speeding as set out in paragraphs 3.2 to 3.7 above would suggest that there is not a significant accident problem in this road, certainly in comparison with many other residential roads of this nature. In terms of major schemes within the Road Safety Capital Programme there is currently no justification for introducing any further safety interventions. However there is a possibility to consider a low cost option, as outlined in item 8.2 below.

4. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

4.1 It is proposed that a scheme involving low cost accident remedial measures be implemented as part of the 2013/14 Road Safety Capital Programme.

5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

5.1 There are no legal implications

6. EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

6.1 None.

7. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

7.1 None.

8. CONCLUSION

8.1 Given the existing speed of traffic, accident rates and the nature of the road, it is currently not possible to justify any major engineering measures in Constitution Hill Road from the Road Safety category of the Capital Programme.

8.2 However following recent consultation with the petitioner, a number of low cost options which could be considered were put forward which the lead petitioner has agreed to consult with other signatories to gauge local views. If a favoured solution is identified in this way it is proposed that, subject to consideration by Area Committee, this would be implemented within the 2013/14 Road safety programme.

8.3 It is also proposed that a summary of the findings of the accident review be posted on the Council website and made available in print format for those residents without access to the internet.

3 Julian McLaughlin Head of Transportation Services

Appendix A: Location Plan showing Constitution Hill Road and locations of existing road traffic collisions.

Appendix B: Data log for Vehicle Activated Sign in Constitution Hill Road

Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact Martin Baker (01202) 262073

27 November 2012 TAG170113T3A