REPORT AGENDA ITEM 8

LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL HIGHWAYS FORUM FOR HARBOROUGH

26 TH MAY 2010

A47 - ROAD SAFETY

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT & TRANSPORT

Purpose of Report

1. To advise Members on the results of the road traffic accident analysis recently completed on the A47, through .

Background

2. The County Council took over responsibility for this former section of the A47 in October 2004.

3. In response to recent local concerns about road safety at several locations along the route, it was agreed that an analysis of road traffic accidents along the whole route (within Harborough District) should be undertaken; and the results presented to this meeting of the Highways Forum.

4. Fixed speed cameras were first introduced onto the A47 at the crossroads in December 2002; mobile speed camera enforcement now takes place in all of the parishes, except & .

Route Description

5. The A47 in Harborough is 17.5 km in length, stretching between City and . It is predominantly a 7.3 m wide single carriageway rural road with sweeping bends and several steep inclines requiring climbing lanes to assist safe overtaking. Speed limits through the settlements of Thurnby, Bushby and are 40 mph; it is 50 mph through , Billesdon (the bypass) and Tugby. Elsewhere, the national speed limit applies. The route is generally unlit and without footways or kerbing. It carries approximately 9560 vehicles per day, of which 11% are heavy goods vehicles. A location plan can be found at Appendix A.

Accident Details and Analysis

Overall Position

6. Measured by the frequency of killed or seriously injured (KSI) accidents per kilometre over the last 5 calendar years for the A47 within Harborough District the record of accidents is just above the average for all rural A and B roads within .

1 E:\moderngov\data\published\Intranet\C00000709\M00002872\AI00025432\A47RoadSafety0.doc 7. Over this period there have been a total of 66 recorded injury accidents resulting in 5 deaths, 14 serious and 87 slight casualties. This equates, on average, to just over 1 accident per year per kilometre. Whilst between 2005 and 2008 accident numbers remained reasonably stable, averaging 15 per year, 2009 has seen a sharp drop to only 6 accidents. The following tables give a more detailed view of casualty severity and accident type.

Casualties

2005 to 2009 Severity 2009 Average for Average for all Rural A47 (%) Roads in Leicestershire (%) Slight 5 82 85 Serious 0 13 12 Fatal 1 5 3

Accidents

2005 to 2009 Type 2009 Average for Average for all Rural A47 (%) Roads in Leicestershire (%) Single vehicle loss of control 2 30 30 Wet or slippery road 4 39 45 Motorcycles 3 14 11 Weekend accidents 4 42 26 Right turn accidents 2 18 17 Overtaking 1 20 9

8. The consideration of only one year’s accidents when looking to identify remedial measures is unreliable and the accident investigation upon which this report is based has therefore considered the full 5 years’ accident data.

Accident Clusters

9. Accidents sometimes cluster around a particular feature in the highway such as a junction or a bend; when a number of such accidents share one or more basic characteristics, it is often possible to identify improvements which will, in all probability, lead to a measurable reduction in accidents.

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10. The only such site along this route is the Station Road junction in Thurnby, which experienced 6 accidents between 2005 and 2007. However, in 2008, the existing signals were upgraded, kerb lines adjusted and pedestrian facilities improved. Since then there have been no further reported accidents. Whilst it may be too early to say that the accident problem has been solved, the recent improvement indicates there is currently no justification for any further changes.

Other Accidents

11. Together, the lengths of road between Tilton Lane, Billesdon and the B6047 junction (3.5km) and between Skeffington Glebe Road and the Skeffington Lodge Farm access (1.5 km) have experienced 15 accidents with no accident clusters. However, a wet/damp road surface was recorded at 40% of the accidents compared to 45% for similar roads across the whole County. Whist this proportion is just below the average for all County roads, any further deterioration of the surface may be accompanied by an increase in accidents involving skidding. The planned surface dressing of these two sections of road in 2010/11 should address this potential problem.

General Road Safety Concerns

12. Local people and their representatives have expressed more general road safety concerns. The following paragraphs set out general observations.

13. Skeffington has had a 50 mph speed limit since February 2001 and currently just over 85% of vehicles passing through the village adhere to the speed limit. Whilst in the last 5 years there have bee 5 reported accidents within the 50 mph limit, three of these involved unusual circumstances i.e. an animal in the road, temporary road works and an untreated icy road. Overall, therefore, there is no strong accident pattern that leads us to specific remedial works.

14. Within Skeffington, the Main Street junction is protected by vehicle activated signs that warn speeding drivers that they are exceeding the speed limit, or, if there is a vehicle in Main St. waiting to enter the A47, warn them of the side road. The last recorded personal injury accident at the junction was 1993, and significant improvements to visibility, road signs and markings have been introduced since then.

15. The hedge on the southern highway boundary south east of Main Street not only restricts visibility for vehicles waiting at the Main Street junction (and conversely those drivers approaching the junction from the east) but also requires caution from drivers entering the A47 from those properties east of the junction. Whilst the reduced forward visibility has not contributed to the 3 reported accidents around this bend, the hedge is not being adequately maintained and the Southern Area Highways Manager is requiring the adjacent landowner to cut it back. When completed, this work should significantly improve visibility and road safety for westbound traffic as well as those entering the A47.

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16. Although road safety at the blind summit North West of the old Skeffington Mill site is a cause for local concern, overtaking at the summit is prohibited by a central hatched area incorporating continuous double white lines. There are no reported accidents at or just beyond the summit and consequently there is no justification for changes to the road.

17. There are several crawler lanes along this route where the central carriageway markings allow overtaking vehicles travelling downhill to enter the opposing carriageway by crossing the broken centre line marking. Whilst downhill overtaking is a feature of only a small number of recent injury accidents, it is proposed to take advantage of the planned surface dressing work and change the markings to make this manoeuvre illegal, hence improving road safety still further.

Traffic Speeds and Speed Limits

18. When considering the appropriateness of existing speed limits national guidance requires the road geometry (i.e. number of bends and junctions), to be looked at together with mean vehicle speeds, accident rates and traffic volumes. An assessment of the available data indicates that all of the existing speed limits should remain unchanged. However, some of the speed and traffic volume data are several years’ old; additional data is being collected as part of the County-wide speed limit assessment programme. A final formal assessment will be undertaken once this new data is available.

Existing 85%ile speeds and matching speed limits are given below. Existing 85 % Section/Location speed Speed limit Leicester City

Bushby 40 39 Bushby to Houghton on the Hill * 60 56 Houghton on the Hill 40 46 Houghton on the Hill to Billesdon * 60 60 Billesdon 50 50 Billesdon to Skeffington * 60 61 Skeffington 50 49 Skeffington to Tugby * 60 59 Tugby 50 52 Tugby to County Boundary * 60 62

Rutland

*These lengths of road are subject to the national speed limit (60 mph for cars which form the majority of the traffic).

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19. Whilst the measured speeds at Houghton on the Hill are at the police enforcement threshold, the village has speed limit vehicle activated signs on each approach and is within a speed camera site. Subject to the outcome of the formal speed limit assessment, a review of the existing signs and enforcement arrangements clearly needs to be undertaken.

Other Recommended or Planned Works

20. Whilst the following works are not directly targeting accident reduction, they should nevertheless help drivers to safely negotiate their way along this busy route. • It is recommended that the signing on both approaches to the B6047 crossroads should be rationalised by the removal of some redundant signs and the repositioning of others to make them more visible. • In consultation with the parish council, footway improvements are being considered for the Main Street junction in Houghton on the Hill, adjacent to the service station. • Central hatching, within the existing markings in the centre of the road, are to be added within Thurnby & Bushby, where the remaining road markings are to be refreshed. Conclusion 21. Whilst the detailed accident investigation has not identified any serious accident problems along this route, there are various minor matters that, in the interests of road safety, do require some attention. Appropriate improvements will be completed during the current financial year. Officer to Contact

Steve Karkowski Tel: 0116 305 7097 E Mail: [email protected]

Background Papers None

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