Mansfield Road, Swallownest – Petition Requesting Safety Camera, Traffic Calming Measures Ward 6 Holderness 4

ROTHERHAM METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL – REPORT TO COMMISSIONER 1. Meeting: Commissioner Manzie 2. Date: 3rd September 2015 3. Title: Mansfield Road, Swallownest – Petition requesting safety camera, traffic calming measures Ward 6 Holderness 4. Directorate : Environment and Development Services 5. Advisory Cabinet Cllr Lelliott Member 6. Summary 6.1 The report sets out the results of an investigation following receipt of a petition requesting a safety camera or traffic calming on Mansfield Road, Swallownest and, as requested in a supporting letter, the assessment of other roads in the Aston, Aughton, Swallownest area to ascertain whether they meet the criteria for traffic calming measures. 7. Recommendations It is recommended that Commissioner Manzie: i) Approves the provision of a vehicle activated sign for a temporary period of not less than 3 months at the locations shown on appendix D ii) Approves further investigations to be undertaken regarding the provision of pedestrian refuges and central hatching along Mansfield Road. iii) Advises the lead petitioner of the outcome of the investigation and the action to be taken. 8. Proposals and Details 8.1 In May 2015, a petition with over 2000 signatures was received by the Transportation and Highways Projects Unit, requesting that a safety camera be installed on Mansfield Road, Aston / Swallownest (Appendix A shows 2 pages of the petition). A supporting letter to the petition written by Mrs Woodruff (Appendix B) was also received requesting that the Council investigate other roads in the area and that waiting restrictions be implemented outside Aston leisure Centre. The petition was reported to the Meeting of the Council on 22 nd May 2015, minute n o 6 refers. 8.2 In April 2015, a fatal collision occurred on Mansfield Road involving a motorcycle and car travelling in opposite directions. Following this collision, a petition was started by residents in the area requesting that a safety camera be installed on Mansfield Road. 8.3 The provision and maintenance of both static and mobile safety cameras within Rotherham is governed by South Yorkshire Safety Cameras (SYSC). The request for a camera on Mansfield Road was passed to them to ascertain whether the location meets the criteria that they use. Safety camera sites are selected using guidance published within the Department for Transport Circular 01/2007 “use of Speed and Red-Light Cameras for Traffic Enforcement: Guidance on Deployment, Visibility and Signing”. This sets out certain criteria that have to be satisfied before fixed safety cameras (single fixed locations or average safety camera systems) are installed as follows: • At least 3 Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI) collisions per km in the previous 3 years; • The combined score for the overall number of collisions involving injury should be at least 22 for a built up area, where fatal and serious injuries score 5 and slight collisions score 1. For sites up to 1km this value is required. For sites longer than 1km the value is per 1km; • A speed survey shows the 85th percentile speed is at or above the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) enforcement thresholds. 8.4 The SYSC partnership responded in July stating that the location does not meet the criteria for a core fixed camera site but the location could be considered as a community concern site, if there was an issue with speed. Recorded speeds are covered later within the report. 8.5 As the location does not meet the criteria for a fixed safety camera, Mansfield Road and indeed the other roads highlighted in the supporting letter were assessed to ascertain whether there is sufficient evidence to support the introduction of traffic calming measures. 8.6 In Rotherham, the introduction of traffic calming measures on the highway is based on an assessment of the injury accident record using the previous three years’ data. This data is used to establish whether there is a treatable pattern of collisions that have occurred, based on the information recorded by South Yorkshire Police at the time of the collision. This investigation results in the formation of the Local Safety Scheme annual programme with priority being given to locations with the highest number of treatable injury accidents. 8.7 The existing injury accident record on Mansfield Road, Aston (from Worksop Road to the A57) for the period 30/4/12 – 29/4/15 shows 1 fatal and 3 slight injury accidents along its length (Appendix C). The 3 slight collisions all occurred near to Lodge Lane and involved: • a vehicle running into the back of stationary vehicle; • a vehicle being hit whilst making a U turn; and • a motorcycle hitting a vehicle that was leaving a private property. 8.8 None of the 4 collisions had a common treatable pattern. This collision record would not normally result in this location being included on the Local Safety Scheme annual programme. 8.9 The results of an investigation of the collision records for the other identified roads on the supporting letter using the dates 30/4/12 – 29/4/15 are as follows: • Worksop Road (from High Street to the A57). This location has 4 slight recorded injury accidents along the full length (Appendix D), in separate locations, with no treatable pattern identified; • Aston / Aughton Lane (from Main Street to Worksop Road) has 2 slight recorded injury accidents along its full length (Appendix E). Neither of these two roads’ collision records would result in these locations being included on the Local Safety Scheme annual programme however Worksop Road is already a location that receives mobile camera enforcement as it is a Community Concern site: 8.10 Rotherham Road / Aughton Road (past the Leisure Centre and Comprehensive School) has 8 injury accidents of which 2 were serious and 6 were slight (Appendix F). The serious collisions occurred outside the Comprehensive school when a pupil stepped onto the crossing with the pedestrian phase on red. The second serious collision occurred at the junction of Rotherham Road and High Street when a vehicle turning right into Rotherham Road collided with a motorbike travelling toward Rotherham. The 6 remaining recorded slight injury accidents were located along the length of Rotherham Road / Aughton Road with 3 occurring near the junction with Aughton Avenue. However, on closer investigation of these collisions, it is apparent that there is no specific pattern to these collisions and as such no remedial measures are considered to be warranted at this moment in time. 8.11 It should be noted that there is an existing fixed safety camera on the A618 Aughton Road near to Westfield Avenue. 8.12 In addition to investigating the injury accident record, speed surveys establishing the 85 th percentile (the speed at which 85 out of 100 vehicles travel or below) have also been undertaken on these roads with the following results: • Mansfield Road near to Florence Avenue, 42.9mph (within a 40mph speed limit); • Mansfield Road near to Parklands, 42.1mph (within a 40mph speed limit); • Worksop Road near Manvers Road, 32.9mph (within a 30mph speed limit); • Worksop Road between Wesley Avenue and Hawthorn Place 35.8mph (within a 30mph speed limit); • Rotherham Road near to School Street, 31.8mph (within a 30mph speed limit); • Rotherham Road near to Aston Comprehensive 29.3mph (within a 30mph speed limit); • Aughton Lane between Mason Avenue and Ulley View, 42.1mph (within a 40mph speed limit); • Aughton Lane between Chelmsford Avenue and Holderness Drive 43.2mph (within a 40mph speed limit). 8.13 These results demonstrate that with the exception of Worksop Road between Wesley Avenue and Hawthorn Place, vehicle speeds in the locations identified are close to the existing speed limits. The NPCC guidelines for speed enforcement require an 85 th percentile speed of speed limit +10% + 2 for enforcement to be considered. Therefore, in a 30mph speed limit the enforcement threshold would be 30 + 3 + 2 = 35mph; the only location where this threshold is met is Worksop Road however this location is already subject to mobile camera enforcement. 8.14 As the speed enforcement thresholds are not met in any of the locations identified, it is considered that in order to provide a positive road safety message, a vehicle activated sign is provided on Mansfield Road near to Florence Avenue for a temporary period of 3 months (see Appendix D). This sign will display a 40mph roundel and slow down message for any vehicles exceeding a predetermined speed set in accordance with NPCC guidelines. This sign is one which is deployed around the borough to locations where concerns are raised by residents with regard to inappropriate vehicle speeds. It is used as a temporary measure, as experience has shown that vehicle activated signs have their greatest impact when first implemented. 8.15 As there are no locations in the Aston, Aughton and Swallownest areas that feature toward the top of our annual Local Safety Scheme programme, these areas are not a priority. However, with specific regard to Mansfield Road, there is the possibility of introducing highway accessibility improvements that may go some way toward preventing the type of collision that resulted in the fatality. 8.16 Mansfield Road is on a bus route and is subject to a 40mph speed limit with little crossing provision for pedestrians to access the bus stops. There is the potential to introduce a series of pedestrian refuges along Mansfield Road which would not only serve as a means for pedestrians to gain access to public transport, but would also restrict the opportunity for vehicles to overtake along this road. Their provision however, has to be implemented in locations that do not obstruct the free flow of traffic i.e. they do not interfere with the turning movement of vehicles at junctions, prevent access to private driveways and their implementation should be in locations where they would be best used by pedestrians.

Load more