Background
Residents and West Mercia Police have been raising concerns regarding the speed of vehicles along Wombridge Road for a number of years. In response, Telford & Wrekin Council held a public consultation in 2022 with the following safety improvement options considered:
- priority give ways;
- speed cushions;
- junction priority changes; and
- mini-roundabout improvements.
Improvements to the mini-roundabout, speed cushions and priority ‘give ways’ were the most favoured options.
What has been installed and why?
Following the consultation, improvements to the mini-roundabout at Trench Road / Wombridge Road were undertaken in August 2023.
Speed cushions were also installed in line with the majority support they received during the consultation.
This scheme has been effective in reducing both the number and speed of vehicles using Wombridge Road and has seen average speeds reducing to 21mph or less at various points along the route.
Why is the council proposing changes to the scheme now?
Since the safety scheme was installed in summer 2023, we have been made aware of residents and ‘road users’ objections to the speed cushions and concerns around increased traffic on other nearby roads.
Whilst there is no evidence to suggest that traffic has been dispersed onto other roads in the area, we will continue to review the need for traffic calming interventions on neighbouring roads if required.
In response to concerns about the speed cushions, the council has considered available options for modifying the original scheme whilst maintaining effectiveness of the current measures and is now putting forward two options (see below) for consultation.
What is the council proposing?
Recognising the support for speed cushions from the 2022 public consultation and to ensure the safety scheme continues to adhere to the Department for Transport national design standards, the council is proposing two options for consultation.
The options
Both of the two options propose to replace the existing speed cushions with ones that are smaller in height and narrower.
Option one - Three cushions
To compensate for the narrower speed cushions, this option uses a set of three cushions, where road widths require, to maximise effectiveness and enhance road safety for all users by ensuring vehicles are not able to drive between the gaps in the speed cushions.
The photo provided shows a similar site in Telford where the same arrangement has been used with the smaller cushions proposed.
Option two - Lane narrowing’s
To compensate for the two narrower speed cushions, this option would be complemented by small build-outs/lane narrowing’s with associated bollards, where road widths require.
This will ensure vehicles are not able to drive between the gaps in the speed cushions and also mitigate concerns raised in relation to vehicles using the footpath to avoid the traffic calming features.
The photos provided shows a similar site in Telford where a narrow build-out has been used but with the addition of speed cushions added for illustration purposes.
Supplementary improvements
The revised proposals will also include the removal of one existing speed cushion feature south of Teagues Crescent reducing the overall number of features from 13 to 12.
Alongside modifications to the scheme, three Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) will be installed along Teagues Crescent, Richmond Avenue and Broadway Avenue by summer 2024.
Will the proposed modifications to the speed cushions make the road less safe?
The speed cushions will still be designed in accordance with Department for Transport national design standards and will therefore will still be a compliant and effective form of traffic calming.
Can the number of speed cushions be reduced?
The proposals include the removal of one existing speed cushion feature south of Teagues Crescent but we cannot remove any more without reducing the scheme’s effectiveness and compliance with national design standards from the Department for Transport that sets out the criteria for speed cushions; these standards include the maximum and minimum spacing between speed cushions.
On Wombridge Road there are many accesses to properties and junctions that influence the positioning of the speed cushions. As it stands, the scheme is compliant with national design standards; to reduce the number of speed cushions would increase the spacing beyond the limits of national criteria resulting in motorists increasing speed between them and reducing their effectiveness.
Why can’t speed cameras be installed?
Given the nature of the road in a residential setting, installation of speed enforcement cameras would not be appropriate.
This option is also not supported by West Mercia Police who are the responsible body for such features.
Why can’t priority ‘give way’s be installed similar to those on Church Road?
Typically, these features are installed at specific locations rather than along a whole route such as Wombridge Road.
Due to the number of driveways and junctions on Wombridge Road it would be difficult to install these at a suitable frequency to have meaningful road safety benefit when compared to speed cushions.
To have meaningful impact, it would require junction priority changes at Richmond Avenue, which received little support in the 2022 public consultation.
How do I have my say on the proposed safety scheme options?
The consultation now closed.
Consultation Feedback
Following the completion of the consultation for Wombridge Road and the drop-in session held on 30 May, we now have the findings of the consultation and have established the way forward based on the feedback received.
The two proposed options were as follows:
- Option 1 – Three cushions at each location
- Option 2 – Two cushions at each location with the addition of buildouts either side to narrow the road.
For both options, we were proposing to reduce the number of sets of cushions down by 1 (13 to 12) and install cushions that are smaller in height and width.
We received 641 responses to the consultation with the following feedback received.
Overall feedback:
|
Option 1 - Three Cushions |
Option 2 - Two cushions & Build-out |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Agree |
391 |
(61%) |
151 |
(24%) |
|
Disagree |
217 |
(34%) |
417 |
(65%) |
|
Neither Agree/Disagree |
33 |
(5%) |
73 |
(11%) |
|
Total |
641 |
641 |
||
Responses from Drop-in:
|
Option 1 - Three Cushions |
Option 2 - Two cushions & Build-out |
|||
|
Agree |
5 |
(31%) |
8 |
(50%) |
|
Disagree |
5 |
(31%) |
5 |
(31%) |
|
Neither Agree/Disagree |
6 |
(38%) |
3 |
(19%) |
|
Total |
16 |
16 |
||
Summary
Overall, we received 641 responses and a majority strongly agreed/agreed (61%) with Option 1 (three cushions at each location) with 65% strongly disagreeing/disagreeing with Option 2 (two cushions and buildouts). Of the overall responses, 16 were received during the public drop-in session and these showed that there was a mixed opinion on Option 1, but a majority strongly agreed/agreed with Option 2.
As a result of the above, we shall be proceeding with Option 1 at 10 of the 12 locations and as an acknowledgement of the feedback received during the drop-in session, proceeding with Option 2 at 2 of the 12 locations (either side of the southern Teagues Crescent junction).
Download the Consultation Plan.
We will be issuing the legal notices later this week which is required due to the change in dimensions of the cushions and the change in location of 2 sets of cushions to accommodate the reduction in number.
Our Contractors current programme has removal of the existing cushions commencing w/c 12th August and then continuing for 2 – 3 weeks with the view to complete everything before the schools return in September. We will also be looking to install the Speed Indicators Devices in the surround roads during this period.
Last updated: 26/07/2024 15:39
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