BOROUGH OF POOLE

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – 20 JANUARY 2005

REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

RINGWOOD ROAD (CANFORD WAY TO HERBERT AVENUE)

ROAD SAFETY SCHEME

1. Purpose of Report

1.1. To consider a package of road safety measures on Ringwood Road between Canford Way and Herbert Avenue in support of the Council’s policy to achieve government targets for casualty reduction.

2. Recommendation

2.1It is recommended that the details of the Ringwood Road, Canford Way to Herbert Avenue, road safety scheme as shown in outline on drawing number JC0443/01, as Appendix A, be approved.

  1. Background
  2. This section of the B3068 Ringwood Road forms part of a busy local north-south route between Poole and the A31 Trunk Road.
  3. The 700 metres length of Ringwood Road between Canford Way and Herbert Avenue is generally single carriageway. It has four priority junctions and numerous private drives and access along its length. Towards the southern end there is a full time bus lane running south for approximately 300 metres.
  4. The bus lane terminates before a Zebra Crossing just north of the two mini roundabouts at the junctions of Herbert Avenue and Mannings Heath Road.
  5. A petition has previously been received from local residents requesting that the existing Ringwood Road Zebra Crossing, located north of the junction with Herbert Avenue and Mannings Heath Road, be replaced with a signal controlled crossing following a pedestrian accident here.

4. Accident Data

4.1The latest available injury accident data for the length of Ringwood Road between Canford Way and Herbert Avenue is as follows:

Year / Number of injury accidents
2000 / 6
2001 / 5
2002 / 8
2003 / 12
2004 (part) / 2
TOTAL / 33

4.2Particular accident clusters within this length are shown below:

Junction / Number of Accidents
Portelet Close / 3
Bedford Road South / 3
Alderney Avenue / 4
Broom Road / 3
Zebra Crossing / 3

4.3Of all the accidents recorded at these junctions only those at Alderney Avenue were accidents involving turning movements in and out of the junction.

4.4Of the three accidents recorded at the Zebra Crossing all involved vehicles whose drivers had apparently not seen the pedestrians crossing.

4.5Dorset Police have recorded ‘going too fast for circumstances’ as one of the contributory factors for nine of the thirty–three accidents on this section of Ringwood Road.

5.Proposed Road Safety Scheme Measures

5.1The northern end of Ringwood Road towards Canford Way is approximately 8.7metres wide and marked as two lanes; 7.3 metres is considered to be an appropriate total carriageway width for a road of this type.This additional carriageway width could well be the reason that some drivers are exceeding the speed limit of 30mph.

5.2It is proposed to reduce the road space available to drivers to 7.3 metres on the section of Ringwood Road between Portelet Close and the existing bus lane south of Alderney Road by providing an advisory cycle lane on the southbound carriageway.

5.3This cycle lane will provide considerable benefit for cyclists on this up hill length of Ringwood Road.It will also provide the missing link between the existing cycleway in Portelet Close and the Ringwood Road bus lane.

5.4A speed camera has recently been installed in Ringwood Road south of Alderney Hospital by the Dorset safety Camera Partnership as a result of the number of speed related injury accidents occurring. The new measures proposed should compliment this by reducing speed towards the Canford Way end of this length of road.

5.5The existing Ringwood Road Zebra Crossing, just north the junction with Herbert Avenue and Mannings Heath Road, is split by a central island. On the western side traffic approaches this from a roundabout and on the eastern side traffic approaches having just split into two lanes. With drivers concentration on these manoeuvres their attention may well be distracted from the Zebra Crossing and pedestrians using it.

5.6On the basis of the latest accident data it is proposed that the existing Zebra Crossing be replaced with a signal controlled pelican crossing – Appendix B. Associated with this will be the reduction in length of the bus lane on its approach to the crossing, which will have the added benefit of providing additional capacity for left turning traffic queuing

5.7In order to improve the visibility of traffic signs on Ringwood Road between Canford Way and Herbert Avenue, especially on junction approaches, it is proposed that the lower branches of a number of highway trees are trimmed and or cut back.

6Financial Consideration

6.1The estimated works costs of the proposed Ringwood Road road safety measures are £50,000.

6.2This scheme is to be funded from the Road Safety Category of the 2005/06 Capital Programme, subject to this overall programme being approved.

JAMES T BRIGHT

Head of Transportation Services

Background Papers- None

Appendix A- Drawing No JC0443/01

Ringwood Road safety scheme

Appendix B – Traffic Signal Controlled Pedestrian Crossing nr. Herbert

Avenue

Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact

Desmond Fox (01202) 262072

TAG200105T3E

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