Community Speed Management Initiative – Member Briefing Note
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COMMUNITY SPEED MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE – MEMBER BRIEFING NOTE It is recognised within the Council that the management of traffic speeds on the highway is now a major issue for many communities. In some cases, this is because there is an actual problem, in others it reflects how the speed of traffic is perceived. As the local highway authority, we do not have powers to enforce speed limits, this is the sole responsibility of the police. We do have education and engineering options available to us however, that can help communities feel more in control and that can reduce speeds on local roads. These include Community Speed Watch, Bin Speed limit Stickers, mobile vehicle activated signs (MVAS), gateway features, chicanes etc. and once our usual means of controlling speed have been exhausted, and where the location is suitable, average speed cameras. In order to support communities and reflect the Council’s commitment to tackling these issues a new Community Speed Management Initiative has been developed. The initiative will be the first in a number of communications and projects that will look to support communities across a number of highway matters, including, safety and sustainable travel. The initiative will provide a process through which communities can access the options detailed above. In order to be included in the initiative Members are asked to raise areas of local concern via a dedicated email address. Once the site is registered a detailed investigation will be triggered that will assess whether the location has an actual or perceived speeding problem. To be assessed as an actual speeding problem, 50% of traffic or more will be travelling over the National Police and Crime Commissioner (NPCC) threshold. If there is an actual speeding issue, potential solutions will be discussed with the community and an appropriate mitigation plan put in place. The process to support this community speed management initiative is detailed below. An ongoing quarterly update will be provided to all members on the initiative, the first being issued in March 2021. Community Speed Management Process Member Emails Please check existing list CommunitySpeedManagement (available at this link (to be included)) prior to @leics.gov.uk with proposed location contacting us. Inform community STAGE 1 and progress TRO Automated Email Response process to change speed limit Evidence collection – speed data No survey undertaken Is the speed Does the location have a speeding issue that meets the limit No police commissioner’s STAGE 2 appropriate? guidance? Yes Yes Does the location already Email sent with have alternative measures Would alternative No position and in place? e.g. gateway measures work? treatments, mobile VAS? potential options. STAGE 3 Yes No Would an average Yes No speed camera be appropriate? Yes Consultation with communities STAGE 4 to agree scheme Measures agreed, and installation / programme of works commences STAGE 5 Stage 1 – Registering a site to be included for consideration If you have a road or area within your community that you would wish to be registered for inclusion on the initiative, please email the new dedicated address [email protected] with details of the exact location you would like to be considered. Please be aware we have an existing list of approximately 100 sites that we believe should be included in this initiative. If a location is already on this list, you do not need to register it. The list is included at the end of this briefing, for your information. Once you have submitted your request you will receive an automated response* confirming that we have received the details of the location you would like to be considered. We will be asking parishes or the public to come through their local LCC Member, for you to take a view on whether it should be included in the initiative. Stage 2 – Evidence Collection In order to ensure decisions are made on fact rather than perception a data collection exercise will take place for all the sites that are registered. The exercise will establish whether the site meets the criteria used by the police for establishing their Community Concern Sites; which is where 50% of all speeds are over the National Police and Crime Commissioner (NPCC) threshold. The speed data will be evaluated using the speeds collected during the busiest time periods, typically 7am and 7pm. The police commissioner’s threshold is that over half of the cars that travel the road are exceeding the existing speed limit by 10% plus an additional 2 miles an hour. So, for a road that currently has a speed limit of 30mph, to meet the criteria over 50% of the cars on the on the highway would need to be travelling in excess 35mph. Timescale – Data collection will start early in 2021 and continue through the Spring, this will be refreshed on an annual basis. All data collection dates may be subject to potential disruption due to the Covid restrictions and this will need to be taken into account. Stage 3 – Data Analysis Once the speed data has been collected, the location will be reviewed by the County Council jointly with the Police, to check whether the existing speed limit is appropriate. The outcomes of this could be that some speed limits may change (e.g. increased), rather than measures taken to reduce speed. After this assessment has been completed, we will email you with results. If the location meets the criteria and current speed limit is correct, the site will be put forward for further investigation. If it does not, the location will not be considered for further measures, and the locations’ inclusion in the Community Speed Management Initiative will cease. Members who have sites registered that do not meet the criteria will be given advice on the options available to their communities in order to support them in addressing local perception. The location will be kept on record however and can be revisited if there is a change of circumstance. Timescale – Feedback on speed data to commence February 2021 Stage 4 – Community Liaison & Assessment We will liaise with the local community to explore whether all other appropriate options for reducing speed (such as Gateway treatments, Community Speed Watch, Vehicle Activated Signs,) have been investigated. If any of these options are considered appropriate and are likely to achieve the desired outcome of reducing speeds, we will consult with the local community on potential schemes. If no other options are available, we check that it is physically, practically and financially possible to install average speed cameras. If it is and the community is happy with the installation, the site will be added to the average speed camera programme. Timescale – March 2021 through to February 2022. Stage 5 - Installation of new schemes and commencement of programmes Once a scheme has agreement it will be added to the rolling programme of highway improvements or the average speed camera programme. Highway Improvements will be funded via the Community Sustainable Travel Programme (funding levels to be confirmed). The average speed cameras will be funded by the Community Speed Enforcement Initiative as agreed by Cabinet on the 20 th October 2020. Via this initiative there will be capacity to have 14 average speed camera sites operational at any one time, with the equipment being relocated across the county according to need. The minimum amount of time the speed cameras will be in place at any single location will be a year. Locations will be prioritised according to the level of need as evidenced by the data and the programme will be continually refreshed as new sites are identified. Timescale – April 2022 onwards * Automated Response: Thank you for your email regarding a potential location for the County Council’s Community Speed Management Initiative. Your request will be reviewed and speed data will be collected. Once the data has been collected, we will contact you with a summary of the results. Please note that due to the ongoing Covid situation and the fact we do not collect data during holiday periods or when road works are in place, we cannot give a time frame for when this will happen. We hope however to be able to give you some update within the next 12 weeks. APPENDIX A – LIST OF EXISTING SITES District Road Town/Village Blaby A50 Glenfield Blaby Arbor Road Croft Blaby Aston Lane Sharnford Blaby B581 Station Road Stoney Stanton Blaby Croft Road Cosby Blaby Forest Road Narborough Blaby Maytree Drive Kirby Muxloe Blaby Narborough Road South Blaby Narborough Road Huncote Blaby North Bound - Leicester Road Blaby South Bound - Leicester Road Charnwood A6006 Wymeswold Charnwood Beacon Road Woodhouse Eaves Charnwood Cropston Road Cropston Charnwood Derby Road Hathern Charnwood Hathern Road Shepshed Charnwood Leicester Road Quorn Charnwood Loughborough Road Walton on the Wolds Charnwood Main Street Swithland Charnwood Main Street Swithland Charnwood Nanpantan Road Loughborough Charnwood Paudy Lane Seagrave Charnwood Ratcliffe Road Sileby Charnwood Rempstone Road Wymeswold Charnwood Roecliffe Road Newtown Linford Charnwood Station Road Cropston Charnwood Swithland Lane Rothley Charnwood Swithland Lane Rothley Charnwood Walton Way Mountsorrel Charnwood Westfield Lane Rothley Harborough A47 Skeffington Harborough Brookfield Way Lutterworth Harborough High Street Great Glen Harborough High Street Hallaton Harborough High Street Husbands Bosworth Harborough Lutterworth Road Misterton with Walcote Harborough Newton Lane Newton harcourt Harborough Rugby Road