BOROUGH OF POOLE

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – THURSDAY 25 MAY 2006

REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

ON SPEED INDICATOR DEVICE SIGNS

1.Purpose of Report and Policy Context

1.1To consider a policy for the introduction of future Speed Indicator Devices (SID signs) and to approve a method of assessing a priority implementation list.

1.2The Council’s Transportation Strategy aims to achieve a reduction in injury accidents on our roads.

2.Recommendations

It is recommended that:

2.1The contents of the report be noted and the policy

2.2The method of prioritising sites as described in Appendix B

2.3The operational considerations as described in Appendix C

be approved.

3.Background

3.1SID signs have been used as an effective tool in the Council’s Road Safety Strategy since one sign was purchased to rotate around four locations in 2000. The use of these signs has been extended over the years such that in February this year approval was given for new signs making a total of 17 permanent sites around the Borough.

4.Future Proposals and Selection Criteria Policy

4.1The demand for and use of interactive signing continues to increase on the highway network as residents and members express their concerns about the perceived and actual level of speeding.

4.2The use of this technology is often seen as an effective and low cost option of ensuring compliance with the speed limit or alerting drivers to the possibility of a collision at a potentially hazardous location e.g. a ‘blind’ crossroads or severe bend.

4.3Area Committees, Councillors and members of the public have been asked to suggest sites where SID signs might be considered. These sites are listed as Appendix A. New Selection and Ranking Criteria.

4.4In order to provide an effective solution, the installation of SIDs should be set up in accordance with pre-defined criteria to ensure their effectiveness in terms or reducing casualties, whilst changing driver behaviour in the process. It is therefore necessary to closely monitor the effect of these signs both on speeds and collision numbers. It is suggested that this consistent approach is required if the potential benefit of these signs is to be achieved.

4.5New signs will usually be one of three main types:

  • Speed Warning Signs

Speed limit roundels which remind motorists of the posted speed limit in the road (with or without additional SLOW DOWN messages underneath) with flashing amber lights top and bottom.

  • Hazard Warning Signs

Warning triangle signs displaying a symbol of a particular road hazard ahead, such as a severe bend or a junction with restricted visibility, to target motorists who are travelling too fast for the local road conditions.

  • Speed Display Signs

A sign which will either display the actual speed of the vehicle approaching the sign or display the posted speed limit in the road.

4.6The proposed criteria against which the SID request list is to be assessed is shown as Appendix B.

4.7The proposed operation of the signs will be as shown in Appendix C

5.Funding

5.1Once the prioritised list of potential sites has been established, there are the following sources of funding which will enable these to be installed over a period of time.

(a)As part of the Road Safety category within the Capital Programme

(b) Potential additional funding from the Government arising from the ending of the hypothecation scheme for Safety Camera Partnerships could be used to fund this initiative. It is expected that safety cameras will be integrated into a wider road safety toolkit and will link with other strategies and their approach to tackling problematic locations.

(c)Developer funding. The installation of a SID may therefore become part of the planning conditions of a particular site, enabling signs to be provided at sites which would otherwise be awaiting funding.

JAMES T BRIGHT

Head of Transportation Services

Appendix A – Request List for future SID/VAS signs to be assessed.

Appendix B – Selection Criteria

Appendix C – Operational considerations

Name and telephone number of Officer contact:

Martin Baker (01202) 262073

3 April 2006

TAG250506T3A


Appendix A

Current 2006 SID Request List (In Order Received not Priority Order)

Area Committees requests for future SID nomination list.

  1. Lower Blandford Road
  2. Rockley Road
  3. Blandford Road (Lower Hamworthy section)
  4. Turlin Road
  5. Creekmoor Lane by the shops
  6. Woodlands Avenue
  7. Rosemary Road
  8. Sunnyside Road
  9. Longmeadow Lane
  10. Bloxworth Road
  11. Evering Avenue (“top” of)
  12. Guest Avenue at Yarmouth Rd end
  13. Beechbank Ave
  14. Between the existing fixed speed cameras in Adastral Road.
  15. Sherborn Crescent
  16. St Osmund’s Road outside Uplands School
  17. Merley Lane by the shops
  18. Oakley Lane near Floral Farm
  19. Sopwith Crescent near Brabazon Road
  20. Queen Anne Drive near Lynwood Drive
  21. Merley Park Road in 30mph section
  22. King John Avenue near Viscount Walk
  23. Magna Road near Lea Way
  24. Knights Road near Crusader Road
  25. Magna Road near Egg Farm
  26. West Way
  27. Lower Blandford Road between Ridgeway and Barn Road
  28. Clarendon Road
  29. York Road near Mission Road
  30. Pinesprings Drive
  31. Sandbanks Road approaching the shops at the Lilliput Road junction from the west (going towards Sandbanks)
  32. Sandbanks Road near Blue Lagoon (within existing mobile site)
  33. Upton Road eastbound near Pergin Crescent (existing mobile site)
  34. Clarendon Road between Lewesdon Drive and Roman Road
  35. Alder Road between Winston Avenue and Alder Crescent

Appendix B Selection Criteria

For the most recent 3 full calendar-years:

  • 1 or more fatal or serious injury;
  • 2 or more PICs either scattered along the length;

Or:

  • Where there is a site specific road safety hazard issue;
  • At least one of these PICs is speed related or there is evidence that injuries could have been avoided by a reduction in drivers’ speeds;
  • Site route lengths up to a maximum of 1.5km will be considered;
  • Surveys of the route show a speeding problem (i.e. existing 85th%ile speeds are at or above the posted speed limit plus 10% plus 1mph);
  • Surveys of the site conclude that no alternative engineering measures (e.g. improving signs and/or lines, conventional traffic calming) would improve road safety and that a SID is the most appropriate solution;
  • That the proposed site is NOT currently, nor is it proposed to be, a core safety camera site and that it falls outside camera partnership operational guidelines, however if the safety camera partnership is in agreement then they may be used at camera sites to reinforce the road safety message;
  • A survey of the site indicates that the sign can be located in a safe and suitable location in advance of any hazard with sufficient forward visibility to give drivers at least a 3 second view of the sign;
  • That it will meet the manufacturer’s recommended operational guidelines for siting of such signs;
  • That there is a suitable power supply within a reasonable distance;
  • That it does not obstruct the footway unduly or overhang private property;
  • That there will be sufficient footway or verge width to allow clearance between the carriageway and the edge of the sign;
  • That any SID sign would not be sited immediately within the terminal point of any change in speed limit.
  • There will be no point scoring system as such but sites which meet most or all of the above criteria will be ranked higher than those that do not.

Footnote: sites which do not meet the above criteria may still be considered if they are deemed to be:

  • “sensitive” locations such as Schools;
  • Elderly Persons Dwellings and other areas of potential conflict;
  • or where they may be used as part of a package of other road safety measures in the same vicinity.

Appendix C – Operating Criteria

  • All types of sign will remain “blank” until activated by an approaching vehicle which is exceeding a predetermined speed set and detected within the sign unit.
  • The signs are activated by radar but there will normally be additional detection loops cut into the road adjacent to the pole to monitor speeds more accurately.
  • The signs will normally have a unit fitted which enable any faults to be remotely monitored by the traffic signals fault management system. This will also enable the signs to be switched on and off remotely
  • Sign trigger/activation or “threshold” speeds will need to be pre-determined to suit each site but generally speed roundel signs will be set to come on at or around the recommended levels in accordance with ACPO guidelines for enforcement and/or Dorset Safety Camera Partnership/Dorset Police operational thresholds. This is to ensure that there is the same degree of reinforcement of the speed limits as that enacted by the Police/camera partnerships and to remind drivers who may be travelling at a speed which could possibly result in a speed-related collision at the site.
  • There will be an upper limit on the signs which display the actual speed of oncoming vehicles. This is to prevent irresponsible motorists who may try to achieve the fastest possible recorded speed on the device. If numerous breaches of the speed limit are detected in this manner then enforcement may be more appropriate at these locations.
  • Sites will continually be monitored to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing excessive speeds and achieving casualty reductions. Analysis of speed data collected nationally has suggested that SIDs maintain speed reductions over time but are most effective in the period immediately after installation. It is proposed therefore that there will be a sporadic scheduled “switch” off for pre-determined periods.

1