Agenda item

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Environment which gave details of a 25 signature petition which had been received requesting the installation of traffic calming on Stratton Park, Widnes.

             It was noted that a petition carrying 25 signatures had been received from residents of Stratton Park, Widnes requesting the installation of ‘speed bumps’ on the highway with the work being funded through the local Area Forum. The petition was based on addressing a number of alleged risks to highway users and was critical of established Council policy relating to the retrospective provision of physical traffic calming.

            The Board was advised that the current Council policy relating to the installation of physical traffic calming was established primarily in June 2000 when the Executive Board adopted a prioritisation and qualification process with two central requirements for any location at which traffic calming was requested: the route must not be a cul-de-sac and it must have hosted a road traffic accident resulting in personal injuries, in the previous five years.

            Furthermore at the Executive Board meeting of 29^th July 2004, this qualification approach was again considered. The Board resolved that the current policy of traffic calming schemes being focused on reducing accident and casualty numbers in the Borough should be endorsed and requests be subject to each scheme addressing an identified casualty problem.

            Requests for physical traffic calming measures on Stratton Park had been received over a two year period. However, these requests had always been declined because the route does not meet the established qualification criteria due to it being a cul-de-sac with no injury accident record in the last five years.

            It was noted that police records showed only one injury accident on Stratton Park going back as far as 1990, and this involved a car/car collision at the junction with Cronton Lane due to a driver reversing into Stratton Park off the main road.

            All new housing areas were constructed with integral traffic calming to allow a 20mph speed limit to be introduced on adoption. The possible methods of calming were many - geometry, surface finishes, gateways, mild humps etc. Stratton Park was constructed with speed reducing features incorporated through its alignment and the use of speed tables and speed readings when taken on the longest straight part were an average of 19mph. It was intended that a 20mph speed limit would be introduced at this location in the near future. However, given current recorded speeds it was extremely unlikely that driver behaviour would be significantly affected by this measure.

However, in order to enhance road safety and encourage drivers to further restrict their speeds, a scheme had been designed using extra signing and road markings, as shown in the Appendix to the report, which could be implemented at short notice utilising Area Forum funding.

Arising from the discussion reference was made to the operation of the Council’s Traffic Calming Policy being effective in reducing casualties, whether there was a need to review the current policy and that the need to retain the policy in its current form in order to prioritise the limited resources available to be most effective in reducing casualties. 

Furthermore it was noted that as with all Council’s policies the Traffic Calming Policy would be reviewed in due course, as and when this was felt necessary.

            RESOLVED: That

(1)       the report be noted;

(2)       the request for traffic calming on Stratton Park be declined due to it being contrary to the Council’s policy on Traffic Calming;

(3)       an alternative scheme of enhanced signing and road markings be passed to the local Area Forum for consideration; and

(4)       the petitioners be informed accordingly.