A164 Watton to Beswick - East Riding of Yorkshire Council

Agenda
Item No: 3
Page Numbers: 7 - 14
EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE COUNCIL
Report to:
The Cabinet
15 September 2009
Wards:
East Wolds and Coastal
A164 Watton to Beswick - Speed Limit
Report of the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services
A.
Executive Summary
This report is about the speed limit on the A164 between Beswick and Watton. The
Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee supports a reduction to the
speed limit along this section of the A164 and has requested that the matter be referred to The
Cabinet. The speed limit along the section of the A164 between Beswick and Watton has been
reviewed twice in the past, once as part of the speed limit review of “A” and “B” roads and
once as a further request of the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee. The Council’s speed limit policy was agreed in October 2008. The school provides
a condition which allows us to amend the speed limit within the policy as this is the only school
on an “A” classified road where the national speed limit of 60mph applies. This is not in
conflict with any similar situations and maintains a consistency of application of the Council’s
speed limit policy.
B.
Corporate Priorities 2008-2011
Safer Communities
Valuing our Environment
Local Problem Solving
C.
Portfolio
Highway Maintenance, Streetscene and Emergency Planning
D.
Recommendation and Reason for Recommendation
The school provides a condition which allows us to amend the speed limit within the Council’s
speed limit policy as this is the only school on an “A” classified road where the national speed
limit of 60mph applies. This is not in conflict with any similar situations and maintains a
consistency of application of the Council’s speed limit policy. It is therefore recommended that
the speed limit from Beswick to Hutton Cranswick as detailed in Section 6.1 be amended to
50mph. The resources for implementation would need to be planned within the 2010/11
Traffic Regulation Order programme.
1.
Background
1.1
A petition submitted by Watton Parish Council to the Environment and Transport Overview
and Scrutiny Committee on 18 July 2007 requested the introduction of a 50mph speed limit on
the A164 between Watton and Beswick to address concerns over safety at the A164 junction
for Watton village. (Minute 495 refers).
1.2
A report on the petition was submitted to the 31 October 2007 meeting of that Committee
when Members agreed that the possible introduction of a 50mph speed limit on the A164
between Beswick and Watton be given early consideration as part of the forthcoming speed
limit review of all ‘A’ and “B” roads within the East Riding. (Minute 519 refers).
1.3
A report presented to The Cabinet on 22 July 2008 recommended a revised policy for setting
local speed limits in the East Riding in accordance with Department for Transport (DfT)
guidelines (Minute 3360 refers) and this was approved by Council on 8 October 2008, see
Section 2 below for details. The DfT also required highway authorities to complete a review of
speed limits on their “A” and “B” roads in line with DfT guidance by 2011. (Minute 1598
refers).
1.4
An annual report on the Speed Limit Review of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Roads was submitted to the 10
December 2008 meeting of the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee
and this report included a review of the A164 in the 2008 programme. The speed limits were
reviewed in accordance with the revised Council policy along the full length of the A164 from
the A63 near the Humber Bridge to its junction with the A614 at Driffield. The assessment
found that the existing speed limits on the route should be retained with the exception of the
de-restricted section of the A164 between the Humber Bridge roundabout and the A63 where a
40mph speed limit was recommended.
1.5
The report did not recommend any change in the speed limit on the A164 between Beswick
and Watton. Members of that Committee made reference to the petition received previously
and asked that a further report be presented to a future meeting in relation to the petition for a
50mph speed limit on the A164 at Watton (Minute 601 refers).
1.6
A further report on the re-examination of the speed limit review for the A164 between Beswick
and Watton was presented to the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee on 4 February 2009 detailing the reasons for retaining the national speed limit of 60
mph. Despite the issues raised by officers, the Committee was still in support of the petition for
a 50mph speed restriction and agreed –
i)
that a recommendation be made to the Cabinet that the petition be supported and a
50mph speed restriction be placed on the section of the A164 between Beswick and
Watton and,
ii)
that officers investigate the possibility of implementing speed restriction flashing signs
at Watton as were currently provided at Beswick. (Minute 611 refers).
2.
A164 Speed Limit Review
2.1
The Council’s policy for setting local speed limits states that:
“The Council as the responsible Traffic Authority recognises the role speed limits play in traffic
management and the need to ensure a consistent application of speed control across the
highway network. The Council will, therefore, adopt the new guidance issued by the
Department for Transport (DfT) as set out in DfT Circular 01/2006 and use the framework
provided in the circular to help achieve a consistent approach to setting local speed limits.”
2.2
Some of the key points from the Circular 01/2006 that must be considered when reviewing
speed limits are as follows:i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
2.3
What the road looks like to road users;
Speed limits should not be used to attempt to solve the problem of isolated hazards
such as a single road junction or reduced forward visibility such as a bend;
Higher speed limits should be restricted to “upper tier” or high quality strategic single
carriageway roads where there are few bends, junctions or accesses;
A 60mph speed limit is recommended on “upper tier” roads with predominant traffic
flow function;
Lower speed limits would be appropriate on “lower tier” single carriageway roads
passing through a local community or having a local access or recreational function.
They would also be appropriate where there are significant environmental
considerations or where there is a high density of bends, junctions or accesses, or the
road is hilly;
The accident history.
Some of the characteristics of the A164 at this location are:i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
The A164 between Beswick and Watton is open in nature and rural in its surroundings
and motorists may not understand the reason should a lower speed limit be imposed
leading to non-compliance;
Motorists have plenty of forward visibility along this section of the route;
The route is an “upper tier” road. This is a high quality strategic single carriageway road
with a predominant function of carrying traffic between towns;
This part of the route bypasses Watton and does not pass through the village;
There are very few junctions or accesses along this section of the route;
There is no significant injury accident history in this section of the road.
3.
Accident history
3.1
Details of the 3 year accident history from October 2005 to September 2008 for the length of
the A164 from the entrance to Beswick village to the start of the 40mph speed limit south of
Hutton Cranswick village were included in the report to the Environment and Transport
Overview and Scrutiny Committee in February 2009. Records at that time showed a total of
four road traffic injury accidents recorded for that 3 year period with none occurring at the
Watton village junction.
3.2
The most recent injury collision records between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2009 indicate that
there have been three slight personal injury accidents, none of which were at the junction with
Main Street, Watton. Whilst there has been one collision near Beswick school, this occurred on
a Sunday. The casualty locations are shown on the drawing attached at Appendix A.
4.
Speed Surveys
4.1
Speed surveys on the A164 in August 2007 at points 500 metres north and 500 metres south of
the Watton village access road showed the recorded average speed north of Watton to be
58mph and south of Watton to be 53mph.
4.2
A speed survey was undertaken as part of the speed limit review for the A164 in September
2008 on the A164 immediately south of the Watton village junction. This showed the recorded
average two way speed to be 51mph.
4.3
Subsequent additional speed surveys have been undertaken at the end of March 2009 at four
separate locations along the section of the A164 between the turn off for Lockington and the
lay-by just before Hutton Cranswick.
Location
Ave. speed
Northbound
Ave. speed
Southbound
Ave. two
way speed
Between Lockington turn off and Beswick
53.2
54.5
53.9
Outside Beswick school
50.3
53.4
51.9
Approx. 130 metres north of Main Street,
Watton, junction
49.5
50.5
50.0
At the lay-by approx 1250 metres north of
Main Street, Watton, junction
52.8
51.1
52.0
4.4
The recorded speeds demonstrate that most drivers on the approaches to and through the
junction for Watton village already drive at speeds appropriate for the road geometry and that
drivers using the length of the A164 in question are generally within the national speed limit of
60mph. The survey locations and the average speeds at them are shown on the drawing
attached at Appendix A.
5.
Comparisons
5.1
The section of the A164 between Beswick and Hutton Cranswick is quite rural and open with
very few junctions or accesses. There are no hazardous bends or forward visibility problems
and motorists are able to see ahead substantially more than the combined thinking distance and
stopping distance of 73 metres (80 yards) at 60mph which is quoted in the Highway Code. As
previously detailed in (3) above, there is no significant history of collisions involving casualties.
5.2
By comparison, a similar type of circumstance exists on the A614 at Ruston Parva where the
speed limit along the road is also the national limit for a single carriageway of 60mph. The
location has a cross roads junction together with bends where chevron boards have been
installed and a lesser forward visibility than the A164 at Watton. There is also a dip in the road
and double white lines have been laid to reduce the likelihood of overtaking incidents.
5.3
Two examples of circumstances where action has been taken to reduce the speed limit are as
follows. One location is along the section of the A164 passed Scorborough through to the
north side of Bryan Mills bend where a 50mph speed limit was introduced in 2000. There are a
number of bends, accesses and junctions along this section and prior to the introduction of the
50mph speed limit, there had been a significant number of injury accidents including one that
involved several fatalities. The 50mph speed limit was introduced as a direct consequence of
the accident history in conjunction with the road layout and environment and there have been
just three injury accidents along this section of road in the last three recorded years up to
February 2009.
5.4
Another location is along the A614 at “Bessingby bends” where there are many bends along
this section of road relatively closely lined by trees with subsequent less forward visibility.
There is an extensive double white centre-line system along this section of the road together
with junctions and accesses. The speed limit was reduced to 40mph just over a year ago as a
direct result of its casualty history combined with the road layout.
5.5
The Head of Streetscene Services and the Service Manager for Traffic and Parking visited the
location to further review the DfT guidance as it relates to this section of road. The Head of
Streetscene Services and Service Manager for Traffic and Parking considered that the school
provides a condition which allows us to amend the speed limit within the Council’s speed limit
policy as this is the only school on an “A” classified road where the national speed limit of
60mph applies. This is not in conflict with any similar situations and maintains a consistency of
application of the Council’s speed limit policy. The speed limit from Beswick to Hutton
Cranswick could therefore be amended to 50mph as indicated on the plan at Appendix A.
6.
Proposed Measures
6.1
The speed limit could be amended along the section of the A164 to include Beswick Primary
School, Fountain Farm Nursery and the junction to Watton village. However, this would result
in a relatively short section of road being subject to the national speed limit from the north side
of Watton village to the south side of Hutton Cranswick. Guidelines indicate that where
possible, short lengths of different speed limits should be avoided if possible. It is therefore
proposed that the speed limit be amended on the section of road between the northern
junction to Beswick village and the 40mph speed limit at Hutton Cranswick. This would be in
the interests of the consistency of speed limits along the road.
6.2
The Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee requested that officers
investigate the possibility of implementing speed restriction flashing light signs at Watton, as
were currently provided at Beswick.
6.3
The existing signs on high visibility backing boards, as shown below, containing flashing amber
lights are there to warn drivers of the school and are not speed reactive signs. It is proposed to
upgrade the signs at Beswick School and provide additional signs at Fountain Farm Nursery.
These additional signs will not be speed reactive signs but will indicate the presence of the
nursery.
6.4
Coloured surface treatments with SLOW, SCHOOL and yellow transverse bar markings have
already been applied on each approach to Beswick school. Additional coloured surface
treatment and SLOW markings could also be applied at appropriate locations to help raise
motorists’ awareness of the nursery.
7.
Financial Implications
7.1
Although a fully detailed design for a scheme has yet to be worked up, the estimated costs are
as follows:
to supply and install two additional flashing school warning signs at the southern end of
Beswick school
to supply and install two solar powered amber flashing signs at the approaches to the nursery
surface treatment, carriageway markings and road studs work
Speed Limit Order
speed limit terminal and repeater signing
temporary traffic management / restricted hours working / traffic sensitive route
Sub total
20% contingency
Total
£10,000
£3,600
£7,000
£3,000
£3,000
£1,000
£27,600
£5,500
£33,100
The budget for Traffic Regulation Orders has been fully allocated for 2009/10. Works to
amend this speed limit can be planned within the Traffic Regulation Order programme for
2010/11 subject to available finance.
8.
Conclusion
8.1
The Council has adopted the guidance issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) as set out
in DfT Circular 01/2006 and uses the framework provided in the Circular to help achieve a
consistent approach across the County to setting local speed limits on “A” and “B” roads.
8.2
The speed limit for the A164 was reviewed in accordance with Council policy following the
guidelines issued by the DfT for setting local speed limits as part of the review of “A” and “B”
roads and the existing speed limit between Beswick and Watton was found to be appropriate.
8.3
The speed limit along the A164 was re-examined in accordance with the request from the
Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee and no recommendation for a
change in the speed limit between Beswick and Watton was justified.
8.4
The school provides a condition which allows us to amend the speed limit within the policy as
this is the only school on an “A” classified road where the national speed limit of 60mph
applies. This is not in conflict with any future similar situations and maintains a consistency of
application of the Council’s speed limit policy. It is therefore proposed that that the speed limit
be reduced to 50mph between Beswick and Hutton Cranswick as detailed in 6.1 above.
Nigel Leighton
Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services
Contact Officer:
Telephone Number:
E.mail:
Background Papers
Peter Asquith
Senior Engineer
01482 395705
Peter Asquith@eastriding.gov.uk