Towton Parish Council
Traffic speed and volume on A162 (Main Street) through Towton.
Summary of the situation at 20 May 2020:
· Responsibility for the A162/Main Street lies with North Yorkshire County Council as it is a major highway.
· The Parish Council’s main contact regarding the road is Mr Darren Griffiths at the Highways Dept, NYCC (Darren.griffiths@northyorks.gov.uk)
· The Parish Council has expressed residents’ concerns to NYCC about the speed and volume of traffic through the village on many occasions.
· NYCC installed the “Vehicle Activated Signs” (VAS) at both ends of the village around 15 years ago.
· NYCC argued that after a period of years the VAS are no longer a deterrent to speeding and, as such, are no longer cost effective. They stopped paying the cost of maintaining the VAS in 2017.
· Between 2016 and 2018 Towton PC paid over £2,200 towards repairs to the old VAS, receiving a Locality Grant of £1,500 towards the cost.
· NYCC removed the VAS early in 2020 as they were deemed to be at the end of their useful life.
· The Parish Council decided to try to install new VAS for the safety of residents and road users.
· The Parish Council also reported our concerns in 2018 through an initiative called "95 Alive", a partnership between NYCC, the police and several other agencies.
· In August 2019 the 95 Alive group measured the speed/volume of traffic through the village using speed detectors to gain accurate data as the first step towards determining appropriate measures. On 9 September 2019 we received this response from 95 Alive:
· “The speed data indicated a mean (average) speed of 29/30 mph and an 85th%ile* of 33/34 mph. The speeds of vehicles on the road at this location are within the 30mph speed limit. The injury accident data base does not indicate any speed related accidents within the last three years. North Yorkshire Police only takes account of recorded collisions which result in personal injury as ‘damage only’ incidents are not routinely reported to the authorities and therefore cannot be relied upon to assess the accident potential at any given location.”
· “As with most roads, the data obtained indicates a small number of vehicles are exceeding the speed limit. Due to the low numbers involved, or the infrequent times, or the layout of the road, or other technical constraints, this issue will not be addressed (by NYCC) by enforcement or engineering.”
·
The Parish Council then approached the Road Safety Partnership Group who determined Towton
would be suitable for a Community Speed Watch (CSW) initiative. CSW is run by
North Yorkshire Police and allows communities to monitor traffic speed
themselves and report this information back to the police.
· Michael Tait volunteered to coordinate a CSW group for Towton. Several residents volunteered to participate.
· A 95 Alive officer visited Towton in 2019 to explain the process and identify where the hand-held speed detectors could be deployed but could not say when we would be allocated detectors.
· The Parish Council obtained a quote of £3,750 for each new VAS. A Locality grant of £1,000 towards this has been received. Even so the PC can only afford one new VAS in the short term
· NYCC have to approve the VAS and have visited Towton to determine where it can be installed.
· NYCC insist any new VAS cannot be in place permanently. They must be turned off or moved for 6 months per year.
· In conversation with Barkston Ash PC we learned that they had a 30mph limit imposed because of the school on the roadside. They purchased the 30mph sign as approved by NYCC and will have to move it after 6 months.
· The issue of purchasing a new VAS remains on the Towton PC Agenda but no Meetings have been held since February due to Covid-19
- Any other traffic calming measures (rumble strips, additional white lines, signage, roadside gates at village entrance, etc.) need to be authorised by NYCC Highways Dept. before they are installed and would all be at the expense of the Parish Council.
Graham Webb
Clerk to Towton Parish Council
May 2020