Information will be provided on proposals to install 20mph zones in the Fosse ward.
Minutes:
Steve Warrington, Transport Development Officer provided information on the proposal to install 20mph zones in the ward.
Steve explained that there would be a consultation on installing 20mph zones in the city and the rationale behind the scheme was safety based. It was reported a reduction of 1mph would result in a 5% reduction in personal injury accidents. Residents were informed that initially areas that had traffic calming measures would be considered however areas with 20mph which did not have traffic calming measures would also be looked into.
Steve stated that speed data was required and it would be looked into to introduce six new 20mph zones in the city in the current financial year. Areas that had been considered in the ward included the Tudor Road area along with areas around Fosse Road and King Richards Road. It was explained that the Tudor Road area had been considered because of the number of accidents that had occurred. Residents were informed that between 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010, there had been nine reported personal injury accidents which resulted in an accident rate of 1.92 per km for that period.
Steve explained that during August, 1500 letters had been delivered to every property in the area and there had been a 20% response rate. The results had been 84% in favour of the proposals with 12% against. It was also explained that there had been requests for residents parking to be introduced in the area and proposals for one way systems would also be looked into. Steve commented that once views had been collated, these would be passed onto the team responsible for residents parking for consideration. With regards to the 20mph zones, Steve informed residents that information for other areas in the city still needed to be collated, and following this a briefing paper would be written for consideration by the Deputy City Mayor to give the final decision on whether to proceed with the schemes or not. Additionally there were also legal processes to go through such as creating a traffic regulation order.
In response to a query regarding enforcement, Steve stated that discussions had been held with the Chief Constable of Police about this however there was concern regarding the resources to enforce the limit. It was stated that with the lower speeds, it was hoped less enforcement was required. Steve added that across the country where 20mph zones had been introduced there had been a reduction in average speeds of around 1mph.
In response to a query regarding cost, Steve stated that the cost for the introduction of the proposals would be £9,000. With regard to timescales, Steve explained that he would be briefing the Deputy City Mayor on 28 October and following agreement, the next step would be to go through legal processes. Following this, there would be an advertisement for objections, and if there were not any received, a Traffic Regulation Order would be set up in February/March.
Residents raised concern regarding speeding on Batternburg Road with cars speeding at 45mph. Steve explained that in terms of traffic regulation, there was not much that could be done with regard to this. Further concern was also raised regarding cars parked on either side of Tudor Road on a permanent basis. Steve agreed to pass this query onto the parking team.