See and wait...

This just in from EnterpriseMouchel, the Highways Authority's delegate for the A34:

Dear Mr Stead,

Further to my email dated 29 August; unfortunately we are still undertaking our investigations into your concerns regarding safety and the speed limit at this slip road.

I will be in further contact with you once I have received the findings from our team’s investigations.

Yours sincerely
...

Customer Service Co-ordinator Area 3

I think every government contractor should sign off in a purple font, don't you?

Wait and see...

Further reply today from HCC:

Dear Mr Stead

Thank you for your further email and I apologise for the delay in responding. As you have lodged queries with our local highways office, I will forward  your most recent concerns onto them as they may be better suited to deal with your concerns pertaining to relocating the existing sign.  In saying this, there could be merit in investigating whether or not a short section of footway can be created in the verge to link up with the existing right of way path behind the traffic sign.

Again this would be dependant on the outcome of any investigations in order to ascertain if the short section of footway would provide any real benefit and whether or not sufficient funding is available to undertake any such works.  I will pass this to our highways team for them to investigate further and respond to you in due course. I hope this has been of some help.

Contact!

The Highways Authority contractor who look after the A34 have been in touch to say let us know who's going to be answering the question (you didn't think we'd get an answer first time, surely?)

29 August 2012

Dear Mr Stead, 

 H.A.I.L. Reference number: 13349413. 

 Thank you for contacting the Highways Agency Information Line (H.A.I.L.). The Highways Agency is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the Strategic Road Network in England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. This consists of the Motorway network and the Major Trunk roads. A map of the roads for which we are responsible can be found HERE. 

 Your complaint has been forwarded to Area 3 EnterpriseMouchel, as we are the Managing Agent Contractor, and we are responsible for the A34. Please note that you will not receive any additional correspondence regarding your enquiry from HAIL now that this has been passed onto us for investigation. 

 Unfortunately I cannot answer your complaint immediately. This has been sent to the appropriate team/person responsible for further investigation to be completed. A member of the Customer Service Team will be in further contact with a full response, within 10 working days. 

 Yours sincerely 
 ... 

Customer Service Co-ordinator Area 3

The Footpath to nowhere...

This reply just in from HCC Traffic Management Team, in respect of the request to relocate the 'no stopping' sign to allow people to walk or cycle safely without resorting to the 60MPH sliproad:

"The existing sign you refer to is in unmade verge and not in a formal footway and therefore it shouldn’t require moving as cyclist should not use the existing uneven verge but use the carriageway as cycling on any footway  as you mention, would be illegal.  Whilst I appreciate the verge area may be used by pedestrians who may come from the adjacent Right of Way path from Tufton and even the bus stop located near the A34 bridge, I would not encourage this area to be used by any pedestrians as it is not an area that has been identified or clearly set out as a "footway" and therefore people do so at their own risk.  Whilst people will most often choose the shortest or most direct (not always safest) route to their destination, this is most likely why the verge area is showing wear of foot traffic and from my observation, even vehicle traffic"

 

So let's be clear here: what HCC are recommending is that instead of walking past the sign on the southern side of the road to get to/from Tufton, the bus stop or Whitchurch, that residents not use this 'shortest or most direct (not always safest) route'.


(Remembering, it was HCC who approved and built the 500m-long footpath from the 40MPH boundary of Whitchurch to the A34 underpass. Was this built simply to facilitate people who didn't want to get the bus from Whitchurch, who fancied a stroll under the motorway to get the bus there? A bus, it must be added, that only goes back into Whitchurch).



The only alternative HCC seem to be suggesting in the great Tufton-or-Death struggle is to cross a 60MPH sliproad, that has just 2 seconds visibility at typical speeds.     Twice.

I have sought clarification from HCC that this is indeed their preferred option for non-motorised persons to get to/from Tufton. Failing levitation or teleportation, I'm lost for alternatives. Your thoughts welcome below.

A quick reply from HCC this time...

A speedy reply from the HCC Traffic Management Team:

=================================
Dear Mr Stead,

Thank you for your most recent emails and I apologise for the delay in a response.  With regard to the "No Stopping" sign in Nuns Walk, the sign does not appear to be located within any formal footway or footpath, it is currently located in the verge adjacent to the main carriageway and I would not envisage cyclists or pedestrians using this section of verge for any real purpose. [my emphasis - Ed] Unless there was obvious signs of damage or the sign was presenting a safety concern, relocating the sign would have little benefit.  I am also not aware of any historical complaints about the location of the sign.

I have looked at the latest 3 year personal injury accident data for the A34 slip road including sections of Nuns Walk and Winchester Road and there has only been one reported speed related accident during this period which was in October 2010.  It is important to note that the A34 including the slip road to the Nuns Walk/Winchester Road junction is not maintained by Hampshire County Council and this falls under the responsibility of the Highways Agency.  As a result, the County Council did not undertake and speed limit review for this road as part of the A+B Speed Limit Review and therefore should you wish to see the outcome of any speed limit review on the A34, you will need to contact the Highways Agency.  This would also include any request to reduce the speed limit along this road or the slip road to Nuns Walk/Winchester Road junction.  I was not fully aware at the time of your initial email, that this was not a road maintained by Hampshire County Council.

=================================

So that looks like a pretty clear indication that communication with the Highways Agency is required. My response to HCC Traffic Management Team today:

Dear Highways Team,

Thanks for your reply. Two issues to pursue here:

1. No Stopping sign

Thanks for clarifying it is on 'verge'. Question: is this verge, and the sign's placement, controlled by HCC or the Highways Agency? Who would need to approve its relocation?
FYI I have raised 'Track It' cases for the sign (111001145001) and the verge's uneven surface (111001144994) as well as requesting what the legal status is of the footway, back toward Whitchurch and at this spot (111001145050).

Given that there is a substantial footway on the same northern side of Winchester road as the sign, ending on the other side of the A34 underpass, it seems common sense that pedestrians would proceed from the Whitchurch footway, under the A34 and emerge at the spot where the sign is located. This is evidenced by the beaten path between the sign and the kerb, and I can vouch for this having used it many times to get to & from Tufton with children on bikes. The idea that having travelled along the footway, people would then cross Winchester road, use the southern side of the underpass (which leads nowhere), then re-cross Winchester Road 30m later at the dangerous junction to continue to Tufton doesn't make sense to me. I've attached a piccy of this - I believe the green route is infinitely preferable to the red one.

[update: Eagle-eyed reader Andrew R-H points out: "There is a bus stop under the A34 which presumably people living in Tufton would get off at - hence another reason to have path from the underpass to the area near the stop sign." have passed this to HCC as well]

As mentioned, the sign does indeed present a safety hazard. It is located less than 1m from the kerb, forcing both pedestrians and cyclists to be much closer to 60MPH traffic exiting the sliproad than would otherwise be required. For cyclists (riding or walking their bikes), it has the added risk of catching a handlebar and tipping them into the roadway. For anyone travelling in a mobility scooter or wheelchair it presents a formidable barrier, their only option being to travel on the 60MPH roadway to get past.



I accept I may be the first person to think this could be made better through engagement with HCC.


2. Speed review

Can you please confirm where the Highways Agency jurisdiction ceases and HCC's begins? At what point on Winchester road? If HCC mandate that all of Winchester road be 40MPH (or less), what account does the HA then need to take of this in setting the limit for the preceding section of sliproad?

Regards

Mike

Progress. Out of the weeds...

Two weeks ago I had an initial reply from the HCC Traffic Management Team:

Dear Mr Stead,

Thank you for your recent query regarding the speed limit on the above roads.  Although the slip road off the A34 reduces down to a single lane carriageway, the national speed limit that applies near Nuns Walk and Winchester Road would be 60mph.  Although this is the legal maximum speed, drivers should adjust their speed accordingly based on the local environment, road conditions and nature of the road. I would assume that most traffic exiting from the A34 would be gradually reducing their speed due to the bends of the road and the fact that the slip roads reduces from two lanes into one.

Due to the cost implications and lengthy legal procedure associated with any alteration to existing speed limits, there would need to be significant safety reasons to justify a reduction in the speed limit.  Most speed limit reductions are a result of a road having a poor personal injury accident record where vehicle speed is a contributing factor.  In the case of the slip road off the A34, I am not aware of any reported personal injury accident issues along this section of road which would require a review of the existing speed limit.

In saying this, I will investigate the personal injury accident record for this road to ascertain if there are any underlying safety concerns that require our attention.  I hope this has been of some help and should you require any further assistance please feel free to contact me.

...Super. So because no-one's died yet...my follow-up request:

Thank-you for your detailed reply.

I look forward to your review of the personal injury accident record. If your system doesn't show any record and the usual criteria for a reduction is a previous death or injury, I imagine the alternative way to obtain a limit reduction is the direction we are headed.

Can you please let me know how this alternate process usually works?

...has so far gone unanswered. Despite several prompts. And a repeat request to find out exactly who sets the speed limits hereabouts. Another reminder sent today.

In other news, the part of HCC that deals with roadside vegetation were very prompt in dealing with my request to clear away the vegetation from the footpath on the northern side of the underpass. Here's what it looks like now:

Which is just super, much better. However with the vegetation removed, two things are revealed: one, after years of neglect/growth the level of the soil has risen up to the point where it needs digging out to be level again, and there's a sign right where a path user would want to walk/ride - just perfect to catch a handlebar on. Next step: organise some digging, and sign relocation...

I've raised a case with HCC Footpaths for the uneven surface:

Thank You - The uneven pavement surface has been reported. Your Track it number is - 111001144994         

...and for the sign in the middle of the foot/cycle path:


Thank You - The broken or missing sign has been reported. Your Track it number is - 111001145001

Note: HCC didn't have a category for 'This sign is in a stupid place' - so we'll have to make do with 'broken'

What all this raises is the exact status of this bit of path - is it a footpath, or can bikes use it too? if it is a no-bikes path, how does one go about the process of changing this? Yet another HCC TrackIt number for that enquiry: 111001145050

And finally, a local cycling campaigner John B was in touch to suggest HCC weren't quite on the right track with their thinking. So yet another email off to the HCC team:

Dear Traffic Management Team,

In addition to my previous replies, can you please clarify how HCC acted upon the Speed Limit Review as in DfT Circular 01/2006, which required all A and B limits to be reviewed by 2011. 

I believe the guidance included the principle "The needs of vulnerable road users must be taken into account in order to further encourage these modes of travel and improve their safety."

I also believe that DfT no longer require the need for deaths or injuries to be a factor when determining Speed Limits. Could you please comment?

Regards

Mike

'ello 'ello 'ello...

This afternoon the kids and I cycled to Tufton to pick up some bike parts from our friend Jeremy. Naturally we were looking out as we approached the intersection, I was paying a lot of attention as on a beautiful sunny afternoon you do get people complete jerks out for a bit of harmless fun  endangering others on the public highway.

And sure enough, as we were about 30m from the intersection, underneath the A34 overbridge and just about to start to move out into the centre of the road to turn right, a car did come around the corner. It was moving at what I guess was at least 60MPH, and was cutting the corner - I reckon half the car was over the hatched lines on the corner. It was certainly going too fast for me to register the licence plate number.

What I did manage to see was that it was a very new BMW 5-Series estate.

With POLICE written all over it.

(I didn't see any blue lights on and didn't hear any siren. 4:05pm to be exact).

:-/