A community publicity campaign targeting the companies in the industrial park who employ the drivers whose journey through the village seems to have created the problem. Find out the names of the chief executives, send them a well reasoned non-hostile "we have a problem to share" letter, follow up to enquire how they are responding to it, keep in touch with them regularly, and don't let up. They will want to be good neighbours, I'm sure. Be prepared to identify and trace persistent lunatics to their places of employment.
At the same time, find out how serious your local authority really is about road safety by drawing their attention to the traffic lights deployed in Spain, which turn red if you exceed the speed limit. I echo HJ's call for the UK to turn to these as the best option in such situations.
Anything but speed humps.
The situation seems much like the case in some Hertfordshire villages between Luton and Hatfield/Welwyn Garden City, who suffer from commuters with no regard for narrow roads, children, etc. The justice days are when the refuse truck blocks their way and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, they can do about it. Much chuckling in the pub at lunchtime on those days.
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These Spanish traffic lights sound interesting. How do they work? Are they at a junction or just the approach to the villages?
If someone is prpeared to break the law by speeding when no police around, will they not also just go through a red light as well if there are no implications for cars coming out other junctions etc?
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Usually on the outskirts of villages; however familiarity is breeding contempt, and drivers are now ignoring them. Probably could have worked if backed up by cameras for those jumping the lights. Locally we now have the lights....plus speed humps.
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The only "effective" traffic calming, speed reducing measure, is SPECS, but its cost prohibit it from being used more.
Depending on size of village, then one at each end of the village would do the job.
Wonder how much it would cost for just 2 SPECS cameras and the associated IT reqd for it?
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How about 2 fake SPECS ?
These may buy you time if there are more funds to be obtained from the council
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Those LED matrix signs that say "X0 Slow Down" - so gay!
It's the council's fault for allowing planning permission for the industrial sites, the council is the problem, don't look to them for the solution.
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It's the council's fault for allowing planning permission for the industrial sites, the council is the problem, don't look to them for the solution.
To be fair to the Council they may have little choice if central government guidance directs that such development be allowed.
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Problem with anything "fake" is people very quickly find that out.
In my estate, the council have put down what they call "footprints" for traffic calming. As you approach it, it looks like a part of the road has been done with red mono-bloc and raised so that you slow down. It also has a "20" painted on it.
However, to build this, the contractor actually just laid down a material, presumably a red tar of some sort, and then used a frame thing to stamp out the outline of bricks in it, to give it that mono-bloc look.
Anyway, outcome is that it is no higher than say 20mm from the normal tarmac so everyone now knows there is no need to slow down as you approach it.
Money well spent - Not!
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A speed sensor attached to a retracting spike strip. Guarantee no-one will speed over that. Not more than once anyway.
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I can't remember who said it, but the easy way to cure bad driving would be to have a 6 inch spike sticking out of a car steering wheel
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£5,000 is a rather paltry budget for a problem like this, and it's not going to buy you much.
It seems to be easier to get the funding for safety measures if people start getting killed, but it's a pity that there isn't more emphasis on tackling danger zones before that.
Those "gateways" to villages are now widely deployed in Ireland, and I think they are a good idea, though probably not cheap. They do help, but the effects are limited.
Those traffic-lights which HJ mentions are a good idea, but I'd be very surprised if you could get a set of them installed for much under £15k, never mind 5k. (That's only a guesstimate, but that sort of equipment doesn't come cheap, and installation is expensive too)
With the tiny budget you've got, it's probably going a choice between a few painted road markings and speed bumps. The speed bumps may be crude, but they are much more effective at reducing speeds than anything else at similar same cost.
It would be interesting, though, to see a set of costings for all the different measures proposed in this thread. I think that some people would be surprised at the costs involved.
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I agree 100% with HJ re speed humps, in addition to the points he makes you will get complaints from people who live near the humps becuase they will hear a loud "gerdunk, gerdunk" every time a car goes over the hump at 10 mph as opposed to a gentle "shhhh" as the go past at 30mph on a flat road.
Chicanes, gates etc can effect emergency access.
Suggest the answer is to campaign for variable speed limits at relevant times, i.e 15 or 20 within school drop off/pick up times and 30 or 40 at other times.
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Don't think I'd be surprised at all NW, I'd expect it to be a ridiculous sum.
The cynical side of me can't help feeling that it's all to do with it being a government contract to do the work, therefore no specific person or company is paying, therefore no-one really cares about the price, therefore they charge the absolute earth. All you have to do is find a local paper for somewhere where road improvements are going on. We had a roundabout built in Congleton a couple of years ago which cost into 7 figures! How the amount of work done, and amount of materials used translates into that is beyond me.
Similarly they put up a load of new signage (which was totally un-needed, someone justifying new years budget I think) on the A34, which cost a large 5 figure sum. For ten pieces of sheet metal, some steel posts and some concrete!
I think, unless you get a company outside the industry to do the fitting (which you won't be allowed to) £5k will buy you practically nothing.
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I find that the signes which light up and say "slow down" are actually rather effective. Even better are the ones which say "thank-you" when you don't break the limit.
I drive through a village every day on my commute which has these signs, and compliance is usually pretty good.
Would be even more effective if there was a speed camera 100 yds further down the road. Could be no complaints with that.
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I believe HSS hire out speed guns, with one of those matrix displays showing traffic their speed. How about hiring it out for a few days at a time, writing to the businesses on the industrial estate, and getting the press involved. Raises the profile of the problem for not much cash.
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let me be the last to let you down....
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Don't think I'd be surprised at all NW, I'd expect it to be a ridiculous sum. The cynical side of me can't help feeling that it's all to do with it being a government contract to do the work, therefore no specific person or company is paying, therefore no-one really cares about the price, therefore they charge the absolute earth.
Most sizable contracts i.e. over £10-15,000 will be competitively tendered, and the cheapest will more often than not win the contract.
There are quite a few factors which drive (sorry) up the price for works on roads: Most of them are prleiminary items i.e. site and traffic management and safety, so the prime cost of a sign may well be £200, but by the time you've allowed for cones, warning signs and such like to the site (sign location) safe, it will add a considerable cost.
All you have to do is find a local paper for somewhere where road improvements are going on. We had a roundabout built in Congleton a couple of years ago which cost into 7 figures! How the amount of work done, and amount of materials used translates into that is beyond me.
I am a chartered Quantity Surveyor. I don't do civil engineering, but if i was to prepare costings for say a retail park of similar large development, then i would estimate c.£500,000 for an A road roundabout. Sounds a lot for a circular mound, but the cost will have to include lots of things that aren't immediately apparent, e.g. diverting services that are already present, traffic management, drainage and providing a surface to adoptable standards, which can be quite deep. Pluss of course the fees for the engineer, and VAT.
Your example in Congleton (which obviously i know nothing about) may also have included for things like purchase of land so the roundabout will fit. a figure over £1M is a lot but with civil engineering, much of the cost is below the ground and not visible.
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Those "gateways" to villages are now widely deployed in Ireland, and I think they are a good idea, though probably not cheap.
Blimey. For 5k I'll put up a pair of gates for you.
The speed bumps may be crude, but they are much more effective at reducing speeds than anything else at similar same cost.
Not necessarily so. My next "present to myself" is going to be a car that's on its way out that I can use for going over speed humps at the full 30mph. It looks like fun - maybe I'll get all 4 wheels off the road at the same time.
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