Page 1 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
Agenda Item:
Regulatory
Committee
Date of Meeting 28 April 2016
Officer Andrew Martin - Head of Highways
Subject of Report Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph.
Executive Summary A petition has been received (in accordance with the County Council’s published petitions scheme) requesting that the speed limit on the A352, Holnest between Longburton and Middlemarsh be reduced to 40mph.
The Scheme states that if a petition is supported by 50 or more signatories then it will be reported by the Chairman to the relevant Council committee.
It is for the Committee to decide how to respond to the petition at this meeting.
Impact Assessment: Equalities Impact Assessment: Not required
Use of Evidence: Not required
Budget/ Risk Assessment:
The cost of implementing the requested 40mph limit would likely be between £4,000 and £8,000 – costs are for context only and do not represent actual costs, costs include officer time and costs of physical signing as well as costs associated with the legal process.
The cost of speed management measures such as advanced warning signs and road markings would cost from £500 upwards depending upon works required. Page 2 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
Recommendation The Committee is invited to note the receipt of this petition and to reject the request to reduce the speed limit on the A352 at Holnest from 60mph (national) to 40mph based on the evidence and information included within this report.
That the Committee consider whether other speed management measures should be considered.
Reason for In order to comply with the County Council’s published recommendation scheme for responding to petitions and so as to enable local people to connect with local elected decision makers.
Dorset County Council speed limit policy and Department for Transport speed limit management guidance.
Appendices Location plan Collision history overview Site detail plan
Background Papers Dorset County Council Petitions Scheme Copy of petition and supporting papers
Report Originator and Name: Michael Potter Contact Tel: 01305 221767 Email: [email protected]
Page 3 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
1. Background to the Petition Scheme
1.1 The County Council’s Petitions Scheme (based on the national model) was adopted on 29 April 2010 and came into effect on 15 June 2010.
1.2 If a petition is supported by 50 or more signatories then it will be reported by the Chairman to the relevant Council committee. If a petition is supported by 1,000 or more signatories it will be scheduled for a debate at the next meeting of the full County Council.
2. Petition - Petition requesting that the speed on the A352, Holnest between Longburton and Middlemarsh be reduced to 40mph
2.1 The County Council received a petition on 13 January 2016 organised by Mr Kenneth Barton of Holnest Lodge, Holnest, Sherborne. This reads as follows:
Having regard to guidance set out in Department for Transport Circular 01/2013 “Setting Local Speed Limits”, there is clearly need and scope to reduce the risk of further accidents in this part of Holnest village as well as to improve the quality of life for residents. Criteria set out in Section 7 of the Circular concerned with rural speed management can be met and we, the undersigned, consider that a 40 mph speed limit should be imposed on a length of the A352 at the junctions with the roads to Glanvilles Wootton and Hermitage and extending beyond the three residential accesses and gated farm access to the south. A 40 mph limit would accord with the present limits on speed at the villages next to Holnest on the A352, Middlemarsh to the south and the outskirts of Longburton to the north, and we urge Cam Vale Parish Council to approach Dorset Highways Authority with a view to implementing this at the earliest possible date.
2.2 As this petition now contains more than 50 signatures, the Committee are invited to note and discuss this.
2.3 This discussion should conclude with a decision as to how to respond to the petition. This may include:
taking the action requested in the petition holding an inquiry into the matter undertaking research into the matter holding a public meeting holding a consultation holding a meeting with petitioners referring the petition for consideration by the council’s audit and scrutiny committee calling a referendum writing to the petition organiser setting out our views about the request in the petition no further action
2.4 As the petition was received in the middle of January 2016 and not being discussed at Regulatory Committee until 28 April 2015 an opportunity was taken to gather evidence to help best inform both the petitioner and Committee in order to make a more informed decision and to limit any additional time taken to consider the request of this petition. Page 4 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
A speed survey was completed on the A352, Holnest for seven days between 9 and 15 February 2016.
3. Context
3.1 The petition contains 145 signatures from within the County of Dorset.
3.2 The A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh is covered by the national speed limit (60mph). The crossroads in question is between the A352, B3140 to/from Glanvilles Wootton and the unclassified road to Hermitage. Appendix 1 shows the section of the A352 in question and shows the speed limits either side.
3.3 This section of the A352 is predominantly straight with a total of five access point directly onto the carriageway from private properties.
3.4 The petition provide by Mr K Barton suggests that a 40mph limit covering the approaches to the crossroads between the A352 and B3140 is in keeping with the 40mph limits that are in place to the north and south of Holnest at Middlemarsh and Longburton. However, these two 40mph limits are on sections of the A352 where the nature and layout of the road is more conducive of a 40mph limit, ie access points are more frequent and there are bends.
3.5 The DfT Circular 01/2013 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ states that speed management measures should be considered before a reduction in speed limit. Measures can include advanced warning signs or lining.
The Circular 01/2013 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ sets out guidelines for the general approach to rural speed limit management:
Page 5 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
Table 1
Speed limit (mph) Where limit should apply:
Recommended for most high quality 60 strategic A and B roads with few bends, junction or accesses.
Should be considered for lower quality A and B roads that may have a relatively high number of bends, junctions or 50 accesses.
Can also be considered where mean speeds are below 50mph, so lower limit does not interfere with the traffic flow.
Should be considered where there are many bends, junctions or access, 40 substantial development, a strong environmental or landscape reason, or where there are considerable numbers of vulnerable road users.
The information provided in the above table shows that the current national limit (60mph) that covers this section of the A352 is likely to be appropriate
3.6 The main focus of the safety concerns in this petition is with the crossroads between the A352, B3140 and road to Hermitage.
Collision data is currently only available up to the middle of May 2015. This is due to an on-going ICT issue at Dorset Police.
Typically the latest available five years’ worth of collision data is used to analyse relative risk for sites.
During the latest available five years (June 2010 to May 2015) there were a total of two injury collisions (October 2014 and September 2011), both slight, reported at the crossroads between the A352, B3140 and road to Hermitage.
Two collisions resulting in injury at the crossroads were reported by Mr K Barton as part of the petition, in May and in August 2015. It is accepted that these collisions happened however details of the police reports on these collisions are not available so no judgement can be made on the circumstances. Dorset Police have been asked to provide any information they have regarding collisions on the A352 since May 2015. Dorset Police have only been able to supply basic information on these two collisions, neither collision appears to suggest the current speed limit was the main Page 6 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
problem; one was cited as poor concentration and the other mentioned an overloaded vehicle.
Collision cluster analysis is undertaken annually by Dorset County Council’s Highways services. A cluster is recognised as a site with at least five injury collisions within a 30m radius within the previous five years.
Detailed collision data is available from January 1998. For completeness all available collision data has been considered as part of this report.
Between January 1998 and the middle of May 2015 a total of five injury collisions have been recorded. This is a low number of crashes for a period longer than 17 years. The majority of the collisions appear to have been in part due to drivers’ lack of attention/awareness of the crossroads. Brief details of these collisions can be found at Appendix 2.
It is appreciated that there will have been more collisions at these crossroads than gets reported to Dorset Police and therefore not included within the data available to Dorset County Council, however this is true of almost all other sites across Dorset. There are many sites within Dorset that have a notably higher number of reported injury collisions.
3.7 The crossroads currently have yellow backed warning signs on both A352 approaches and advanced ‘map based’ directional signs providing additional warning and information about the upcoming crossroads as shown in Appendix 3.
3.8 A speed survey has been completed approximately 700 metres north of the crossroads for the seven days between 9 and 15 February 2016; location shown on the map at Appendix 1. This site is outside of the section requested to be reduced to 40mph, this was done deliberately as it gave a truer representation of free flow speeds through the junction, ie not affected by vehicles slowing to make a turning manoeuvre at the crossroads.
Table 2 7 Day average 85%ile Mean volume speed speed
Southbound 1944 61mph 53mph
Northbound 1954 65mph 56mph
Considering the layout of this section of the A352, the speeds in Table 2 show that the majority of vehicles are travelling close to the national speed limit in force (60mph) with good adherence on the whole.
DfT’s Circular ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ states:
Speed limits should be evidence-led and self-explaining and seek to reinforce people’s assessment of what is a safe speed to travel. They should encourage self-compliance. Speed limits should be seen by drivers as the maximum rather than a target speed.
Page 7 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
The speed survey data in Table 2 shows the majority of drivers on this section of the A352 are comfortable travelling close to the current national limit (60mph) or lower. Reducing the speed limit to 40mph is likely to result in greater conflict between drivers as a 40mph limit would not be seen as reasonable. Instances of overtaking would likely increase as would tailgating. Reducing the limit to 40mph could result in greater concerns.
It is accepted that there is a small minority of vehicles that will be travelling notably higher than 60mph. Unfortunately the drivers of these vehicles are unlikely to reduce their speed regardless of the signed limit.
A 40mph limit at this section of the A352 would likely require very regular enforcement.
The DfT Circular 01/2013 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ also states that “there should be no expectation on the police to provide additional enforcement to ensure compliance with a new limit beyond their routine activity, unless this has been explicitly agreed.”
3.9 In summary, collisions at the crossroads are due to restricted visibility from the junction and due to drivers on the A352 seemingly not being as aware as they should be that they are approaching a crossroads, this is why advanced warning signs, and ‘keep left’ arrow markings are in place on both approaches to the crossroads.
The current layout of the A352 through Holnest does not meet the criteria for a 40mph limit. Advice from the Department for Transport shows that a 60mph national speed limit is correct given the layout and existing speeds. Reducing the speed limit here is not likely to lead to notable reductions in speed and would likely result in greater concerns with overtaking and tailgating.
The DfT Circular 01/2013 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ states that speed management measures should be considered before a reduction in speed limit. Measures can include advanced warning signs or lining.
3.10 Committee are minded to consider the petition and evidence in conjunction with the context before making a decision as to a way forward, examples of which are shown in paragraph 2.3.
Andrew Martin Head of Highways April 2016 Page 8 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
Appendix 1 - A352, Holnest - Location plan
Page 9 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
Appendix 2 - Overview of reported injury collision history - 1 January 1998 to 15 May 2015
Date Severity Description
2 February 2014 Slight V1 pulled out of junction into the path of V2 and collided with V2
V2 travelling north on the A352 in a collision with V1 17 September 2011 Slight attempting to turn right across path of V2
Four vehicles collided at crossroads. V1 was travelling on 5 May 2008 Slight the main road and V2/V3 travelling opposite direction to V1 crossed to turn off main road. V4 was travelling minor road east to west
10 July 2004 Slight V2 braked at junction as another vehicle was turning in front, V1 hit rear of V2
30 January 1999 Slight V1 overtook V2 which was turning right at crossroads and collision occurred
Page 10 - Procedure for Petitions - Petition requesting a reduction in the speed limit on the A352 between Longburton and Middlemarsh to 40mph
Appendix 3 - A352, Holnest - Detail of approaches to crossroads